Help - my toddler wakes up at 3.30am for the day!

lolababy

Hi you could try to go to bed early so that you get a certain amount of hours sleep.Another idea would be to get a childs sleeping bag so covers dont slip off and wake him up. Try leaving a snack and drink in his room so if he wakes he has something to eat and drink.
If he has a tv in his room try putting on a tweenie cd ect on for him to watch. You dont have to have the sound on or put it on low. Try putting out toys that will captivate him ie musical toys, building bloks a soft mirror.

aliasojo

lolababy wrote: »

Try leaving a snack and drink in his room so if he wakes he has something to eat and drink.
If he has a tv in his room try putting on a tweenie cd ect on for him to watch. You dont have to have the sound on or put it on low. Try putting out toys that will captivate him ie musical toys, building bloks a soft mirror.

I know the objective is for you to gain some extra sleep but I'd be a bit wary of trying these suggestions. Toddlers can choke easily and I personally wouldn't feel it was a good idea to leave food or drink with him if he was unattended.

I also think it's not wise to start a habit of entertaining him during the night. He needs to learn night time is boring and is for sleep, it's not just another time to play.

Sorry, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or offend but I think it's important to define day and night for children from an early age.

cte1111

My 2 year old slept a bit better after we introduced a bunny clock, that wakes up at 7am. He knows that he's not allowed to get up until bunny is awake. Mind you at the minute, he is getting up before then and going into his sister's room, but at 6am, so not too awful.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BLUE-Sleepy-Time-Bunny-Alarm-Clock-KIDSLEEP-TRAINER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1686Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem250424545861QQitemZ250424545861QQptZUKQ5fClocksQQsalenotsupported
Here's a link to one on ebay.

Keep trying, different things work for different children, but you will get there in the end. As I said it worked for a while for us. We're going on holiday next week, but after that if my DS keeps going into his sister's room I am going to try a sticker chart, to see if that works for him.

lolababy

I can see your point about the snack but a drink should be okay. At the moment the op needs sleep and short term ideas are needed. Once she is back on track she will be able to tackle the problem head on.

aquariangrrl

Just wanted to say thanks for all your replies so far. Have been really useful. Well, he fell asleep for the first time in months in his stroller today so that just shows how tired he was. He never sleeps in his stroller and he hardly ever has a daytime nap. It was only about 30 mins but meant I could do some shopping in peace :T.

Felicity

OK, you are going to think I am crazy here but please do try this ...

If he gets up at the same time every night / morning and you want to break this routine, go into his room ONE HOUR before the time he would normally wake and just nudge him gently. Do not wake him, just nudge him so that he stirs slightly, turns and goes back to sleep again.

You will be changing his sleep pattern (light/deep sleep) and he should then hopefully go back to sleep and sleep through.

If it works the first night, continue for 3 nights in total and that should have broken the pattern.

You might think I have lost the plot but I did this recently with my toddler and changed a habbit I never thought I would be able to. My health visitor recommended it. I asked her for a 'back up tip' as I never for one minute believed it would work but it worked a treat from the first night.

Something so very simple but so very, very effective. I hope it works for you as well as it did for me, we haven't looked back since.

Good luck, I know just how soul destroying sleep deprivation can be and how it seriously effects family life.

xxdeebeexx

My son used to wake up like this when he was little... turns out he was cold. We moved him out of the box room and into a bedroom that had the hot water tank in and he slep right through.

Dx

fletty

My son also wakes every night @ 3.00am (he's 3). He makes no sound sometimes and i'm quite shocked to find him in our bed, other times he's like a small elephant and brings his whole entourage with him (including a very large duck, a horse, his fav bear and sometimes a couple of trains) he gets into bed and goes stright to sleep but me and my OH's sleep patterns have been greatly disturbed and some days I find it hard to function. We've tried everything to brake his habbit but to no avail, so I'm finding some of the tips on here great.

skintsaver_2

my dd has just turned 3 and she has still not slept through the night, she used to sleep in bed every night with me and wake up at all hours wanting to play but just recently i have put a toddler bed next to my bed, got peppa pig covers cos she loves peppa, and told her that only big girls can sleep in peppa pig beds and they must sleep all night,
She still does not sleep all night but now she does not get up until 7pm which is great for me

Minxy_Bella

skintsaver wrote: »

my dd has just turned 3 and she has still not slept through the night, she used to sleep in bed every night with me and wake up at all hours wanting to play but just recently i have put a toddler bed next to my bed, got peppa pig covers cos she loves peppa, and told her that only big girls can sleep in peppa pig beds and they must sleep all night,
She still does not sleep all night but now she does not get up until 7pm which is great for me

I'd quite like my kids to sleep all day too