Seeking Help to Find Sleep Solutions for My 3 y.o.

Unofortunately I have also experienced it! I posted a couple of months ago with the same issue and responded to a post just a couple of weeks ago about the same thing! So....if nothing else, at least you're not alone! It seems to be very common in kiddos age 3 to 4. I dealt with it for nearly 6 months and tried EVERYTHING! We are finally back on track, but I would not call her a good sleeper. Though I tried everything, I really think it was "time" that actually solved the problem. I did get her a new mattress and pillow the day she finally slept through the night...but I am calling that a coincidence! I don't have any advice for you, just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and you will eventually sleep again!

I used to be a bad sleeper when I was little and I still am. Whenever I would wake up in the middle of the night, I used to go get my mom because I needed her to help me fall back to sleep. I didn't know how to do it on my own. I remember when I was like 5 or 6, my mom was so tired of getting up with my sister and I that she got us each a calendar. For each night that we didn't wake her up, she put a sticker on the date for that day. At the end of the month, we each got a surprise or something. I'm not big on rewards, but it may be worth a try for something like this.

Also, if you do decide to try this, it would probably have to be altered for her age, like at the end of a week instead of a whole month.

Kids this age really have a great imagination. It may be that she is having scary dreams or that her imagination wanders when she wakes up and can't fall back to sleep. Make sure she is not watching any TV at night, as this can lead to bad dreams for some kids, even if the show doesn't seem scary.

Best wishes!

We have had similar problems so you are not the only one in this frustrating situation, but I don't have a solution. In fact I'm a bad role model for kids' sleeping habits. My now 10 year old would do exactly what your daughter does when she was three. I finally went to a sleep specialist (7 years ago) at St. Luke's Sleep Medicine Center. The nurse there spent about 2 hours talking with me about our family dynamics and sleep issues with our daughter. It was covered by insurance and I had to pay a $20 specialist co-pay. She worked out a very detailed, personalized plan for us. I recommend the sleep specialist (I can give you her name), but 7 years later my 10 y/o and 6 y/o still don't like sleeping in their own rooms and would prefer to sleep with a sibling which we let them do. It's a long story, but I just wanted you to know that I've been in your situation and still am with older kids. Oh well, I just do what I can do to get a good night's sleep myself, otherwise I'm really crabby. Good luck.

Hi E.,
My experience with my son not sleeping through the night made me try a couple things. 1) Have you considered rearranging a bed/or room? 2) This worked for me a purchased a musical mobile with sleepytyme type music turned down really low. Or, once you get her to sleep, and she wakes up-then place her back and turn the music on. Rubbing their backs after placing them back in bad with the music worked for me also. Do consider the positioning of her bed arrangement. Good Luck!

My 3 almost 4 yr old daughter is doin this she slept in our bed until about 10 months ago now shes gettin up talkin in her sleep and even goin out doors i take her back to her bed and she goes rite back to sleep but this goes on every nite 2 or 3 times and i have 2 other children.i dont have any suggestions but i do know what its like

My son is almost three and used to sleep just fine until he turned 2. Since then we've been cosleeping with him. He started being "scared" at night he said. I figure he'll move to his own bed when he's ready. Of course, I'm an attachment parent, and I'm for cosleeping from infantcy and against cry it out at any age. I don't really have any advice to get her back in bed b/c of the way I have our son, but we're moving to a new place soon, and I'm getting him a twin bed, and he seems excited to get his own "big boy" bed soon, so I think he'll decide to sleep on his own then. Good luck with whatever you do though. :)

We've had a diffcult time getting our son to stay in bed since he could crawl out of his crib. Now that he is 3, I had enough and had to come up with some way to keep him in bed at bedtime, and through the night. So, I came up with an egg trick. He loved his eggs at Easter, so I took that idea and modified it. First I made a sign with his sleep rules (from the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book) and we go over those every night, (1) Close our eyes (2) Stay in Bed (3) Be Very Quiet (4) Go to sleep. Then I have 10 eggs with 2 M&M's each. I know candy isn't the best, but it's his favorite candy and I was pretty desperate. Good news is, he usually doesn't even remember the candy the next day. I put the eggs in a clear bowl on top of his dresser so he can see them. I tell him that every time he gets out of bed, he loses an egg. The first couple of nights, he lost all of them. However, when he finally fell asleep, I would sneak one back so that he got something for finally going to sleep and help him understand the idea. Then for the sleeping thorugh the night, I put a digital clock in his room and covered up the minutes with tape so he could just see the hour. I explained that he could come up to mommy and daddy's room when his clock said a 6. Then he could cuddle with us for a little bit before getting ready for the day. If he got out of bed earlier, we would take him back to his room and take an egg away. We would stay very consistent. Within a week, he would stay in bed at bedtime, and sleep through the night in his own bed. He HATES losing an egg. Also, when taking him back to his bed, we were not "forceful". We gently put him back in his bed, gave him kisses, and said goodnight, but would say, "you've lost an egg, you need to stay in bed so you don't lose another one" and take an egg and leave. He would always say "don't take an egg!" but you have to stay consistent for anything to work. Then I would give him all the eggs he kept the next day and he would be so excited. This method worked very well with very little crying for a very head strong little boy who hated going to sleep. Hopefully this helps and you can modify this idea for your little girl!

I have not had this problem, but I know several friends who have. They put a sleeping bag on the floor and let their child sleep there. The rule was if she wants to come in she has to sleep on the floor. Apparently, giving the child some control does the trick. It only lasts a little while and they stay in their own bed. Everyone sleeps better too.
Good luck