I was hoping someone had some ideas on how to get my two boys to sleep through the night. They are 2 and 3 1/2 years old. The have their own bedrooms, I've used white noise since they were born, they both nap for about 2 hours, they both have bedtime routines...we've always given a bath, pajamas and read 2 books before bed. They typically fall alseep ok but get out of bed during the night. I need some sleep! Any ideas would be great. Thanks
Thanks for all the great advice. I'm working on it. When they get out of bed I put them right back. I have cut down the naps, I still think my 2 year old needs to nap- he gets awful cranky with out it, even if I put him down late for a nap he gets over tired and won't go down. Thanks again.
Hi S.,
Perhaps it would be an idea to make the day nap a little shorter? And also to tell the boys to go right back to bed when they do get up in the night, and show them you are not happy about waking up. This way it will not be rewarding for them to come out? Maybe?
Goodluck!
Hi
I had this happen to my 3 year old boy will be 4 in August.
Around the age of 2 1/2 or so he wouldn't sleep though the night so I stopped giving him a nap during the day now he sleeps though the night. I know some kids really need to nap but if you need to maybe an hour but not any longer. Try it, it may work it did for me.
Good luck
T.
S.,
This is an easy one. Your children are very smart and you're stimulating their brains by reading right before bedtime. Try reading and then bath time. :)
Definetly KEEP the naps. Young children's brains need the rest to help avoid hyperactivity. Fact is, take advantage and get your nap at the same time too!
Hi S.....
One of the things that I've found that works even now with my 7 year old is having a routine. That way they know what to expect and it's like they're ready for it. One of the things we include in the routine is reading a story before bed. It helps her to wind down. Now that she's old enough she reads to me, but when she was younger reading to her always helped calm her down. I let her have dessert at night, so she can choose between ice cream, fat free pudding, popsicles, fruit, whatever....depends on how much she's eaten that day, the timing, how well behaved she's been etc. Plus I don't want her to get into the habit of eating before bed every night, so if she hasn't been behaving, that's the first thing to go, including if she didn't go to bed well the night before. It works really well. Sometimes not reading a story also works, but I like to try to keep up with that because she really enjoys it and now has a great love of reading and is above average in her class.
Hope this helps!!
R.
Hi S.,
Have you happened to catch any of the episodes of Supernanny? It seems her technique for children getting out of bed at night is to quietly walk them back to their bed and continue putting them into bed without conversation until they realize there is nothing to get out of bed for. Unfortunately, it seems like a long process throughout the night since these kids on the show seem to get up about 20 times and did not fall to sleep for almost 2 hrs.
Good luck!
I think taking away the 3.5yr old's nap and cutting down the 2yr old's to only 1-1.5hrs will do the trick. I did this w/ my 4yr old daughter & 2yr old son recently and now we don't have to battle them every night at bedtime & they sleep through the night. Try it for a week and see if it helps....
I just went through this with my 2yr old. I tried everything the one thing that worked was accupressure. She still naps for 2hrs a day. Keep the naps they are important and if you'd like I can give you my accupressurists name she's wonderful with children.
drop their naps.. they will be miserable for a few days, but then will sleep better..
ditch the naps!!! or at least cut them in half... that usually works...
