My 2 year old finally is sleeping through the night as of last week (yes--he's never slept through till now. We did the chair by the bed then further away...he was extremely agreeable-very few tears). He goes to bed around 6 and is up at 5. (He won't sleep past 5--no matter how late he goes to sleep!!) Well, the past few nights he's been up around 3:30 screaming "Yuck" to indicate a dirty diaper. It is and I go in to change it, but he won't go back to sleep. Today was the worst--he screamed for over an hour. (I went to his gated door and said our key phrase, "It's time to sleep." but it didn't help. He probably would have gone back to sleep if I laid down with him... But since that's what we spent the last weeks getting out of, I don't want to. (Plus, I have a 7 week old to care for.) ) I don't know how to fix the issue. I can't not change his diaper; and he's really not ready for potty. (A dirty diaper doesn't always bother him during the day.) I need some advice on how to handle this situation. BTW-it's not in any of the sleep training books I have and I have many! :)
hi C.,
how about thinking about diaper training him. i remember mom tell me that i could go without diaper,when i was 9 or 10 month old.
there was a theory about diaper training a 18 months old in 3 days. maybe you can find on babycenter.com.
hope it helps. good luck.(by the way i have two boys my own)
I know this can't be the easiest situation but it can be remedied.
Your 2 year old is ready for potty training. Any child that can clearly indicate his diaper is full can be taught to use the toilet.
With the introduction of the new baby, your two year old may be feeling a little left out in the middle of the night especially since he has just begun adjusting to being not so close.
Keep the lights out or extremely low the nighttime activities, reduce fluid intake a few hours prior to going to bed. Introduce going to the bathroom before going to bed, this may reduce the need to urinate in the middle of the night.
Be loving and consistent with the methods you are using that are working for getting him to bed and to stay in bed. Try some of the new advice you will be given. The tools you have to use the quicker this situation can be positively and effectively resolved. He is probably testing your resolve and his limits with you since he is two as well.
Hopefully this information is helpful to you.
Hey C.,
When you change him do not engage him in any conversation, keep the lights low, and just put him back in his crib. You can do what you did initially to get him to sleep again sit in a chair by the door and just keep repeating it's time for sleep. I know your tired but I think if you can suffer though a few early mornings he will get back on track. I wouldn't start laying down with him because as you said you will be right back to square one. Good luck!!
Dear Cat,
Well considering he wakes at 5 am
I think that 330 is reasonable.
Hard for you tho.
I would try putting him down at 730 instead.
this way he should sleep later.
If you keep letting him wake up at 330 it'll become a routine, which i am sure is the last thing you need.
But if you let him stay up a little later, it will be easier to switch back to your old routine later.
Plus he should sleep a bit longer.
M
6 pm is very early for a 2 year old to be going to sleep in my opinion. I have three children and none of them have ever gone down for the night at that time. If my almost 2 year old now does, I know he is going to be up at 10 and ready to party. LOL
While he won't stay asleep past 5 so you don't see a reason to put him to bed later than 6, why not move his bedtime up by the hour and a half he is getting up wet? Put him to bed at 7:30 and when he wakes up at 5 because his diaper is wet, it is when he would have gotten up anyhow.
Seems like a pretty easy fix to me...now I'd be curious if it worked. ;)
He knows the baby gets you in the middle of the night. A lot of times they will regress when there is a new baby. Don't be alarmed. When my oldest was 14 months we went to visit her fathers family, and there was a baby in the house. She was off the bottle and doing so well, but she was jealous of the baby and she dragged out his little knip knap.... those old fashioned baby seats you would sit on the table to put the newborn in to sit up, and had his bottle, sitting in the knip knap sucking away, and everytime you turned around she had stolen his pacifier and was sucking on it. They miss thier one on one time with Mom, and don't understand that the baby can not fend for themselves. They don't remember being that small and are quite frankly jealous. Good Luck.
My son is 19 months old and has always been a great sleeper at night. Like yours, his natural sleep pattern is early-to-bed, early-to-rise (although we are on a 7pm-6am type schedule, so a bit later than your son).
Every now and then, he wakes up ridiculously early. And is simply not tired any more. We've tried a lot of things to get him back to sleep, with no success, so we've decided just to listen to him... he's just not tired. We let him get up and play (my husband and I tag team being up with him) and we are all exhausted the next day. But that day he'll nap well and go to sleep a little early and is usually back on track.
