Having sleep issues around the age of 2? Want to chat?

[*Carrie*]

I've been in need of advice lately and I've noticed quite a few other people posting about their little ones sudden sleep issues having turned or about to turn 2. I just wondered if anyone else wants to chat about what's going on? I know I'm getting quite stressed about it and would appreciate the odd rant whilst I'm also happy to hold anyone else's hand whose needing it... any takers??

Carrie
x

[fifibobandmore]

My DS#2 is almost 20 months so can I join in. If I can I will post my rant later

[*Carrie*]

Absolutely!!! Feel free to rant cos then I can rant right back!!!! x

[fifibobandmore]

Well were do I start, I wish he would sleep through the night more than once every other month, some nights he only wakes once and others like last night 5 times. I was close to being hospitalized because of bad sleep deprobation as I haven't had more than 1 nights good sleep since my DD was born. But DH helped me with that he took over so I could get some sleep dueing the day but I found ot so hard as every time I heard either DS#2 or my DD start complaining I woke to them. He seemed to be such a good bay when he was first born he would sleep 3-4 hours straight with no problems and then it goes all wrong. He wont go back to sleep unless he is being BFed and I am now starting to wean him at night even though I would love to do baby lead weaning. I refuse to feed him now unless it has been 4 hours since his last feed. I am so feed-up with his N/W's they are so endless and just as I think yes we are getting somewhere he just gets worse

OK enough ranting from me your turn now Carrie

[*Carrie*]

Oh "FB and M" - poor you!! That sounds awful!!!!! I have to admit that my rant is going to seem so petty compared to the ongoing sleep deprivation you've been having... but here goes,

We've been so lucky with Rory since day 1 sleep wise as he's always been pretty good and he took to his cot immediately. We've had phases of the odd NWs but never for very long and we've never had the whole up for hours coaxing back to sleep thing (we did use Calpol Night when he was teething - but at the the time it claimed to be fine for los over the age of 3 months I think.... goodness knows how we would have managed without it sometimes but now we've got to wonder why it's no longer advised and whether we may have done harm......)
Anyway, my problem that brought me here is that Rory is now having real difficulty taking a nap and this has been around every day for the last 3 weeks... he's only managing 30mins and often wakes REALLY grumpy! I put a happy little tot down for his nap, get no more than 30 minutes peace to myself and then have to deal with a screaming banshee! I've been trying to extend it and have been asking for advice here about naptimes etc (sad to mention I only got one reply to that post and the replier wasn't able to offer any advice on our routine just some practical advice on the bedding etc...) but now I'm wondering why I'm bothering... maybe I should forego the nap and just put him down super early for bed? The trying to extend the nap is just torture to us both and I'm pretty much at my wits end with it....

How's that for a rant??

[fifibobandmore]

Wow your Rory reminds me of how my DD was at his age with her naps. I ended up dropping the nap just to see how she went on ofr 7-10 days and because she coped with being awake for 12 hours stright I never worked on putting the nap back in place. What time doe she waske in the morning? Could be he is doing the same as my DD and is self weaning his nap and the ratteness when he wakes is his way of saying I didn't need that nap. You might find though that there will be a rare day were you will go to toilet and come back and find him a sleep on the floor, when my DD did this I just left her to sleep and got on with the house work I found hard to do with her under feet like the laundry and the pots or cleaning the cooker.

[*Carrie*]

That's really interesting FB and M as so far I haven't had any feedback from anyone who did drop the nap at this age... did you find you were putting her to be really early as compensation? (I know this was years ago for your DD so you'd be forgiven for not remembering!!!!)
Yesterday he had his best nap for ages! DH put him to bed in his thinnest sleeping bag and he slept for well over an hour and was happy... he is on antibiotics and getting over an illness so maybe his nap might reappear with time?? Who knows?? What I do know is I'm not prepared to go through anymore WI/WO to try to extend the nap - if he wakes early I'm just going to accept it, calm him and get on with our day!
How are things with you?

PS you asked when he wakes... well he's been stirring around 6am ish but resettling quickly with his music on and a quick word from me or DH then will sleep until 7.30. Bedtime is normally 7.30 but we make it 8 when he has had a good nap...

