Almost 2 & Suddenly Not Sleeping Well

My twins have sleep issues too. They are 3 and one still wakes up druing the nite every 3-4 hours. What happens is that she doesn't enough during the day, so she's waking up hungry at nite. She is a picky eater which doesn't help the situation. I try giving her pasta and bread at nite, which does help sometimes. But situations like that can really drive you batty. If I know she didn't eat enough through out the day, I give her a bottle of pediasure at nite. If were having a bad nite, I put melantonin in her bottle. The liquid form about 1tsp or 5ml. Ask your peds if you can give her melatonin its natural and doesn't damage kids, make sure you get the liquid form without alcohol. You can buy at any food health store. The liquid form is easier to hide in juices. The melatonin has truly helped my situation. You might also try omitting the naps. Thats what I have to do with my daughter now. This way she is tried and more likely to sleep thru the nite.
hope the info helps

Our daughter gave up her naps about the age of 2. We just stopped fighting it. When she would nap, bedtime was a nightmare. So, she got cranky in the evening, we moved up bedtime, and it worked better. She is now 3 and started pre-school and now seems to need a nap again because of all the activity (MWF, 2 hrs). So, maybe your little one needs more activity? My 10 mo old does not sleep well at any time, so at night I am now trying to give her a bit of food (4th meal :}) before her cup of milk.
Good luck. I know it is crazy when you cannot get sleep.

my twins kids developed reflux that kept them up at night or night wakings and once we started ehr on prevacid and himo n nexium before bed it helped. My oldest wakes up in the middle of the night too and we found out she was getting low blood sugar that would wake her and keep her up, we figured that out when sometiems the drop would give her night mares or terrors or sweats. She eats a protien before bed like a piece of organic lunch meat or a string cheese or cup of cottage cheese and that keeps the sugar level maintained or stable till am. Is there any possiblity she is hungry? Or what about allergies does she ahve any food allergies? That makes kids move around and non stop because their bodies are uncomfortable and irritated. That is why kids that walk super early like 7 and 8 months usually have food allergies. It feels better to be on the go and not notice the pain or body reacting.
Hope this all helps
good luck
J.

What time does she go to bed at night? How long does she nap and what are her usually nap times? Every child is different and sleep patterns change. She may not need as much sleep so you'll have to figure out do you put her down earlier and cut down the day time nap. Do you cut it out completely and really put her down earlier? You know her best. My 3 year old stopped talking naps about 9 months ago. She only needs a nap 2-3 days a week. If your daughter takes a nap and then doesn't go to bed till really late, the nap definitely needs to be cut down. You may have to only allow her to sleep an hour and wake her. This is so hard to do so you'll have to decide if this is something you would consider.

Put some toys in her room and don't let her come out until six (or some other acceptable hour). We went through the same thing for a little while and have now settled on 5:30 as morning wake-up time. As for the nap, some kids give up their nap sooner than others.