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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Are you still up in the night (regularly) with your two year old?

25 replies

OneoftheseBoxes · 12/03/2013 02:58

Dd is nearly two. We're still up once in the night with her and just wondered how common it is. Thing is, I think we may have fallen into a bit of a rut - she'll ask to come to our bed, or for milk, or for bonjella, but in each case can generally be distracted out of it, and I don't think she really needs it, she's just asking for something for the sake of it. On the other hand, she's still little, and I don't want to be wholly hard-hearted - sometimes i wake up in the night and need a drink / cuddle before I can get back to sleep.

Just grateful for other's experiences.

Thank you

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gaelicsheep · 12/03/2013 03:11

Quite often, hence me being awake now. I had managed to fall asleep - rare for me at the mo - was up with her about an hour and a half ago and that's me now, stuck awake.
To be fair she's poorly, but at normal times she will cry out frequently duribg the night, often needing to.cone to our bed to be settled. She's 2.9 .

mathanxiety · 12/03/2013 03:20

DD3 didn't sleep through until she was 2.5 so maybe the end is near for you too. She used to wake and cry and never settled herself, ever, just got louder and more frantic the longer she was left. I used to haul myself out of my bed and move in beside her, bfeed a bit and we would both nod off.

I don't know what happened to get her to sleep through the night. I recall waking every night for a while expecting to hear crying but hearing only silence or snoring and gradually getting into the habit of sleeping through myself..
I kept up bfeeding if she asked for it for a few months after she started sleeping through and finally stopped when I became pg with DD4.
DD3 is the only one of all my DCs who ever sleepwalked, and she still does occasionally at 14.

Last weekend she slept about 17 hours straight.

JoandMax · 12/03/2013 03:26

Yep, hence why I'm up now! DS2 is 3 next week

He just isn't ready yet, when he wakes if I leave him he gets scared and do upset so he ends most nights in our bed. We're moving soon and will have a bigger bedroom so are going to get him a bed next to ours as things are getting a bit of a squash.....

Turnipsoup · 12/03/2013 03:34

With DS1 we did a reward chart for sleeping all night in his own bed... and a nighlight that had a timer on it so it came on in the morning, (he knew he could get up) It worked really well as he was very sticker oriented. (although he is only just now sleeping past 6am and he is 6!)

DS2 is 2.5, I got really tough with him at about 18 months, as DP was away and I just couldn't cope with getting up every 2 hours all night, so I put earplugs in for a couple of nights. Looking back on it, it was an awful thing to do but I couldn't cope with no sleep and it was worth it

and the ironic thing is I now work nights, hence why i am awake now

howcomes · 12/03/2013 03:48

On a good night ds wakes once, though it's usually 2 - 3 times. I usually end up in his bed after rocking or feeding back to sleep. He is 3 next month. The last week has had a run of minor wakings so I have my fingers crossed that he is on his way to sleeping through.

Original poster

OneoftheseBoxes · 12/03/2013 03:59

Ah thanks, its good to know it's not just me. And yes, I'm stuck awake now too, although often I can get back to sleep. Looks like I won't stress for a little while yet, though may have to get tougher when second baby arrives in August, or I won't get any sleep!

OP posts:

Iggly · 12/03/2013 06:42

We camped in with ds. He's now 3 and sleeps through unless ill. He never came into our bed.

KatherineKrupnik · 12/03/2013 06:54

Dd1 didn't sleep thro till 22m. I was still Bfing her on one wake up a night, stayed with my mum for 3 weeks & mum went in to her. After that she stopped night waking all together. Dd2 is 18m & is up 2x on a good night. Hoping ahe will sleep thro around the 2 yr mark too...

Sirzy · 12/03/2013 07:08

Ds is 3.4 if he wakes once that's a good night. Night before last I was up to him around 10 times.

mummy2benji · 12/03/2013 10:20

Uh, I still have to get up at night with 4.3 year old ds! Needing the toilet... favourite teddy lost somewhere in the bed... bad dream... He sleeps worse than my 4 1/2 month old dd2. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear!

BertieBotts · 12/03/2013 10:23

DS was although started sleepoing through a few months after he turned 2.

lynniep · 12/03/2013 10:50

Both my DS's were bad sleepers, but both started sleeping through at about 2.5. This co-incided with dropping the daytime naps. DS2 had a shaky 3-4 months where he sort of still needed his nap but wouldnt go to bed till late if he did, but then still got up early and was tired and so the cycle continued, but it sorted itself out eventually.
DS2 is 3.4 now and sleeps through consistently (unless he gets cold, nappy leaks, has bad dream, is ill etc) Its amazing after 5 years of being woken from one to five times a night by either DS1 or DS2. No more DC for me. I cannot go back to interrupted sleep!

fififrog · 12/03/2013 12:18

This morning my nearly-2 DD woke at 5am screaming "chocolate cake, chocolate caaaaaaaaaake"

