32 month old off track since being sick

[vanessa c]

Hi everyone,

I have a 32 month old who got sick last week. When he is sick he wants me often at bed time. I had to sit in his room until he fell asleep, one night I needed to sleep in his room. Since he has been sick he will insist I sit in his room until he falls asleep and about every other night he is waking around 3 am and cries until I sit back in his room for him to go back to sleep. At nap he is fine with me laying him down and leaving the room. He normally allows me to lay him down and leave and does not wake until morning. In the past when he has been sick and needed me he has gone back to normal once he feels better. It seems like this time he's not getting back to normal...any suggestions?

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there, do you feel like he is properly well again? If not, maybe keep going with this for a little longer.

Assuming you do think he is 100%, could you use gradual withdrawal or WIWO to help him back to Independent Sleep?

Toddlers: Walk In/Walk Out vs. The Gradual Withdrawal Method (HOW TO CHOOSE)

Is it possible his routine is now slightly off and he needs a little tweak? Is he still napping at all? What time are you doing BT?

[vanessa c]

I do think he is well.  His routine has been off for some time. We moved about 2 months ago and it's been tough keeping him on track.  He does nap. And for nap, I can still just lay him down and leave and he falls asleep with no problem. A typical day looks like this:

WU 8
Nap 130-3:30/4
BT 9:30 (not falling asleep until 10-10:30)

His bed time used to be 9.  We just can seem to get him back there. Plus on the rare occasion that we have gotten him to bed by 9, he still won't fall asleep until 10-10:30.

Tonight we tried to tell him he could have a special surprise in the morning if mommy did not sit in chair. And we left his door open. He tried for 30 mins to go to sleep then began whining/crying (no tears) until I came in (which as quick). I never had to do any WIWO or GW. But I am having a second baby in 9 weeks and I am getting concerned if he maintains this it's going to be real hard if I can't sit and give him the comfort he is looking for because of needing to tend to the new baby.

[vanessa c]

Tonight has been the worst night so far since I have felt he was getting better. He woke at 3, and now 430. When he wakes he immediately starts crying....until I sit in his chair.

[Buttonbobs]

It sounds like that nap is robbing from his night sleep honey, he's probably just not tired enough to go to bed earlier. Could you try capping his nap?

Have you see this link, it's very helpful?
The 1-0 transition...Advice and Tips to help you through.

He probably won't settle without you until he's a bit more tired at BT. What do you think?

[vanessa c]

I was starting to think that too...just hoping I could keep the nap with the baby coming.... But then this afternoon he woke up from his nap crying with a 99 fever. No other symptoms and it went down on its own. So I beginning to wonder if he is still feeling Under the weather since.  This virus has been so weird because it has no other symptoms but a fever and a little crankiness. I was thinking he was cranky because of the broken sleep. I'm thinking I will give a few more days to see if he gets sick again and if not, then I can start to cap his nap and see how that works.  Thanks!

[Buttonbobs]

Good luck lovely. Sorry to hear he's not 100% still, vibes he gets well soon.

When he's well, don't panic too much about the nap capping, it is quite a long process so it won't be nap gone overnight. ((Hugs))

Let us know when you're ready to have a go at capping.

[vanessa c]

Thank!  I read through it already. Once he is finally well, I will start there!

[vanessa c]

Ok, so it's been 2 more days, his fever never came back, he is getting a clean bill of health but the sleep is still horrible! This was his day today:

Last night fell asleep at about 10:15 (I had to sit in his room for an hour and 15 mins)
Woke at 5:10, fussing until he saw me come down the hall, stopped fussing once I sat in the chair, did not fall back to sleep until 630.
Woke for the day 7:30 (decided to take advantage of this and see if we could do an earlier nap and he would be more tired at bed time
Nap was about 1:15, asleep by 130 and awake by 3:30(cried waking up)
Did our bedtime routine and in bed by 9:10.  It is just about 10pm and he is still moving all around and insisting I sit in his room

He seems exhausted and I feel like he is getting less and less sleep but nothing is making him fall asleep faster, stay asleep through the night or go to sleep on his own.

I used to be able to lay him in his crib and leave and he would sleep all night from 9:30-8:00/8:30 in the morning