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

[Bryony]

Well done, Katie!  Some girls will do anything for chocolate

clearly my daughter then 

[*Carrie*]

Oh Bryony - I'm so pleased for you!!  Is the sleep fairy ready to reward Katie again tomorrow if all goes well??
I'd read another "sleep" book and it did mention that from this age los respond to charts and rewards really well - Katie is a prime example! Hope the good work continues!!!! (Rory still has two white buttons every night when he takes his inhaler - I really don't care about that little bit of chocolate when it means I know he's getting his medicine well...)
And I hate to think of you crying every day  - although when I think of how little sleep you've been getting it doesn't surprise me - huge hugs to you and I hope this is the beginning of the end!!!!!!!

Amanda - words beginning with Q?? You've lost me!

Oh, almost forgot - DH's suggestion for getting back to sleep is a Hot Toddy. He makes a mean one and I'll get the recipe from him if you're interested!!!!!!!! Bit of whisky, bit of honey, bit of lemon and some cloves - think that's it - oh and the hot water of course!!!!!!!

[Bryony]

Oh Bryony - I'm so pleased for you!!  Is the sleep fairy ready to reward Katie again tomorrow if all goes well??

Yes the sleep fairy was ready and waiting - but unfortunately it was not to be!  So perhaps it was just a one-off.  We had a really bad night last night....  I really don't know why she feels the need to check that I am there several times a night.  She then goes straight back to sleep again but she seems to want to confirm that I am there (and awake).

I won't mention any words beginning with Q or anything like that! 

Actually Amanda I've also been racking my brains about this all night (since being woken up at 12:45...  ) and can't work it out either. Put me out of my misery!

Carrie - do give me the hot toddy recipe!  I don't like whisky but am willing to try anything!

[Fiver]

Q for quiet....ho well, the not mentioning it obviously didn't work

[*Carrie*]

I'll get that recipe for you first chance I get (DH is not to hand at the mo as he's back downstairs doing DIY...) I'm not a fan of whisky either but as a toddy it's very palatable! Good luck for a better night tonight. Maybe she was testing to see whether she'd get the chocolate anyway! Rory's certainly testing the boundaries at the moment! Sleep well xxxx

[kittycase]

I'd like to jump into the group as well!  My sweet dd turned 2 yesterday.  For the past 2-3 weeks she's been having issues with her nap times.  That is not wanting to take them.  She even started doing EW's at 6am (she usually gets up between 6:45-7:15am).  Her naptime was at 2pm (gradually pushed back so far due to her not wanting to go to sleep).  Then one day she just started crying during naptime and refusing to nap.  I had gotten advice to put her down at 1pm instead, thinking she could possibly be OT.  I have tried this week and got one nap out of her.  It did improve her EW's though.  Now she's back to a 6:45am wake up time, but still having issues with the nap.

She still sleeps in her crib.  But all of that is about to change.  I am due with DD#3 in two months, so she's getting the boot out of the crib.  She will be sleeping in the bottom of a trundle bed with her older sister (5yrs).  We will be doing the switch next month when we move into the new house.  I'm fearful that her naps will never recover after having these current issues then moving to a real bed.  She's my "spirited" one, so both of us really need some recovery nap time from all of her go, go, go and daily intensity.  I don't think I can handle her not napping...not yet!  I can't handle how it's been for the past 2-3 weeks, let alone this be the new schedule.  Then plop, add another lo into the mix.  Did I mention I also homeschool, so there will be three at home all day, everyday once the baby comes.  Getting a bit stressed.  If I could get the naps under control, I think I can manage the rest without going insane

Krista

[*Carrie*]

Hi Krista - welcome!!! And at the moment I can say not to despair as we seem to have come through exactly what you are talking about and my DS is back to sleeping an hour or more without all the hassles and battles... I did WI/WO when he was crying and refusing the nap but I didn't really try to extend if he only slept for 40 minutes. It took about 5 weeks I think (!)... I was also advised to get him down earlier but I have to say that never happened!!! Due to our activities and Rory being a SLOW eater it was nigh impossible to move his nap earlier. Like you we'd been inching later and later due to him not being able to get to sleep at an earlier time... so his nap can be 1.30pm to 3 or 2pm to 3.30. He was waking really badly and it could take 20 minutes of me trying to calm him which was harrowing and was making me wonder about giving up the nap entirely. I mean I was putting a happy, chatty toddler down when he was telling me "no nap" and I was left with a screaming banshee 40 minutes later. OR I was chained to the door doing WI/WO for 30 mins or so which made me wonder why i was doing it too! But like you, I'm expecting in the near future (when's your dd by the way? mine is 17th June) and I've been clinging onto his nap to try to have a calm point during the day!!!!! Hopefully that's us got it sorted now - if this had happened once the lo was here I doubt I would have been able to persevere for so long...
Anyway, hope that gives you some hope!! And come back here for a moan or a shoulder as often as you like!!!!