[*Carrie*]

Just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! I saw your announcement on the pregnancy board! here's hoping this one is a good sleeper!!! xx

[heidiruthie]

i'm just gonna hop in here with both feet, hope you don't mind!

my rant is that DS who has been sleeping perfectly fine in his new BBB for over a month suddenly decided to hop on out of bed repeatedly and act like he isn't even sleepy for naps and now for bedtime as well!! i even tried a bit of AP which has worked like a charm in the past (ie laying next to him while singing him a lullaby or sitting next to his bed with my hand on his chest) and he tosses and turns  and nearly does somersaults in bed! it makes me wonder whether he's ready to give up his nap so young, but i'm not ready yet!!!

SO after reading carrie's other thread and the advice she got, i decided to try to bump his naptime up today. normally he's awake anywhere from 5-6am in the morning, and his nap is at 12 noon regardless of when he wakes up. so today i did a longer winddown and ended up leaving his room at 11:30. he cried immediately (not usual for him) so i waited a bit, then went in and gave him his teddy bear to hug. he cried when i left the room, so i entered one last time and told him i'd be right there next to him, and i sat on the floor next to his bed without touching him. he fell asleep within minutes!!!

oh, i also should mention that i ended up "barricading" the only exit from his bed with pillows and folded up blankets and giving him strict instructions not to get out of his bed. it was cute a week ago when he'd get out on his own AFTER his nap, but once he began getting out BEFORE his nap, it wasnt so cute anymore

carrie, i feel for you with not wanting to continue the WI/WO. we've had limited success with it in the past, but it seems that the older he gets, the more furious he becomes and it seems more distracting to him than anything. i know that the little bit of AP i've been using isn't recommended by BW, but i have to say i feel much better about it cuz i've never been able to stand to hear him crying for very long...

interesting what stacy said on the other thread, isn't it? i've always gone by a set naptime as well just so i don't get confused (with pregnancy brain, confusion happens often!) and it also makes it easier to make plans in the morning if i know exactly when he'll go down. obviously, i've been stretching him too long in the mornings, at least i HOPE that today's success is what that means.

FB and M: congrats on your pregnancy! have you received any good advice on how to get you LO to sleep through the night? do you think you'll begin to weant him from BF completely now that you are PG? hugs to you, i can't imagine being sleep deprived for so long. i'd be completely bald from tearing all my hair out!!

[*Carrie*]

Hi Heidi - it's interesting about the 5.5 hour activity time isn't it?? Glad the advice I got there seemed to help today and here's hoping you get similar results tomorrow xx I think it's so easy to get blase when things are running along nicely but we forget these wee blighters are growing and changing all the time and what used to suit them down to the ground now gets them OT or OS!!
We've had two days of good naps and I have to say I didn't manage to bump naptime earlier. The changes which may have helped are that he is now napping in a very light sleeping bag and he has also been on antibiotics for a cough and that seems to have gone. So maybe a combination of feeling under the weather and overheating are the causes for our bad naps?? We'll see what happens tomorrow!
Sending good sleepy vibes to everyone xx

[fifibobandmore]

No good advice yet I have spoken to my HV aboutgetting him to sleep through the night and all she said was to give him a slice of whole-meal toast just before I put him to bed so that his stomach is full. Wont that course indegetion though. And as for the weaning I still want to do BLW as long as possible so for now I'm going to continue BFing even though this morning when I offered him his wake up BF he refused it and went straight to his dad and said numnums which is his word for food so he had a cup of cows milk and a bowl of cherios for breakfast instead. He has slept better these past 2 nights as I am putting him to bed a hour after family dinner and I am hoping that this will continue even though he has cold again.

[Fiver]

Can I join in too?  It's just naps for us really at the moment, although, after today, I know we're going to have to do the BBB transition as DS escaped from his cot bed, got out of his room, came downstairs and interrupted DH and I having lunch and watching TV!  We couldn't help but laugh, but it's not really that funny when DS has been rubbing his eyes and looking tired while eating lunch and then not bothering to nap and not wanting to just have some quiet time to himself (to give us some too!!)

At the moment, I'm totally terrified about the BBB switch....we can't do it slowly, because we have a cot bed, so will just have to pick a day and take the sides off and change the bottom....think we'll also have to switch to a duvet too (in a grobag at the moment) and probably get a gate for his door too!!!

I was really worried tonight about putting him to bed because I wondered whether he would climb out in his sleeping bag and hurt himself.  I've made sure his door's properly closed and have closed the upstairs stairgate. eeep!

[*Carrie*]

Hi Amanda! Sorry your having sleep issues too. it's really been the nap with us too although, touch wood, Rory has slept well (an hour and half) the past two days. People had suggested making his nap earlier but a part of me still isn't convinced! I've managed to get him down 30mins or so earlier but he's refused his nap entirely twice over recent days... he's been getting his last molar in so I'm wondering if that's been havign an effect.

