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I am so thoroughly frustrated with my child...

AbinormalAbinormal member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+

I also posted this on 12-24... I'm really in need of some advice!

I'm a teacher, it's Christmas Break and my child is waking up 2-3 times a night and seems to enjoy getting up for the day some time between 5:30 and 6:30 AM. I can't figure out what the heck is causing these issues with her sleep and I'm just about at the end of my rope. I think that part of the reason why I'm as frustrated as I am is because she's always been a really good sleeper. Sleeping anywhere from 11-14 hours during the night. I've tried Motrin, I've tried putting her to bed earlier/later, I've tried leaving a light on in the room (I'll explain that in a minute), I've tried just ignoring her when she first starts to call for me, but the "mommy, come in here" or "mama, mama, mama" cries just get louder. Ugh! I do not know what else to do!

There's only one theory that I have... my niece (who lives with us), apparently, told Tegan about the bogeyman, sometime last weekend. One day, Tegan said, "Bogeyman scare me!" and then she laughed and so did my niece. I was pretty upset with my niece for telling her about the bogeyman, but she's grown up with parents who seem to think it's funny to scare their kids right before bed, so she didn't see the problem until I pointed it out to her. Do you think that my 2 year old could actually be scared of the bogeyman? Are they capable of that at her age?

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Re: I am so thoroughly frustrated with my child...

  • MrsBro6116MrsBro6116

    I have no advice. You are doing all of the things I would have tried (Motrin for maybe some final teeth issues, changing bed times, night light, etc).

    My oldest went through something similar, just waking up - not the boogeyman, and it naturally worked it's way out. I hope that happens for you too. 

    I'd be interested about what others say about the boogeyman. DS#1 cries his afraid cry when his night light is off so I'd say he's not a fan of the dark. It would be so much easier if they could say what was bothering them. 

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  • AbinormalAbinormal member
    imageMrsBro6116:

    I have no advice. You are doing all of the things I would have tried (Motrin for maybe some final teeth issues, changing bed times, night light, etc).

    My oldest went through something similar, just waking up - not the boogeyman, and it naturally worked it's way out. I hope that happens for you too. 

    I'd be interested about what others say about the boogeyman. DS#1 cries his afraid cry when his night light is off so I'd say he's not a fan of the dark. It would be so much easier if they could say what was bothering them. 

    I've tried the Motrin for two reasons:

    1.) She still hasn't cut her 2 year molars, so I though they might be coming in.

    2.) She has tubes in her ears and both ears have been draining recently (we have antibiotic drops) and so I thought they might be causing her some discomfort.

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  • the_jackpotthe_jackpot member
    Hang in there! I think you are doing all that you can. Hopefully this is just a phase that will quickly pass. Don't beat yourself up over it.
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  • LogansmommieLogansmommie
    Could be she is just so excited that you are home with her all day for xmas break.  I know my kids wake up earlier on the weekends when they know daddy is going to be home all day with us. 
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  • QueSrahQueSrah member

    My DD is starting to talk about being scared of things (monsters, a stuffed shark she saw in a catalog, etc.), and certainly wakes up some nights crying and all I can figure out that might be wrong is that she had a bad dream or woke up and something in her room scared her.

    Whenever she brings up being scared during the day, I make sure to reassure her that we will keep her safe, that her stuffed animals will help keep her safe.  It seems to be helping a little.  At night when she wakes up crying, usually all she'll let me do is rub her back (if she lets me touch her at all), and sometimes I just sit next to her crib until she's ready to sleep - maybe 5 or 10 minutes.

    She's been waking up less at night this week, so I'm hoping this is just a phase we're passing out of for a while.  GL getting through it.

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  • jannv11jannv11 member
    DS has gone through bad sleep phases off and on over the past year.  He acted scared sometimes but never said why.  I usually ended up sleeping with him for a few days and he got over it.  I think they are capable of being scared at her age. 
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  • cbjcbj

    For some reason my 2 ? year old daughter has decided that there are donkeys in her room and they are going to bite her.  So after we read her books and before she gets in her bed she helps me spray donkey repellant (lavender water) around her room and in her closet so they will stay away for the night.   She has fun with it and doesn't wake up screaming the donkeys are going to get her anymore. 

