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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Toddlers

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amother

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 7:06 pm

My 3 yo stopped sleeping through the night. She wakes up in the middle of the night EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. and doesn't go back to sleep for at least an hr sometimes more. We have tried everything. She takes melatonin to fall asleep. I stay with her in her room to fall back asleep. Can take hrs and she goes crazy whenever I try to leave. She wants to come into our beds and I say no. She screams for hours till we give in and even then she cries the whole night so it's not even like this is solving anything.

This is affecting our entire lives. She's tired and cranky the whole day. She doesn't nap, keeps all the kids up and tantrums all day. She's not functioning in school. My husband and I are tired from being up for hours with her every night. We fight about what to do with her and we're exhausted in the middle of the night so usually a nice amount of yelling.

We have been trying to figure out why she gets up every night and why she won't go back to sleep. So far no luck. Any useful advice would be greatly appreciated!

amother

Brass

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 7:15 pm

Melatonin sometimes has an effect where it wears off in middle of the night, potentially leading to awakenings

amother

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 7:15 pm

Really??? This can happen?

amother

Acacia

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 7:20 pm

Maybe take her to bathroom when she wakes up and then put her back in her bed. Give lots of drinks when she comes home and minimal for 1 hour before bedtime. Even if she is not night trained maybe she is really ready and waking up from it. She must use the bathroom before bedtime

amother

Teal

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 7:42 pm

First make sure she doesn’t have any physical discomfort affecting her sleep.

As others have commented:
-Melatonin can backfire when it wears off in the middle of night, take her off of it
- make sure she uses the bathroom when she wakes up (even if she still wears a diaper at night) keep the bathroom dark when you take her
- try using a weighted blanket and white noise, also a humidifier if your house is dry
- check her for worms, strep, eczema- anything that irritates
- make sure her room is dark and quiet, and not too hot or cold.

If none of these physical changes help, then maybe it is a habit that needs to be changed with motivation (charts, rewards etc)

amother

Latte

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 7:44 pm

Wow did I write this.
Reward charts won't help. Don't try
See if it's pinworms
And try either quitting or doubling the melatonin. Or removing and replacing with dark cherry juice which is natural alternative

amother

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 8:13 pm

Thanks so much! Charts are pointless for her but everything else will check out. We already use a sound machine. She has eczema but this isnt the first time we're dealing with this type of thing but last time we switched her back to crib for some time which isnt an option now so dont think it's that. It's probably the melatonin based on responses here and the fact that she was having trouble falling asleep so we started that and now that she falls asleep she wakes up.
Will also try the bathroom cuz that's probably part of it also but never thought about it cuz shes in diaper at night.

amother

Amaranthus

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 8:46 pm

I would hire a sleep consultant. I might be hiring one for my toddler

amother

Olive

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 8:50 pm

Dropping the melatonin is the easiest thing to try.

amother

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 9:10 pm

amother [ Amaranthus ] wrote:

I would hire a sleep consultant. I might be hiring one for my toddler

These ppl exist? Gonna try these easier and cheaper ways first. I happen to have a some relatives with these types of issues who are older and it's really scared me so if none of these things work will do that to make sure it doesnt get worse.

amother

Steel

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 9:17 pm

By my kids it's always the bathroom and they insist they don't need to go but they really do. Once they go they fall back asleep easily.

amother

Lemonlime

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 9:28 pm

It's really likely the bathroom. Even though she has a diaper it can still wake her up and once she's up she might not be comfortable using the diaper.

amother

Teal

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 9:39 pm

[quote="amother [ Latte ]"Reward charts won't help. Don't try”[/quote]

Respectfully disagree. A while ago my 3 year old was rewarded a piece of gum in the morning if she slept in her own bed all night. Totally helped.

I once heard it said that early childhood sleep is a constantly moving goal post. For example:
They finally don’t need to eat in middle of night, but then they need help with their pacifier. They outgrow that, and need help sitting back down. They outgrow that, and start climbing out of their crib…. Etc

amother

Puce

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:04 pm

Check for pinwarms. They tend to bother in middle of night.

Also he eczema is bothering her maybe give benadryl for a few nights. Will calm it down and make her more sleepy. Hopefully she'll get into a good pattern

cla

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:09 pm

wow I'm sorry. here's what I've tried with similar issues
magnesium supplement
white noise
weighted blanket
nighty night essential oil in a diffuser
but I think discontinuing the melatonin was the most effective remedy

Last edited by cla on Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:13 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Papayawhip

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:11 pm

amother [ Teal ] wrote:

Respectfully disagree. A while ago my 3 year old was rewarded a piece of gum in the morning if she slept in her own bed all night. Totally helped.

I once heard it said that early childhood sleep is a constantly moving goal post. For example:
They finally don’t need to eat in middle of night, but then they need help with their pacifier. They outgrow that, and need help sitting back down. They outgrow that, and start climbing out of their crib…. Etc

Wish the chart worked for my 2.5 year old. We promised lo a specific treat if they slept through the night and now the excitement of it wore off and they still wake up in middle of night. Banging head

amother

Latte

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:57 pm

amother [ Teal ] wrote:

If there is a physical cause then no reward chart will help
Btdt I haven't slept in months. Finally discovered the medical issue at least.

amother

Tan

Wed, Oct 20 2021, 11:51 pm

First check for pinworms before you do anything else.

Geulanow

Thu, Oct 21 2021, 12:07 am

How is she when there's no school?

proudmomma

Thu, Oct 21 2021, 1:31 am

I had the same issue with DD. We started putting her to sleep later- close to 9 and she usually sleeps through the night. It's not perfect but a huge improvement BH!

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