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Attachment Parenting
synchrosally
member
Sleep Issues: Need a Different Perspective.
synchrosally
member
I don't usually post here, but I'm looking for advice and perhaps a different perspective.
My son is almost 2 and I really want to get some sleep one of these days. Bedtime is a struggle, and he still wakes up an average of 3 or 4 times a night getting up by 5:30 am. We tried bedsharing, but for the most part, he wants to play in our bed, not sleep 
What would AP say? HELP!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Sleep Issues: Need a Different Perspective.
How much daytime sleep is he getting?
Is his room conducive to sleep? Dark? Sound machine?
do you bf at night? offer a bottle? why is he waking? to be soothed or is he hungry?
He naps 2-2.5 hours during the day from about 1:30-3:30ish
His room is dark with a room darkening curtain, we've tried fans, music, sleep sheep etc in the past and it didn't seem to help.
DS weaned at 22 months (I had nothing left anyway). He doesn't usually eat dinner, so I suppose he could be hungry. We used to offer food/milk, but it didn't seem to help. We switched him to a toddler bed, so now he doesn't scream when he wakes up at night, but he comes into our room. Sometimes he'll sleep on the floor, but last night he was up and down for 2 hours.
My BFP Chart
Have you tried being consistent and returning him to his bed every time he wakes?
It will stink for a few days but he should catch on pretty quickly.
We're on day 11 of our current sleep strategy and being consistent taking him back to bed, but after 1 hour of taking him back last night at 1 am, I gave up and let him sleep on my floor. He even brought his own pillow, stuffed animal and blanket. He's a stubborn one, but we're trying to be more stubborn. It's hard when you're so tired.
Thanks for the advice. I guess we'll just try and hang in.
My BFP Chart
Can you play with the naptime at all- moving it up in the day or making it slightly shorter, or both?
And the not eating dinner thing may be impacting his sleep. He may not even realize he's hungry, so might not say he's hungry when he wakes up at night. If he's not eating dinner, what's your post nap food situation? Does he eat a snack at a certain time? Have milk? If he doesn't want to have dinner with the family, maybe he's still full from his snack or just not hungry at the same time you are. Try playing with the timing of dinner, earlier or later.
And finally, the actual time of bedtime may need to be adjusted as well. Maybe he's overtired by the time he goes down for the night and that's why he has a hard time staying asleep?
It's so hard when there could be a bunch of different factors at play.
Naptime might be interferring. Sometimes he sleeps longer, and when I go to pick him up from daycare he's still sleeping. Maybe I should wake him up right at 3:30 no matter what?
I've cut out the snack he used to ask for when we got home, so if he gets a snack, it's at 3:30 and we don't usually eat until 6. However, he doesn't eat for us as a general rule, especially on the weekends. He eats everything for my sitter including fruits and vegetables, but won't eat it for us. Even if I do everything the same, he just doesn't eat for us. It's frustrating. Especially since I suspect hunger is the main reason he wakes up.
We just finished moving his bedtime back down from 9/9:30 to 8 and he's fighting 8. It seems like he wants to go to sleep at 8:30 so I'm going to try for 8:30 and see how it goes.
Thanks for your input. I'll try to cut his nap down and see if that helps and maybe then he'll be tired by 8, which is my ideal bedtime.
My BFP Chart
I'd cut back on the naptime as well and maybe even cut out some of the sugars he's getting thru-out the day. I'm guessing hunger is the main reason for his waking, maybe have him eat dinner at a different time closer to bedtime? Also, maybe he just likes cuddling with you guys and wants to be close, in that case he may not be ready to sleep alone...just a thought.