OK, I need some advice. I just had my 4th night of 5 or less hours of sleep. Christopher has started waking up and I can't figure out the trigger. There haven't been any significant changes to our routine.
6:00 Dinner
6:30-6:45 Bath
7:00 - 7:30 They get to watch a video and/or we read
7:30-8:00 Bedtime
Things started last month with Christopher where he would wake up around midnight. We have a baby gate in their doorway since they transitioned to toddler beds last fall. He'll come to the gate and call for me. I get up because I'm always afraid something is wrong like a fever or he's sick. Sometimes, I can sit in the rocker with him and he'll go right back to sleep. Other times, he insists on going downstairs. At a minimum, I'm usually up for at least an hour with him. Sometimes Daddy and I will take turns with who gets up but typically, if Chris calls for me and Daddy shows up, he's starts crying for me anyway and then it turns into a full blown tantrum that will wake up Kendall.
When we put the kids to bed, Daddy and I both take them up. Daddy does hugs/kisses and leaves and then I stay to get them settled. We still have issues with both of them getting out of bed so I started sitting in the rocking chair until they started settling down and got drowsy. When Chris started waking up last month, my theory was that he was waking up and not seeing me in the rocking chair and called for me to make sure I was still "there". I started leaving the room and if either of them got out of bed, I would just walk in, put them back in bed and leave.
And then he stopped waking up so I thought I had it figured out. Now, here we are again.
My only other theory is that he's well on his way to being potty trained. He stays dry at daycare all day. Maybe he's waking up because he's peeing in his diaper at night? Although, when he wakes up, he doesn't mention the diaper or pee pee.
I know that going to him every time he wakes up is only perpetuating the cycle. He still shares a room with his sister and that's part of my dilemma. It's a fine line between letting him cry and/or put himself back to sleep and not waking her up. Thankfully she's a pretty heavy sleeper but having one kid awake is always better than two.
We do have an office that could easily be transitioned into a room for him but I don't know if that's the answer. If he's waking up because of separation anxiety or something else, being in his own room won't matter. Plus, he and Kendall have really gotten attached and Christopher is definitely the "clingier" one. I don't know if he would do well in a dark room by himself right now.
Last night, he woke up at 12:11 am and said he wanted to go downstairs. I told him "no" and took him back to bed and left the room. He immediately got back out of bed and came to the gate. I went back in and sat with him in the rocking chair and he seemed like he was trying to go back to sleep but couldn't get comfortable. I kept asking if he was ready to get back in bed. After 30 minutes, I tucked him in and said "Mommy needs to go night night and so does Christopher. It's time to go to sleep". He would toss and turn in bed for a few minutes and then come right back to the gate. At one point, he asked for some juice. Finally, at 1:30 am, I woke up Daddy. DH put him back in bed around 2:00 am and then Chris was back up at 3:00. DH sat in the chair with him and got him back to sleep in about 20 minutes and Chris slept until 7:15 am.
That's pretty typical for what happens when he wakes up. It's a lot of back and forth, up and down.
I definitely don't think it's teething. He is getting over a cold but I haven't heard him coughing at night and he hasn't complained about his ears hurting.
So, what's your opinion? What do you think it is? And, more importantly.... how we stop it?
5 comments:
Try cutting out TV before bed. When he gets up in the night, just quietly place him back in bed. The more you interact with him, the harder it is for him to go back to sleep. As long as he is fed, dry, not too hot/or cold, then he needs to learn that night time is for sleeping and not getting attention by parents.
What would he do if you took him downstairs? Would he want to play? watch tv? my first thought was that maybe he is hungry, what if you give him a snack? I have an almost 7 year old, so it has been a while since I have had to guess what she needs, just my first thoughts...
Hope you all get some sleep soon!
It sounds like you are doing all of the right things, in my book. If he normally sleeps through the night and now suddenly isn't, I would think that it is a growth spurt/cold/wet diaper more than just separation anxiety or being difficult. My son is about the same age, and he's usually a good sleeper...but every once in a while he also goes through a phase like this. It drives me crazy and I pull my hair out trying to figure it out, and then just as quickly he goes back to sleeping well. My only advice is to keep putting them to sleep without seeing you in the chair, so he knows he can fall asleep without mommy or daddy in the room, and then in the middle of the night try to get him to fall asleep while you're in the hall outside the door, at least, but also not holding him or rocking him, if you can avoid it. In my experience, if my husband rocks my son to sleep just ONCE, he will cry for him for 3-4 nights, "Daddy get in chair!!" LOL ....Good luck!
DITTO!!! Pip has started waking up multiple times a night. No idea why. Nothing really changed.
I am starting the sleep training thing again with him. In the day, we follow a strict routine - down for a nap at 11.30am for 1-2 hours. He is having the same issues in the day as in the night.
I read online it is common when the kid is on the brink of a developmental leap.
I hope your little one gets back into his sleep soon.
E
I would make sure it isn't an ear infection. Kids don't always get fevers with ear infections. When my 7 year old was 3, I thought something was wrong because she wouldn't sleep either. The pediatrician checked her ears and sure enough she had an ear infection. She never complained or had a fever. If there isn't a medical reason, I wouldn't think its the wet diaper (maybe a wet bed or wet clothes, but not a wet diaper).
Does he need extra sleep during the day since he has been waking up? Its so hard to give advice to get kids to sleep because every child is different. My oldest would lay down and I would "draw circles on her back" and she would be back asleep within 5 minutes, but I would only do it if she closed her eyes. My middle child was a challenge. I sometimes would make her a pallet next to my bed when she woke up in the middle of the night (but only sometimes). I hope you find something that works and you can get some sleep! I have a 7 week old now, so I am back to the sleep deprivation stage again!
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