Night wanderer

[kateyp]

Hello all - been reading the boards for a long time but this is the first time I have posted!

My 2 year old (26months) has been in a big bed for about 2 months. He goes to sleep really well - initially he needed a cuddle til asleep but now will accept one of us sitting at the end of the bed and we are gradually leaving him whilst awake too with good effect. When he first went into the big bed he would sleep through (was sleeping through in his cot - 7pm-6am).

Now however - he goes to bed OK but then he wanders through to us in the night. It can just be once. Last night I put him back 5 times. 

When we put him back, we have tried 2 methods - one just picking him up, plonking him back in bed, tucking him in and sitting on the end of his bed again (like bedtime). THe other one is just saying "bed" to him, at which he turns around and goes straight back to his bed and gets in. Tucked in and one of us sits on the end again until he is nearly asleep or asleep. He really doesn't take that much settling once back in bed. The thing that is killing us is our broken sleep every night as we don't get straight back to sleep!! (well - DH is better at getting back off than I am!)

DS doesn't really even seem to be that awake when he wanders through. We talk to him before bed and tell him that he needs to stay in bed but I don't think he is totally awake when he does wander so it doesn't seem to help. And he when he does sleep he is so much cheerier during the day. This morning he even said "not sleep Mummy" so he does feel it too! (or maybe he just noticed I look more than usually haggered today!!!)

Do you think he will just grow out of it?

Help! I am so sleepy!

Katey P
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[Diegos Mama]

Ah ha!  He could be sleep walking.  I would start with a gate at the door for sure and use a monitor so you can hear him if he gets up.  Also, really, really check him room to be sure it's childproofed:  all outlets covered, all furniture bolted to the wall, no dangling things like cords or decorations that he could get tangled in. 

I would do a bit of surfing the net for sleep walking in children to see if this could be the case.  If not, and we'd def. want to rule that out first, you could try gradual withdrawl to rid of his dependency on you sitting on his bed.  BUT, pls. look into the sleep walking first since you say he seems not not really be awake.

Post back and let us know what develops!

[kateyp]

Hmmmm - that is a thought. Thank you!
I would've thought he is too small (peak around 6-12 years I am told) but all the things you say make total sense - his room is pretty safe I think - already got all the sockets covered and nothing dangly around! Some things fit but others don't - he is easy to wake completely sometimes - which doesn't fit with sleepwalking. But then we try not to wake him up too much!

Last night he was up 4 times and once I got to him before he got to me (if you see what i mean) and when he heard me coming he had already turned round to go back to bed. And each time last night he didn't need any verbal settling, just sitting for a minute or 2. So not as bad as before.

We got him a better blanket yesterday so I hope that he will stay warmer tonight (I wonder if he gets cold in the night too). So we will see!

Thank you again!

Kate
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[Katet]

One thing that worked with our ds#1 at around the same age, was a light on a timer. It was programmed to turn on at around the time he woke up in the am & we said if he woke up & it wasn't on to try & go back to sleep, he could call for us if he needed help. Once it was on he could come into our room... Now he sleeps with it on all night, but he will call out rather than get out of bed. It is a really dim light so it didn't wake him if he slept past the timer.

[kateyp]

Last 2 nights he has slept through!!
I hope that the gentle returns to bed with no real interaction have done the trick and he has just got fed up of coming through when there is no pay off for it.
But perhaps he is just lulling me into a false sense of security!!

Thanks again for the advice!!
Kate
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