Help Witn My 2 Yr Old Sleeping Through the Night

You have to stop going in to his room at night immediately! He's getting used to going in there and he nows depends on you to get him to sleep. you have to teach him to get himself to sleep. as hard as it is, let him cry! Give it a good 15-20 minutes. As long as he is not sick, i promise he'll be fine. my son will be 2 next week. he was a wonderful sleeper until about 3 months ago. he would climb out of his crib and wake up crying a couple times a night then sleep on the floor! The first week i was going in there and cuddling him and laying with him. i asked the pediatrician if it could be his teeth and what should i do. he gave me the advice i just gave you! Kids get into habbits very easily. It may take up to a week for him to cry himself to sleep. but in the long run, a week is not too long.

try Dr weissbluth "healthy sleep habits happy child". Won't regret reading, will be a lifesaver to you. Good luck

Hi T.,
I am not sure if it is too late to start this or not. What I did with my first one...she is now almost 4...she started waking up when she was 4-5 months old and she cried, I went into her room and touched her and told her that she was ok, rubbed her cheek or head and shh'd her and then left the room...I never picked her up. That is the key....don't pick them up! Just so you know....They WILL cry when you leave the room and that is ok, that is part of the learning. If they continue to cry for more than 10 minutes, you go back in and do the same thing. This will only take about a week and then they learn that if they wake up at night that they are able to comfort themselves and fall back to sleep.

I did this for my twins too. They are now almost 16 months old and have been sleeping through the night since they were about four months old.
My first one slept through the night earlier than my twins...but she would still wake up in the night. I had a harder time with her and getiing it to where she knew that she could go back to sleep. I think that difference was the comfort thing....my first used a binki and my twins both suck their thumbs. They never missplace their thumbs and my first one would constantly loose her binki in her crib.....I would have to go in there with a spare and give it to her. However, we took the binkis away at about 30 months old and we don't really have any problems unless she has to go potty or if she has a bad dream.

Like I said though...being that he is 26 months....it may be harder....He understands words better...you may be able to just use words and his favorite lovey....try something that smells like him or you...(if you are what comforts him.) That may help him feel better!

Let me know what you find out and if anything works...I am interested in knowing how it turns out for you!
Good Luck!!!
R.

I have a 22 mos old son who use to wake up in the middle of the night. Honestly, at this point they are not waking up because they're hungry or anything, he just wants you. It's comforting to him. What I did, was I gave my son a 20 minute wait..everytime..if after 20 minutes, he was still up I would see what's going on. But usually after that time has passed, he has fallen back asleep. They're getting older now and should be able to depend on themselves to fall asleep.

You just have to let him cry..It was hard when I did it, but then I realized..he's not in any pain, he's just crying and tells this to yourself! You'll appreciate the sleep and your son will become more and more independent as time goes by!

i'm not sure i'll be much help, as my daughter slept through the night at 4 months. but what happened with her was similar with another poster.

i was out of town on business. i did all the night feedings mostly b/c my DH wears a cpap machine and didnt normally hear her. when i went out of town, he didnt wear it those nights. he just went in and turned her over on her belly (she could flip over by then) and rub her back and she went right back to sleep! he did that two nights of the 4 i was gone and the other two nights she slept right through. however, when i came home and tried to do that, when i was the one that normally fed her, she wanted nothing to do with that. so for the next week my DH went in and turned her over and rubbed her back and then we didnt have an issue. occasionally we still have an issue where she might wake up from a bad dream, but i just go in and cover her back up and pat her back and she goes right to sleep.

i suggest not picking them up either if possible. try consoling them without picking them up or rocking.

good luck!

have you tried just letting him cry himself back to sleep? This was the only thing that worked for my son as he is very strong willed. It only took a few nights and he got the hint and he has been sleeping through for many months now. Hope this helps!