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  • beth&anthbeth&anth
    imageCBJ:

    For some reason my 2 ? year old daughter has decided that there are donkeys in her room and they are going to bite her.  So after we read her books and before she gets in her bed she helps me spray donkey repellant (lavender water) around her room and in her closet so they will stay away for the night.   She has fun with it and doesn't wake up screaming the donkeys are going to get her anymore. 

    This made me laugh! Oh, the minds of a toddler!!

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  • KathrynMDKathrynMD member
    DD talks about monsters and giants sometimes.  Sometimes she likes to play being a monster or giant and sometimes she likes to play being scared of the monster or giant.  We pretend together and say "Go Home Giant, your Mommy's calling you!"  Sometimes we growl at the monster, etc.  I also remind her that the Giants/Monsters are pretend and not real.  A couple times I've let her sleep w/ the lights on in her room.  She still slept and the next night she was ready to turn off the light.
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  • Soter1Soter1
    We had this issue for about 2 weeks.  Turns out he was afraid of the light on the smoke detector! I would keep poking to find out what's bothering her.  It might be that bogety man thing.  Good luck! Oh and a long the Donkey line thing.  We had a  skunk in our yard and I shut the door really really fast, well now DS is paranoid about the skunk too. 
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  • JoannaJesJoannaJes member

    DD has tubes as well, and whenever her ears are draining, her sleep goes in the crapper. Motrin doesn't seem to help much.

    Also, I've found that too much Ciprodex can cause nightwakings.  If there isn't enough moisture in the ear, then the drops can actually burn and irritate the ear canal.

    Anyway, I'd be willing to bet that her ears are contributing to the wakings. 

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  • mavs_girl07mavs_girl07 member
    I think it's normal for them to go through a sleep regression around the age of 2.  DD had a lot of sleep issues around that time, even though she's always been an awesome sleeper.  Their imaginations are a lot more creative, they're starting to realize that there are things in the world that are scary, etc.  We bought DD a book called "There's no such thing as monsters".  It's really cute, and it seemed to help a little.  I'm sure it's just a phase, just keep being consistent in how you respond to it.
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  • wheelsonthebuswheelsonthebus member

    At around 2.5 my son started to be afraid of trains and owls at night. So weird. haha. We've also gone through a lot of night waking and early wake ups unrelated to the owls and it's usually a phase. Stay consistent!!! Tell her that it's not time to get up yet and that she has to stay in bed etc. She'll grow out of it as long as you stick with it. As for being afraid, I asked a developmental specialist (my friend) about it and she said to aknowledge the fear, but don't give it too much attention. Tell them that they are safe and that there are no monsters, boogie men, donkeys etc. and that it's time for sleep. Good luck!

    For my son, we actually went out and got him an owl HAT and he loves to wear it and now isn't afraid of owls anymore!

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  • AbinormalAbinormal member
    imageJoannaJes:

    DD has tubes as well, and whenever her ears are draining, her sleep goes in the crapper. Motrin doesn't seem to help much.

    Also, I've found that too much Ciprodex can cause nightwakings.  If there isn't enough moisture in the ear, then the drops can actually burn and irritate the ear canal.

    Anyway, I'd be willing to bet that her ears are contributing to the wakings. 

    This is a very good thing to know, thank you! She does fuss and say "ow" when we out in the drops, so we've been only doing them once a day, right before bed, since her ears are no longer draining. Tonight I didn't do them at all. I didn't give her a dose of Motrin either before bed, but about 10 minutes after I put her down, she started crying and saying her mouth hurt (I'm thinking we are facing the two year molars) and so I gave her a dose of medicine, let her stay up for 20 minutes to kick in and put her back to bed. She's been sound asleep ever since.

     

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