My 28 month old daughter is about ready to drive me to pure exhaustion. At least 2-3 times a week for the past couple of months she wakes up in the middle of the night. Sometime she cries (and we try to reassure her and put her back to bed), but most of the time she plays and talks. Loudly. And bangs on the wall separating our rooms. I took her to the doctor once, thinking maybe there was a physical reason for her nighttime sleeplessness, but the doctor told me she was just fine and also advised me to ignore her when she does this. So we have, especially when she plays. It doesn't seem to work. Last night she woke up at 3:30 am and was up until 6:30. Finally I gave up and got her up and she fell asleep in the recliner. Has anyone else ever experienced this?? What should I do? I'm desperate for some advice! I can't seem to find anything online that even begins to relate to my situation. Thanks in advance!
Thanks for all your responses! We are still working through our sleeping dilemma. We have moved her toddler bed so that it faces away from the wall, and we have eliminated her night light. These haven't helped, but they definitely can't hurt. We are also working on putting her on a new sleeping schedule. We have moved her naptime forward from 7 to 8 pm., and we are now going to start waking her up at the same time every morning, regardless of how long she stays awake at night. I run a home daycare, so cutting out her nap completely just won't suffice (and Mommy needs a break :-) ), but I'm not letting her sleep beyond 1 1/2 hours. Hopefully, within a week or so, we'll be back on track! Again, thank for all the great advice!
I think she has to poop or is she constipated and I am also thinking she is having spells of reflux that is why she can fall asleep in the recliner sitting up. I am glad yo took her to the dr but this would not show on an exam it needs symptoms like nighttime waking and sleeping sitting up etc.
Could she be hungry or thirsty??
good luck
J.
My daughter did the same thing around the same age. It eventually stopped but it went on for a good month and a half. I would have to go in and put her back to bed and tell her it was still night time and she needed to sleep until she saw the sunlight. I was very lucky that she almost always listened to me. Don't worry, eventually she will "grow out of it" and you will get some uninterrupted sleep again. Good luck!!
We had a similar situation and what turned out to be the solution is something I never would have guessed for our daughter's age; a bigger bed. Our toddler used to get up and play her musical toys, then come into our room to sleep when she was done. We moved her out of the crib at 15 months (crib tents did not work for us) and into a toddler bed. Our little girl is very tall for her age and not long after her second birthday, she was complaining that her toddler bed was not big enough. It got to be that she would only sleep in our (king size) bed for naps and at night. I assumed it was just not wanting to be alone and resisted getting a bigger bed thinking she would jump on it, hurt herself, etc. Our crib coverted to a full size bed and I made the change about 6 weeks ago. For the first time in more than 30 months, she slept through the night--every night.
She won't even consider sleeping in our bed or anywhere else, only her bed. I couldn't buy this much sanity. I took her to Target for bed linens and let her pick out the "bed in a bag" and not only does she sleep in her own bed every night, she potty trained in a flash because she doesn't want to mess her new bed. I don't know if you'll have that much luck, but I would consider the size of the bed as one possibility. I think the reason she no longer gets up in the night is that she has the room to stretch out, sleep sideways (why do they all do that?) and roll around without anything restricting her and waking her up.
Does she nap during the day? Could be she is getting too much sleep during the day or maybe even not enough. Some kids get over tired and wake up loopy and play in the middle of the night.
If she's napping, then try to cut back on the naps.
T.,
My son did that for awhile, good nes it is just a phase, they grow out of it. The best thing is to ignore it. I often had a few things for my son to play with close by or on the side of his crib. The most important thing I realized is my son was smart, so the first few times I did go in and he started to see mommy would come in. After I stopped he would wake up, play a bit and put himself to sleep and he slowly did it less till he stopped completely. A few things I might think about is to move his crib to another wall so it isn't up against your bed room wall. Make sure the blind are closed and it stays somewhat dark. The fact that most of the time she is playing,is better than lots of crying. Good Luck!
Make sure her room is dark and there is white noise like a fan and you have music playing on continous play. This will help her keep asleep.
Do NOT let her sleep unless it is night time or nap time. If she falls asleep in the recliner you will be in a cycle of her sleeping when you don't want her to. You need to reset her clock. So, for tomorrow, get her up at whatever time you want to be her normal up for the day time, say 7 a.m. Then give her a bath, get out the playdough, bake with her, etc. and keep her busy until it's noon. Then let her nap. Don't let her nap for more than 3 hours though, you want her sleeping at night and are in the training phase. AFter a 3 hour nap wake her up and again, keep her awake by doing the same things - a bath (yes, she might end up with a few a day in this training phase, it's hard to fall asleep in water when you are a kid), a new toy, an outing to somewhere fun (but don't let her fall asleep in the car), etc.
