Sleep Training for Our 2 Year Old

HI D.,

As an Infant/Child Sleep Consultant, I get this question a LOT. You're definitely not alone. There are several different options for getting him to sleep through the night in his own bed, and I believe that you could have him doing so in just a few short nights with some hard work.

First, make sure you are clear on your goal and that both you and your husband are on the same page. Then, determine that you will go to him, but imit the amount of interaction...let him know that he is ok, and then sit near his bed, but give him little to no eye contact. Gradually, over the next few days, sit further and further away from his bed while he is going back to sleep. You can also begin to give rewards and encourage attachment to another object/blanket, etc. that he can use when going back to sleep.

There are also some other techniques that you can use to reset his sleep cycles and break the habitual wakings...go in about 30 minutes before his normal wake time. Gently cause him to wake slightly (resetting his sleep cycle) and then let him go back to sleep. A couple of nights of this will reset his sleep cycle and allow him the ability to sleep through his habitual wakings.

Hope this helps.

A. C.
www.babyyouconsulting.com

Could he be getting a new tooth or has he been ill? Does he have a night light in his room? I like the previous post about sitting farther and farther away each night. I used it with my oldest and it works, but takes work on your part. Is he old enough to understand a reward system? He gets a treat for staying in his bed all night? My son is, also, 2 and would not understand a reward, but an older 2 year old might. Good luck!

We solved the problem by putting a twin mattress in our room. Then we set up a mommy/daddy play room in another area of the house with locks on the door. We would lay down with the kids for a few minutes upstairs then go downstairs for a few hours. If we were in the mood we used our other room. When the kids would wake up at night they would go back to sleep without any problems. That only lasted for a while and now they are in their own rooms.

Our son is 2 years 4 months and in the past two weeks he refuses to go to sleep at night! He's been in a toddler bed for about 4 weeks and sometimes has no problem going to sleep at night, but since changing classrooms at daycare (he moved up to the potty training room but is not potty training yet) he's developing a habit of just playing at night. It doesn't matter if we sit in his room or not, he's not going to sleep. He was up until 11:00 last night! That is absolutely ridiculous but nothing we tried got him to sleep. If we sat in there with him or in his doorway, he would stay in bed and just play and flip flop...for hours.

Has something happened in the last month or however long he has been doing this? Has someone died, or he gotten a new babysitter, or something that he might feel is traumatic?
There should be a reason. Normally kids who are just as active as they have always been don't go on for long without sleeping normally again.
You can try to get him to do more exercise while he is awake. And maybe before bed time. Does he take a nap? Maybe you can shorten it or do away with it all together.
You don't say how hold he is.......but can you try to talk to him to see why he wakes up. Dreams? or Nightmares?
Good Luck, I know how awful it is to go without sleep. And no knowing what the issue is doesn't help.
Oh, you might also try video taping him while he sleeps to see if you can find out why.