Sleep Help for My Toddler

S.,

Do you have a pull down shade for your son's room? I am finding that my children are "Solar Babies", and sleep only when the sun is gone from their room. I am fortunate that they are good about getting 11-12 hrs still.

The other issue may be that your son is ready for a bit later sleep hour. My son's go full tilt during the day, take a 2 hour nap around 1pm and stay awake until about 8:30-9pm. Then they sleep for the night (teething issues aside).

I do not have any other idea, and wish you luck.

T.

I agree with the comment about "solar babies", with the change of the season. It's been staying lighter later and usually we send our babies to bed when it's dark. It's not dark so it's not bedtime in their minds. Logical isn't it? I don't know what time you usually put him down for bed. We put our son about 8:30 to 9:00. And he gets up anywhere between 6:30 to 7:00. That's a hard age because your communication is not quite there. But, you might just try to ask him what is wrong too. He could point out his problem. Sometimes things in his room may trigger a shadow that is un-familiar. Another question too - are there any changes on what shows/cartoons he watches during the day? Their minds are so sensitive and innocent and are fresh. While ours are filled with responsibility.
Along with the waking up at 4:30 - try putting him down - tell him it is still night night. Not time to get up. Good luck. I hope this helps.

Hi. I highly recommend the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution". I'm a big advocate for not letting kids "cry it out" and this book has some great gentle suggestions. Have you tried rocking, signing, laying with him, etc? He might just be going through a growth spurt, teething, or something else. It won't last forever. He'll eventually learn again how to go to sleep. It's important we don't associate stress (crying) with sleep. We want kids to learn that it's a peaceful time. Hope some of that helps!

It's hard to know exacltly whats bothering them at that age...espcecially because they can't really tell you. I'm not sure how you feel about Tylenol and what not..but the baby ibuprofen (advil) and or Tylenol before bed if he is teething might help a little bit...the advil lasts longer than the tylenol and you can alternate between the two.

I always found that my daughter had this issue when certain things were going on in our life..like some stress that we were having...a move...a new job...some life change..that she sort of "Felt our stress". She seemed to have sleep problems around then.

Also, consider his bowel movements....does he have one daily...if not he could be constipated and his hurting tummy is waking him up.

How long is forever? and is it like a "I'm scared" or a "I'm hurt" cry?

Feel free to message me personally. What's his personality like? is he shy? outgoing?

is he getting enough excercise?

Also somethign that I just thought of...mine started having problems around that age because she WANTED to stay up with us...because she was growing and maturing and learning so quickly she didn't want to miss out and go to bed. This might be part of it.

Also consider if maybe you're putting him to bed when he's over-tired?

Gosh, I know that's like a million things..but those are all the problems I've faced recently.

J. Van Riper
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Try giving him Motrin half hour before bed if your doctor says its o.k. Yes, it can be just teehting Molars are painful. If the sun is keeping him up get black out curtians from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Lowes or Home Depot have black out blinds as well.

Sleep with him, and meet his needs when he wakes up. It's so much simpler that way!

How about trying a bedtime snack with storytime, maybe a new bedtime routine is needed.

I'm having similar issues with my 18 month old. She rarely sleeps past 6:15. This morning I brought her to bed with me at 4:30 since I was to tired to sleep in the recliner with her. She used to be easy to soothe at night but now it can take what seems like forever.
Is your son in a crib still or toddler bed? we've been considering making that move but I don't know if it will help or hurt us.

Could he be hungry...is that why he's waking up early in the morning...? I don't know...just worth a thought. That happens to my 3 3/4 son because he's always too busy playing to eat so then he's hungry in the morning because he hasn't hardly eaten dinner!

My son went through the phase where he cried and didn't want to go to bed. I think all kids go through it from time to time. Just keep doing your normal routine of how you put him to bed prior to this new behavior...and just leave it at that. He'll calm down and go to sleep. If he's hysterical, just go in and calm him down but don't pick him up. After a few nights, he'll stop with all the 'acting' and he'll go back to his old routine of normalcy. I think he's just testing you and what he can get away with.

good luck.