Sleeping woes | Imamother

amother

Wed, May 28 2008, 9:23 am

My son is 21 months (bah) and we recently took away his pacy which he was very attached to [I don't know if anybody saw the thread I had about this earlier, but I had a big disagreement with my husband about taking it away and the bottom line it's not an option to go back to it]. Even before we took it away he started having problems with sleep - he would wake up at 530 or 6, while previously he would sleep until 630-7. After the pacy going away it got worse...NOTHING ELSE CHANGED. He sleeps less during the day too than before, and keeps waking up early. I am at my wits ends I don't know what else to do. I give him a bottle in his crib when he goes to sleep in case he is thirsty. I tried closing the blinds to make sure the sun doesn't wake him up in the morning. When I spoke to my pediatrician she didn't have any suggestions.

Anybody has any advice? I AM SO TIRED!!! and more importantly, I am worried that he is not getting enough sleep. He is not even 2 yet and he sleeps about 10 hours at night (on a good night) and 2-2.5 hours during the day. He is also very active and should really conk out I would think. Sad

mummy-bh

Wed, May 28 2008, 9:30 am

No suggestions, I'm afraid, but plenty of sympathy from over here. My twins (14 months) wake up when it gets light. That was 4.20 this morning. They go back to sleep when the rest of the kids get up.

Excuse me whilst I YAAWWWNN

NotInNJMommy

Wed, May 28 2008, 9:33 am

I think he is sleeping a rather normal amount. Maybe less than before, but it can take a few weeks to get over the pacy, especially if there's a lot of change.

I let ds keep his blankie for nap/bedtime though, so he had that. I would reccommend keeping up his pre nap and pre bedtime rituals, giving him a bit more mommy time/hugs/attention (even an extra 2 min here or there can make a big difference). He'll get over it if you're consistent and don't bring it back. LEss than 6 mos later, my ds wasn't even interested in dd's sussies.

He was about 23 mos when I took his away. Oh, and fresh air is a great sleep enhancer too!

amother

Wed, May 28 2008, 10:06 am

Truth is the nap time varies greatly. He doesn't sleep as well with the babysitter - usually an hour and a half. With me (on week-ends or my days off) he sleep about 2-2.5.

I just find it strange that he went from sleeping 11 hours at night and 2-3 hours during the day to this schedule in a month or so......it's wasn't gradual, which made me worried that it's something from the outside that's interfering (sp?).

gryp

Wed, May 28 2008, 10:13 am

My kids also started waking up at the crack of dawn recently. The room darkener and dark curtain over the window doesn't help, they just sense that it's morning.
I put a digital alarm clock in their room and told my oldest that once it reads 6:30 he can come out of bed and play quietly in his room until breakfast time. It hasn't helped for my younger ones though.
So we're all a bit more tired and cranky, and they have to go to sleep early although I'd like to keep them up later. But by the time 6 PM comes around they're going nuts on me begging to be put to sleep.

amother

Wed, May 28 2008, 10:18 am

GR wrote:

If he at least would go to sleep earlier I would be more OK with it. I start the routine (bath, dinner etc) around 7 and try to have him in bed by 8 but he usually doesn't fall asleep until 830 or so and at 6 he is up already!

gryp

Wed, May 28 2008, 10:28 am

Sometimes kids go through these kinds of stages where they need less sleep. There's really not much you can do about it, begging or forcing to go back to sleep never worked for me. Smile

I also don't hold of keeping kids in their cribs for hours to play while the parents sleep. Confused

mummy-bh

Wed, May 28 2008, 10:46 am

One of my kids gave up her daytime nap at 15 months!!!!!!

It was when I was in the hospital after ahving another baby - I was there for a week; it was a complicated delivery. She was out at different people's houses all day for a week, when she came home she REFUSED to sleep in the day, I would put her in the crib but she either cried, or played for an hour or so.

In my experience, kids can vary wildly how much sleep they need.