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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in thinking that 3 and 4 year olds wake up at night

143 replies

TokenGirl1 · 05/10/2013 16:46

Please can you solve an argument my dp and I are having. Our kids keep waking at night and it's doing our head in and we are trying to find a solution. Dp says he doesn't know anyone whose kids wake on an almost nightly basis. I've talked to mums that I know and they say that their kids do wake up. All of you parents out there, please tell me if your under 5s sleep through all night every night 7pm to 7am?

OP posts:
muchadoaboutsomething · 05/10/2013 16:47

Mine sleeps 8 ish to 7.30 ish

TheFabulousIdiot · 05/10/2013 16:48

YANBU.

Is your husband proposing any kind of solution or just trying to blame someone.

Wheresmycaffeinedrip · 05/10/2013 16:49

Yes, unless they are ill or need the loo or lost a favourite teddy.
Mostly they do though :)

sparkle101 · 05/10/2013 16:49

My 3 yr old sleeps 7-7/8. Sorry!

ReindeerBollocks · 05/10/2013 16:50

My DS and DD sleep through and have done since they were toddlers. DD is four and she happily sleeps from 7-7 without fuss.

Is there an obvious reason that they are waking?Is it due to needing a drink/weeing the bed (it's still within night training ages) or habit?

I feel sorry for you as you must be sleep deprived, you poor thing.

RandomMess · 05/10/2013 16:50

I have 4 dcs I am a light sleeper - apart from illness they slept through 7-7ish 95% of the time.

sausageandorangepickle · 05/10/2013 16:51

Out of 3 DC's 1 slept all night, every night; 1 woke at exactly the same time every night till about 18 months; and the third sometimes sleeps through, wakes at different times, sometimes 3 or 4 times a night - no pattern at all, and it is really tiring! (he is 3)

debka · 05/10/2013 16:51

Mine are 4 and 2 and both have slept through all night every night since they were about 6 months. The 4 year old will wake up if she vomits, but the 2 year old will throw up and carry on sleeping in her own sick gross Colds also don't disturb them. I am aware how bloody lucky I am!! or perhaps I'm just a really deep sleeper Grin

youbethemummylion · 05/10/2013 16:52

DS2 who is 3 sleeps 7pm - 6 or 6:30ish only occasionally wakes either for a wee or because bear bear has fallen out of bed. I would say this is no more than once a week if that.

What is the reason for them waking? Someone might have some specific advice if we know what they are waking for.

beamme · 05/10/2013 16:52

I have one that has always slept through and is now 8 and I have one that has never gone a full week of sleeping through is nearly 6.

Sleepingbunnies · 05/10/2013 16:53

My 4 year old has just started sleeping through :( more often than not she comes in with us at about 4am and just goes back to sleep.

Her younger sister slept through FROM BIRTH!!

hettienne · 05/10/2013 16:54

Definitely not on a nightly basis, but occasionally - maybe once a week? Eg. feeling ill, needs a wee, nightmares.

He woke up most nights until about 2.5 though, and has slept through 7-7 since 3. He was the worst sleeping toddler of my friends though so all theirs' were sleeping through by 2.

ThatsYouThatIs · 05/10/2013 16:54

YANBU.

DS1 slept from 7-7 from about 6 weeks old...DS2 is only just starting to sleep 7-6.30 and he's 4.3. He still wakes during the night once or twice a week though but 6 months ago he was only sleeping through one or two nights a week so he's getting a lot better as he gets older.

I'm hoping by the time he hits 5 it will just be the odd time that he wakes during the night.

5madthings · 05/10/2013 16:54

My five year old generally sleeps through but occasionally has a nightmare, needs the loo, wants a drink etc.

Dd is almost three and still sleeps in our bed...needs dummy retrieval most nights and gets up for a wee some nights.

Older kids sleep through tho ds3(8) has has a few nights in a row awake at 4am due to bad dreams. In fact my 11yr old had a nightmare a few weeks ago and was literally sobbing in his sleep :(

As a general rule ours have gone in their an beds andgenerally slept through from age 3ish.

Why are yours waking? And what does your dh suggest doing about it?

kilmuir · 05/10/2013 16:54

Yes, i have 4 children and they ll slept 10 hours at night from a year old

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 05/10/2013 16:55

My almost 7 year old wakes at least 6 times a night Grin

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 05/10/2013 16:55

Most children wake. It's whether they can get themselves back to sleep that's the issue. Neither of mine regularly woke at this age, although both had periods where they'd started to have nightmares.

Neither of mine slept through to 7am until the last year or so (they are 10 and 13) - both early wakers until recently.

Lonecatwithkitten · 05/10/2013 16:55

My DD slept 7-7 till she was three years old then the 4 years of hell started when she old only sleep from 8.30 - 5am. I tried every strategy known to man going to be earlier (she was always in bed by 7.30 normally) going to bed later, those stupid clocks, mean mummy (back to your bed), lovely mummy (hop in my bed) nothing could get her back to sleep at just over 7 she stopped waking early.

RubyrooUK · 05/10/2013 16:55

Hahahahaha. Sorry, that was the sound of laughter from a woman on the edge. One whose three year old does not sleep through. Nowhere near.

If we are lucky, we are up only once per night with the three year old. If we are extra lucky, he makes it till 5am before crying out. Sometimes he just wants a hug, sometimes he is apparently the victim of an over-active imagination (monsters, dragons, fairies, camels in his room).

He did once have a random period where he slept through from 8-6:30 for a couple of weeks. We had newborn DS2 by that point and were waking up constantly. Oops.

ScottishInSwitzerland · 05/10/2013 16:56

My 18 month old sleeps all night.

But my 3.5 year old has just finished a phase of waking at least once a nigh every night. And now is 'only' waking once a night, maybe four times a week

Iwaswatchingthat · 05/10/2013 16:56

One fab sleeper and alway has been - now aged 8

One who still wakes (age 7) and shouts for a cuddle/drink/light on/light off/to ask what snow is.........about five nights out of 7. Often takes AGES to settle when being put to bed too. If the small sleepy window is missed then that is it.....

OP I sympathise!!!

LtEveDallas · 05/10/2013 16:56

DD was 5 and at school before she slept right through. Some kids are like that

Even now at age 8 it takes a minor miracle for her to be tired before 9pm or stay in bed past 6am. I think that was part of the problem. I was desperately trying to get her in bed for 1830-1900, but that meant she was wide awake and rested at 3am!

Last night she didnt go to bed until about 2220. She was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 . I can't wait till the 'teenager who never gets out of bed' stage Grin

COCKadoodledooo · 05/10/2013 16:57

Ds2 (almost 4) goes to bed around 7, to sleep around 7.15/7.30 and usually up for the day about 6.

He doesn't wake in the night every night, but I'd guess at least once a week we hear him wail "Daddeeeeeeeee" (he's well trained Wink) because he's kicked his covers off/rolled out of bed/lost his beaker or some other disaster.

LittleMissWise · 05/10/2013 16:57

Mine slept through at that age. Went to bed at 7:30pm and got up around 7:00 the next morning unless they were ill.

LeoTheLateBloomer · 05/10/2013 16:58

DD went through a phase of sleeping through, from about the age of 2-3. She's now 3.6 and probaly 85% of the time will wake at some point in the night and end up in my bed. She'll generally go straight back to sleep though.

She's always been an early riser, waking any time from 5:00 onwards. I don't think she's ever made it until 7:00 Sad (unless she's staying with someone else Hmm)