When will my 2.5 year old stop waking up at night?

[emmyloo2]

Hi all, I have posted previously about our 2.5 year old getting out of bed at night and coming into our room. He does it once a night, without fail and then wakes between 5.30am and 6am and again comes into our room, asking if it's morning time.

To be honest, it's not a massive problem except I am having a baby in 3.5 weeks and I want to know if this is something he will just grow out of. He goes to bed well and usually goes straight back to sleep in his bed when we march him back into his room at night. However, it is getting me down because I would have thought by 2.5 he would be sleeping well. Everyone else's toddlers seem to sleep perfectly and I feel like we are doing something wrong. He is a very articulate bright boy (perhaps I am just trying to justify his waking??) and he has a very vivid imagination so he will chat away when he wakes up about animals in his room or something he did that day. I can't help feeling this is contributing to his waking. We have had a sleep consultant three times since he was born as he has had sleep issues along the way. I am just feeling quite depressed about it all. Particularly when my SIL looked at us as if we were clearly useless parents because our 2.5 year old wakes up at night still and why on earth did we need a sleep consultant? She has 5 kids and they are all obviously perfect sleepers.

So is it just a phase some toddlers go through? Or do I need to get the sleep consultant back AGAIN??? He only has a short nap (45) minutes during the day, although when he is at day care they let him sleep longer and this definitely makes it worse. We are trying to get them to stop this, but that is another battle.

Anyone who has had a bad sleeper who has grown out of it - I would appreciate your feedback!

Sorry for the long waffly post!

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

I don't know. Mine is waking later and later at night recently so hoping she will make it to the morning soon. Other than that no idea. Off to sleep again .

[knackeredmother]

My 3 year old wakes every 2 hours if I'm not in the bed with him. My 5 year old did the same but hasn't woke in the night for about a year now.
I've never slept through an entire night since about 6 years old so I accept my dc don't either!

[emmyloo2]

Hi knackered. Well that makes me feel slightly better, although not so good for you I imagine!

My husband and I are not big sleepers although apparently I slept well as a child. But we are both early birds and my husband often gets up at 4am because he can't sleep. I can't help think it's to do with personality of the child because my son is like me - he never stops still and his mind is always ticking. I have done everything the sleep consultant said and have always tried to enforce good habits and had a strict routine and bed time. However, he continues to wake up so I really don't think it's something we are doing. Perhaps if I accept it is just him and he will grow out of it, it will help me deal with it. I think it's people's judgment that annoys me the most!

[Ledkr]

It's awful isnt it? Dd is my fifth and I used to secretly think parents with bad sleepers had somehow caused it.
How wrong I was.
She provided is with various different sleep issues from refusing to settle to waking at 4.30 for the day.
I'm just waiting for her to leave home

[emmyloo2]

Ledkr - you made me laugh out aloud!

So maybe my baby that is due in 3.5 weeks will be a brilliant sleeper?? Honestly, my DS has never been a great sleeper. He was good at night at first but terrible during the day. Then from 12 months, we had to get the sleep consultant in for the first time, for night times. I gave up on days around 6 months I think. Then around 18 months, second consultation with the sleep consultant. Then just recently, third consultation with the sleep consultant. He naps only for 45 minutes during the day in the car or in the pram. That's it. My sister's son who is 7 months younger sleeps until 7.30 or 8am every morning. We are up between 5am and 5.30am every morning, without fail! It's not fair!!!!

[yawningbear]

I hear you emmylou, I am almost to weary to post so will keep it short. neither of mine have been good sleepers, dreadful in fact but with DD who is 4 it has got better, much better. So I'd say there is hope but it may not come in 3.5weeks time

[Ledkr]

Four!!
We are up between 5 and 6 and in bed like chikdren around 9.
We are permanently tired.
You really haven't had it bad untill you've had Taylor swift sung into your ear at 2am "foooouuund me foooouuund me me me me me eeeee"
I'm serious.

[JoinTheDots]

Mine grew out of it when she dropped all daytime sleep...

[StarryHappy]

Hi there,
Not sure whether this will work, or whether you've already tried it... wake to sleep? go in about half an hour before his usual waking time and make enough noise to rouse him almost to awake (how you do this, is questionable) then hopefully it will interrupt his sleep cycle enough to stop him waking... a few nights of that may do the trick. I've heard it has been successful in the past.

[Ledkr]

join at the moment if dd misses her nap or its too short she wakes more
Do you think this will stop?

[emmyloo2]

Ledkr - I have also found if my DS doesn't have a nap it doesn't seem to help. However, I haven't cut it out consistently though to see whether it would work. He gets very tired if he doesn't have some sort of cat nap. A short nap of around 30 minutes seems to work best.

And to top your Taylor Swift story (which made me laugh again!) we had my DS appear in our room just before 5am the other morning, wearing my shower cap on his head. He had gotten up, out of his room, into the bathroom and taken my wet shower cap and stuck it on hid head and then proceeded to come into our room to wish us good morning. I couldn't help but laugh, although silently weeping inside from tiredness!

We go to bed before 9pm every night. It's ridiculous.

[haventgotaclue]

Hi OP, we are in a similar situation with our DS 2.8. Although it's getting better as he gets older, he still wakes up 2-3 times a week. (The other nights he can still be quite noisy in his sleep, so it still wakes us but at least we don't have to get out of bed!)

We have found that a Groclock helps with early wakings though. You set it for a time when you'd be happy for DS to get up, though make it realistic as well. Then you put it on at bedtime and the stars come out on it. You tell DS he isn't allowed to get up until the sun comes up (which is at the time you've set it for).

When we first got it, DS would wake up early as usual. We'd go in and check the clock together, see the stars were still out and tell him it was still sleep time, so put him back to bed and leave. After a couple of weeks he sleeps later consistently. A few times we've heard him stirring, but it's almost like he checks the clock himself, realises its too early and goes back to sleep on his own.

Good luck with this, but as others have said, I think every child is different. It's nothing you've done right or wrong.

[emmyloo2]

Thanks havent. We have one of those clocks but he still seems a little young to understand. He can tell you he can't get out of bed until the clock (it's an elephant) wakes up, but then he still gets out of bed anyway. Maybe a few more months will help him understand. I do think he will grow out of it. A few nights last week he was really good but last night he woke at 3am and kept coming back out of his bed until 5am and I think it's just got me down again because I feel like it's 1 step forward and 3 steps back. I a loathe to spend more money on the sleep consultant as well.

I really do think children are different. Thanks for sharing - it does make me feel better to know it's not just us. I feel like we are the only ones sometimes!

[JoinTheDots]

Certainly would not with hold the nap, if they still need it, they still need it, bit it was when she out grew it naturally that she stopped waking in the night. You should be ok before school age! I have heard other people use reward charts (stay in your room all night for a sticker, 7 stickers gets you a treat kind of thing) but not sure if 2.5 is too young to get this really

[fun2bamum]

Hello, Have you heard of the smaller Snuggle Sacs for that age group. They were brilliant for my children when they were that age. They stopped waking up with covers on the floor, wanted to stay in their own beds and even slept better at my Mum's house.

[emmyloo2]

Thanks fun2 - I have now ordered a Snuggle Sac so we shall see if that helps! Thanks for the suggestion!