Please tell me I'm not the only one getting no sleep!

[VelmaDaphne]

I know these no solution to this really, other than the passage of time, but sometimes I just need to feel I'm not alone.

I'm a single parent, no contact at all with ex, and no local family. DS1 is 6, DS2 is nearly 3.

DS1 has always been a horrendous sleeper, but has got a lot better in the last year or so, and would probably sleep well if he wasn't woken by DS2.

DS2 is still in with me as there isn't a spare room, and he wakes every hour or so throughout the night because his dummy falls out. I can cope with this - I can put it back in in a second. It's the early waking that is such a struggle. DS2 wakes at 5am most mornings, and it's a nightmare keeping him quiet, and so he often wakes DS1.

Both of them are in bed asleep by 7.15ish, and if they go to bed later they wake earlier.

Both of them need more sleep. They fall asleep in the car if we go anywhere at weekends, and we usually end up with tea time meltdown because they're so tired.

I'm so so sick of hearing about people whose children sleep past 7am.

I know it will get better with time, and that one day when they're lazy teenagers I'll look back fondly at the early mornings. But right now I'm beyond shattered, and I want to know I'm not the only one, because none of my friends seem to have this problem at all. I expect this in the baby stages, but not now!!

Ds3 (5) has been a very poor sleeper. It is only in the last few months that he has slept right through the night and he now sleeps until after 6am most mornings. I have 2 teenagers as well (1 with sn) and it would often end up with a shouting match between them when their sleep was disturbed. It's so hard isn't it. Things improved for us when I got tough. I would ditch the dummy now (and I speak as a mummy of 3 former dummy addicts). I'm sure by the time they get to 2 plus it actually disturbs their sleep.

Could you sleep in the living room for a bit to give him a room of his own so that you can return him to it when he gets up. It may be that a combination of having you there when he wakes and loosing his dummy is preventing him going back to sleep. If he starts sleeping later you could then put him in with his brother.

Of course you are right, I can't get the teenagers up in the morning. It is not unusual for me to go to bed at 8pm!

I agree that your problem might actually be the dummy, in fact I would say that it is dummy, your ds cannot self soothe and so nneds the dummy as a prop to sleep. Google ditching the dummy and there is loads of advice, both my DCs started sleeping through once the dummy went.

Go cold turkey, prepare for a hellish couple of weeks, though could be less. Get ds a blankie toy to snuggle and he will learn to seldf settle and that will mean no more night wake ups and no more early starts. Be brave and good luck

I agree with ditching the dummy but i also know that feeling of being terrified of making anything worse because youre already only just surviving.

Ds is just 5, dd is 1 1/2. They both wake between 5-6am and yes, ifg i put them to bed late they get up early - wtaf?!

Oooo I'd be very careful about losing the dummy....
I've done this with DS aged 3 ("fairy came and took the dummy and gave it to the little tiny babies who cry a lot and really need it")
He didn't protest much and stopped asking for the dummy immediately but started fighting sleep like a mad person, all I keep hearing is "I don't want to sleep waaaaaahhhh" :(