Wakes up every night at least once, if not twice!

Patience - posted on 01/09/2009

I am with you, my husband and I also wanted to start the toddler bed, but want to have her sleep through the night first, we also wonder when and if that time will come. Do you recommend and toddler beds, there are so many to choose from.

Tisha - posted on 01/09/2009

Wow, my daughter turns 2 in march and I just posted something about this in another forum I am in. Glad to know I am not the only one with this situation. I have a fan going at night (works great during the winter as her room is the warmest). I put music on when she gets up and I have done the cry thing a few times but when she cries for "Mommy" it is very hard to do. I am hoping to get her in a toddler bed by 2 but just don't think I feel comfortable doing that till she is sleeping through the night. Am I right in thinking that might never happen based on the posts here?

Patience - posted on 01/09/2009

My daughter is also 17 months oold and is up at night ince or twice a night. She still drinks milk through the night, though we are trying to ween her...I feel your pain.

Missy - posted on 01/09/2009

Wow Amy, you have a lot of great ideas!

Amy - posted on 01/08/2009

My daughter Caila did the exact same thing. When she went from the crib to a twin bed, she would actually get up and come into our room or she would sit up and scream and cry in her bed. I felt like I would get up every night about 2 a.m. to try and get her calmed back down to go to bed. I found I was become very fatigued every morning because I was waking up with her.

There were times that she would just want to crawl in bed with my husband and I to sleep but I didn't want to start that routine. We finally figured out that Caila would be waking up to outside sounds such as the train or life flight which does come in by our house. We added white noise (a fan) and that would help seem to calm her. Sometimes it can be just little things. Sometimes kids get in a habit and they have a hard time of breaking themselves. I know it may sound harsh, but when she wakes up try to ignore it for awhile and see if she goes back to sleep. It is kind of like how babies may wake up in the night thinking they need to feed, but are doing it out of habit instead. There were many nights when I would have to let Caila cry/scream herself to sleep. It was one of the hardest things I ever did, but it did seem to get her out of the routine. She knew that she couldn't just cry and get a response. (Plus, we knew she wasn't hurt or in danger) It took about 4 days and she never had a problem since.

However, we do find when something in her body schedule is off, she will wake up. She has a more restless night when she is going through a growth spurt (which can be painful for little ones at times) or she may become restless when she is beginning to come down with something. We did go through a phase when she told us she was scared and needed her mommy. In that case, we created a pallete on the floor with blankets and she knew if she needed to she could come in our room and go to sleep on the pallete we had made for her. She used to come in a lot in the middle of the night, BUT would no longer wake my husband and I. Now, she only comes in if there is a big thunderstorm because it does scare her. Knowing that, I know every stormy night, I need to put down blankets because she is scared of thunder and lightening.

Gina - posted on 01/08/2009

Have you ever tried white noise? My two year old went through the same thing about a year ago or so, then one night at my mothers (she lives next to an e-way), she slept all night! We tried the white noise on a radio (just static) in her room and haven't had a problem since.

Licia - posted on 01/08/2009

I hear your pain!! My son will be two in March and wakes up at 12:41am every night.  I wish I had an idea for you but I can sympathize. 

Jane - posted on 01/08/2009

when mine would wake up I had a radio outside there door with soft relaxing music ( nature etc) ......    good luck....

Missy - posted on 01/08/2009

Thanks for the responses! Glad to see I'm not the only one... all makes sense, could be a growth spurt and I'll have to check her back molars to see if she's got some new one's coming that we just can't see... as far as letting her put herself back to sleep - here's our other issue, she can get so worked up that she'll start coughing and she's actually thrown up at least twice from getting so over worked. Yikes... I hope this time passes fast!

Marianne - posted on 01/08/2009

She may be teething and if not my 9 year old still wakes up.  Good luck.

Marianne - posted on 01/08/2009

She may be teething and if not my 9 year old still wakes up.  Good luck.

Terri - posted on 01/08/2009

I've heard that the best way... you are not going to like this... is to let them put themselves back to sleep. After a few nights of self torture, this is supposed to work.

Carrie - posted on 01/08/2009

Oh wow!  This sounds like my son exactly!  I used to say, "Why didn't anyone tell me my 18 month old would stil NOT be sleeping through the night?"  The only thing I found that helped was time.  We would go back and forth between our bed and his crib.  It seemed like when he was going through a growth spurt for a whole month or two he would wake up at the same time crying - sometimes hysterical.  We have been doing the strict bedtime routine for a few months now but still when he hits a growth spurt or doesn't stick exactly to the bedtime routine he will wake during the night.   I say just keep things as normal and routine as possible for her.  And for you - take a nap with her during the day! :)