Waking up in the Middle of the night...Is This Normal!!!!!!!!

Updated on August 04, 2014
P.M. asks from Fort Worth, TX
13 answers

Does or did any moms out there have a child that woke up in the middle of the night to play? Or even at nap time when he knows you are both sleeping? We as mom and dad are beginning wonder if this is normal??? OUR SOON TO BE 5 y/o IN DECEMBER and WILL START Pre-K this year August 2014. We are SO EXCITED, and also loves and adores his 5 1/2 month old sister. He started doing this in April or prior and got caught, when my husband called for his name, he jumped off of our kitchen counter that is about waist high onto the tile kitchen floor, and badley broke his right arm ulna and radias near the elbow. Apparantly he had done this a few times before as my husband began telling me the day of the accident, but was fortunate enough to run out of the kitchen and look at you like the cat that swallowed the canary. My husband would tell me he would find all sorts of things in his room also from the kitchen, and there were times where I would get my lunch ready and find things in a dissaray in the kitchen. Like packets of jello mixed with other jello packets or salt and sugar mixed with ice cream, needless to say after that incendent of jumping off the counter and breaking his right arm, he had no longer climbed up or snuck off or woke up in the middle of nap or night time to go play. Last night however, he did it again and also again at nap time. At nap time, when I was asleep, and woke up to find that he was not with me, I caught him playing in the sink in the kitchen with water and a plastic glass. Last night he was back and forth between our bedroom and his. This morning before I left I saw serval things laying on the sofa that are/were on the bakers rack that are high up above and he had to have used a chair to climb to get to those things on top. I am so stressed out and feel like OMGOSH! Hes back at it again!!! We as parents shouldnt have to live in fear and wake up every so often just to make sure he is asleep when he should be in bed asleep. My fear is that he will fall and GOD forbid he break his arm that is still healing from April or worse, break something else.At this point I feel like I should buy a screen door and place it on the outside of his door and lock him in fromt he outside so that we can prevent him from hurting himself :( Please help!!I need your advise...Thank you all in Advance.

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So What Happened?

Thanks for understanding and your advice. I have tried not letting him nap and he usually falls asleep around 4ish when he wakes up at 6-7-8am. I work from 5am to 5 pm in the nursing field so weekends I try to rest when our 5 1/2 month is down and I can bond with our son during nap or quiet time but I am usually so tired that I end up falling asleep and wake up to hear our daughter cry to be fed changed and burped. Hubby stays home with them now until he finishes his last two semesters of his APB licence and can find something more stable and or hope to be called bk to work from the union based company that layed him off while still looking for work. If he dosent nap and we are out and about he thows a fit. Alsmost phycotic :( if we try to wake him up 1 hour later he wakes up so cranky and so mad. When we are at home he does better. He eats well and yes do teach him show him what he does right from wrong consequences cause and effect, stay consistent and follow thru but five know later he is back to jumping running thru our house that only has hardwood floor and tile. And we also follow thru, but this kid is just hard headed. Time out's, yellling in frustration talking to him nicley dosent phase him, I almost have to yell for him to understand that I mean buisness and No means No! Will try cutting out the naps and see what happens. We can't keep him in a bubble for life, we want to let him run jump and play and be all the boy he can be but safely. We truly have our hands full with keeping a watchful eye out and when he is not in sight we are wondering where is he at what is into or doing. He eats 3 well balanced meals with snacks inbetween. He will also be starting pre k this year since his b day is in December and will be 5 then. Because if his arm still healing and possibly re breaking we try not to let him run around too much for the fear that he may fall on that arm again and re break it. We will re x-ray 8/15/14 and hopefully it will be completely healed. These forearm type of breaks unfortunately take about 3-4 months to heal and then the doctor will give us the do's and Dont's of his school activities. I would love for him to run and be all the boy that he is, and burn energy but it's just hard all around right now especially with a very active rambunctious little boy who loves to run, jump, play and not listen and could very well re injur his arm. We will also have to watch him closely for the next year to ensure that he does not trip or fall on that arm because 5 out of 10% chance from what Dr stated, he would re break his arm given the location and healing process. We as parents feel horrible for what happened and are all about prevention. My heart wants to pop out of my chest when I see him doing the things that may cause him harm

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M.S.

answers from Kansas City on

I think this is NOT ABnormal. When my son was about 4, I would wake up to find him playing with his little cars or other toys right next to my bed, in the dark. He was happy as could be.

Now at 41 he has a 5 year old and a 2 year old, they occasionally wake up in the night and want to play.... "PAYBACKS" I tell him.
They seem to do everything he did as a child, like not wanting to sleep in their own beds, not take naps when they are supposed to, not go to bed when it is bedtime, make a mess in the kitchen, etc, etc.

When I was a child, I used to sleep walk, one time I woke up hanging on to a corner of a shelf with one foot on the floor and the other hanging over an open staircase. My parents heard me crying and rescued me.

