Four Year Olds Still Frequently Wake During the Night

Like you, we have tried everything. Our son wakes up at all hours for cuddles and wanting to be tucked back in his bed, before that it was dropped blankets and stuffed animals. I think we tried everything under the sun. We thought maybe he was afraid of the dark and bought him a lava lamp (to replace the night light) and flash lights to go to the bathroom. That helped a little, but did not solve the problem. Tried skipping naps, thinking he'd be too worn out to fight it...that was a HUGE mistake. He was cranky all day and then overly tired and wouldn't go to sleep until after midnight and still didn't stay asleep. We tried bribes and rewards and like you it didn't work. My son can be screamy too so ignoring him and locking him out of our room was a HUGE disaster and made me feel incredibly guilty. So we started last week taking a different approach. If he wakes us up for something not important (we talked about emergencies, illness, and REALLY feeling scared (not just saying he is scared for the attention) extensively before we implemented the rule), then he loses a cartoon in the morning. He is only allowed two so it's a big deal. I hated being "negative" about it, but I thought we had it under control and then it started to escalate. The lack of sleep is making everyone cranky. It's been 7 days since we started it, he only woke up the first night. We stuck to the rule and he lost a cartoon. It's been six glorious full night's sleep. Everyone is in a better mood. I hope we have solved the problem this time.

I hate to say it, but my 7 & 9 yo dds still do the same thing. Dh sleeps through it all, so it is all on me and I am tired. I have stopped going to their room (only if the most special of all lovies is missing, then I do help or I KNOW they will not go back to sleep and they share a room...). They come to my room to tell me something (they are cold, want the bathroom light on, had a bad dream, want eggs for bfast, had an itch, the cat woke them up, I had forgotten to do something they day before I said I would do, etc), but I do not get up and go in their room. This is better, but I am still tired. I am now bribing them with a quarter when they stay in their bed all night long. LOL!
S.

Hi B., Try diffusing lavender and/or peace and calming essential oils in their room(s) during the night. Look here: youngliving.org/yljohn. I also massage my little girl (now 10) every night on her back and feet. She sleeps very well when i use the oils. Also We used to gently get her up when we went to bed to go to the pottie. This really helped her sleep into the morning as the pee urge was reduced. At 10 she sleeps great.

Our son is four and still doesn't sleep threw the night consistantly. His is more he crawls in our bed when he can't sleep which causes my husband and I to get a terrible night sleep. We have tried bribery which worked for a month and then he went right back to getting up and crawling in our bed. I don't have any great answers but be consistant on what ever you try and if he still takes a nap let him cause otherwise he will be crabby towards evening. We learned this the hard way. Good luck