What to do?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

DS is two next week     

He seems to be having nightmares and has also become scared of the dark (or so it seems) and developed SA with me at night time. He is getting his two year molars, waking up all through out the night and he is a wreck during the day. So we have basically been sitting in his room until he falls alseep at night. The thing is, when he wakes several times in the night, he wants the same thing. Also at nap time. I have tried GW and WIWO over the last few weeks and he is in a right state of panic over the whole thing. I REALLY do not feel like he is just playing us at all. This appears completely genuine. So do I just ride it out? I'm scared that we are still going to be stuck like this when new baby comes alonh and I don't want to add that into the mix for him. Knowing him, the teeth will take 6 months to come through

Help!!! Any ideas?

[sianie]

{{Hugs}}....totally get how tough 2nd year molars can be!! 

A few Q's....I guess your giving meds for the teeth? Have you tried a meds dream feed? This worked really well for DD.

Does he have a night light in his room to help with the dark issue?

Do you think part of the SA with you is in part due to your pg? Just wondered if he's picking up things changing/you looking different etc & this is adding to it?

Does he respond to you reassuring him from outside his room (i.e. standing just outside his door) or does he physically need you in the room?

What does his routine look like ATM? I found I had to tweak DD's routine when her molars were coming through ...had to pull nap & BT forward as teething was making her more tired.

HTH?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

He has a night light although we have to put it in the room once he is already asleep or else he pulls it out of the wall It has seemed to help with some of his night fear but it comes and goes with nightmares.

We have tried all sort of things with meds but they just don't seem to affec him.

The SA definitely could do with the pg as he has NEVER had SA before. Anything I can do about it?

His routine is:

Wake 6am
Nap:12ish-1:40
Bedtime at 7:15 but he won't sleep until 7:45 no matter when he put him down.

Oh and he wants to physically touch me and it's like a clingy to me for dear life, screaming Mommy at the top of his lungs, scared to death type deal.

He is getting up two or three times a night and sometimes after I have left because he has fallen asleep, he wakes up immediately and it starts all over again.

[sianie]

FWIW, my DD went through a very clingy phase when I was pg with DS (I expected issues after DS was born not before!). It seemed to start once I started to show & she obviously started noticing I was looking different etc. Be reassured that this is a phase, I think all you can do is be there to reassure & spend as much quality time as possible with him to help him feel less unsettled.

Does he have a special toy, lovey etc that he takes to bed? We took DD shopping for a special toy that she always has when she goes to sleep & we tell her a story about how it's there to give her cuddles, keep her safe etc & this worked well.

I'm just wondering whether pushing his nap back a bit might help? LO's sleep needs do seem to change at around 2 yrs old & with DD we pushed her nap later at around this age.

What do you think?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Sorry for ditching this thread! We had a really bad week of sickness and our routine was obviously thrown very far off. We are still trying to come out of it. This is what things look like now:

Wake:6:30
Nap: 12:30-2ish (if I'm lucky )
Will not fall asleep before 8 but it is typically more like 8:30.

As you may imagine, he is getting OT and behavior is becoming a nightmare. He is only waking once in the night which is better then before. He is napping independently but we are having to sit in his room at bedtime which is tiring. The last couple nights he has been waking an hour after he goes to sleep at night which is a classic OT sign for him.

What shall I do to try and solve this OT problem and hopefully get him to sleep independently again?

Thanks!

[sianie]

Hi!

So despite the sickness, it does sound that things have moved forward a bit...less NW's etc?

Do you think he's in an UT/OT loop? i.e. I'm thinking maybe that 1st A-time needs to be pushed back a little so say nap at 1pm?

How long has he generally been napping for?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Im fairly positive he is OT. He is napping for 1hr and 15min to 1hr and 30 min. Im not sure that I can get him to last that long before his nap but I am willing to try. What does that do for our night though? This 8:30 asleep business is not working for us at all. I'm scared that if the nap moves later, so will bed time Maybe I'm off here. Since he is most likely OT, I probably shouldn't cut the nap shorter

He definitely has moved forward in terms of NWings but backwards in terms of adecent bedtime.

[sianie]

Do you wake him from his nap?

If you think it's OT then what would happen if you pulled his nap forward to say 12pm? Would he go down then?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

No I don't wake him from the nap. I can try moving it forwards. Not sure what he would do. Would you let him sleep longer if he doesn't wake at his typical time?

[sianie]

If you suspect OT then maybe try the slightly earlier nap & let him sleep for as long as he needs to see if this helps get him caught up?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Ok sounds like a plan! Thanks!

[sianie]

Good luck...let me know how it goes!

[Mom to M&M]

Jenn - did you ever look into food intolerances with regard to Ethan and especially his sleep?

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Food intolerances- yes, we went dairy free again but that never changed anything. He seems a bit sensitive to some salicylates but they seem to affect his skin rather then sleep.

He napped at 12:20 yesterday. I tried at 12 but he didn't want anything to do with it and I finally got him alseep at 12:20. He slept until 2:05 so a bit longer there. We put him in bed at 7:30 and he was asleep by 8:05 so again, a bit better there. It is 6:20 here now and he is still sleeping. Oh he had two short NWings but no big deal there.

[sianie]

I would stick to trying to get him down as early as you can for his nap & then carry on letting him sleep for as long as.....at least he took a bit of a longer nap.