The best advice I've seen here for you is to not pick him up. My first two children (now 9 and 6) were horrible sleepers. They both slept in our bed and breast fed. I found that they we both slept better that way, but boy did I pay for it later. Rarely a night went by that our bed was not invaded by one or both of our little octopuses. A move to a new house is what helped with them. When our third child (22 mos.) came along I vowed I would not go through those awful nights again. I still brought her into my bed and as soon as she was of an age that she was being bottled fed and able to sleep alone it all started up again. It was like she had me on a string. Some nights I wasn't getting supper dishes done until after midnight for all the running I did to soothe her back to sleep. A few months ago we put her in her own bed, put the safety rails on, gave her the bink and told her goodnight. I'm not saying she went cold turkey but she soon got the idea. She has nights when she wakes but it is far fewer than before. It's gone from 3-6 times a night to maybe three times a week.

We learned a lot of things the hard way and what works best for all three kids is making sure that there is a routine at bedtime. No matter how small it is; they know what to expect each night. Also, never underestimate the power of some exercise and fresh evening air.
I can honestly say from experience that it is something they out grow as my older kids are great sleepers now. Good luck to you and get some rest!

Hi T.. When you put him to bed do you sit/lay with him till he goes to sleep? We did that for the longest time with my daughter. We started having a bedtime routine...snack, drink, story, tuck in and say goodnight. Initially when we started she would get out of bed about half a dozen times, but then she started to get the hang of it. Once we accomplished this we were able to put her in her bed when she woke up and would say to her "It is still night night time." My husband and I started doing "couch time"...he and I would spend about 15 minutes on the couch together during the day making sure she could see us together, and within a week she stopped coming in to see us in the middle of the night all together. Good luck!

Hi T.. I would recommend the book, Secrets of the Toddler Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. It is a gentle approach to helping children learn to sleep through the night. You will love this book! She also has a book for babies but you would want the toddler version.
I hope this helps! = )

Hi. The best advice I have is not to pick him up. Start by going in and talking to him and hugging him but leave him in his bed. Do that a few nights then start taking that away too. Spread it out over 10 to 14 days. He's gotten use to you picking him up in the night and now he expects it. I wouldn't let him just cry it out to start with. Just start taking away your attention at night little by little. You may have to let him cry it out after awhile but it will be less tramatic on both of you if you stop physically comforting slowly. Good Luck!

I just want to share that my 3 year old still wakes up in the middle of the night at least a couple times a week. She usually just has to go to the bathroom. She definitely was waking up almost every night at 26 months. I would give her a drink of water, take her to the bathroom, and then put her back in bed with her sister. She seemed to do pretty well with that. We did go through a short phase of night terrors shortly after she turned 3. Those are the worst! And there's nothing you can really do to get them to snap out of it.

Our daughter has always had difficulty with sleep! She's now 2 1/2 and I remember in April when she finally slept through the night! She does now sleep soundly through most nights and it is a huge relief! I know how difficult it is to live with broken sleep night after night.

My husband is a firefighter and is gone for 24 hours at a time. The nights he was away were the worst---she would cry for me every 1/2 hour or so! It was really hard. I finally realized that she didn't do this with him and I became angry that she was pulling my chain! :) (She's a very smart girl!) I went in to console her the first time she cried---the next time I went in and didn't say anything, but laid her down and touched her gently. The third time that night I didn't go in at all. It was VERY difficult! She cried for 20 minutes and I thought constantly of going in to her, but I didn't! I went downstairs and then outside to sit on the porch. She stopped crying and hasn't really woken in the night since. I never thought I would let her cry like that, but I must say that I believe she was taking what I was willing to give. After I stopped being as responsive, she stopped making the "request" that I be in there with her. Good luck. I know this is hard.

E.

I have the same problem with my 3 yr old. I do not have much advice for you, I have not found anything that seems to help. My doctor told me that it could be anxiety but there is nothing that we can do at this age for that. He did suggest giving Benedryl before she goes to bed but that does not work for her. Maybe it will work for you.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help but I did want you to know that you are not alone!

