What to do when toddler is having a 'bad night' due to teething or a cold?

[SnozzberryWibble]

My 21 month old is having one of his bad nights and he had one last night too. (On top of that, in the last week or so he's inexplicably gone from waking up at 8.30 to waking up at the crack of dawn every day)

I never actually know what I'm supposed to do when he has one of those constantly unsettled nights, especially if he's poorly so he's not just 'acting up'...

Accept that I'm not going to get any decent sleep tonight and go in to his room constantly to tuck back in, give water, dummy, cuddles etc? Or do you leave them to cry pitifully for a few mins and hope they zonk out and get the rest they so desperately need?

Argh, one of these times when I wish there was a rulebook!

[QuiteLikely5]

Take him in your bed! When my Dec are poorly it's the only time I let them sleep with me

[SnozzberryWibble]

He won't sleep in our bed He just wriggles for hours on end, sits on our faces, bounces up and down, talks gibberish etc... As a result, DH will not tolerate it.

[5minutestobed]

I go in about 4 million times. He doesn't like sleeping in my bed. Sometimes I sleep on his floor if its really bad.

[foxessocks]

My dd won't sleep in our bed either. She will only ever sleep in her cot with her sleeping bag on.

If she's poorly we tend to give her cuddles and milk and just wait until she's calm enough to go into her bed even if that means a late night for us. Then if she cries in the night we repeat. Whilst if she isn't ill we wouldn't let her have milk in the night (she's 2). We also might give her some pain relief if she has a temp or is definitely in some pain. I don't give it all the time but it does settle her quite well and then I think she must have needed it.

Hope your little one feels better soon. It's horrible when they're poorly and exhausting for everyone!

[Wardrobespierre]

I'm up with a 4yo who vomited spectacularly an hour ago. Here it's in my bed with books, teddy, blankets (towels, bowls, antibac etc too right now) and all bets are off. We snuggle and chat and read until he nods off. Normal service can resume when well.

[FelixFelix]

I'm having this problem at the moment with my 2 year old. She's got a terrible cold and woke up last night (and the night before) at 2am whinging. I gave her calpol but me going in the room made her worse and she screamed for 30 minutes straight. I don't usually have a problem leaving her because I know she's just trying it on usually, but DP ended up moving downstairs to sleep on the settee and I put DD in bed with me. I can't tolerate sharing a bed with her either but it's slightly better if DP isn't there as there's more room. It still took her 1.5hrs to go back to sleep then she woke up about 30 minutes later and coughed constantly for 40 minutes. Safe to say I'm knackered today! Watching with interest in case someone has a magical solution!

[Jesabel]

I'd bring mine into bed with me if they're not well. Teething I'd give calpol and put them back to bed.

[Artandco]

Mine would sleep in our bed.

Otherwise could you lay a duvet on the floor in his room and you both sleep in there?

I couldn't sleep apart from mine when small if they were ill as I would panic they would get worse without us knowing

[StrawberryLeaf]

My dd didn't like coming into my bed either, I used to put loads of spare blankets and pillows on her floor and sleep there. It's tough but it's not forever.