Tucking in becoming a prop

[jussiemariee]

My 24 month old is having a sleep problem. He has gotten to the point where 3 to 4 times a night he will wake up, and will only fall back asleep if he's been tucked back into bed. at first it was difficult, because he was throwing everything out of his bed, blanket and lovie... But now he just stands up and yells for us to come in and tell him night night. All we have to do is walk in and tell him to lay down and he will lay back down and go to sleep.

The problem is, he is not able to do that himself. So last night 4 times, I had to get up and tell him to lie down.  I do give him a few minutes to see if he will put himself back to sleep, but that very rarely happens. Any insight?

Naps are fine, from 12-2 (or 3) wake up is usually between 5:45 and 6 a.m (he hears daddy leave for work) ., and bedtime is almost always 7 p.m.

[Katet]

Sometimes the night wakng & needing a visit are because they need to "check" that someone is there. If there has been a time where they were left to cry at night for a while or a parent has snuck out without saying goodbye (say at daycare) there can develop a fear that they will be left alone & so when they go through a light sleep cycle they can need to be reassured that they aren't alone. For us it occurred when we left to have baby #2 & found that it was just easier to camp out on a mattress on his floor after the first wake up... it eventually got better.

[cath~]

do you have a monitor for him still?  could you talk to him over it and tell him the same thing?  if that would work, at least you wouldn't have to actually get out of bed.

or could you try calling to him from further and further away (e.g. just outside his door) and/or popping your head in for less and less time..  A kind of GW (gradual withdrawal) technique.

[jussiemariee]

I was thinking about that.  It is definitely something to try.  We don't have a 2 way monitor, but I could try moving farther back each time.

[cath~]

worth a try   let us know how you get on

[creations]

Definitely calling from outside the room or from your own bed is a great way forward and what I did during a similar phase.
Don't forget we need to always respond when called for, that's what we teach our LOs, that they can trust us to return when they call.  You don't want to stop responding.  I called back to mine "It's night time, go to sleep" and he called again and I called "everything is okay, it's night time go to sleep" and "be quiet please" (in your case I think you can call out "lie down" as well).  When I did it I knew I would go in to my DS if he got really upset or crying but what he was doing was not upset it was calling for me instead of turning over and going back to sleep. The verbal reassurance that I was still there (in the house not in his room), still looking out for him, keeping him safe kind of thing, was enough to eventually make him realise he was okay.

It didn't work magic overnight but it definitely worked on various phases such as NWs or BT call backs and early waking and DS still knew if he needed me I'd come.