Preface: So my daughter has had chronic ear infections and the only way we have ever been able to tell if she has an infection was if she stopped sleeping. She has always been our good sleeper when she is healthy. She just got her second set of tubes in June and has been battling an ear infection for the last couple of weeks but I believe they are gone now. Poor thing has been on a combination of benedryl and antibiotics for weeks so she has been sleeping like a log while on the benedryl but now that we have weened her off of it... Also- she is one of the most stubborn, adamit little 2 years olds you can imagine.
With all that being said- She wakes up every night at 2:38am. Not 2:40 and not 2:35. Same time every night. And then, like most stubborn toddlers, she finds all these reasons to want to get up and she will go and go and go until she finally falls back asleep. Last night it was an hour and a half (with 3 visits from my husband who she doesn't 'want' instead of me). I could probably ignore it better if her room didn't share a wall with me but it does so...
If anyone has had any experience with breaking a sleep cycle I would love some advice other than letting her cry. I have no problems with letting her cry, but that isn't working (she can also climb out of her crib and is getting a new bed in a month or so).
Thanks ladies!
I would quietly walk her back to bed, over and over and over. No lights, no noise, no singing, no whatever. Back to bed, as calmly as possible. I think that once she realizes it will be perfunctory, she will soothe herself to sleep. It's just a transition.
I would go into her room around 2:30 (or about 5 minutes before she usually wakes) and be ready to pat her back. It's very likely that if you catch her just before she really wakes up, you'll be able to get her right back to sleep.
Am I right in saying that way you are doing right now is just letting her be? I mean, she wakes up in her room, but neither your nor your husband go into her room immediately? I'm asking, because that would never have occurred to us. Whenever our kids woke up, at that age, our mission was to get them back to bed ASAP, because the longer we waited the more awake they would be and the longer it would take for them to go back to sleep.
It might be worth considering ways to be more proactive and get her back to sleep before she really wakes up.
Our toddler occassionally wakes at night, he is content thought to have us tell him lie down, close your eyes, give him a few pats on the back, then he says "time to sleep" and we walk out of the room. I guess because we've been doing little other than that all along, it is all he needs.
Try to keep your night time interractions simple boring and repetitive. Also, do make sure you pad out the floor around her crib until you get her into that new bed.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
Our little guy does the same with nap time ... 1 hour into his nap, he wakes up. So, I lay him down for his nap and then either lay with him or go about my afternoon. About 50 mins into the nap, I make sure I'm close and pat his back or hold him close. He wakes up a little and then drifts back to sleep for another 1-2 hours.
He's 2.5, ear tubes since February, and was recently diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (tonsils and adenoids come out next week) and periodic limb movement disorder (which should also dissipate with the surgery). He awakens because of the apnea and limb movement, which were discovered via an overnight sleep study. If her sleep is being greatly affected by this waking, I suggest finding a pediatric sleep specialist and talking with them. This may be more than a habit ... Our problem certainly was and I'm grateful I pushed for medical answers rather than just treating it like it was behavioral.
Go make noise in the room 30 minutes before she normally wakes. Not a lot of noise, but enough to get her to roll over and go back to sleep.
We have a really creaky door, I move ours. It resets the sleep cycle.
Nightwaking is mostly caused by overtiredness (if sickness is no longer an issue). Try moving bedtime back about 30 minutes and see if that helps.
Question. You do know benadryl is for allergies and is extremely drying to the sinuses and mucus membranes right? IF she had an ear infection you would have wanted her goo to be runny and get out, not dry up and fester right?
Usually the docs tell us to give the kids a decongestant with an ear infection to clear the infection out, make it drain out, help it get out so the ear doesn't hurt. The pus getting bigger is what makes the pain in the ear. If it's runny and draining out there is usually very little pain.
That said.
She's 2, she should already be in a toddler bed or in a big kid bed. She can climb out, she's at risk of getting hurt. Put a gate up and let her play. If she gets crying and crying go to her but don't sit and play with her. She's 2, she isn't cognitively grown up enough to understand mommy wants to sleep and she is bothering mommy, keeping mommy awake.
All she thinks is "I'm awake, it's playtime! Why isn't mommy here with me?"
Keeping the house dark might help, I don't know though. My grandson wakes up when he wakes up. He never slept all night until he was well over 2. A lot of kids just don't sleep all night.
Our son is 2. Chronic ear infections - first set of tubes. Major allergies also - not to food, just dust, pollen, etc. Wake time - 11:32pm. Every night. Didn't get back to bed until 2:30am last night. I am EXHAUSTED!!! I don't have an answer for you but I feel your pain and would pour you a cup of coffee if you were here:) Hugs! C.
PS I hear they sleep in high school:)
I've had a few of mine do that, and my advice is going to suck....I just go with it.
I think the standard recommendation is too keep putting them back in bed. What are her daytime sleep hours like? Nap? How often?
that could help get some better answers.
I have almost the same problem. My 3 year old gets up 3-4 times a night and is up right now actually and it is 1105 been asleep since 9:00. He wakes up about every 2 to 2.5 hours every night. I have tried everything we can think of and we are both (actually entire house) exhausted beyond belief. I keep thinking we will grow out of this, but it has been this way for the last 2 years. I am interested to see the responses you get because I need all the help and ideas I can get.
