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

[TokenGirl1]

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?

My 5 and 3 year olds have had phased when they don't sleep through but generally they go from 7/8pm until 7am. One of my 5 year olds beat friends doesn't consistantly sleep through and sounds like he was very much like my 1 year old at the same age so I wouldn't be surprised if we'll still be having issues at 3 & 4 with him!

Double Life, You've summed it up perfectly and I will be spending today looking at where I can fit in a few hours me time.

On a positive note we fixed the lullaby dream show and tucked them right in. The 3 yo woke up at about 11.30pm but he was being sick. The 4 yo slept through from 8.30pm to 8.30 am!!!! Thank you all for your support and help. This is probably just luck but we will try the same tonight and we'll see how we go.

Haven't read whole thread but just wanted to add in my support/symathy to the mix. My DS is 4 and tends to wake in the night once or twice a week (nightmare/wet bed/covers off etc). At the moment it's nearly every night- this is since starting school and I hope it's a phase! He did have a chunk of sleeping through every night (unless ill) from 18m to about 3y. Lot's of my friends' children are similar- hit 3 and start waking from nightmares etc.

Yes my 4 yo has just started school and has become more clingy at night. That's why I don't want to be too hard on her as it's a massive change for her to cope with.

I guess I expect the waking front the 3 y o because he moves about so much in his sleep and has the night terrors.

Token

As 3birthday says above - check out if they have worms!!

..sorry, pressed post too soon.

I work in a school and have caught worms from children (sorry TMI). 4 years olds are rubbish at wiping their bums and washing their hands thoroughly, so yours could easily have picked them up from school and then from each other

WORMS!!

WORMS AGAIN

That's good Token, put yourself first ASAP!

My 3.5 yr old had raging diarrhea last night so I spent alot of time up. Ergh!

Oh poor you Double. Hope your little one is better soon x

22mth old has slept through twice so far. Usually wakes about twice a night now. I know he is younger than your children, but just wanted to share the experience to counterbalance a lot of the 'my child has slept through since six weeks in utero' comments.

UPDATE: Thanks to all of you lovely people and your advice.

We play the lullaby dream show at bedtime and set it to go off whenever a noise is made. The kids love it.

They think I sleep outside their closed bedroom door every night.

When they are falling asleep I sit outside their bedroom door with the landing light on. It usually takes a few minutes for them to nod off.

So, I think my dd especially needs the reassurance that I am near her at night and I think it's the dark that scares her the most.

In the last three weeks they have only woken a handful of times and have probably ended up in our bed a couple of times for things such as nightmares/sickness.

I feel sooooo much better and it's all down to your help and support. Its lovely that I know longer dread bedtime. Thank you!

My eldest, 2yrs 10 months, has started waking every few nights, sometimes several nights in a row, at ridiculous hours and is sometimes easy sometimes impossible to resettle him. Some nights we end up with him in our bed, something we have never ever felt we needed to do before. He used to be brilliant, slept 7-7 from age about 8 months. Until recently. Aargh.

What with that, and the 10 month old baby still waking to feed, I feel like I may never feel human again.

The baby doesn't wake his brother but the screaming etc of the eldest would wake anyone. No idea what it's all about. I hope it passes soon.

Yes, that's what my 4 yesr old was doing. It's absolute hell, isn't it?

The advice about tucking in tightly helps. However, I wonder if it's dreams that are waking your little one up? Perhaps try a lightshow on the ceiling for reassurance and resettling. It's really helped my two especially as we play the same music on it so it's very familiar if they are only half awake. It's even helping my 3 year old sleep through regularly when he has hardly ever slept through in the past.

My dd slept through the night from 16 weeks and only woke if she was ill.

My ds woke up anything up to 30 times a night until he was 3 and a half. Then he started sleeping 13 and a half hours a night!

But it depends on the child. Read the no cry sleep solution book if you are looking for solutions.

My DS is 4 and has just started school, he sleeps 7 - 7.30 if left to sleep in till he's ready, its very rare for him to wake in the night unless he's ill in which case he'll be up and down all night long. He slept very well as a baby doing 7 - 7 from just 12 week old, he then went through a waking phaze at the age of 2 for around a year then started going to bed a bit later (8.30 ish due to taking ages to settle) and getting up around 6.30 but since starting school in september hes pretty much gone back to how he was as a baby asking to go to bed by 7 of his own accord, staying asleep longer and settling almost instantly even now its the holidays the routine has stuck.

Both mine are older than 3/4. One sleeps, one doesn't, still!