2 year old starting waking in th night and not going back to sleep

[LadyPen]

Hi, please can someone tell me they have had the same experience as I am having with our 2 year old or are we really the only ones :) My DS has always gone to bed well and slept through the night since he was about 1 year old (7pm to 7am, pretty much). However all hell has now broken loose. He fights going to bed and eventually settles after time in the rocking chair with mummy. I make sure I put him into bed while he is till awake. But more distressing for me and DS is that he has started waking in the night at about 2am and gets into bed with us but stays awake for 3 hours (talking/tossing and turning). I try putting him back to bed but he just gets up, crying and calling for mummy and daddys bed. I try rocking him but he will not sleep. Finally after 3 hours of hopping between beds and rockers and more milk, he will fall asleep in his bed at about 5-6am. Then wakes up all bright and breezey at 7-8am. Only to be met with an exhausted mummy with matchsticks in her eyes. I am at my wits end :(. I am going to try and be stronger and just keep putting him in his bed, as I realise I am probably confusing him. I think I just want to know if there anyone who has experienced anything like this or can offer an advice? Thanks

I had the same experience with DS when he was 2, 3 & 4 (only 5 since July so bound to occur again soon enough ). Not sure what exactly causes it but definitely he gets out of his routine and can take a couple of weeks to get back into it. The worst thing to do is to let him stay in your bed though last thing you want to do in middle of night is have a battle of wits with screaming child. I usually let him fall back asleep in my bed and then put him back in his own. I found that if I got up with him/gave him milk etc he would expect it every night. So now when he comes in he knows that if he's not quiet and goes back asleep he will be put back in own bed straight away. I found that ignoring his chatter/pretending I was asleep he would eventually fall back asleep.

The correct thing to do would be to put him back into his own bed straight away, stay at the door and don't make eye contact with him after a few minutes. He will scream the house down but will eventually fall back asleep. However, in middle of night its the last thing you feel like doing. There is a book by the late Tracy Hogg, the Child Whisperer, which is pretty good (see link below). Even though DS no longer a baby/toddler I still use her techniques when he won't go to bed and sometimes in middle of night if have energy. The thing to do is remain calm and in control - easier said than done . Didn't get the book myself but did watch her TV programme religiously when it was on satellite. Think SuperNanny uses similar technique to settle child at bedtime.

Hope this helps and you get a full night's sleep soon.

www.amazon.co.uk/Whisperer-Solves-Problems-Teaching-Questions/dp/0091902517/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285665793&sr=1-1

Oops,
The correct thing to do would be to put him back into his own bed straight away, stay at the door and don't make eye contact with him after a few minutes. He will scream the house down but will eventually fall back asleep.

That should read:
The correct thing to do would be to put him back into his own bed straight away, stay at the door and don't make eye contact with him. He will scream the house down but will eventually fall back asleep after a few minutes.

ifitsnotanarse, thank you. Went ahead and bought the Baby Whisperer, so fingers crossed. Glad to know someone else has experienced the same thing. It is definately a battle of wits and DS normally wins!! But I shall be interested to see what Tracy Hogg has to say. Brill, many thanks :)