Evening ladies!
My son is 17 months old. I need some help with my son's sleeping. He has never been a good sleeper from day one. He has always taken cat naps during the day and then at night time only sleeping maybe 3 or 4 hours at a time before he is awake and crying. It has been hard on my husband and I, having to wake up every few hours too as well as affecting my poor guy. He gets cranky and I know its because he is tired, but he doesnt sleep well.
In addition, the past 2 or so weeks, he has been awake for hours at night usually around 1am to about 4am just tossing and turning, talking to himself, and many nights crying loudly, sometimes into a hysteric. Its very difficult to deal with because nothing seems to help. I have tried everything I have thought of. I thought maybe he is teething, so I have been giving him teething gel, or having a growth spurt so at times I give him Tylenol. I have also tried, putting in a fan for white noise but nope. I have tried feeding him full, but that doesnt work either. This past week, we have been letting him have one nap early in the day and then keeping him up later playing and then stuffing his tummy with food and warm milk, warm bath and story time and then bed. He has no problems getting to sleep usually, its just STAYING asleep that is our problem.
Also when he cries at night time, we will go in there and change his diaper, and console him if he is hysterical, and then we lay him back down with his blanket and turn on his lullaby cd and walk out. When he continues to cry, we wait a few minutes and then go back in and lay him down and walk out. We have done that for hours some nights because he refuses to sleep.
I am at a total loss of what to do for him, so please ladies give me some advice, and things that have worked for you. I need some sleep!
PS He is on lactose free milk and gets a little bit of prune juice everyday to keep him regular. We have had problems before.
Thanks in advance!
Laurie A.:
His schedule is the same almost everyday. We do our best to keep consistent for him so that he knows what to expect.
He wakes at 7am and eats breakfast and has a sippy of milk. We play with him, or he plays with his toys for most the morning, and then he takes a nap around 11am for about an hour or two if were lucky. Then we have lunch together and then we go to the park 3 times weekly or we play inside, and he sometimes watches an Elmo dvd. He gets snacks in between during the day. Then at 5:30 or 6pm he has dinner, and then has a bath, story time (quiet time) and then to bed at 7 or 7:30pm because by then he is so tired he cant keep his eyes open.
Then wakes up every couple hours, and on some nights he will wake up every hour.
Supernanny says if you must go in there, do not speak, pat, console of any kind. Simply lay them back down and leave. He knows if he goes bonkers you are going to come. He's a smart lil boogy! I wish I would of followed that advice and maybe my 4 yr old wouldn't still be sleeping in the middle of us :)
I would HIGHLY recommend getting food allergy testing. Especially the gluten test (be prepared to fight for it). My son NEVER slept through the night. He would wake up every 3 1/2 to 4 hours like clockwork. Believe me I have been all over this issue. My son is 5 and I found out this March he was gluten intolerant (gluten test ordered by pediatrician). Finally after after a couple days or a week fo going gluten free, he slept through the night and has since. I thought, no way it could be this easy.
Here are other possibilities and what you can do. You can give him melatonin. You can get this anywhere and according to my Ped, and my own research, there is no negative consequences to taking it. Start off small and increase the dosage if you need it. Your body naturally produces melatonin and some people are lacking in it.
You can do little massages. Massage his feet before bed, this one has been told to me by occupational therapists and I have done it for my son and daughter. Also, is it possible he's a sensory child? This is quite common. You can take a quick checklist to find out. Google The Sensory Child Has Fun (I think that's it) or Sensory Processing Disorder.
Have you already tried to make sure he's on a routine? He also might be hitting the night terror stage. Also, for some kids, a bath does calm them but actually stimulates their nerves.
Is it possible he has gas pains and could be lactose intolerant? My daughter used to scream in bed because of the pain but she would never wake up. I notice now she has a really bad night if she has a lot of dairy.
You can try adding Epsom salt to his bath. I know some moms swear by it, and I have used it. I really have done mostly everything. I noticed a lot of things I tried calmed him, but he was still waking up. When he got older he would wake up but immediately put himself back to sleep. To find out it was gluten and such a simple test, I would say definitely test. I am learning a ton about this stuff and amazed. I can give you good books about it if you want to learn more.
I agree with Jami G. Have you also tried a white noise machine or fan on? Have you tried sleepytime tea? Nothing in it to hurt kids and you can put honey or substitute sweetner in it if it's too bitter for him... I know he falls asleep but maybe the tea will help his body relax so he doesn't wake up frequently.
My son started sleeping through the night once we switched him to soy milk. I see that you are already using lactose free milk. It may still be worth it to try switching to soy in case it's the casein instead of the lactose. We didn't actually switch at first, we just didn't give him milk one day (he was really constipated) and he slept through the night that night, so we tried it for a few more nights and once we decided that that really was the problem we switched to the soy, so you should know almost immediately if that's the issue.
The only advice I can give is that when you do go into his room when he is crying, keep the light off and do not speak with him.. even while changing his diaper. Try to do it in as dark of a room as possible.. also try not make any expressions.. just try to keep a blank face.. he will learn that there is no response from him being awake in the middle of the night. When you lay him down maybe pat or rub his back for a few minutes.
What is his daytime schedule like? What time does he wake up? do you all get to play outside in the morning and again the afternoon? What time is lunch, afternoon nap/? What time do you put him down for bed? All of this needs to also be examined to make she he has a really good and tight schedule each day..
Children thrive on schedules and rules.. They like knowing what will happen next. It makes them feel secure..
There are three things you cannot make a child do--eat, sleep, and pee or poop when you want them to. (sigh) But you can nudge them along the way.
I suggest you eliminate the cat naps during the day. Yikes!
I do know what I am talking about. My daughter was 18 months when I had to do the same said thing. And I cried.
She stopped sleeping at about 15 months all but 5 hours a day and cried for most of the other hours cause she was so tired for about 3 weeks. Then slept 20 hours a day for a week. Then returned to sleeping for 5 hours a day and the crying thing for three weeks. I went to the ped. He suggested knock out drops. She took them once.....smart girl. Next he suggested sherry for me at 5 and then at 8 o'clock. Too much alcohol for me. She slept for 20 a week. Then returned to the 5 hours a day for 3 weeks. Doc told me to get a big girl bed, tell her if she moves she will fall out, and never let her take another nap.
It worked. I missed my naps--her naps a lot.... but she slept her 12 hours and was a nice girl again.
My son did not sleep through the night until he was almost 2. The only thing that helped was having him co-sleep so I could get some sleep. I feel your pain.
Wow I actually just asked the same question about my son doing this same thing. It's funny because I didn't read any questions before I posted today and we had the same starting phase lol. I will for sure be reading all your answers thru out the day hoping they will help me too. Is ur son sleep crawling at all? Mine is and it's driving me insane. Good luck hope you find some answers. K.
Talk to your doctor about vitamin D supplements. He may have a low amount in his system which often interferes with sleep.
Updated
For God's sake he cannot be left alone. He's frightened. Either take him into your bed or get into his. Another mother has written over and over again on this site that human beings are the only mammals who expect their children to sleep separately from them. He is 17 months old! He's a baby. I did not put my first child in another room until 2 1/2 years of age. I kept the kids together in one room until they were both in school.
It sounds like he is getting one nap & it is before lunch. If he is down to one nap (sounds about right for his age) then usually kids take it after lunch. His nap might get cut short because he is hungry. I would try feeding him lunch at 11:30 & then put him down for a nap.