On the BBB front I have to say we've made the transition really smoothly. maybe it helped that  he had a 48 hour vomiting bug at the time !! I would just say if you do go down the road of a duvet go for something like a 4 tog one. We got Rory a 7 tog one but it's too warm... and advice on here suggested research showed that toddlers don't need anything like as warm a duvet as us - something to do with their body size compared to the size of the duvet...

Let me know how you get on xx

[tracynben]

can i join too, im having major problems at the mo with my toddler who is 29 months. I have a baby too 7 weeks, and everything started from the time he went in BBB. The first 3 weeks were fine, then we had on and off times for 6 weeks then he was fine again, and since the baby has been born hes gradually got worse esp the last week.

Its happening for both nap and bedtimes now, hes becoming totally hyper, overtired, easily frustrated difficult etc etc all the tim cos hes not gettin enough sleep I know part of it is to do with the baby and just attention seeking. I have been experienting with different times, earlier, later nothing seems to make any difference.

I spoke with the CHN she suggested changin his rountine slightly which i did, but cos most of the time his bedtime gets rushed cos of dealin with the baby he just doesnt wind down and become relaxed enough, hes not napped for 3 days now and is taking about 2 hours to fall to sleep, hes only gettin about 10 -  11 hours sleep each day.

What happens, is i do wind time as best as i can, normally

5pm - tea
5.30 pm - tidy up toys
5.45pm - bath
6pm - tv
6.15pm milk, stories and kiss

As soon as i am about to kiss him, he begs and pleads for another story, i just ignore him, kiss him and say goodnight, BUT he either moans or cries, gets out of bed, and messes around in his room until hes exhausted and crashes.
Yesterday he kept cryin (which he normally doesnt do, but i think hes doing it cos he knows when the baby cries he gets attention).

I cant commit myself properly yet to dealin with it 100% in case i have to deal with the baby, my partner isnt always home in time, and we live in australia, all my family in uk, so dont have anyone to help.
I really dont know what to try, its really effectin him now, which is also effectin me and my partner too.

I know what the problem is, and have read ways i can try and make it better, but they all require total commitment. I think i mite try his music cd back on again, and maybe try an alarm clok, so when it beeps story time over and time for bed, and introduce a sticker chart for stayin in bed, if hes good all week he can have a treat, if not he gets nothing.
Anu other suggestions, anyone had any success tryin anything?

tracy xxxxx

[fifibobandmore]

Hi amanda and I just wanted to say good luck witht he cot to bed switch and like Carrie has said a 4 tog duvet is best for a toddler because of the size difference of child and duvet. Hope the sleep issues sort themselves out while doing the switch as maybe it is Callums way of telling you he is ready to move to a big boys bed.

Hi tracy and what you are doing looks perfect to me. When I had Edward, my Loren went through a similar thing and what I ended up doing was a sticker chart and she got a sticker for staying in bed and another sticker for not crying when I covered her up. This worked wonderful and the other thing I did was when I bathed her at bath-time I put baby in the bath with her and got her to help wash him. I told her she was only allowed to wipe him with his cloth and she was only allowed to wash his legs, arms and belly everything mummy had to wash. I showed her how we had to be gentle and I allowed her to help with nappy changing time's and she got his coat when we were going out which she still does. Allowing her to help with the care of the baby seemed to help her at night too but I never asked her for help I left her to ask if she could help and when she did I just "Oh that would great if you could help thank you." Even now she loves handing me his wet-wipes and nappy and she loves playing with the bath-toys with him, it seems to have become a habit more than anything else and she feels like she is great sister for helping. She is even starting to plan his second birthday party already and he isn't 2 until July. She told me last night that you need to plan so that when the time comes you know what you are doing. Hope any of this is useful

I have had a brake through with Edward he is now sleeping from 7 at night until 5 in the morning most nights now. I have changed his routine we have a bath every night at 5:30, family dinner at 6, story at 6:45 in his bed-room and at 7 I give him a kiss and cuddle then lay him on his back and covering him up with a micro-fleece blanket. He also has a BF while having a story. Now I just need to get his naps sorted as he is so stubborn it is impossible to get him to take a nap. He does have another BF at 5 when he wakes but that is only 5-10 mins and he goes back to sleep until between 7-7:30 so he is getting on average 12 hours a night which coul dbe why he is refusing to take a nap but I am sure he needs more than 12 hours sleep a day.