Put her down for the night at 7 pm. 7:30 at the latest. Since she didn't get to catch up on that lost sleep from the night before she should sleep through till morning. If not keep repeating (reinforcing the schedule YOU want) until she gets into the right sleep habits.
This will work, I've done it.
N.
Bring her into your bed and let her fall back asleep.
I totally agree with the other moms that responded before me. Your daughter is probably getting too much sleep during the day and then doesn't want to sleep at night. Does she still take a nap during the day? It may be time to cut that nap out totally. Also, the white noise is great, we do that with our son, and he sleeps great. When he wakes up at night, we don't go in there unless he is crying hysterically, then we go in and hug him, tell him it's not time to get up yet, and lay him back down in his crib. He goes right back to sleep. Most of the time we ignore him and he goes back to sleep. Sleep issues are the hardest, I think. I really feel for you. Good luck!
Let her play. Don't pick her up and rock her or she'll cry for that every night...you'll never get any sleep. Make sure she's potty trained (you didn't mention) so you don't have to worry about cold wet diapers on her. Happy holidays.
My son did that too. Turns out he didn't need a nap anymore or at least a very long one. And the other thing I found was that when he would wake up in the middle of the night and play, he would sleep later that morning. He wasn't in pre-school or anything so I would just let him sleep till he woke up on his own. Well, on nights that he would be up, I would be sure to wake him up in the morning. It might make him a little crabbier that day, but he would be sure to sleep thru that night. Could be her growing has slowed and she doesn't need as much sleep as she used to and it's just throwing her schedule all off.
Dear T., Does your little girl take a nap still? If so maybe limit how long she takes her nap. Give her only an hour in the afternoon and hopefully she will be to tired to get up in the middle of the night. Or maybe put her to bed a little later in the evening, like 10.00 or so. Good Luck!!
I know this repond might be completely different from what you were expecting but because of the time of the night it could possibly be a spiritual visiter that is waking her. Maybe a family member that has passed. Why don't you ask her if she was playing with anyone. She's old enough to communicate that to you. As she gets older, if she is like most people she will lose this gift and eventually sleep like a baby during the night. I hope I helped and didn't frighten you. Good Luck.
Hi. From my experience, kids just go through phases and sometimes you have to just "wait it out". Having said that, I once read that when kids are learning/mastering new things, this tends to keep them awake - they don't fall asleep as easily and maybe they wake up during the night. Another thing to consider is if there's anything new that she is eating, that may be keeping her awake? Anything different in her schedule?
My son is 5 now and I didn't sleep through the night until he was almost 3-1/2 to 4 yrs old - so I can relate! And he still wakes up in the middle of the night, occassionally.
Good luck.
My daughter started doing that as well (without the banging, but getting up and crying or playing) about the same age. We stopped her afternoon naps and in one night the problem was solved. She was getting too much sleep during the day. She is now 3 1/2 and we do have some rules about napping for her - no naps unless she has had a lot of activity (her cousins come over, she was playing outside at preschool) or she gets up too early or goes to bed late. We have kept it flexible and now she nows she doesn't have to nap unless she needs one...and she comes and tells us. She knows (because we have told her a lot) that she is still a big girl and can have the option to nap. Good luck!
Sometimes you just have to put up with what is happening and pray for the phase to be short lived. Sometimes whatever you try doesn't work and you just deal with it. Sometimes when kids wake in the middle of the night they aren't getting enough quality one on one time. If this is happening then you can try all the methods of putting her back and reassuring her. You'll have to choose how you are going to meet this challenge and then follow through.
Your doctor is right, ignore her! I know that is easier said than done, but it is accurate. There are a few things you might try to make it easier.
1. move the crib away from the wall, so she can not bang on it.
2. Remove all night lights from her room and close the shades.
3. Run a small fan in her room all night. Put it on low and point it away from her. The noise will help block out other noises that might be waking her.
4. Remove the toys from her crib.
Hope this helps!
Move her crib to another wall so she doesn't wake you up with the banging.
Hi T.!
totally understand what you're going through! I agree with your doctor and the other response to ignore her. Now, she's gotten in the habit of waking at night. However, are you letting her sleep extra during the day to make up for the night? I did with my son, I felt so guilty otherwise! But I realized that it was disturbing his night slumber, so I let him nap only at his normal naptime and only for 2 1/2 hours, like normal. So my advice is to not only ignore her, but also don't let her sleep any extra. Soon, she'll be so tired from lack of sleep, she'll start sleeping through the night again. Hope this helps!
