toddler sleep training books?

[StopBreakingMyStuff]

Very common problem on here, have never come across anyone who has solved it..

DS is 2.2, wakes up all evening moaning then co sleeps from 10pm ish.

Makes me mad..

Can anyone recommend any toddler sleep training books? I just need to know some techniques etc.. am not against CC but it didnt work when he was younger, very willful child..

Or the secret solution to night time wakings if you have it!!

[Iggly]

Is he wilful or is something bothering him making him wake up?

My two woke a lot because they had/have reflux and food intolerances which meant they didn't sleep well.

[StopBreakingMyStuff]

Well, he has been like this since he was weaned at 5 months. Slept through from 6 weeks til then.

I dont know how I would know if it was food intolerances? He goes right back to sleep most of the time if I am in the room, occasionally mucks about a bit but not often.

I want my evenings back!

[Iggly]

Ok well I'd be surprised if it was a coincidence that his sleep went doolally at 5 months...

What kind of foods does he eat? Does he love dairy by any chance?

Eat a lot of "windy" foods like green veg, onions?

Any formula at all?

[BettyandDon]

I think it's just a phase. They have increased awareness of being left alone and can develop anxieties etc about the dark. I would try to make bedtime as pleasant as possible, lots of cuddles, stories, night light, but honestly I think they just grow out of it. My DD is coming out of a few bad months (was perfect beforehand) and we just rode it out. It didn't feel right to leave her as she was cleared scared. It takes time to go from baby sleep to kid sleep IMO.

[StopBreakingMyStuff]

BettyandDon, I have always been hesitant to be brutal and do CIO or anything, it does seem mean to me, but he is showing no signs of improvement and its been almost two years of being forced to go to bed at 10pm because he wont stop crying until I do. When my boyf comes over in the evening I spend 50% of my time upstairs with DS. Im concerned its not just a phase, and if i dont do something he will be like this for years to come.

Iggly - I have considered this before, but I have not been able to find any consistency with food and sleep. He sometimes sleeps through, about 4 times in the past year, but for no apparent reason. He eats little veg, but lots of fruit. And pasta and stuff. Toast. I dont know its hard to think exactly what he eats right now.

[Iggly]

What about dairy? Has he been windy?

[StopBreakingMyStuff]

he is very windy, always has been. he has about 4oz of milk before bed each night, full fat cows milk.

[omama]

Another thing to ask - what does his daytime routine look like? Does he still nap? what time & for how long? Wakeup time/bedtime? Frequent wakings in the early part of the night may well be intolerance related but can also be caused by being overtired.

My DS is cows milk intolerant & we found he would have wind, diarrhoea, eczema and red blotchy rashes on his face if he had dairy. Now he's 2 & can tolerate small amounts of cheese & yoghurt, but milk still upsets his tummy. One way to find out if its an issue would be to do a dairy free trial. We buy Tesco's 'Free From' coconut milk (in the fridges with the soya & almond milk), it looks/smells/tastes just like regular cows milk. If you try him on that instead, and avoid cheese/yoghurt/butter for 2 weeks, you will be able to see if there is a difference.

HTH.x

[Iggly]

I'd stop the dairy for a week plus no soya as just as bad and see what happens.. Not lactose free stuff, no dairy at all. Or stop the bedtime milk and give something like oat milk with a hint of hot choc (check for milk) to disguise the taste.. He sounds unhappy with his moaning, poor thing- I'm dairy intolerant and it gives me wind and background discomfort.

[StopBreakingMyStuff]

He hasnt napped in the daytime for nearly a year. If he does fall asleep, even for 10 minutes at 11am, he wont sleep in the night until 10pm. So I dont encourage napping and he doesnt want it either.
He may well be a little overtired at bedtime but theres not much I can do to avoid this as 10pm is too late to go to bed. He currently goes to sleep around 5.30 - 6pm and wakes at around 7am.

I may well try the dairy free thing, will have to do it from thurs to monday as he is in nursery mon to wed. He has started drinking a lot of milk in the day the past week, and he has defo been up more in the evening..

How hard is it to cut out dairy? We eat a lot of cheese!

[Iggly]

I'd cut it all together - nursery should support you.

You could try just cutting milk as that is "raw" so less well tolerated. My ds could have cheese and yogurts long before he could have milk (although now at 3, milk gives him an upset tummy).

[omama]

Agree. My DS can also cope with a wee bit of cheese but not milk. The only way to know for sure though is to cut it out 100%.

Ovevrtiredness may play a part since he isn't napping, but at least you are doing the right thing in putting him to bed nice & early, there's so many folks who wouldn't dare do it for fear of them getting up at 4am, but it almost always leads to a longer night.

[StopBreakingMyStuff]

Ok, will have four dairy free days starting thursday and see how that helps.

Thanks for the tips :)

[omama]

Good luck. You may need to keep it up for a bit longer if at all possible - it can take a couple of weeks for it to be completely out of their system.xx