But seriously, she wakes often and shouts often in the night, until recently we had mostly been able to ignore this, but at the moment I go in on average once every 2 nights (she doesn't need anything... just to see me).

well not this week, I'm I'll and can't be arsed and DH is in the spare room so she's been in bed with me by 5.30 the last four nights

babyjane67 · 12/03/2013 13:30

my dd is 4.5&has been waking up every night for about4months now!!
it started with screaming out with night terrors&we were getting up2her at least8times a night!plus she wouldnt&still wont settle off2sleep on her own when dp puts her to bed.
previously she was excellent at doing that&stayed asleep all night with no probs unless ill.
as it was leading up2xmas&dp was about2start bonus hrs we let her come in bed with us as it was so much easier&thats where we're at now!!still with her waking up&coming in with us.
we figure its just a phase&this too shall pass!!!!!!i hope!!!!!!!!

PirateHat · 12/03/2013 21:40

2yr 8mo and always wakes atleast once. I get in with him. He's getting his molars and has had constant colds so maybe when we get through this he'll settle.

AmIGoingMad · 12/03/2013 22:05

DS 2.2 wakes every night once usually now. It was so bad before Xmas that we moved a futon into his room ( I'm pregnant and him coming in with us was no longer an option as he kicks out a lot in his sleep). Only thing is that one of us has to be in his room with him for him to go to sleep, then he wakes in the night and cries pitifully for that one of us to go bk and sleep in futon (to be fair he's probably wondering why we're not still there even tho we try to explain we're only in there til he goes to sleep) so that's what we do as we need to sleep. It's not ideal and no idea how we're going to sort it before dc2 arrives in June but at least we're getting much more sleep now( all of us) albeit broken. I'm determined to get dc2 into habit if self settling early on- just no idea how.....

WipsGlitter · 12/03/2013 22:06

Never, unless they're sick.

HorryIsUpduffed · 12/03/2013 22:07

23mo. Hasn't slept for more than four hours at a time for a year. Am pg. Am on my knees.

Ch4 are starting a series about sleep next Tuesday at 8pm. I am hoping it will save my dwindling sanity.

redwellybluewelly · 12/03/2013 22:08

2.7 and she wakes most nights once or twice. Usually in spare bed with whichever of us is on duty (we both work FT so alternate) however there have been a few nights recently when she has slept till 3/4/5am but she is still in a cot so not able to come find us.

HorryIsUpduffed · 12/03/2013 22:12

Incidentally none of the help I have been offered can be used on him because he can climb cot bars so is in a bed, can open doors so just appears by my pillow actually, sometimes I wake up to find him fast asleep in bed with me having sneaked in silently at some point and he is completely unmotivated by stickers or other rewards because he can't project far enough into the future yet.

So I've stopped bothering to mention it to HCPs because that's the extent of their suggestions. That and "stop bf" which can't possibly be the only answer.

Original poster

OneoftheseBoxes · 12/03/2013 22:17

Thank you so much for replying everyone, I'll keep gutting it out, but try to judge a bit more whether she really does need me.

I work full time so in a way it's lovely to go in and give her a cuddle, but not ideal that it's the middle of the night!

OP posts:

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 12/03/2013 22:19

dd2 is 2.4, and wakes in the night probably 2-3 times weekly, for no apparent reason, and goes back to sleep after a quick cuddle. She is on the good side of average amongst the 2yos we know.

fluffypillow · 12/03/2013 22:20

My DD is 2yrs, and still wakes up once in the night. Usually because her nappy is wet, and she gets cold.

I can cope with once a night, I'm just glad we seem to be passed the phase when she woke up 4 times plus a night! That lasted until quite recently, and was a killer!

Hope yours and mine will be sleeping through really soon, wouldn't that be amazing?!

breatheslowly · 12/03/2013 22:37

DD is 2.5 and probably wakes 2 nights a week, normally just once in the night, but can be more. She has a normal single bed so I go in with her until she is asleep again, but I normally fall asleep too so stay for an hour or two. If she wakes more than a couple of times I make DH go instead for a bit. We have a "not in our bed until 7am" rule. She was ill last week so we made an exception and she slept in with me and DH slept in her bed. But she is back in her own bed all night now. I am beginning to find that if I go in and tell her that it is nighttime and give her a kiss she will go back to sleep without me staying. Sleeping through all night, every night feels like a gradual 2 steps forwards, 1 step back thing.

elfycat · 13/03/2013 07:17

DD2 (2.5) woke up at 1130 last night. I resettled her but then she chatted away happily until sometime after 0200. I went back to bed and relaxed but I can't sleep until she goes quiet. Sometimes she's up for 4 hours chatting happily (bangs head on wall). She's still in a cot at the moment as she shows no signs of wanting to get out unlike DD1 who was a houdini

She has occasionally slept all the way through and the occurrences are more frequent now so I'm hoping. I've had a bad cold and the nights I only get 3 hours sleep are not helping.

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