My almost-2 yo daughter has been having some "off" nights lately. Maybe twice a week, sometimes three nights, she really struggles to go to sleep quickly at night. It's not an issue as far as power struggle, we have laid down clear limits as far as throwing things out of the crib, etc. The part that worries me is that especially on these nights, and even on her easy nights sometimes, she will take her blanket sleeper off right before she falls asleep. She is still a very squirmy sleeper, and so wiggles out from under blankets while she is asleep; I worry about her getting cold at night, especially with winter coming. I don't have the heater set very high (70-72 during the day), and I turn it down to about 66-67 at night. She also has the coldest room in the house, so I don't know if she is just a human heater (like her dad!) or if this is a behavior issue. I just don't want her waking up cold at night (which she has only done a couple times), but her feet and legs are freezing cold in the morning! Should I just let it go since she doesn't seem to be bothered by the cold and waking up?
An additional note: the "blanket sleeper" I am referring to is a fleece footed pajama that zips up in front. She has figured out the zipper and can get out of it on her own. She also takes socks off if we put those on her.
Thank you all for your helpful responses! I think this is just my little girl's way of exerting control over her environment; we give her a choice of which blanket sleeper to wear, or if she doesn't want to wear one, and the funny thing is she will always choose to wear it. And even on nights she has a hard time going to sleep, she will settle down pretty much as soon as the sleeper is off. I've decided to not make a big deal of it and scratch that off the "worry list" since she doesn't seem to be getting too cold to sleep.
We had one who didn't like them. We compromised and he sleeps in cozy jammies (no feet) with socks. #2 seems to have the same preference. You can get really cozy jammies at great clearance at the end of the season. For now, I was just at Gymboree today and they were having a huge sale (40-50%) off winter stuff. We typically have gotten our jammies at The Children's Place, but I would think you could get them almost anywhere.
I think as long as she has on warm jammies (footed fleece jammies or similar), she's probably fine. That's all my 17 month old sleeps in. I didn't move my other two up to twin beds til they were almost 3, so I don't know if I'd suggest that yet. Yeah, I'd put a thermostat in her room to see how cold it really is. Seems like 67-68 is a nice temperature for sleeping.
I like the safety pin idea.
Try talking to her. Ask her why she takes her jammies off. It's amazing what you might find out. Or she may not answer, but you can try, right? Tell her that she sure gets cold in the night without her jammies, and ask her to leave them on. It's worth a shot.
You may want to try a tee shirt and comfy pants if you think the problem could be the actual pajamas. If that works better, you can get her some two-piece thermal pj's. Maybe if you let her pick them out, she'll leave them on.
Good luck!
68 is the ideal overall for anyone to sleep in, not too warm and cool enough to get peaceful sleep.
Cooler rooms provide easier breathing too.
I say maybe it is time to consider a big kid bed, twin bed with a rail. If she is throwing things out to get your attention, leave it on the floor.
Layer her at night with a tshirt, loose sweat type pants and a feetie jammie over top. She should be more then comfortable with those and not need anything else.
Keep socks on under the feetie jammies if you are really worried about her feet.
If she isn't bothered by it, don't you be. Your stress is seeping onto her and it becomes a power struggle.
Put her to bed after the bedtime ritual and walk away.
Keep a thermometer in her room to gauge what temp it is truly in her room.
Mine thermostat is at 65 during the day and at 68 at night and upstairs is colder if the temp is cold at night due to the slope in our roofline. At about 65 with jammies, blankets layered my kids sleep fine. I put both of mine in twin beds by about 2 anyway and at 4 and 7 they sleep better if it is around 67 degrees it seems. They are all snuggled under their covers though my seven year old daughter I have to cover her back up before I go to bed. She also will cover herself back up if she gets out of the covers.
Keep it down during the day, you don't need to waste your electric bill on heating during the day with the sun and them being more active either. Keeping it at 68 all winter will save you a lot of money.
Layer her, leave her be or put her in a big kid bed with a rail. Don't worry, if she is cold she will let you know! :)
With those sleepers that zip up the front once they figure out the zipper, off they come. I would suggest using a safety pin to pin the zipper at the top. If you pin the zipper to the side of the pjs, then they can't get the zipper down and hence the jammies stay on. We have done this with 5 of our 6 kids. Good luck.
J.
I just got my kids two peice fleece jammies at Target--Carter's brand-- that are really warm. If your daughter doesn't like being zipped into her jammies (maybe she feels trapped?) you could try the two peice kind. Good luck!
Hi K.. Totally understand the situation. My daughter will be 3 next month and she does this ALL the time!
We've just moved to Montana from Tucson. Big change in weather! So she needs to sleep in footie jammies, too. She, however, has discovered the ability to strip off and is VERY fond of being able to remove her clothes. So - she does. I usually just go in her room after she's asleep and re-dress her. I usually turn the hall light on and use the light from there. Then she's dressed and I don't have to worry about it.
It's just a control thing. Not like she's trying to take control from you - she's figured out she can control her clothes! And, how much fun is THAT?? I know it concerns you - it concerns me, too. But, if you can just put the pj's back on before you go to bed she'll be fine. I've been doing if for over a year with my silly girl! And her older sister did it too. It's a phase, and eventually it will go away.