Maybe that's why I seem to always wake up about 4 am after all these years... ha, ha! Wait a few years, you won't be able to get them out of bed in the morning

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D.B.

answers from Boston on

I think he's beyond napping at age 5, so he is too awake and not tired enough to sleep. It's also completely normal for an inquisitive child to explore and try to do interesting things to see what happens - like mixing things he found in the cabinet, etc. It's possible that he's asserting himself as a "big boy" who doesn't need a nap when the baby naps. I know you are tired and want to nap with the baby, but maybe either you or your husband need to be awake with a 5 year old!

To start, give up the nap for him. He'll be more tired at night and perhaps he will not wake up. However, he's in the habit of getting up when he wakes up, so you need to re-train him that he stays in his room until it's light out or until an alarm goes off. There are all kinds of clocks and alarms that signal kids when it's an acceptable time to get up.

It's also time to reevaluate your home and where things are. You take things off the baker's rack, for example, and put them away. You put the things he's allowed to play with (plastic containers, etc.) in the low cabinets and you put the breakables or poisons or "off limits" things in upper cabinets with cabinet locks (available at any baby store or on-line child safety/parenting sites). You teach him how to climb safely. You encourage "science experiments" and exploration by having set times during the day when he can pick out the things he wants (within your limits) and play with a sink full of water with funnels and tubes and colanders. You teach him, however, that these occur frequently with parental supervision and during daylight hours, and absolutely never at 3 AM. You also teach him how (and require him) to put things back that he has played with. If it's more work to take things on his own, he'll eventually learn that it's better for him if he does it with you or Dad so the work is divided between 2 people.

If you have to put a lock on his door at night, fine. But explain that he needs his sleep and so do you. People who don't sleep can't drive cars or do anything else because it's dangerous to do things when you're not rested.

You'll have to do this in stages. Start with no nap and staying in the room until whatever acceptable hour of the morning you choose, plus putting on some cabinet locks. Make it reasonable. Before bed, he can choose some QUIET things to take into his room to play with in the morning if he wakes up before the acceptable hour. What he chooses are his playthings for the next morning. If you want him to have quiet time in his room during the day while the baby naps, fine - but don't require him to sleep. If he's sleeping at night and so are you, you won' be as tired during the day and needing a nap yourself. Then the baby's nap time can be special time with parent and 5 year old, something he looks forward to. If he knows he's going to get special time but only if he stays in his room at night, maybe he'll be more compliant. It may take some time, but if he knows that, no matter what, he will lose special time if he comes in your room to play at 3 AM, he'll figure it out.

After you solve the sleep problem, you can progress to teaching him the right skills to minimize injury. Some kids are athletic, climbers, explorers, etc. Mine was. The plus side is, these kids can be leaders, scientists, engineers, etc. We knew our son was going to be climbing the rock walls in between everyone's property (common in New England) and climbing trees. So we taught him to check for wobbly rocks and weak branches to keep him safer. We went on good bike rides, but only if he had a helmet (if he didn't, the bike went up in the garage rafters for 2 weeks). We did water play in the sink and outside, but only when it could be safe and not overflowing. We let him play with all kinds of things that weren't technically "toys" but not the important breakables. We worked out the limits and made it clear to him.

You can't protect him from everything but you have to get to the point where you are not so stressed out from lack of sleep that no one is having any fun. It's also okay to have a child earn privileges - let's see how you do with X, and then we can talk about progressing to Y and Z.

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G.♣.

answers from Springfield on

At 5 years old he really should be able to sleep through the night without getting up. I would talk to your pediatrician. You just want to make sure there isn't a health issue involved.

If he is otherwise healthy, he doesn't need as much sleep. I would definitely consider giving up the nap. Many kids give up their nap when they are 3 or 4. Some kids continue napping until the begin kindergarten, but very few schools have nap time in kindergarten.

Start by giving up the nap and see how he responds. Give it some time - at least a week.

Remember, at 5 years old he only needs about 10 to 12 hours of sleep total, including naps!

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D.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

He's old enough to know his numbers. By this age, we had taught our kids that they were not allowed out of their rooms until the first number on the digital clock in their room was a 6. Until 6, if they couldn't sleep, they could play quietly in their rooms.

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M.C.

answers from Chattanooga on

Put an alarm on his door, so that when he opens it you will be waken up and can send him back to bed.

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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

My first thought is that he shouldn't need a regular nap at this age (probably why he isn't tired at night).

Then you may be putting him to bed too early. What time is his bed time?
Does he start school this fall?
Try putting him to bed later. For instance our child of the same age goes
to bed at 9pm. Doesn't have to get up until 7:30am.
Is he getting enough food to eat during the day?
Maybe he's waking up hungry.
I would not lock his room or any cabinets.
Talk to him about not getting up onto counters as you are afraid he will get hurt.
Ask him if he gets up because he's hungry at night.
If that is the case, feed him more during the day (3 meals w/3 healthy snacks in between).
Make sure about 1/2 hr before bed, you make sure he has a snack (Goldfish etc.).
Be sure he's active during the day to expend energy.
Don't ever lock him in his room.....that is unsafe esp in the event of fire or
an intruion/burglar through his window.

