Hi, I am worried that my son is not getting enought sleep at night. Austin (my son) just turned 2 and he goes to bed around 9:00 p.m. and is up at 6:30 a.m. Austin doesn't always sleep the whole night through. Some times he gets up during the night and comes into bed and sleeps with me. I work full time and work pretty far from where we live, so getting up with Austin trying to get him to sleep in his own toddle bed everynight is just too much for me right now. I get up at 5:30 a.m. every morning and go to bed around 12:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. everynight. I get home from work anywhere from 6:30 p.m. till 7:30 p.m. everynight so sometime we don't eat dinner till 8:15 p.m. at night and then do bath time and story time I think getting Austin to bed at 9:00 p.m. is really good for me. Sometimes my mother-in-law picks up Austin from daycare or my mother. If my husband does pick up Austin as soon as I get home he has to leave to go study or do something at the fire hall (he is a fire fighter and goes to school for fire fighting too). So I am pretty much raising my son by myself this time in Austin life. I guess to get to the point do you think my son is getting enough sleep everynight for his age? He does get a 2 hour nap at daycare everyday. Sorry to keep going on and on I just need someone to vent to.
I want to thank everyone so much for helping me by writting responds to my question. I think I will keep doing what I am doing and try to put Austin to sleep a little earlier each night till we can get to bed around 8:30 p.m. Austin is not cranky or tired, I was just concerned about his development. He seems to be going through a growing spurt right now, he keeps complaining about his legs hurting. As for sleeping with me, I guess it doesn't really bother me, he doesn't do it everynight, like last night he didn't come it to our bed until a hour before I had to get up, but the night before it was in the middle of the night. I am hoping that he will just out grow this stage. I have never had any luck with him sleep since he was born. Austin didn't sleep a full night until he was 1-1/2 years old. He has had a lot of problems with his ears (2 sets of tubes)and now the doctors are saying that he might have asthma(on breathing treatments). As for me I am a mama, a firefighters wife and a full time employee when I can get sleep I get sleep, whether it be 4 hours or 7 hours. Sometimes I just need people to vent to who understand what it is like and now I have meet a few. It is nice to know that there are other people out there that don't know if their marrage it going to make it and are living like roommates right now instead of husband and wife. I really don't know if I want it to workout or not. I think we have both forgotten why we got married in the first place. Okay enough out of me. Once again thank you to everyone who help me I have a lot to try and a lot of new friends to talk to.
The problem is in a nuttshell, stop letting him take naps at daycare. I work at a daycare and we have a few children who don't take naps cause they keep their parents up at night. i believe he is getting too much rest at the day care and that is causing him to be restless at home. So try the no nap at daycare thing and see how that works.
Hi T.,
Your son is perfectly normal while it is not ideal for your schedule he is still getting 9 1/2 to 10 hours of sleep at one time, some children are just early risers, besides we just had a time change and sometimes it takes awhile to adjust. As far as him getting into bed with you in the morning maybe he is just looking for some mama snuggle time. If it's not a big deal for you maybe that can be your and his time in the morning. I hope this helps, and if you ever need to vent you are more than welcome to email me. I just went though the same thing with my husband,(not knowing if we were going to make it). It is very tough when you both are so busy. Good luck to you! :)
I went through the same situation, my ex was an excavator worked long hours, marrital problems. I worried about my daughters. I was told that the girls would sleep when teh tension became less and that if they needed more sleep they would nap longer. If you ever need some one to vent to please e-mail me I don't mind
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M.
As long as he does not seem tired or cranky, he's probably getting enough sleep. As for the coming into your bed, if you don't mind it, then that's cool. But, if you hope to get him to stay in his own bed, you might have to lose some sleep for a few nights. It took me about a week to get my son to understand that it's not a choice. He rarely comes into our room now. And, when he comes into our room, if he's sneaky, he might curl up with his pillow and blanket next to the bed. But, most of the time, I catch him sneaking in, and tell him back to bed. He goes without incident. I find I get more restful sleep when he's not in bed with me. But, that's me....
It's been a long time since I have had toddlers, but even as the kids get older, you will see that extra help counts.
I think sleep hours vary on each child. One of mine was fine on 6 hours. (bad mommy time) And my other was running full tilt on 8 hours. So it probably depends on your child and the childs needs. And if the child is getting ill often.
Now if mommy is feeling overwelmed, which is easy to do being a wife, parent and working full-time, while managing a household. Then maybe share a little of how you feel and asking for help from your spouse might help. My husband was also a firefighter and first responder for 14 years, it does require a lot of their time. But they have to be reminded of who they have in their "house" to. And that they are needed at home also. Good luck!
He needs about 11 hours a day, including naps and it sounds like he is getting that. My son who is almost three still gets up sometimes to crawl into bed with me too. He sleeps better with me (althought I don't sleep so well). I think he is fine. If he starts getting crabby, move up bedtime.
Our doctor told me that if my son sleeps from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (about 9 hours) and takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day, that he *is* getting enough sleep.
I was worried about it too. (My son is 3 1/2 now but this was about a year ago when I asked this.)
I just wanted to share my experience. Good luck. :)
Hi T.,
Is there anyway that you could get a job closer to home. Your life seens so busy and you must be exuasted. I have a three year old that goes to bed by 8 at the latest. Usually its 7:30. My son doesn't take naps anymore though. He gets up at 7:30 or 8. Do you have to wake him up in the morning or does he wake up by himself. Every parent is different but personally I wouldn't worry about him going to your bed in the middle of the night. My son does that sometimes and I don't see the problem with it. The amount of time it would take me to get him back into his bed isn't worth it to me (Plus I like to snuggle with him). If you have any extra time to read the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child is really good. It will tell you how much your child should sleep. It really helped me when I had my first son. Good luck. It sounds like you have a lot to deal with right now.
