Whats going on!? Tired mom....

[jellybabe]

Ds is amost 3 and I recently sleep trained him. All the went well. Succesfully trained him and started using white noise which reduced his night wakings to once a night or some nights no wakings. Then moved dd in his room but didnt seem to affect him and she's been with him for about 3 weeks now. Seems as if they're use to each others noises and her crying dont really bother him alot. He has always been an  early riser and constant at 6am. These last two days he's been waking up about 6x! He doesnt cry. Just gets up and comes to our room. I take him back and he'll sleep again. I cant understand why as nothing has changed. He is not ill. Routine's the same. So the two issues are waking up early and alot during the night. Last night went a bit better and he only woke 2x. But woke at 5:30am. Routine is;

Waking up 6am
Naps at around 12pm, depending on when he woke and how busy he's been,  but most days he doesnt nap anymore
Dinner at 6pm, bath at 6:30.
Stories at 7:30 and bed at 8pm.
I have been told he is OT, but I have tried putting him down at 7pm when he's not napped, but he still wakes at 6am, and with the day that he does nap, for about 1 hr, he still wakes early lol. I think he is sensitive to light and noise. So i've also blocked out the window but doesnt really change anything.


So with the night wakings and early waking, its qutie draining. I was thinking he could now be ot, coz his sleep is being disturbed by the wakings and then he wakes up early aswell. On these days I make sure he rather naps so he gets sleep in and then get him to bed early too, but he wont quit waking up at 6am. I figure he might eventually sleep longer when he reaches 3 but who knows

[ascwing]

Before sleep training, what time did he wake up? Some kids are just naturally more early risers than others. Are you or your LO's dad like that? He may have inherited it. My DS has almost always been a pretty good sleeper (though we have bad spells like everyone) and I attribute it to the fact that I myself LOVE sleep and need a good amt. of it to function. He seems to take after me in this respect.

He may be old enough to try using a bedtime pass. Here's an article that describes it: http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&ref=2180. This way he knows he can come get you if he really needs you but it discourages excessiveness. Sticker charts are good for kids this age too-- you could say for every night he stays in his bed and doesn't come get you (except for going potty, for example) he gets a sticker. After three stickers, he gets a predetermined award. Put a picture of the award on the chart so he remembers what he's working for. And by keeping the initial goal small, like three stickers, he's more likely to reach it and thus be more encouraged to go a little longer the next time.

I hope this helps some!

[deckchariot]

I take it he's in a big boy bed - how long has he been there?  It's not unusual to not have a nap at 3, so that could just be his thing.  If you put him to bed earlier, you mention he still wakes early - but is it earlier than 6 or still around 6?  That could just be the start time to his day.  If he's not waking up earlier with an early bedtime, I'd go with an early bedtime to help prevent OT which may help his NWs.

[jellybabe]

Thanx for replies. Ascwing; actually I am the early riser lol. I usually wake up early but if I dont need to get up I'll sleep more lol. He could take after me. Before sleep training he woke up at 8am, but I put that down to the fact that he went to bed so late (around10pm). I use a reward chart and it does work quite well and he understands that he gets stars for sleeping in his bed. Gets a reward after a weeks stars. Now I am trying to get him to understand he needs to sleep in his bed all night long for stars. Thanx for the article, its quite clever! I dont really know if he'll understand that yet though. But I'll definitely keep it in mind for when I see he will understand it.

Deckchariot; he is in a toddler bed. Been sleeping in a normal single bed when he was 16mths but we got rid of it due to lack of space and got a toddler bed which he's slept in now since sleep training (about 2mths now) The issue with napping is he WONT usually nap. And when he does nap, he takes forever to fall asleep at night. Restless, rolls around, talks lol which made me just leave him be if he can stay up without napping.When I put him to bed early, he still wakes at 6am. Its usually between 5:45 and 6:15. I've tried to take him back to bed but or he wont, or he'll sleep for 10 min and wake again. I've put him to bed at 7pm at times, but then it seems as if he tends to wake up more during the nite.

Dunno if he's just not use to such a long nite or what.  When he was a baby he use to wake up at 6am, so I am actually wondering if its just his wake time. Come to think of it, besides the time he slept with us before sleep training, he always woke early, mostly between 6am and 7am.

[ascwing]

Someone mentioned this on another thread I read today: can you get him a clock designed for kids? There's one kind, a bunny, that you set the time you want him to come out of his room (or that you're willing to accept him coming out of his room!) in the morning, and then the bunny's eyes open at that time to let him know he can come out. Or one where a sun appears, I think. Something like that. Anyway, if you're willing to accept him coming out at 6:15, you can set it for him for then and tell him it's ok if he wakes up before the sun is up/the bunny wakes up, but he can't come out of his room (except to potty or whatever) until then. It may seem more complex than your DS can handle, but I bet after a few mornings of you taking him back to his room and showing him the bunny's eyes are still closed, he'll get it. He can play quietly in his room, read a book, etc. until time to leave his room.

[jellybabe]

Thanx for more advice ascwing. That is a nice idea too. I've actually seen them advertised. Never really thought of it. My first thought was he wont really understand the concept, but yes, if he gets up at 6 I could try to take him back to bed but the issue aswell, the sun is up at 5am (UK) so its tricky. I dunno if he'll protest as he is now use to going to the lounge at that time. I've tried before and said, sleep more, but he just protests and I rather prevent him from making too much noise coz dd shares a room with him (she's younger than him and sleeps till 8am). I find on days that I do send him back, he will wake intermittendly for the hour I want him to sleep, and he also tends to be awake awake iynwim, so much so that he rolls around etc and not falling asleep. I think I will try the clock, it might be worth a shot coz i might get him to give up getting up in that hour eventually lol

[deckchariot]

I'd say that if he still wakes around the same time even with an early bedtime, that's probably his sweet spot in terms of waking up.  I'd move his bedtime earlier then - to fight off OT - especially if the nap is not happening.  He may be ready to give that up.  I know some mums who just do a "quiet time" in their room for a bit even if they don't nap.  so you could do that for 30 - 45 min (or even an hour), but move his bedtime earlier.  I LOVE ascwing's idea with the clock too!!

[jellybabe]

Yeh, he mostly skips his naps. He'll complain he is tired in the afternoon but only around 4pm which is too late, and if I do do a quiet time he'll most likely fall asleep lol. So I usually distract him and let him help me prepare dinner or something. He use to only go to bed at 8pm but I now see his body is sort of adjusting itself so he'll come to me at 7/7:15 saying he is tired and he'll then usually be asleep by 7:30 or so. I think he is coming down with something coz he slept ok last nite and the 2 before he woke up alot. Tonite he threw up about 30 min after going to sleep, complaining his stomach is aching. I hope its just something he ate and not a bug...