2.4 year old Sleep Issues - Any Advice ?

Ana+V

Dear Ladies, As I am approaching my due date which has now moved up to December – things have become tougher : My son who is 2.4 year old has been a bad sleeper always ...now we have exhausted ALL ways : 

1.     He has his own room, own bed which he adores and plays in the entire day.

2.     He also sleeps on his own – no singing / rocking needed

3.     He is a great napper – standard afternoon 1 hour every-day without an issue. Can be put to his bed easily by anyone

4.     His eating is well on track and I am quite happy with it given his bad eating habits in past.

5.     He also has got a prize for being good and doing things in his room

6.     He sleeps on time with a standard schedule every night. 8:45 pm ( we pushed it more than 8 as we thought he is okay with that sleeping time )

 

BUT –

 

He will not sleep through night no matter what.

1.     He will come find me atleast 2 times in night to make him sleep on bed.

2.     If I hide in bathroom and someone else tries to make him sleep – he will scream his lungs out

3.     Sometimes, I make him sleep and I am back in my room. And there in 5 minutes, he is asking for me again

4.     No one can make him sleep in night. We tried grand parents , helper and my husband. He will scream till he finds me

 I am suffering with bad cramps and back pain throughout the day while I am at work as my sleep is never complete. I take 1 hour to go back to sleep as it’s impossible to determine a sleeping position / gas pains etc  !

What can i do more ?

ashiscute

Let him scream.  It sounds like he's in charge and you have to do what he says.  I know that sounds harsh but screaming isn't hurting him.  

I agree with Nic that I'd put a gate at his door so he can't get out.  Or put him back in bed but do not get in his bed.  Tell him it's bedtime and he needs to stay asleep in his bed.  If he gets up, do it again.  Don't keep talking just take him and put him back down.  Be consistent, do the same thing over and over.  

Also, I have no idea what this means.

 He also has got a prize for being good and doing things in his room

lana22

healthy sleep habits happy child has some stuff about kids who won't stay in bed, maybe check that out? i think the main takeaway is silently put him back in bed. don't give him any attention when putting him back to bed. 

during the day i'd try telling him that when he wakes up in the middle of the night he should roll over and go back to sleep. we had a few nights of my older son waking up itm of the night and calling out for me wanting to be put back to bed (some family stuff/changes were going on at the time) and now when i say what do we do when we wake up before it's light out, he responds "roll over and go back to sleep" and it hasn't happened since. lol sample size and no clue if that's what made a difference, but he def gets it.

i would also cease playing in his bed/bedroom all day. it's not really good for anyone (adults or kids) to associate things other than sleep with bed/bedroom. 

greyt00

I had to repeatedly put my son back in bed for 2 hours straight with him screaming *the entire time* to improve nights in our home.  He has autism so I'll guess that he is a bit more stubborn about this than the typical child.  The 2nd night we did it for 1 hour 10 minutes, then the 3rd night only 20 minutes.  Things have gotten better though he often wakes at 5:20-5:30 AM.  -_-  He'll go back to his room for up to 30 minutes, but I'm certain he doesn't go back to sleep (and usually I can't either, knowing that he'll be up again in just a little while).  The point is, some kids are going to be more stubborn about this than others.  But I draw a really hard line on sleep.  Everyone needs to sleep in their OWN bed and stay in their room until 6 AM.  If I have to spend a few painful nights with screaming and putting them back in bed over and over again like a robot, and not saying a word, I will.  It is the only thing that would have helped with my child.

This behavior being specific to you especially makes me think it's purely manipulative and needs to be stopped.  That process will probably be painful but it may be the only way.  You may have to do the really hard thing but it will pay off in the long run.