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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

Pulling my hair out with naps and sleep!

16 replies

Blakesmummy2013 · 14/08/2015 11:33

Okay... my little one is 2 years old and we moved him into his own aingle bed for 3 maybe 4 weeks it was heaven and now it is hell. Once he is tired he refuses to sleep and if he knows he is falling asleep oh boy... meltdown! He can be dog tired where he can barely keep his eyes open and he will explode. He will throw toys so i remove them he will head butt the wall where i say no which then spirals as you can imagine! He will then calm down and do things to get a reaction like chucking his juice on the floor. He will hit me to get a reaction. He wont let me hold him or rub his back head nose... huge no no. Ive tried open window closed window warm pjs shorts for pjs just a nappy open child gate closed child gate tv on tv off story no story toys no toys favourite songs on you tube sitting on the bed lying on the bed lying on the floor sitting on the floor not being in the room. HELP!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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TheHouseOnTheLane · 14/08/2015 12:23

How are you putting him down? Are you placing him and leaving or staying with him? And why is he having juice at bedtime? Is that a usual thing?

Original poster

Blakesmummy2013 · 14/08/2015 12:32

He has a set bedtime of 6. I will place him on the bed he is allowed juice to settle while i change his nappy. I try to stay with him... sorry

OP posts:

TheHouseOnTheLane · 14/08/2015 12:39

I think 6 is very early...even for a 2 year old. Is he napping in the day? For how long?

Also juice really won't help him settle. Does he not like milk? Even if you're giving him sugar free juice to protect his teeth, that's full of chemicals...such as Aspartame which are just terrible and could potentially unsettle him.

Original poster

Blakesmummy2013 · 14/08/2015 12:45

He cant have milk because it makes him projectile vomit. He doesnt nap and is awake at 4 30 am every morning on the dot. By the time we get to 5 he is very very very tired. If he does nap which is very very rare he only has about an hour and a half.

OP posts:

TheHouseOnTheLane · 14/08/2015 12:48

Good God 4.30 am! Has he been seen by a dietitian as a baby re the milk problem? Does he eat normally now? How is his general diet?

Original poster

Blakesmummy2013 · 14/08/2015 12:54

The only things that makes him ill are generally dairy. He loves food takes his vitamins just wont eat round things because he hinks they are balls which is fairly understandable lol. We took him to the doctor and he says it can be normal. He will happily eat yoghurt after yoghurt and it wont affet him yet milk and cheese make him sick and the doctor thinks its probably because they are heavy in lactose and his body cant handle it. The only thing im really concerned about is his sleep and his behaviour before it. We were lucky this morning he slept till 6am but thats because he had a melt down from 6 till 8 last night and was awake at 4 30 yesterday... i am ripping my hair out lol. Its like he is afraid to sleep

OP posts:

TheHouseOnTheLane · 14/08/2015 12:58

How did he manage with feeding before he was weaned? Was he sick all the time? It must have been hell....can I ask if you've requested allergy or intolerance testing for him?

If he has food sensitivities which the milk issue would suggest, then it's possible that they may be disrupting his sleep and making him unable to switch off. In your shoes I would insist that he is tested....explain to the Dr about his sleep pattern.

What is a typical day's food for him?

GothicRainbow · 14/08/2015 13:05

My 2 year old DS is lactose intolerant and we give him lactofree whole milk at bedtime (he has his still in a bottle), we also keep him on a completely lactose free diet as even if he doesn't have the obvious symptoms of upset stomach and vomit he can still become very windy and bloated which can really disrupt his sleep.

I would suggest putting your DS on a very strict lactose free diet and see what happens with his behaviour - we found things improved drastically!

We also found that turning the tv off at least an hour before bedtime really helped with behaviour during bathtime and then during the bedtime routine.

It sounds like he could possibly still do with a nap in the day too, especially if he's awake at 4.30am on a regular basis. It could be he is chronically overtired.

Also does he have a nightlight in his room? This helped our DS with his middle of the night wakeups and he doesn't need us to be there for him to resettle now.

Original poster

Blakesmummy2013 · 14/08/2015 13:11

He projectile vomited with formula since birth. I couldnt produce breaat milk so that was that down the swanny but we watered it down and he was fine. We requested and they said no. They just said yes tbf because he has eczama he is at a higher risk. Normal days food fruit loaf or tea cakes for brekkie no butter lots of water and a glass of pop as treat. Dinner is normally chicken with veggies chips or mash. But it doesnt explain the meltdowns its more behavioral. He will look me in the eyes and throw things just for a reaction...

OP posts:

GothicRainbow · 14/08/2015 13:34

It's surprising how much behavioural issues can be down to diet. My DS is a refluxer and if he's having a flare up and he's in pain then his behaviour becomes a lot more aggressive and he is very short tempered.

Original poster

Blakesmummy2013 · 14/08/2015 13:39

He isnt lacto intolerabt though hes not windy with yoghurts or anything other than sprouts. He isnt bloated... its just cheese and milk. He has a night light at the top of the stairs because of theres a light on he will stare at it and make it a tactic for not sleeping. I know he needs a nap. But i dont know how because everytime i sit him on the bed he has a melt down. I need help. He is afraid of sleep.

OP posts:

minipie · 14/08/2015 21:39

Overtiredness definitely. (It may not be the only factor but definitely a factor.)

Only way to fix overtiredness is getting him more sleep, which ironically is the hardest thing to do with an overtired child. Here's what has helped with my overtired 2.5 year old:

Try to find the time of day when he is starting to get tired but is not yet overtired and hyper (as by then he may refuse to nap) and get him in the car or buggy at that time to encourage him to fall asleep. You will recognise this time because his behaviour will be a bit worse, he will stop listening etc. For us this time is about 11.30am, but my DC wakes at 6.15 (her bedtime is later) so suspect for your DS it may be earlier, maybe more like 10am? Then let him nap as long as he wants. After about a week of doing this and her napping every day we started to see improvement in night sleep and major improvement in general behaviour.

good luck!

ffffffedup · 15/08/2015 04:49

I'd say overtired too definitely try and introduce a nap time or a least some down time. 10 am is probably a good time if he's been up since 4.30 maybe even before that. His nap doesn't need to be in bed,get of the sofa cuddled up together with a blanket and cbeebies/film. Even if he doesn't sleep at least it's a bit of relaxed time, if he does fall asleep then you get to have a little snooze too.

backtowork2015 · 17/08/2015 07:21

agree needs a nap and a later bedtime. car journey after lunch I reckon

GothicRainbow · 18/08/2015 12:49

How's it going OP? Just read the previous comments and agree that maybe trying an early nap around 10am and letting him sleep as much as he needs would really help.

minipie · 19/08/2015 09:58

Or if the nap idea doesn't work - try putting him to bed at 5 pm for a few days and see what happens?

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