BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Sleeping For Toddlers => Topic started by: essexlemon on December 22, 2010, 18:59:00 pm
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A bit of background that I will make as short as I can:
After getting DS medicated for reflux at about 13 months we finally started sleep training (with guidance from Anna - many thanks) which was successful and DS has been a reasonably solid sleeper ever since.
He was recently taken off meds and this led to virtually no night sleep - it was like being back at square one with a new baby sleeping less than three hours a night. We got him medicated again and things improved but by then he was teething which has been disturbing him at night - although he was easier to settle again and looked like getting back on track.
The last ten days or so he has been waking up about 20 mins to half hour after DH and I go to bed and been increasingly difficult to resettle (last night I bit the bullet and he slept in our bed). We went to the nurse yesterday as he was having trouble with balance and she suspects an ear infection so he's on antibiotics.
We tried sleeping on our put-you-up bed downstairs to see if there was any improvement when we don't walk past his room at night and each time we've done that he sleeps through - we got cocky last night though and went to our own bed and all hell broke loose. We can't sleep downstairs much longer as my parents are visiting for Christmas. I think the problem is that as he is in discomfort with his teeth and ears the movement of the floorboards as we tiptoe past is just enough to knock him into a lighter sleep and the pain is then waking him up. I'm giving him Ibuprofen a short time before bed (Ibuprofen - I checked with the nurse and she's happy for us to keep giving it at bedtime) and sometimes it's too early for me to give him another dose but either way he gets very cross that I go into the room when he is trying to settle even once he hits 'I need you' crying.
He has always been a bit sensitive to us walking past his bedroom so we've always had to tiptoe and going to our bedroom before we actually want to go to bed, like to get a jumper or whatever is completely banned. We can't swap rooms with him because our bed won't fit in his room.
So my question is this - Should we be stomping past his room to help him get used to it (once he's over his ear infection) or try to start sleeping downstairs again as soon as Mum and Dad have gone home so as not to disturb him? I know it's a tall order but does anyone have any suggestions as to what we can do to minimise the disruption as we sneak past? He generally tollerates a fair amount of noise from downstairs once he is properly asleep - it's just when we go past his room that he is disturbed.
Why are my posts always so long ??? :-[
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Have you tried using white noise, such as a fan that will distract him from all the other noises? My dd is a very light sleeper. Has always been, and we've been using the fan for all naps and bedtimes. It really helps.
xxx
charm
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We put relaxing CD on for DS every night - on nights where he is unsettled (illness, mainly) or we have friends round, bonfire night etc where we know there will be more noise we put the CD on repeat all night and it seems to work.
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Spencer has a CD on repeat all night and a fan, Masyn just has a fan set on low. Spencer has both because the CD player has battery backup and if the power goes off at least she is left with some white noise!
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Thanks guys. I hadn't thought of white noise as I thought it was only used for tiny babies so it's good to know your LO's find it helpful. I'll give that a go.
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Def. white noise. Although expect that it may take him a few days or so to be used to falling asleep with it on, but he'll come to expect that noise to sleep and then it will help lull him back when he does wake and he may need you less to resettle himself. We have a CD on repeat all night as well :)
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... sometimes without realising it I put 1 TRACK on repeat all night!! He doesn't seem to mind though!
We use Mozart for Mother and Child/Baby (from those shops that have the selection you can press the button and listen to, mainly garden centres), one I got from hypnobirthing course and a "Spa" one from PartyLite candle party brochure!! We have used the radio but I found that DS didn't settle as well even though he like it!
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No real advice here, we eventually moved downstairs and the kids are now both upstairs. We had more luck when they first went to bed but woke my DD (before we had DS) every time we got up to go to work and that got old fast. Plus there were the middle of the night runs to the restroom that ended up in waking her too. I sort of wish we were still upstairs, I know DH does, but oh the freedom of being downstairs now. (and yet, we still tip toe) Hugs and best of luck! White noise, for sure. ;) We have the traditional white noise sound, nothing fancy.