[kittycase]

Yes, you did bring me a lot of hope.  Someone once told me that when when something is so bad that you don't think you can take one more day of it, press on because it's almost over.  Yesterday's nap didn't go so well.  I put her down at 1pm and she babbled for an hour in there and then started crying.  But I knew she would be a terror if I let her get up.  She did end up falling asleep after about 45min of being all worked up.  So that was about 2:45 and slept till about 3:45.  She was still a little cranky, but nothing compared to if she didn't get that hour of sleep.  Ashley doesn't usually show signs of being tired, so it's like a stab in the dark to know when she should go down w/out getting OT.  I've never been able to do WI/WO w/her.  It gets her even more worked up and overstimulates her even more.  I usually let her cry for a bit and then if she doesn't pipe down I'll go in and get her up.

I do hope that all of this will work out by the time our third lo gets here.  I'm due very close to your due date...I'm due on June 14th.

[AfonsoandDinisMum]

Hi everyone!
Can I join in this group? My LO will be 2 next Monday, and the past few days we have been dealing, again, with some NW problems. Last night was the worst for a while now, with him waking 4 times... When I thought that the NW problems where over, here they are again... He usually goes to bed around 9:30 pm (I know it's a too late, but He simply doesn't show any sings of being tired before that, and besides that, with me and DH arriving at home from work at 7 pm, giving him his bath - that he loves to be very long with plenty of play and bubbles, and doing dinner, that is the time that he is ready to bed ) and wakes up around 6 am but after then sleeps again until 9 am.
I'm completely lost and don't know how to deal with this problem again. When he wakes up during the night, he doesn't cry, he simply sits on his bed and starts calling for me, louder and louder, and if I don't go to him, then he starts to cry...
Can someone please help me?

Hugs
Sónia

[fifibobandmore]

Hi Sonia and hugs. Is DS in a big boy bed or still in a cot? Edward did the same when he was in his cot but now when he wakes in the night he will com einto mine and DH's room to see if we still are there have a quick cuddle with us both and then last night took hiself back off to bed with-out any problems. Could he be waking from a bad dream and wants some reasurrance everythign is OK? Does he have a spill-proof cup with a drink in for the night?

Krista Hugs to you too and as for the napping issue it sounds liek she is doing the same as my Edward has done. He refusers to nap even when we are out for our nap-time stroll he won't sleep now unless he is tired. I ahve ended up giving in and letting him take the lead when it comes to nap's. He will have possible 1 nap a week sometimes it's 1 nap a fort-night and they only last between an hour to an hour and half. Good luck with the cot-BGB transition

Edward came into my bed twice last night but with no crying which was great and after a cuddle with both me and DH he took hiself back to bed again with no crying. DH also put him to bed last night for the first time since transitioning to the BBB and it only took him 2 PD's to get him to settle to sleep and was back down stairs after only an hour. He also made the next step away from Edward bed so we are now 4 steps away from him which I believe is great especially with this being his second week in the BBB. He is finally taking ot the transition and is loving his bed more than he did his cot.

[Bryony]

Sonia - this is very similar to the problems we are having!  I think in Katie's case it is some kind of SA that's come in... might that be the case for Afonso?  I ended up sleeping on the floor in her room and have been doing gradual removal so I am now sleeping on a mattress in the corridor (!) - but she still wakes a few times a night to check that I am there....

[Lilysmummy]

I'm also joining in if you don't mind.... same as everyone else with darling 2 yr old. Was fantastic sleeper now all turned to poo. When do you know if its a later nap you need? She seems OT so almost needs earlier nap but nothing is working - she isn't transitioning from car to cot now if she fall asleep out which is a real pain as need to work everything around getting home in time before she falls asleep...

:-)

[Fiver]

Hi Lily's mummy!  Can't help with the naps as DS has basically decided to give it up unless he's absolutely exhausted or ill!!  For me, it's better for my sanity just to let him be rather than try to "force" a nap on him as I just end up getting cross and he gets more upset or thinks it's funny. *sigh*

[kittycase]

Well my little Ashley is averaging about 1 nap per every 5 days.  Even after going to the beach, her 5 yr old sister napped out of pure exhaustion...not the steam roller Ashley.  She kept on.  Even when she yawns when I lay her down...still no nap.  It seems now that even when she gets a nap, she's just as cranky as if she didn't.  We adjusted her bedtime for everyday that she doesn't nap.  So she's put in bed at 7am and gets up around 6:45am.  I really truly hope that she will return to napping.  Either way she stays in her crib from 1pm to 2:45/3pm.  Sometimes babbling, playing, calling for me, sometimes cries.  For my sanity I have to let her have "quiet time" even if she's not so "quiet".

[*Carrie*]

Krista - I'm hearing you on continuing to put your lo down for "quiet time" at the usual time and I hope she turns a corner and realises it's nice to nap again. Rory doesn't fight me at all re the nap but that was after 5 long weeks of persevering! He happily comes up to his room and takes aprt in the routine then goes off to sleep when I elave him. Unfortunately for the apst three days we've had the full on rage when he wakes again. It's not pleasant and he's not consistent with what he needs to snap out of it. Sometimes if I get there quickly and cuddle him it's all over but other times me "interfering" just seems to escalate the rage.... ho hum!
I am really pleased naps are still here and I'll just have to experiment a bit to try to help him through his bad mood...

Hope everyone else is doing well xx