Hi, My 2 1/2 year old son used to be a great sleeper, but since we have moved him from his crib into his new bed, he now wakes up 2 to 4 times a night and sometimes he won't go back to sleep for an hour or two. I try rocking him, or sitting in a chair outside his room (recommended from the Super Nanny). It seems that the trains that pass by (about 3 blocks away) during the night wakes him up and he seems scared of them. He is okay with the trains until about 2 or 4am, then they start to bug him. Usually, he loves trains and has no problems during his daytime nap. I even took him on a train ride, I bought him a train set, I bought him train books, we watch Thomas the Train...etc. Last night he woke up at 2:30am, went back to bed easily enough, then woke again at 3:30am, then again at 4am. At 5am he screamed and kicked and cried hysterically for about 1/2hr. Even when I tried to rock him, he just kept kicking and screaming. Does anyone have any advise? My hubby is also a problem....he doesn't handle the night waking especially if there is screaming involved and then he gets mad at me and then we are all freaked out and fighting !!!! This problem really, really, really will be the end of my relationship ! Please help !
Thanks, D.
Have you tried putting a fan in the room. My daughter used to wake up every night at 3 am. I put a fan on in her room and the sound helps her sleep well and other outside noises kind of blend in with the fan. When it is quiet and she wakes up it is no longer scary because the fan sounds helps her fall back to sleep on her own. J.
HI I can completely relate to your fustration. My daughter is almost three and about 6 months ago my husband and I also went through a tough time with her sleep which also included just getting her to bed without a fight. So our pediatrician recomended a safety lock for her door which we got a wal-mart two for two dollars. I believe it is from saftey first.(it goes over the door nob and you can still open it but it is hard for small kids to figure out how to do it) She told us to let her know that if she stays quiet she can keep her door open and play quietly by herself until she falls asleep on her own but if she is loud or is trying to talk to us we were to shut the door. Which she hated. Anyways, after the second night of her door shut and her crying even if she woke during the night she would quietly entertain herself until she fell back asleep and it still works six months later. i hope this helps. use this method with a white noise of some sort i think it should help good luck.
Have you ever considered sleeping with the child? I know that a child in the bed could be a bit of an adjustment for a couple, but in my experiance it usually results in more sleep for everyone. And you can get creative with were you ...
I agree with a couple of other people about some sort of noise in his room. My youngest two sleep with a humidifier on high every night, and during nap time. During the summer I didn't put any water in it cause it's a cool mist, so it can be run with no water. It's really only a fan that blows over a filter that sucks up the water anyway. So it's ok to do that when you don't need the extra moisture in your house. If you run it on high then as he gets older you can turn it lower, and lower, and eventually off. That way he won't end up being dependant on the noise his entire life.
Hi D., have you talked with him to find out what is waking him? My 16 yr old daughter had a similar issue, we tried changing things up a bit and put a cd player in her room (with pink floyd cd-I know, I know, but it was soothing to her! LOL). Maybe if you do that, be sure your cd player has a repeat button so it just plays the cd over and over again, it will drown out the noises that are waking him. By putting it on when you put him down for the night, he falls asleep with the noise and will be used to it. I tried radio but the volume goes up and down too much, needs to be sleepy type of music. My 3 yr old son has been great so far with sleeping so hopefully it will stay that way! My hubby gets like that too...it is really tough but you can get thru. Good luck! S.
hi D.,
i have your solution...lol..a white noise maker.. it will block out all the noise. my son was and still is a light sleeper. once i got the machine he wouldnt wake up as much ...they say its very soothing for them. if you dont know what it is ...alot of doctors will put it in the waiting room to block out there conversations with patients. google "white noise machine or maker"...hopefully it will help...i feel for you.
Your son is probably picking up on your husbands anxiety and thats why he won't go back to sleep. Young kids can sense this and are bothered by it because they don't understand it. Your husband needs to relax. I know how hard it is. My husband gets mad when one of our little ones gets up more than once with screaming and he needs to be up early for work. If one of the girls wakes up the first thing I do is close our bedroom door to block out as much of the noise as possible. Usually they will go back to sleep if I just give them some water in a cup. That's the reason that mine wake up in the night is that they are thirsty. I saw your other post on eating. He may be waking up because his tummy hurts because he is hungry. Maybe milk when he wakes up might help it will fill him up a little. Hope everything gets better for you and this too shall pass.
Happy Halloween
Jenn
We would have this problem all the time if it wasnt for the fan we have in the kids room. We have a box fan on the floor in the kids' room that runs all night. (Not blowing on the kids, ofcourse) Its provides just enough 'white noise' to drown out noises from the house and outside. Sometimes we do hear the kids on the monitor, but I swear the constant sound of the fan lulls them back to sleep.
For the winter months we have a small rectangular fan that has a heater in it that blows warm air. Its not as loud at the box fan, but it works just as well without making their room cold. I picked it up at Home Depot for $20.
Best of Luck to you!
Are all 4 of his 2 yr molars in? I know that can keep them up at this age.
