Advice?

MrsCase1 · November 2013

For the past three nights, and occasionally a few times the past couple of weeks, Lincoln has been waking up in the middle of the night. He has strep, but not the kind that leaves your throat raw with white pus patches. I mean, I'm sure it hurts but I've been giving him pain meds and then after massaging and scratching his back, I have been letting him CIO. I assumed the past three nights were due to the strep but what about the past two weeks?

He has always gone to bed willingly and before bed he is crying his brains out. Now he is waking in the middle of the night, despite having always been a good sleeper. So! Should I continue letting him CIO because this is a "battle of the wills" thing or should I continue trying to soothe him? We soothed for nearly two hours night before last night and last night I soothed for a half hour. He isn't not saying he is scared or that anything hurts. He will try to have a conversation but I refuse to speak to him, only gently shushing him.

melissa0726 · November 2013

DD1 went through a period (around 20-22 months) where she would wake up in the middle of the night. Every night. Like clockwork. She would be up for about two hours and then go back to sleep until 8am. She would scream and cry at her door until we let her out.

We never did CIO with her as a baby, and I didn't want to try it at that point. I was also super pregnant and too tired, so we did nothing. We just let her be awake in the night and I tried to sleep through it.

Long story short, we brought DD2 home from the hospital, and DD1 was still doing this. On the third night I say, "NO. You are staying in your room. Mommy is tired and you have to go to back to bed. NOW." She cried a little (less than 10 minutes) for the next three nights, and then she just started STTN again. It was so weird.

SO, I guess all of my soothing and sitting up with her for months was really enabling her to continue the behavior. Had I taken a tough stance sooner, I might have gotten more sleep before DD2 came home with us!

NotSharknado · November 2013

He still could have been feeling sick before the actual strep set in. Is he teething? Are you sure he doesn't have an ear infection? I also think this is the age where they just don't want to go to bed. They think they're missing out.

I miss peaceful bed time. Now I have to drag her in her room kicking and screaming:(

lolinshag · November 2013

Liky did this too for the last few months. She just started STTN again. I would go in, hug her, ask if she wanted a drink (always a yes), give it to her, say "night night i love you sugar", and go back to bed. For a few weeks she would fuss some more, so i would just go back in every 5 mins or so, tell her "night night time. I love you sugar" and walk back out again. After 1-3 returns, she would go back to sleep. It started to slack off and i could just go to the door once and say my Lily line and she would settle back down. Now she is STTN again. Every once in a while she will wake up svreaming (i guess bad dream?) And i will do the same thing and she falls back asleep almost instantly.

Correct me if i am wrong: i think this age is when they start having increased dreams. Like they are cognitive enough not to just dream of the good things, but also the bad, so that is why they do this?