Not Sleeping Through the Night - Hebron,NE

Hi my name is J. and I have a 2 year old son that also doesn't sleep through the night. He too usually wakes up 1-2 times a night and usually wants something to drink. I've tried ignoring him but he won't give up. The thought of ever having more children terrifies my husband because of the thought of more sleep deprivation. I don't have any solutions unfortunately but I just wanted to let you know you're not alone. It's comforting to know that there are other mothers of 2 year olds that are going through the same thing. I was starting to think there was something wrong him.

I think you have 2 options you could try. What about leaving a sippy of water near her bed for her to get herself? Tell her she is not to wake you- she can have a drink and go back to bed. If that doesn't work, you may have to let her cry it out. Since she is s little older, this may take awhile. If you consistently do not go to her, she will eventually learn that you are not coming in for her, and will go back to sleep. It could take a week or two before she sleeps through the night, though...

My son is almost 4 now and when he was your babies age we went threw the same horrible nights. We even went so far as to take him to a sleep specialist in Sioux Falls. He said that it may be from sleep apneia and when he catches himself not breathing properly he wakes up with a start and scares himself or it could be something that some children go threw till they are about 4. He described it like this. Its a big scary world to someone so small and full of wonder. My son will turn 4 in April and he is sleeping a lot better. It was a long hard road for a few years but it will more than likely get better. I am sorry for your lack of sleep & what your daughter is going threw. I know how you feel. Tired, very tired and if your like me a little guilty for feeling so bad cause its not your girls fault but its so hard on you. Hang in there.

hey, hi.you can try cammamile or warm milk,if that doesn't work then either warm up a blanket in the dryer or give your child a warm bath just befor bed with lavender baby bath and trust me one of three of these things i mentioned will work wonders for you by tonight.belive you me i have 5 kids and each child is a littel bit different.hope this helps lol.-K.

Hello. How long have you tried letting her cry when she wakes up? We didn't have trouble with our daughter sleeping through the night (she started that at 9 weeks), but later we had trouble getting her to go to sleep on her own so we started letting her cry it out. I would go in there every five minutes and lay her back down and say "it's time to go back to sleep" and she eventually got it. The first week was a little rough, but now she goes to sleep with no problem. It's hard, but you have to be tough and make sure they understand they are not going to get exactly what they want...especially at 230 am!

Have you tried only having Daddy get up with her at night if she responds better to him than you? Maybe if only he got up for a few nights it would break her cycle of crying out for you??? Or....another idea that I heard someone share at our Le Leche Meeting was to try leaving overnight for a night or two...then you are not there to give in when you can't take it...and it makes Dad have to do it. Not sure if either of these help...but thought I would share advise I heard given to another mom just a few days ago.

Good Luck

Hi, Our son (23 months) wakes every night wanting formula. He doesn't get it though (advice from a doctor). It does wear me out, being woken 2-3 times each night. I wish I had some advice to give you, but sorry I can't. For me it helps though knowing that I am not the only mother with this problem ... :-) A.

If you don't have a regular bedtime routine create one for her. Think about sending her to bed with a sippie cup with water in it, doing this will prevent her from having to wake anyone up and water is harmless other than having to go to the bathroom. Odds are with the second time she wakes up its because she hears mommy getting ready for work and curling up with daddy is a comfort thing. That will be something daddy has to deal with, he will either have to wake up and put her back to bed or something else. You could also consider if she has her own room leaving the door closed at night. I don't know if she knows how to open the door but if she doesn't and she isn't potty traiend yet that is an idea. You could also try to encourage her to self sooth and play quietly when she wakes up. I don't know a whole lot about your situation but I know with my daughter I put her to bed, she will wake up but we leave her alone in her room for about 10-15 minutes and she goes back to bed or plays quietly (we have her door closed and have a baby moniter in her room, we also give her a sippie cup with water in it for bed time) she isn't potty trained yet so this will be a problem later. Hope this helps.

We really liked the book The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Teaching You To Ask the Right Questions. Also, the baby whisperer has a toddler book. It helped us get our little guy (breastfed, multiple-time night-waker) to sleep through the night at 10-months!
Best of luck!
Also, wanted to mention that we tried something successful for weaning at night. First, we figured out when our guy usually woke for feedings. Then, we would set an alarm clock for 45 minutes or so before that to wake and feed him. This way, we were in control of the feedings. If he happen to wake before that, we'd simply put him back to sleep, then feed him at a time we chose. We taught our son that every time he woke up, he would go back to sleep (eventually, he began to put himself back to sleep upon waking). Once we were in control of the feedings, we gradually set them later and later until 2 feeding became one, and one became none. It really helped to separate the waking habbit from the desire for food and treat those issues separately. It sounds crazy to wake your child to teach them to sleep, but I think it's important for them to learn that when they wake in the night, they will get no reinforcement (no food, play time, attention, ect.) we will just help them back to sleep. Doc.s say they don't "need" food at night anymore after a certain point, but I imagine it takes quite a bit of getting used on their part--their used to always having something in their bellies and think they are hungry if they don't.
Hope this helps.
:) M.

We are dealing with the same issue with our 2 1/2 year old. She has never been a great sleeper. I am reading the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. It has helped us immensely and she has no problems now, except with the occasional "legs hurting", which the pediatrician says are growing pains. There are some really good tips in the book. Your child, like mine is referred to as a "Jack in the Box". They keep getting out of bed for various reasons, like water in your case. Hope this helps!

My daughter is the same way. So, i don't think i'll be of much help. Luckly, she will sleep with us, otherwise we wouldn't get any sleep. Like your's my daughter alway's wakes up needing a drink. We put her sippy cup in bed with her.