Chris
I believe that is plenty of sleep. I know I have had the same concerns with my 16 month old at times. If he is getting to bed @9 and sleeping till @6 or 6:30 that is 9 hours of sleep plus he is getting a 2 hour nap. He is doing fine on sleep hun. I have always been told that adults only need 8 hours of sleep, anything more just makes you more tired. So I believe he is getting what he needs. Hope I helped. Good Luck =)
Ok my advice is get the crib Back!!!!!! I have three kids and i did the same thing with my oldest who is now 4 years old. I took her out of the crib at 1-1/2 years old. at the time i was a say at home mom and she would get out of bed and get in with me. My husband worked for Circuit City and is still to this day working there his hours are very crazy so at the time he somethimes would not come home till very late. then when my husband came home he would put her back into bed. this still goes on but not as much. when I had my second child I started just putting her down and letting her cry a bit and now she is almost 2 and I put her to bed at 8pm and she goes straight to sleep. don't think I done My son who is almost 1 had a little special treatment. He was born and spent 2 months in NICU. so I babied him a little bit but i still put him to bed at 8pm also and he cries a bit but relizes that i am not coming stops. I work full time outside of the home with an hour comute also and my husband is a manager with 60-90 hours a week plus goes to school 2 nights for his masters. I know how hard it is to raise kids by your self but if i can do it so can you. our Marriage is better now. but there were time that i hated him and wanted to leave. but we talked with our preacher and he said the vows you took were thick and thin. Marriage is not easy so don't take the easy way out. it will be hard but just remember the good this that you saw in you husband. and here is another thing Men can not do more then one thing. so if he is studing he can not watch Austin. I wanted to get the dishes done one night and told my hubby to watch the girls when i came back to check on them cause i heard alot of nosie they had got a marker and colored all over their bodies. so i wish you the best and hope it all works out.
Is your son happy? If so do not worry about it. If he is crabby or testy he may need more sleep.
It sounds like you have your plate full. If your son goes thru the day not grumpy then he probably is getting enough sleep especially if he's getting a nap at daycare. The nap at daycare is probably a very good thing otherwise he wouldn't be getting enough sleep. People have different ideas on what is or isn't enough sleep, you just have to take a guess and do what works for him. Hope that's helpful to you.
I understand the job thing-I work 50 minutes away! I think kids his age are supposed to get 101/2 to 11 hours a night plus nap BUT if he seem to be doing fine(not cranky or other signs of being too tired) then he is o.k. I know it is important for them to get their rest at a certain time of night as this stimulates a growth hormone but 9 doesn't sound really late. What irks me is parents who have their toddlers up until 11pm or even midnight! They are losing out on the good sleep. My son, almost 4 now goes to bed at 8 but he has no nap. He has always had an 8pm bedtime. All kids are different though. As long as he is doing well I wouldn't worry. You are a good mom who is doing her best to do it all ( and I pretty much do it all too so i know how it is!0. Hope this helps!
M.
mom to a SID almost 4 yr old boy
As long as he is getting around 8-10 hours of sleep per night, and a 2 hour nap each day, I think that is good. Also i would agree and not worry about him coming to bed with you. you are both going to lode more sleep by putting him back into his bed. Also if you are unsure. Try and keep track for a week on how much sleep he gets, then call and ask his doctor if its enough for his age. They should be able to help.
Hi T.,
My daughter is 3 and she goes to bed anywhere from 9:00 to 12:00(only because she still sleeps with us a very bad habit that is hard to break)she won't go to sleep until either her dad or I am there manly if I am not in bed she won't go to bed right away, she wakes up anywhere from 8:30am and 10:00am. She also gets a nap during the day on most days. The way I look at it is if she is tired during the day then she usually falls right to sleep at nap time, or if she is really cranky I make her lay down untill she goes to sleep. Sleep paterns are like habits they are hard to start and hard to stop is my theory. It all depends on the child, if it concerns you alot I would talk to your Pediatrition about it.
OMG you poor thing. For years I worked 70 to 80 hours a week and had a tremendous drive back and forth to work also. I learned that my crockpot and the laundromat near work that did pound laundry were my best friends. I was surprised at what I thought was a low cost for the service for the clean clothes and peace of mind I had not worrying about it. As for the sleep, he should probably get more but two year olds are weird, they're going through a lot of changes at that age. One thing that kept my daughter in her bed more often was putting up a side rail they make for kids beds (like the ones on the side of the hospital bed. Then we lined the other side with a body pillow. It took me a while to realize that it was hard for her to come out of her crib into what she viewed as a giant scary not as safe bed. When we made it appear smaller and cozier to her, she stayed in it more often. I wish I had a miracle answer for you. I hope some of this helped. As for the length of your message, dont worry about it and vent away.. thats why we're all here for each other. Good luck and I'll be thinking about you.
It sounds like he is getting over 11 hours of sleep, when you factor in his nap, so I would think that he is getting enough. Studies are now showing that not everyone needs the same amount of sleep, some need more than average, some need less. My seven year old never seemed to need that much, his mind was too busy to sleep, while my four year old can't get by without enough or he gets crabby beyond belief!
What I would be concerned about is YOU. It doesn't sound like you are getting enough sleep or enough of a break for you time. Is your husband around on the weekends? My husband works crazy hours and we hardly see him, so I can sympathize with your feeling like a single mom, it is tough, isn't it?