Hi T.-I feel for you I had the same problem when my son was little but thankfully we nipped it in the bud when he was 9mos. because I was 5mos pregnant with my daughter. I talked to my pediatrician about it and she said that he was waking in the night and wanting me to soothe him back to sleep that is why he was waking so often. I also used to rock my son to sleep and probably would have continued except that I was pregnant with my daughter and didn't know what I would do after she was born if he was also waking in the night. She told me to just go in when he would cry but not pick him up and just pat his back and tell him it's ok and then walk out. Every few minutes go back in and comfort him without picking him up and after a few days he would wake up and go back to sleep on his own he just needed to learn how to do it himself. I hope this is helpful. Hang in there he will learn how to soothe himself back to sleep. Good luck.

The only advice I have to make him cry himself back to sleep, I had to do the same thing with my son. It takes about a week and will be tuff on you, but it works. Otherwise he will have bad sleeping habits the rest of his life.

T., I feel your pain. My daughter is almost 4 now and JUST started sleeping through the night in the last few months, but is still awake 2-3 times a week (1-2 times a night). She has been very difficult to deal with the sleeping issue. From birth to 9 months old she was awake 9-12 times per night if that gives you any idea. I was thrilled to get to 2-3 times a night! :-) But the severe sleep deprivation had physical effects on me including memory loss, hair loss and other minor illnesses along the way. So I understand.

Here is what helped us, but obviously may or may not help your situation. My daughter was 3.5 when this happened. Actually we moved. Not the move so much, I think, but the fact that we gave her control of the color we painted her room, where furniture would go, etc... She got a "new" BIG bed...meaning a full size bed like Mom and Dad's. (I think that was the key) After we moved and got her room settled she started sleeping better. The mattress was actually ours, and we upgraded to a king. Maybe the scent helped, I am not sure.

I used to rock her to calm her until she was quiet and then would put her down. Now that she has a bigger bed I snuggle with her. After a few months she is now even getting to the point that she asks to lay down in bed and goes to sleep on her own.

The other thing we found is that if we put her to bed around 830-9 pm she ALWAYS wakes up during the night. If we wait until closer to 10pm or even 11pm, she sleeps more often all night. I'm not saying I recommend this..it just so happens I have an in home business and she has the opportunity to sleep in a bit as well. If it weren't for her being able to get the amount of sleep she needs I would not put her to bed so late.

I hope my experience can help some, at least give you a different perspective.

Blessings.
M.

Dear T.,

I feel your pain. I have a daughter who will be 3 years old next month and until a couple of months ago never slept through the night. One night I was so tired that I just let her cry, I could only stand it for about 5 minutes then I went in to sooth her and get her back to sleep.

The next night she slept a little bit longer before she woke up. When she would wake up at night I would try and let her cry for just a few minutes longer each night pretty soon she started sleeping until 5:00a.m. which was a lot better than 2 or 3a.m. I hope this helps

L.
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Now she sleeps until 7.

I know it's one of the hardest things you can do.... thinking that you're ignoring your child in need, but what my husband and I did was right from the start, let our son cry! If we knew that he had just been fed, changed, and completely checked over from head to toe, and he didn't have a fever, then we just let him cry! Sometimes he wouldn't stop for more than 20 minutes, and BELIEVE ME, that was VERY hard!! As a parent, your first instinct is to run in there and at least look at them. As soon as they catch eye contact with you, or even if they see you in the room, they realize "I win"!! They form an attachment, and make themselves believe that they constantly need you (even if they really don't). From the time my son was 7 1/2 weeks old, he slept completely through the night. He NEVER slept in the same room with us, and had his own crib from the day we brought him home from the hospital. He actually enjoys spending time in his room alone before he falls asleep. He has plenty of toys that he can entertain himself with (the quiet ones). I can count on two hands the number of times he has woken up in the middle of the night since, and it's usually because he is sick. GOOD LUCK!!

Hi T.,

Has your son ever had issues with reflux? Our son, 22 months old, has struggled with this the majority of his life. It used to wake him up all night long. He was on Prevacid for it for a long time then we took him off of it because he seem to be doing better, only for it to return again. So once again we put him on a very small dosage and he is able to rest all night through. Never hurts to check into it, especially since this has been an ongoing issue, not something new. Best of Luck.