My husband and I are having the same problem with our 23 month old son. He now sneaks out of his big boy bed and sits by the door. Doesn't make a peep. I usually don't know he's up unless I'm up feeding our 4 week old daughter or I hear the sippy cup hit the door or wall. I tell him to go back to bed and he does, but won't stay there. The last couple nights he was up from 1 to 4:45a.m. was the last time I looked at the clock. We don't want to start having him sleep with us or have us sleep with him in his twin bed. I cave in and sleep with him on the floor because I'm getting really tired. We usually have our son down by 8:30. He wakes up couple times in the night. I don't know if he is having nightmares or what.I'm a stay at home mom of 2 children. I have a great husband who helps out sooooo much,but he gets up at 5:30 so I feel guilty having him get up just because I'm not working. I wish I had a solution for you. Sorry. I just wanted to reply to let you know you're not the only one going through this. Let me know what you find out.

I so get this. Mine is 4 and we still struggle a little. I resorted to bribery. I took her to WM and let her fill up the cart. I think the day I did this I was actually delirious from a combination of frustration and exhaustion. She picked about 10 things. And every night at bedtime we discussed my expectations. Unless she was sick or had to go potty- she was not to wake me up at night. Every time we had a success- she got to pick something from the basket. She eventually earned all of them. HOWEVER- it didn't end there. Last week- she woke me up for no good reason & the next morning I took one of the items away. And she had to earn it back.

My daughter has never been a good sleeper. Good luck to you- I hope you get some sleep!

We too put a sippy cup in bed with our child. But even then he will try to get more and so on ... I found it to be a rouse... So now I get down and tell him, "no more we are out and you will have to wait til morning. I love you, now it's nite nite time." Now he's learned he'll get no more and will only really get up if he's truely thirsty.
Her reponse to when it's just your husband seems to say that she is not really in need of a drink but maybe more so needing to know your there or someone is there. More of a comfort thing. She seems to know your husband isn't about to get out of bed. Maybe look at it as what has she trained you to do. And what she needs in order to get past this. My husband put a few things that way to me and it got me to realize that our children tend to train us as well as we train them. Anyways... good luck

sleep somewhere else and let your husband deal with her for a week or so. Then she won't rely on you anymore.

Have you tried leaving a sippy cup or a cup of water in her bedroom? I have the same problem, my daughter is also 2. The difference is she sleeps with us and wakes up wanting to nurse, we have been giving her water instead and stroking her hair until she falls back to sleep, which takes about 5-10 minutes.

If you are getting up with her to get the water, Try not to turn on any lights, don't make any noise, don't even talk. We have made that mistake before when she used to wake up at 2am to play. I think kids see bright lights, and talking as daytime activities, so it may accidentally encourage them to wake up. That's in my own experience anyhow. Good Luck!

C., hello. I had this problem with my son. He would wake up for his bottle. It was tough but I quit giving it to him when he would wake up in the middle of the night. We had a few miserable nights and then he was fine. If she's waking up just for a drink and not a bottle, you could try sitting a sippy cup with water in it beside her bed. Then, when she wakes up she can get a drink and go right back to sleep.

Hi C.
If the real reason she is waking up is for a drink. If you put a sippy cup in bed or somwhere she can reach it. She should not need to wake you up any longer.:) good Luck T.

I feel for ya. I don't think I have any really good advice other than - this will pass. My 2 are 3 and 5 and just in the last few months have we gotten our routine down. My 5 yr old FINALLY stays in his bed all night :-) (applause) My 3 yr old however, still crawls into bed w/ us. I try - but I get too tired! - to just guide her back to her bed, give her a little rub and she goes back to sleep. I try to be sure and leave her calm but not asleep because it is important for her to learn to put herself to sleep. She's got to come around some time! :-) They will. "kids are worth it" afterall and if you stick to your guns, they will learn. Routine is important, being consistent is important. Wish I had better advice, but mine have never been good sleepers either!

I'm sorry to say this, but in my experience, kids who are frequent night wakers have a tendency to stay that way for awhile. Maybe it would help for you to ask yourself what you can do to minimize the effects on you rather than what you could do to get her to sleep straight through the night. I've been through this with my kids (am going through it!) and it really helped me to redefine the problem--accept the waking and look at what I could do to manage it. It took off this layer of stress I was feeling every night when my daughter woke up.

Anyway, some suggestions:
-Get your daughter a night light that she can turn on and off herself. (or maybe something like the Cloud B Twilight Ladybug or the soothing seas aquarium). Show her how to turn it on and give her some books and a sippy cup of water. Tell her that if she wakes up at night, she can turn on her light, drink some water, and go back to sleep. (You can also tell her she can look at her books if she wants, if you think that this would help). Practice this during the day and remind her before she goes to bed. Probably at first she'll still come to get you. Take her back to bed, remind her about the light and getting her own water, and go back to bed. Repeat. If possible, trade nights of taking her back to bed with your husband so you get some nights of uninterrupted sleep.

-Put a mattress or sleeping bag on the floor in your room. Tell her that if she absolutely can't fall asleep in her own room, she can come lay down on the mattress in yours without waking you up. My oldest daughter loved this.

-No matter what you try, trade off nights with your husband and get yourself some earplugs so you can sleep through it.

I would tell her that now that she is a big girl she is expected to sleep through the night. Tell her you know this can be hard so together find things that she can do when she wakes up. Get her a special lovey to hold. Put a glass of water by her bed for her own use. Make a chart that after 5 nights of making it on her own you'll go out for a special breakfast or buy some pj's or something. Try a new nightlight or flashlight. Then just stop going in once you've set the rules. She expects you to come running. You need to empower her to take care of herself and then break your habit. Try it on a weekend :)After a couple of nights it will be better. Tell her how proud you are of her for trying - be positive and encouraging. She can do it!

Have you tried giving her a cup of water when she goes to bed then she wont need to get you up.