Toddler Sleep Issues - Morrisville,PA

Routines are helpful. But it's important that the routine be the right one for your child. When you determined his routine, did you watch him for a few days, follow his cues and then develop a routine based on his needs? Or did you decide on a routine and just start using it? If it was the latter, it's possible this simply isn't the right routine for your son.

Every child is different, and it's important to recognize your son's needs. Your son is at the age where he would probably do well with just one nap each day. Learning his cues is very important. Don't try to put him to bed because the clock says a certain time. Watch him. When he starts to yawn or rub his eyes, that's the time to bring him into your lap to read a book before putting him down.

Falling asleep in the car is extremely common at his age. In fact, many parents use the car to get their children to go to sleep. I don't think he's "trying to fall asleep in the car." If he gets sleepy in the car, it's because he's tired.

It sounds like you aren't paying attention to your child's natural sleep habits. If you could start noticing his pattern, you'll be better able to find the right routine.

ETA - I hear what you're saying in your SWH. There are other signs of a child being tired. I was trying to find some on-line, but all I could find were signs of being overtired. Maybe someone else knows?

Is he going to sleep at bedtime without too much trouble? If he is and he still gets up early, maybe he's going to bed earlier than he needs to. But if he is showing signs of being overtired, maybe he needs to go to bed earlier (I know it sounds crazy, but it could really help).

If it's just the waking in the middle of the night, that's a different story. That's actually totally normal, too. We just let our kids come into our bed. It's a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes, but we wanted our kids to know that they were always safe with us, even at night. Also, even though the sleep we got when they came into our bed wasn't as good as the sleep we had before they got there, it was still better than getting up with them or trying to make them go back to sleep. And it didn't last long. They both stopped coming into our bed when they were ready. And they are both excellent sleepers now (at 9 and almost 12).

My kids didn't sleep through the night until they were able to put themselves to sleep.

That was the key.

I didn't realize that with my first. He was on a routine and I also nursed him to sleep. Big mistake.

With my others, I would nurse, then not put down. I waited till their eyes were droopy and then laid them down then. They will droop (trust me). I just read your SWH. I totally agree with Gidget.

You have to get him on his own sleep schedule. That's why he's waking.

The thing is, everyone wakes at night. We all just go back to sleep without fully waking so we're not aware. A baby who is put to sleep wakes. It's like an adult who uses TV to go to sleep. If that adult wakes at night, they often need TV to go back again. It becomes a habit for some (you hear of those insomniacs). Same idea.

So it's about learning to nod off without anything.

Once they can do that, you might have do a bit of shhh for a few nights. Far easier than cry it out.

If you need to cuddle, that works too. I would lay with one of mine at nap time - just to get him used to falling asleep on his own, and then I would get up and let him sleep. Did same at bedtime, and leave. Over time, I just would stay in room and put laundry away, etc.

You didn't say what time you put him down for the night. You might be putting him down too early and he might be hungry or thirsty as well. I know my youngest we a bad sleeper. And we had to make sure he had a snack right before bed or he would wake up. He also was NEVER a good nap taker. The daycare got to a point that they told him he had to lay there still sometimes he would sleep and sometimes he would not. (And being still didn't always happen either)

get a swing or a noise machine

Alright if the kid is falling asleep during the day,in addition to napping,they are not getting enough sleep,but they arefighting it...thing to do is say,ok..reading is part of your bedtime routine,you don't sleep,so I don't read to you.then put all their books in a box and walk away.at this point,they will change their mind,and you will get some sleep...more later.i know this sounds dragonian, but it does work..our daughter fought sleep as a toddler, but would fall asleep in the middle of the day, but then refuse to sleep at night..so, I put her bedtime books in a box..and waited..sure enough, she changed her mind, brought me a book and asked me to read to her..she fell asleep in my lap. a few days later, she started fighting sleep again..this time, I took her rocking chair that she would fall asleep in, out of her bedroom....I said, you are not using it..its gonna stay in the living room till you change your mind..she changed her mind. its really all about removing the things the child has come to associate with sleep..but doesn't realize it. and when you take the sleepy time items out of the picture, the child says..wait a minute..i changed my mind..which is exactly what you need the child to do so you get finally get some sleep

Routine and structure work for children. Sometimes that gets off kilter and things get out of whack them the routine you don't like sets in.

My daughter, now 23, had some sleep issues about that age after having a regular routine and structure.

My pedi advised me to use Benedryl 3 nights in a row to jump start that routine we had vs the new routine from waking. This helped us get back on track.

Of course, you need to check with your pedi first and make sure there are no other underlying issues before treatment.

Good luck!

I have a 3.5 year old that was never a good sleeper. It was only in the last few months that she began sleeping through the night more nights than not. We have had a similar routine since 18 months. We tried everything. Cry it out would lead to such frustration she would vomit. Putting her down drowsy didn’t work, she woke back up. Co sleeping helped some, but was not good for the rest of us. At 2.5 we put her in a full size bed with pool noodles under the sheets to keep her from rolling out. When she woke I would lay down and calm her back to sleep. Sometimes I would fall asleep there. Not what I had envisioned for our family but we get more sleep this way. I still lay down with her to get her to sleep, but after a few minutes she is asleep, and I leave and for the most part she sleeps through the night. I wish I had a great fix for you, other than she grew out of it. Just as I know eventually she will grow out of my putting her to sleep.

We recently bought a toddler clock that changes color when it’s time to get up. That helped with the very early wake ups. She knows she needs to wait to call for someone until she has a green light. Best of luck.

Nap when he naps.
Or hire a sitter so you can catch a few hours sleep.

Toddler sleep can be pretty crazy.
I almost think the need to be near adults during the night comes from some instinct from our cave man days.
Unattended young in the wild is prey.
Toddlers that stuck close to adults tended to survive.

Can you put a sleeping bag next to your bed?
If he wakes up in the night - see if he'll settle down and sleep on the sleeping bag.
Just being near you might be enough to calm him down.

For our son - he got smart.
He learned if he woke us up in the night - we'd always take him back to his room.
So - he stopped waking us up - and just came into our room and tucked himself in at the foot of our bed.
We'd wake up and find him sleeping there - usually holding onto my foot.
When he started doing that - we all got more sleep.
It took him quite awhile before he stopped doing that - I think he was about 3 1/2 before he regularly spent the whole night in his own bed.

They do out grow it eventually.
Hang in there!