Toddler Sleep Help

MaggieF516 · December 2014

I was wondering if anyone had any sleep advice for toddlers. My son is 2.5 and he used to sleep through the night fine, but after being sick he has started a habit of waking 1x in the middle of the night or very early morning (i.e. 5 am) for the past few months. I really don't believe in any sort of crying it out, so I bring him into my bed which is getting disruptive to my sleep. Our bedtime routine also consists of me laying on the floor in his room until he falls asleep. I know this isn't ideal, but I have never been comfortable with letting him cry it out. When I try to leave his room if he is still awake, he immediately stands up in his crib and starts crying so it is just easier to wait for him to completely fall asleep. For the middle of the night awakenings, I've tried to lay on the floor again for him to fall asleep, but he cries or throws himself against the crib if I don't pick him up and bring him in my bed.

I know I've created a monster and some bad sleep habits Does anyone have any advice? Thank you!!

Tink112011 · December 2014

DS was about the same age when we started having middle of the night problems. I ended up buying an "ok to wake" clock and it solved our problems. With it being dark longer, he had no idea if it was 3am or 6am. Now he knows that if the clock is yellow, he has to keep sleeping in his own crib. If it s green, he can wake up or come in our bed on weekends. Sometimes he still wakes up crying for me. He is usually cold. I wrap him back up, tell him that his clock is still yellow, and walk out. He is fine with that, and he is the same kid that would have screamed if I walked out prior to the clock. It really has been magic for us!

shakinros · December 2014

I second the OK to Wake clock. We got it for DD for her 2nd birthday so your son is old enough to understand it. I think ours was (similar to pp) just not sure if it was morning. The clock takes some uncertainty out of the wake ups for her.

litzo27 · December 2014

These are fazes - you can help them work through it and it is temporary. Just as bad habits are quick to form I have found to have them be fairly quick to break as well (without CIO - although I have read the Ferber book and gleaned useful knowledge about sleep cycles from it).

We have also had success with the wake clock. DS2 got it at 2 because he was getting up at 4am and trying to start the day. I have it set for 6:45 and sometimes I hear him wake up up to half an hour earlier and he just hangs out in his bed. Also I would suggest you convert his crib to toddler bed (or get him a twin bed already if it doesn't convert). This way you can sit with him (or even lay down for a minute) instead of on the floor in the evening and in the middle of the night. Be consistent - if you don't want him in your bed (and I don't want kids in mine) you have to walk him back to bed every single time. For a week or so this may mean a lot of walking but he will get it really fast that even if he gets up, you'll just walk him back.
With DS1 (actually DS2 also but a little less as he was in the room with his brother) he would want me to sit with him until he fell asleep. I did that for a short while but then I started leaving. I would say - "I need to go to the bathroom, I'll be back" and I would come back after 5 minutes. Then I would come back after 10. I would do that every other day or so and soon by the time I would come back he would be asleep. This helped to get him comfortable to go to sleep on his own in his bed and to go back to sleep in the same way in the middle of the night.

potbellypig · December 2014

DD is almost 3 and she comes to sleep in our bed every night. I love having her there to snuggle, so I'm no help other than to say enjoy the snuggles.

MickeyM04 · December 2014

I think at 2.5, something needs to change and at some point it may just have to involve crying. As the mom of a 2.5 year old, I feel comfortable saying you have definitely taught your LO that he needs you lying on the floor in order for him to be able to sleep. And I think the problem is, do you want to be doing this at 3.5? 4.5? Ultimately you may have to try letting him cry (if none of the options below work) unless you are comfortable continuing to do this for the indefinite future.

That being said, YAY, you have a 2.5 year old, so you have lots of things you can try other than crying. So much easier to deal with than an infant. You can resort to lots of trickery and other devices. If he wants X in the morning (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Fruit Loops, whatever), then he has to lay in his bed and go back to sleep without mommy in the room. (You can use the same method at bedtime.) You can probably try a sticker chart of some sort--every time he goes to bed without mommy, or falls back asleep in the middle of the night without mommy--he gets an Elmo sticker or a star sticker or whatever he likes, and when he gets 5 or 10 or however many you are comfortable with, he gets _____. Get him one of those Dream Lites animals or a stuffed animal friend or something he can pick out; he only gets it if mommy isn't in the room lying on the floor. You can have your new Dream Lites, or you can have mommy. It obviously has to be something he REALLY likes and is REALLY excited about.

Also he's probably pretty able to be reasoned with at this point. You can tell him you're going to be in your bed sleeping too, or you're just going to be down the hall. DS has started protesting naps a bit, and I just tell him, "Mommy's tired too, and so is daddy and baby. As soon as you get in bed, mommy, daddy, and baby are all going to sleep." And then he says, "Mommy go to sleep too?" "Yep, mommy go to sleep too." And then he goes through Daddy, baby, etc. and then he understands everyone is going to sleep (for a nap? I wish) and he settles down. I wonder if you don't just tell him that you're going to sleep right next door or whatever if he might be like ohhhh...

Edited for clarification.

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