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M.O.

answers from Dallas on

I'm assuming he has his own room. Because he's been hurt and it's a ongoing issue, I would put up a child proof door "lock" (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Door-Monkey-Childproof-Pinch-Guard/... ), which keeps ventilation and allows him to call for you but not leave the room, or put an alarm on his bedroom door
(like this: http://www.amazon.com/Window-Entry-Alarm-Magnetic-Sensor/...) and just set it after he goes to sleep.

A second measure of security for you (because you are losing sleep worrying about him) is to buy a video baby monitor and mount it on the wall of his room. You can set the receiver on you bed and check on him to make sure he's still in his room without getting up.

I also agree that he likely does not need a nap at 5 years old, and that's probably a big reason why he's waking with energy to play at night.

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

With my son, it was never uncommon for me to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and notice that his bedroom light was on and hear him playing.
It happened enough that I just left him be after awhile. He always seemed fine during the day (not overly tired), and after seeing 2 sleep specialists over the fact that he just didn't sleep much (also woke at 5am)....we just figured out that he didn't need that much sleep.

This happened until he was 5. He's 6 now, and sleeps more normally...or at least stays in his room.

But all I can tell you, is make sure his routine is normal, and let him know that the expectation is for sleeping when it's dark outside.
Find a way to gate him or lock him in his room...and put everything else out of his reach on all floors.

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

So sorry, I was giggling a bit reading this. He definitely sounds like the mischief maker 'Dennis the menace type' But so sorry you are going through all this pain.It is definitely normal. We all wake up at nights sometimes no matter who we are and some of us like to keep busy. I remember reading books in the middle of the night on the toilet.
Does he really need a nap? I don't think so. sounds more like you need a break. It sounds like you are baby proofed pretty good (plastic glass for example) but perhaps you can give him specific middle of the night activities such as puzzles if he is truly up and ready to play.
Also, My advice is to give him some consequences. And let him know what they will be ahead of time. And HERE's the BIG KICKER lots of parents don't get: follow through on them. He is going to be in prekindergarten so I think he will begin to understand that rules must be followed. If you have an infant daughter you definitely need to take some action since you need rest. That screen door might not be such a bad idea. But seriously, how about a gate and let him know big time he may not go past it. Good luck!!

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

We had to lock the pantry and refrigerator for a while. Our guy would go in and play in food too.

What time does he go to bed? If he's waking up, fully awake, then he might just not be tired enough to sleep that many hours at a time.

If he's going to bed before 9pm start putting him down later. See if that keeps him asleep.

Consider getting a sensors of some sort through out the house or baby monitors turned up all the way in various parts of the house. This way either a sensor will say someone is moving around in the house or the monitor will let you know he's on the move.

At age 5 he might need to get up to go to the bathroom or find you because he's sick so you need to not lock him in his room, by the way a screen door isn't strong enough to keep anyone in a room. They simply kick it once and the screen will come out of the frame.

One thing you also have to consider is they lay down and have nap time in Pre-K. If he's not taking a nap now and starts taking one in school he's going to be up during the night even more. They have to follow school policy on naps, 4 and 5 year old kids have to have that break in the day. If they only go half day then they don't lay down. He will be mentally and physically challenged so he's going to be tired. But once he gets what his body needs he's going to be fully awake again. If he's going down too early to bed then his body is going to be fully recharged some time during the night and he's going to get up.

I would put him to bed later so he'll sleep all night, if that doesn't work then get some sort of system to let you know he's up.

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M.L.

answers from Colorado Springs on

One of my granddaughters did this at about the same age. It scared her parents to death. They laid down rules for her: she could under no circumstances go outside, she must not wake anyone else, and she mustn't do anything in the night she wouldn't be allowed to do in the daytime.

During this period she came to my house for a day or two. She said, "Gran, I just want to let you know that I might get up in the middle of the night." I asked her why she would do that, and she answered, "I like to see the way things look in the dark."

Happily, she grew out of it. But, at the age of almost eleven, she still likes to wake up very early in the morning.

You are the one to know if your son does his nighttime activities with a sense of "Nobody's going to tell ME what to do," or if he's inventive but open to guidance. If he will follow rules, give him some. Let him know what he can do and can't do, and tell him he has to tell you what he did in the morning before you make the discovery yourself. That might take a bit of wind out of his sails.

I might additionally put cameras in the kitchen.

The fact of his starting school soon may work in your favor. He may end up too tired to be very nocturnal.

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D.K.

answers from Pittsburgh on

My son didn't ever do this. However - he did nap when he was 5 AND slept 11-12 hours a night. We finally took away his nap (actually school did - they only allowed naps through kindergarten) when he was 6.

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R..

answers from San Antonio on

Is this a real question??

He is FIVE?? He still naps??

What consequences have you told him will happen if he leaves his room in the middle of the night and moves things around in the house?

If you can't trust him to not get into things then YOU can't nap during the day and leave him unsupervised.

I still smell a bit of troll...

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