My two year old has stopped sleeping through the night. We are on day three of no sleep for mommy. He will lay down at his normal bedtime, 6:30-7:00, take the usual hour or two to go to sleep, then two hours later be up and it will take anywhere from 3-5 hours for him to go back to sleep. Then during the day, because I am so very tired I get overly stressed out which in turn causes my son to not listen and push the limits even more than normal. This causes his cousins whom I care for to also misbehave. I am at my wits end.I don't know what to do but I do know I need more than two to four hours of sleep each night. Please help!
He naps for maybe an hour around noon and no matter what time he goes to sleep he is up at 7:00 am. He also takes between one and three hours to go to sleep once in
bed no matter how late I put him down. This is why I am
so stressed out! I just don't know how to get him to relax
and sleep at night no matter when I put him down so I
can't get him on any kind of schedule! Thanks moms for the advice. However a child his age needs between 12 and 14 hours of sleeo and he only sleeps an hour at most for nap and he is up between 6 and seven am. Therefore my pediatrian recommended to stay with going to bed between 7 and 8 pm.
Girl!!
he's two years old!!! 7PM is WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY too early for bedtime for him!!! in my opinion....
He needs to go to be around 830 or 9PM - i know some mom's may freak over this - but seriously - we don't eat dinner until 7PM!!! That's WWWWWWAAAAAAYYYYY too early!!
I agree, you should put him down later at night. Also make his naps shorter during the day.
Sounds like you need to push the bedtime back, if his body is waking after a couple of hours it's thinking this is just a nap. Does he nap during the day? Maybe that needs to be rearranged a bit too.
I agree with others--6:30 is too early, especially if he is taking daytime naps.
I also think it's always a good idea to rule out medical causes, or evaluate for yourself if any food or routine changes might be disrupting his sleep.
When my son was 1.5 he was waking up about every three hours at night. We sought out a sleep specialist in our area who got us on a routine . . It sounds like his body is using that 7:00 time as a nap whereas why he doesnt go back down for three hours . . I would try to make his naps longer (i.e. - my 2.5 yo still takes a 2-3 hour nap in the daytime). My son is the same way with no matter what time he goes down, he is up at 6:00 a.m. or so (regardless of bedtime). . . . . how bout outside an hour or so in the evening, warm bath, warm milk and a later bedtime . . . I was at my wits end as well . . . sending you tons of prayers for your LO to start sleeping. Maybe he has sleep apnea also . . def worth checking out
Keep him outside for at least 30 mins (or more) in the morning and 30 mins (or more) in the afternoon. If it is raining, open all the curtains/blinds and let him play by the window.
Exposure to sunlight helps the body know when to shut down at night when its dark.
I agree with other posters about being in bed too early etc. If it seems like it always takes him a long time to settle down and sleep I would make sure that he is getting enough physical activity during the day. My son is 28 months and I have to just kinda "run" him through the day. We go to a park most mornings, or something physical. If we can't get out during a certain day then we play chasing or fast games in the house. I find it really makes a difference in his ability to relax and sleep.
My son goes to bed at 8pm (we start bath etc. at about 7:30ish) he sleeps until 6-7am. He goes down for his nap around 12:30pm and sleeps anywhere from 2-3 hrs.
Good luck!
I agree with others -- sounds like bedtime is too early. Are you married? Can your husband help play with him and wear him out after dinner? Try wearing him out after dinner & having a bedtime routine beginning at 7:30. Bath him (if you do it at night) and read him a story. Get him to bed by 8 pm. Try that for a full week & see if it works. One night/attempt won't give you the full results.
I think this'll work. Please try it. I agree -- you need sleep!
He may not need as much sleep as he used too. a 6:30 bedtime seems really early, especially if he still takes a nap. I would keep him up longer, especially if it takes him 1 or 2 hours to go to sleep - that isn't "normal".
Also, make sure there isn't some caffeine in his diet somewhere that you might not suspect (chocolate, bottled teas, etc)
Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It's a fairly easy read (I know from experience how important that is when you are going on no sleep). The most important thing that I learned from it is that when child (or adult) is over tired the body actually produces chemicals to help keep the body moving. The chemicals then make it much harder for you to fall asleep, so it becomes a vicious cycle of over tired yet not able to sleep. The trick is in finding out how to stop the cycle. I originally bought the book to help get my baby in a good sleep cycle, but soon realized that it also applied to my 3 year old. We had been fighting to continue naps because she was so over tired without them, but it took forever to get her to nap, forever to get her to sleep at night, she woke several times in the night and was always awake before 7 in the morning. After reading the book, we dropped the nap, moved her bedtime to 6:30 and it was like a miracle! Within a few days she was going to sleep within 15 minutes, sleeping through the night and waking at her normal time. It has made life so much easier for the whole family. Hope you are able to find an easy fix as well.
If he is napping try reducing it or having it only be 1 to 3. And try bedtime at 8. If he's taking that long to fall asleep maybe the bedtime is too early. My daughter is 8 or 8:30
Also I saw your update, I get the amount they need but if the 6:30 bedtime isnt working, then it's not working.
sounds like a second nap... maybe try putting him down before dinner instead so he gets that nap earlier in the afternoon...
is he cranky? maybe he's getting teeth or has an ear infection or something? growing pains?
