"Mummy I'm tired" - 2yr4mo says this all the time

[KatyBee]

I tended to set bedtime and just got through best I could and didn't do bed any more than 20/30 minutes earlier.

We have never been able to stick to a set bedtime. This would definitely cause my son to be very OT as he is a very early riser.... did you find that? Did it cause lots of NWs?

[KatyBee]

 

So yesterday was;

W/u 7:30am (after long NW at 4:30am)
NND
Bt 7:15pm

W/u 5am

We lay quietly until 6:30am and he yawned constantly, but didn't fall back asleep. I feel so fed up - how can he only get 9hr45 sleep after no nap?! It can't be healthy?

He often does a short night like that when he has taken a nap, as the nap makes his day so long he's well OT, which is why I'm so keen to cut the nap, but his day was under 12hrs yesterday  (to compensate for the long NW) so I'm really lost now!

[Jodes112]

Is it possible that you getting in there with him May be interupting him further? Just a thought. Will he settle if you explain its not wake up time & he needs to go back to sleep? When he actually wakes is he upset crying or is he just shouting you to come to him? Im wondering if part of the issue is that he is stirring & is aware if he shouts you will get in with him. Rather than stirring but going back off to sleep on his own. I know its easier foryou to just get in with him.

After the long nw at 4.30am i would have gone for a slightly earlier bedtime yesterday 6.45/7, long NW and no nap could have caused OT by bettime which then caused a short night.

Would your lo inderstand a gro clock? Both my children have them & dd who is 3 in march will wait until the sun comes on in the morning before she shouts us to get up (even though majority of the time she is awake half an hour or more beforehand) she loves the independance of it & if she wakes in the night i tell her its not wake up time the moon is still on (the clock) and she goes back off. Really helped us. Especially for EMW x

[KatyBee]

I totally agree that an earlier bedtime would have been better! I was aiming for 7pm but he just doesn't flag - so it's so hard to judge!

Last night he also woke at around 10pm and I just went in and said "go back to sleep" and he did immediately - so earlier wake ups don't require me to lay/stay with him, but when he wakes later on he is wide awake... He cries/shouts over & over & over and won't let me leave, he begs for cuddles and just wakes further up if i don't stay. Because he is LSN once he has had a few hours it is much, much harder for him to go back to sleep, that's also why even cat naps cause such issues!

We tried a gro-clock but as I won't leave him to cry alone (& going in & telling him to go to sleep & leaving makes him hysterical! He just gets out of bed and follows me!) I just ended up in his room with him until it lit up - it was pointless! When he wakes, especially later in the early hours, when he struggles to go back to sleep, he just wants me & is far likelier to go back to sleep with me there than not.

I don't think anything other than his routine is responsible for the wakings. His balance of day/night is a very fine line for him to sleep well, but he's shown loads of times he can STTN no problem when it's right. I honestly don't think he has prop issues, although I can see it might look like that. He STTN for months with no intervention from me - it's only since the 0-1 took hold I've had to lie with him.