Author Topic: 2.5 year old waking all night long  (Read 2417 times)

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Offline lyssie28

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2.5 year old waking all night long
« on: December 20, 2015, 21:29:17 pm »
Hi I've posted on here before about my toddler waking every half hr to an hr through the night.  We thought it might have been from her cold (cold has gone now) her new baby sister (she is nearly 10 weeks old now) or from still having nap (on no nap days she is the same) nothing has changed and night times are now a total nightmare.  Every night she starts waking from about 10pm and it goes on all night.  She'll shout/cry for us and we go in and she wants water. We get her water then she wants milk (melt down because she can't have milk) she'll want us to sing to her, she can't find her teddy bear etc etc and she's like this all night long.  What do you think it could be? How can we stop her doing it? If we leave her to see if she settles she gets hysterical and we are now very exhausted.

Offline anna*

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2015, 21:43:40 pm »
I would take the hard line and get her a Groclock, explain that mummies and daddies need sleep and when she can see the moon on the clock, that means mummy and daddy are sleeping and that she may come to you when she sees the sun. Role-play how to roll over, stretch, grab lovey and go back to sleep. Then brace yourself for a couple of bad nights, but once she sees how the clock works and that you're not going to give in to her tantrum, my bet is she'll be sleeping better.





Offline Buntybear

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2015, 21:53:44 pm »
she may be going through a half year regression which may explain the rages in the middle of the night. I would set her up at BT with water, teddy etc and as Anna says make sure she knows that night time is for sleep. I am guessing that you not singing to her if she asks for it? I wold totally minimise any interaction you have with her. if she needs your presence then stand by the door but say nothing to her. Let her rage and get it out but be a quiet, calm presence nearby. I guess this is a form of GW.

Hugs x

Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2015, 19:45:23 pm »
Thanks for the advice sorry to take so long to reply.  We have been going in to her to tuck her back in but not speaking to her. It's got a bit better but she still wakes 2 or 3 times.  I've noticed that the past few nights she has been asking me o sing twinkle twinkle (I only sing it at her bedtime) and while I'm singing it she starts shouting for me to sing it (as I'm singing it) like she can't hear me?? Usually it's dark so she won't be able to see me.  Could there be something wrong with her hearing or just typical toddler behaviour?  She has no learning delays and for her age has an exceptional vocabulary and I was told by health visitors that she is well ahead and very bright for her age. I always though hearing loss came with some sort of speech delays etc.

Offline Buntybear

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2015, 21:33:42 pm »
I guess she is hearing OK in the daytime? You haven't noticed anything?

Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2015, 21:58:17 pm »
Yeah her hearing seems fine I noticed today she is just ignoring me! We've already had a tantrum tonight one hour after bedtime and she just kept saying "I don't want to" I'm guessing she meant she didn't want to go to sleep.  I left her for a while and then (while she was flailing around in the hall way) I went to her and held my hand out and she let me hug her and then walked into her bedroom and went to bed. I didn't say much just night night and told her to say sorry.  Is this this wrong way to go? Should I be ignoring completely?

Offline Buntybear

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #6 on: December 25, 2015, 22:06:00 pm »
Hi, well i could never ignore but that is me  :P I think the way you handled it sounds fine. xx

Offline Katet

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2015, 03:46:21 am »
I've noticed that the past few nights she has been asking me o sing twinkle twinkle (I only sing it at her bedtime) and while I'm singing it she starts shouting for me to sing it (as I'm singing it) like she can't hear me?? Usually it's dark so she won't be able to see me.  Could there be something wrong with her hearing or just typical toddler behaviour?  She has no learning delays and for her age has an exceptional vocabulary and I was told by health visitors that she is well ahead and very bright for her age. I always though hearing loss came with some sort of speech delays etc.

The only time we noticed that DS1 had some hearing issues (which had been on off for years) was when he was learning to read & his glue ear had got really bad - he was missing the "s" sound in words which he'd say in speech but not if we'd tell him a word when reading... DS1 had always been an erratic sleeper & the GP didn't really notice the glue ear & it was only when we went to an ENT. What i learnt was that it was always worse at night lying down & thus why at times he could hear well (clear his ears with a sneeze) & others not so much, but it definitely was a factor in his poor sleep.  FWIW I'd get it checked out anyway because as we found you don't have to have an infection to have fluid in the ear & it does have a big impact on sleep & glue ear can often come any time in toddler or preschool ages & is often worse in colder months when children have more colds etc.

I'm never one for ignoring & a firm believer (wish I knew more when my children were younger) that they don't ever do it on purpose but once drama creeps into bedtime & they get upset, us getting upset makes them even more likely to sleep poorly than if we meet their needs for calm & comfort.
dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2016, 08:02:27 am »
Her night times have gotten better now she is still waking once or twice and not sure why sometimes she seems really upset so I think she might be having nightmares. She's also been having tantrum upon waking from her naps and sometimes in the mornings.  I'm not sure of the reason for them but she is crazy when she has one.  It's like she's half asleep and doesn't know what she's doing and can't see me.  I can't do anything to comfort her or stop her :-/

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2016, 21:21:08 pm »
Hi - how are things now? x

Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2016, 10:24:55 am »
Hi she is still doing the same thing.  She is calling us into her room 2 or 3 times in the night.  When I go in i don't talk to her much and just say night night and tuck her in but she just keeps doing it and I don't understand why.  Sometimes she'll go crazy when I leave the room so I go back in and repeat what I've just done.  Am I doing it all wrong?

Offline Buntybear

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2016, 21:30:20 pm »
Hi - so sorry I missed your reply  :-[. It does sound like you are doing the right thing. Have you tried just leaving her and not going in?

Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2016, 09:08:15 am »
Hi we have tried ignoring her but she just gets louder and louder and will get out of bed.  So far in her big bed she wait for us to go and get her up in the morning so we haven't bothered putting a gate on her door but if we leave her she comes running out and on our room shouting.  I thought about a gate but I think she'd just climb over it 😏 she is still waking but it's gone down to just once a night. 

Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2016, 07:58:43 am »
So last night was her worst one. She was calling for everything and ended up wanting to get up at 2am. Obviously we didn't which resulted in a tantrum.  Once she calmed down my partner put her in bed and she slept for the rest of the night.  I just don't get what's happened.  She just constantly asks us to sing to her or put the hall light on (which is on but will repeatedly ask even if we tell her it's on) she asks for milk, she asks for her dummy (sometimes when it's in her mouth already.  If we say quietly night night and leave the room she goes nuts. 

Offline *Jo*

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2016, 09:14:42 am »
Hiya, wanted to let you know I'm in the same boat. It's been three months of this and I'm at my wits end. No matter what I offer him he wants the opposite even if he originally asked for it.

Have you tried reward chart? I haven't found anything to help me yet but what hasn't worked for me may work for you?

Also role play with toys. I put teddy to bed and praised teddy for staying in his own bed all night and not calling out for me. It works here and there, could you try that?





Offline lyssie28

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Re: 2.5 year old waking all night long
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2016, 13:39:38 pm »
I haven't tried a reward chart yet but I was thinking of getting one and also as someone suggested I'm going to try a gro clock.  Maybe if I tell her she can pick her own prize once she gets so many stickers for sleeping until the sun comes up on the clock it might work. At this point I'd try anything!

I hope you find a solution too it's a nightmare! I'm pretty sure I'm now starting to get addicted to coffee as I need so much of it to stay awake lol 😏