I know it's a different situation since my son has been a good sleeper and yours just started sleeping through the night. But if he has an occassional wake up super early day, maybe that's just him letting you know he got enough sleep the day before.
What time do you have dinner if he goes to bed a 6? Try either feeding him dinner earlier or putting him to bed later and limit his liquid intake. If he drinks less, he will pee less. Also try overnight diapers since they hold more and he wont feel so wet.
You mention that you can't change him and he's not ready for potty training. Why can't you change him? Would you like to try to sleep with wet pants? He's not a baby anymore, he's a toddler and they can understand that being wet is uncomfortable. How do you know he's not ready? He's 2 years old, which is the usually time of potty training. I do think you do have your hands full with a baby and a toddler at the same time. It's a lot of demands on you as a mom, so I think you're an amazing mom. The sooner you get your son potty trained, the easier it will be for you so you'll only have one diaper to change instead of two. You also need to enlist your hubby in helping to take care of both your babies. Maybe your hubby could change your son's diaper while you get the baby back to sleep? Your hubby needs to show your son that going to the potty just like Daddy is good and better than wearing diapers.
I changed to the Huggies Overnight Diapers for night time a few weeks ago. My son was 2 in Feb. They hold a lot more so he is more comfortable and not waking up with a diaper that leaked everywhere.
Good Luck! We just got our 2 year old sleeping thru the night also!
My daughter is 2 1/2 yo and she just transfered to a big bed. I am also 34 weeks pregnant and changing the bed KILLS my back. she goes to to bed about 7:30pm and will sleep until about 7am. I go in about 11pm (just before I go to bed) and change her diaper right in the bed. And I check on her again between 3 and 5 am (depends on what time I have to hit the bathroom) and if her diaper is wet change her again. It wakes her up only slightly and she goes right back to sleep. It prevents a leaky diaper and wet bed and keeps her comfortable as well. You have a 7 week old so you are probably awake at some crazy hour anyway. How about changing his diaper then (if wet)and see if it helps. Just letting you know what works for us. Good Luck. A.
My best advice is RELAX and don't overthink this situation...it will correct itself soon enough...children go through patterns/changes especially with big changes going on around them(baby/moving/death)...I have 5 boys, the first 4 in 4 years and 2years later the 5th(he's going to be three at the end of the summer)and they've all done this...wake up and had to pee or be changed...needed water or comforting in the middle of the night, it lasts for a week or so and just when i think i'm going to pull out all my hair I wake up the next morning and realize the lil bugger slept through the night :) and BTW my lil one is potty trained and has been for several months...so if yours is showing signs he could be ready...
Hi C.. I have a son who will be 2 in August, and I change him before I go to bed. He stays sleeping for this, so I guess it would depend if your son would stay asleep. Even if it's only 2 hours after he goes down, it's enough that his diaper is not totally soaked in the morning. Good luck!
Try preemptive pottying. Get him while he's still sleeping a couple of hours after he goes to bed and sit him on the potty/toilet. Don't wake him up, but make a ssss sound like the sound of water. After he pees it should be easy to settle him back to sleep without much effort. Once he wakes up enough to call out to you, you have to start all over like you do putting him down in the evening.
BTW, just because your son isn't always bothered by a dirty diaper, doesn't mean he isn't ready for the potty. He has been trained for 2 years to ignore his eliminations, now it's going to take time to for him to reconnect to them. I would start having him try to use the potty in the morning, after meals, after bath and before bedtime.
I feel your pain! I have a 3 year old and a 5 month old and it is really rough adding the second baby. My 3 year old is giving us hell at bedtime and naptime rather than the middle of the night but it is such an exhuasting battle.
I have been trying to get my 3 year old used to the potty for nearly a year and he is still stuck halfway potty trained. But he does fine at peeing in the potty at bedtime which is how we started. You could try overnight diapers or pullups or Goodnights or adding a diaper doubler. At this point my son is so big the Goodnights work best for us. Someone else suggested this but change him in his sleep either when you got to bed or whenever you get up with the baby. I have dealt with many bedwetters and usually the first step is trying to take them to the bathroom 1-2 hours after they go to bed (sometimes that is all it takes). Anwyay, good luck getting throught the transition to 2 kids.