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I use this one for Spencer:
http://cantonbecker.com/music/white-noise-sleep-sounds/mp3s.php
I used the seamless loop one and fit it 2x on a CD which I then run on repeat all night. I really like it too, when the kids are older and I'm not so worried about hearing them at night, I'll be burning one for myself!
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Thanks ladies for the white noise suggestions. Thankfully the antibiotics for his ear infection kicked in quite quickly so we made it past his room without the usual wake-up. I've downloaded that white noise from the link as it sounded better than anything I've got from when DS was tiny and I think I'll try to get him used to it for the next time we have sleep gremlins.
Only problem now is the deeper sleep seems to be producing leakier nappies.
Thanks again ladies. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.
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Move up in size for diapers at night! :) Or look for the ones made to absorb more overnight. :)
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Thanks Nicole.
That's worked for us before but we're already on the biggest size (6). We had leakage issues before and were advised to move up a size so he always seems to be in the next size up as compared to his weight. We've tried Pampers, Huggies, Tesco's. They all worked for a couple of nights and then stopped absorbing just as we bought a bumper pack ::) I tried phoning Pampers and they just put me over to a sister company that produces adult nappies who first of all told me I had to be referred by my doctor and then put me over to sales who wanted some riduculous amount of money for a small pack.
We've tried double nappies, nappies with a wrap on top, double nappies with a wrap on top. Through all the sleeping issues it seemed to improve a bit but I guess maybe because he wasn't getting into a nice deep sleep with the ear discomfort. Now that he is sleeping nicely again he seems to be relaxing and letting it all flow :)
Not sure where to go from here nappywise but EW's due to wetness are a hell of a lot better than long NW's due to ear infection and teething so I'm not going to complain. Just keep tumble drying those sleeping bags ;)
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We use white noise- a fan in his room. We turn it in while we r getting ds ready for bed.
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Re. Leak issues... How old is your son?
xxx
charm
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Hi Charm,
He's 23 months. We're teetering on the edge of potty training but holding off as we have an upcoming move and at the new place there will be a downstairs loo (yay) plus I don't want to start in the middle of lots of upheaval. We're continuing with familiarisation for now (he likes to sit on the toilet after his bath).
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Yes totally understandable. I held off PT for similar reasons too.
What I was thinking is whether you could try to limit liquid intake before bedtime. Eg. We do dinner around 5.30 and then no more drinks unless she is sick, sore throat etc. Katrina is potty trained during the day but still wears a nappy at night. I also find that when I fasten her nappy high above the belly button rather than below, she is less likely to have leaks. Katrina leaks from her tummy area, not sides.
xxx
charm
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Thanks Charm.
To be honest, apart from his bottle, he tends not to drink that much at tea time, he's more of a 'wander round after lunch drinking' kinda guy.
I've tried cutting the inner nappy a bit differently from how I was doing and that seems to be helping with the leak issue. Plus DS has started occassionally holding himself so there will be a little bit of wee but not much, and he wakes up early busting for a new nappy (he is still sooo tired when this happens so much to grumpy to sit on the loo).
Thanks for the thought. If (ha, I mean when) his nappies start leaking again I may try offering him water a little while before his tea so he has time to pee out before bedtime.
He leaks from legs, tummy, you name it but no big leaks for a few days so I'm hopeful.
:)
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Hey how's it going?
SInce I wrote the last message my daughter started leaking badly lol. Can you believe it? hahahaha
xxx
charm
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Oh Charm, sorry about that. I get the same whenever I try advising a friend on sleep :-\ Even recommending the BW books is enough to guarantee a stint of night wakings :(
My new double nappying method has failed dismally a few times but tbh I was so overjoyed that DS slept those nights that I didn't care (we've had another ear infection and sleep has got a bit crazy). I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to have to put up with washing a sleeping bag every day and make sure I stick to the terry cloth next time around so I can double, trebble, use boosters...