Help me NOW or I get him adopted!

[CliffRichardSucksEggsinHell]

The Demon Child is at it AGAIN! He has been waking up in the middle of the night for about a week now. It's all my fault I know. He was waking at 7am so I brought him into our bed so I could have an extra half hour. But now he is waking at 4am (this morning 5am). He screams and shouts and cries.

The problem is that their bedroom is very cold, and when he wakes up he stands up in his cot and I get worried that he will freeze. Also, when we do bring him into our bed he shuts up and goes straight back to sleep, so it's very tempting to do just that!

Yesterday morning we lasted 45 mins, then he eventually shut up, only to start again 15 minutes later at which point I gave up. This morning we tried leaving him again, but he is so LOUD, he disturbs his sister and it's so hard when you know that if you bring him into our bed he shuts up.

However if I keep doing this, then I'll have to do it every night. He has to learn to go back to sleep on his own. He'll be 2 in 2 weeks! Plus it is causing me and dh to argue as he is for leaving him, whilst I just can't!

Advice please! Support! Sympathy! Anything!

[myrrhthamoo]

Sympathy!

Early waking is a tough one (both of mine have done it - gone through long periods of 4am wakings, leaving me half dead with exhaustion. A good morning is 6.30). Neither of mine would go back to sleep though - and yours does, albeit in bed with you. I think I'd be inclined to have him in bed with you - it's worth it for that extra bit of sleep, and you will all be less grumpy for it. If dh wants to leave him then let him deal with the fall-out (get yourself some earplugs).

Alternatively you can get tough - leave him - and I guess he would eventually cry himself back to sleep (or throw up). But, tbh, while I would advocate that if he wouldn't go to bed (I did CC with ds2 to save my sanity) I don't think I'd have the strength for it at 4 or 5 am.

I'd just be grateful that he will go back to sleep at all, tbh. He won't be doing it for ever - the periods of early waking will pass (well...my kids' always have). And he won't still be getting in bed with you when he's 17...we hope.

[Carmenere]

I can't help you as I am currently losing exactly the same battle with my 21 month old

[pablopatito]

If their bedroom is cold, how about getting a cheap, portable oil-filled radiator, we got one from B&Q. They're cheap to buy though I don't know if they quite so cheap to run. If the room is warm maybe he is less likely to wake up.

[cod]

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[Caligyulea]

OK, why is their bedroom very cold? D'you think that's why he's waking up? Can you put the timer on so that the heating comes on at 4AM so that's one less thing for you to worry about? It may be noisy etc. and mean the house is an oven by the time you get up, but worth putting up with for a week if it gets him back into good sleep habits?

[cod]

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[poppyseed]

ditto cod. It's only a phase it will pass if you don't encourage it. Argos sell oil filled radiators and give an indication as to how expensive they are to run. We use one in DS's room (it's above the garage and can get chilly, homest!). IMO it's worth the extra money heating the room, if you keep it on a low setting it'll just tick over and not be too expensive.

[cod]

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[Hallgerda]

You have my sympathy. Why not get a small portable fan heater, then you need not worry that your son will freeze if you leave him. You may even find the noise soothes him back to sleep, once he gets used to it. You can buy heaters with thermostatic controls - I had one for ds2's cold bedroom when he was a similar age. If you want to use it only in the early moring, you could use a time switch.

[AwayInAMunker]

Will he sleep in a grobag or cheaper version? Or a fleecy sleepsuit with feet (and heck, a hood with silly ears on if it gets you a full night's sleep!)?

[BonyM]

Have you tried a grobag? He might be too old to get used to one now (he wouldn't find it easy to stand up!) but at least he would be warm. Or what might be better is one of those fleecy "walk in" sleepsuits?

[marne]

Your not on your own, my dd wakes early evry morning, this morning she woke a bit later (6.20) she has been waking at 4.30 and geting in bed with me wanting a bottle, she is almost 2.

We put dd in a bed at 20 months as she hated her cot, this helped her sleep beter but made it easier to get out and into bed with me.

I hav'nt realy got any advice, just wanted to let you know you ar'nt alone. Lots of sympathyu going out to you!

It does seem easier just to let them in bed with you to shut them up, im finding it hard as i am pregnant and very tierd but i'm sure it will get beter!

[AwayInAMunker]

BonyM...snap!

[BonyM]

Great minds hunker!

(ooh - must go and change to my Xmas name!)

[CliffRichardSucksEggsinHell]

Ok, he has a gro-bag but the room is so cold because we do not have central heating, just electric radiators that cost the earth. No timers either.

We have been going into his room every 10 mins, lying him down and saying 'No' firmly. But this seems to make him worse and as we come out of the room we can hear him pulling himself up again!

Should we go through the pain-barrier or give up?

[CliffRichardSucksEggsinHell]

Oh and the room is single-glazed and gets icicles on the windows! But it is not the cold that is waking him, he is well tucked up with his gro-bag and a duvet. But he wakes up, untangles himself from his duvet and stands up in his gro-bag, which is not sufficient on its own to keep him warm.

Yet if we keep giving in then every morning we have to bring him into our bed, which I'd rather not to tbh, I don't sleep as well with him there.

[cod]

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[CliffRichardSucksEggsinHell]

Yeah, been there too! Tiptoeing out gently only to have him cry the minute we close the door!

[cod]

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[fennel]

fleecy pyjamas + socks inside grobag. Duvet on top. ensure child toasty warm. then be firm and firm and firm.

dd3 was doing this last week. crying and standing in cot getting cold several times a night. we were firm and the last 3 nights she's not stirred. it does work.

if you set heating to go on earlier, for us this just wakes the children up (old house, very noisy heating system). so I wouldn't do that myself.

[CliffRichardSucksEggsinHell]

Thanks. Will try to be firm, sooo difficult though when he's having a temper tantrum at 5am and you know if you bring him into your bed peace will be restored! But I'm making a rod for my own back. Will send him to bed tonight in jumper, socks and gloves!

Bloody house is freezing atm!

[annobal]

ds1 was doing this about 2 months ago, waking up at 5ish and yelling at the top of his voice "tom's awake"(cute any time but at 5am!). After about 2 weeks of going in and telling him that it wasn't time to get up yet - when he would scream and arch back (lasted anywhere from 5 mons to 1 hour) and I would walk out and get him up never before 6.30. He is now - thankfully- getting up at about 7.30 so think it was just a phase...