why has my 2 year old stopped sleeping?

[somersetlass]

HELP!! My ds son who is 2 and a quarter has gone from being a fantastic sleeper who has basically slept from 7pm- 7am since he was a few months old, to being an absolute nightmare during the night. Things started going wrong a couple of months ago when he'd wake in the eve, have a bit of a cry and because hes always slept well, we wouldnt leave him for long before going in and soothing him. Things have got progressively worse though and very much over the past 2 weeks when hes been screaming about going to bed and taken up to an hour to finally settle. he then keeps waking in the night but generally settles quickly if we go in and say sshhhhh for a while. We also have a 1 year old who has never been a great sleeper and cant cope with being up and dowm all night for much longer. We think he dreaming more and we also think hes now waking through habit. has anyone else been through this at similar age? did it pass and if so what did you do? want to get it right so that we're not creating long-term sleep problems. dont know whether to keep the comforting (although this has only made wakings more frquent) because hes perhaps going through a vunerable stage, or whether to get tougher and try controlled crying? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

be assured that this is just a phase and it will pass my daughter, now 12 went through a similiar phase at about that age, she startes having night terrors and waking up screaming in the night. I would rush into her bedroom and she would be talking but still asleep with her eyes open! Quite scary, she used to say things like she could see monkeys on the walls but not remember anything the next morning. I think it is just the way that chuldren try to make sense of the world through their dreams and they have very active imaginations! Try to keep to a strict bath, story bedtime routine. Whatever you do DONT let him get out of bed and into yours as this could create sleep problems long term. (though I remember spending many hours lying next to her in her little toddler bed till she fell back to sleep). Also what are his sleeping patterns during the day? If he still has a nap it could be he is not ready for sleep at bed time or if he has recently dropped a nap it could be he is too tired. It is a balancing act. Toddlers also feel they are missing out when they sleep so they fight it. Kids!

thanks for reassuring words-nice to not be the only one! we're going through exactly the balancing act that you've said with lunchtime nap. he was having an hour and a half still. we tried phasing it out but he couldnt cope with that. the nights didnt improve- he was just more grotty in the evening. we've now settled on giving him 30 mins- an hour which seems about right. since we've given him that amount (the last 3 days) hes settled better in the evening but is still waking throuhout the night. I dont think its as extreme as night terrors, more just things that are on his mind that he tells us about at bedtime. Hes scared of a little man from one of his tellytubbies videos and he just keeps saying ' tubbies man house noise' over and over. Consequently that video is now on its way to the charity shop!!!

thanks for reassuring words-nice to not be the only one! we're going through exactly the balancing act that you've said with lunchtime nap. he was having an hour and a half still. we tried phasing it out but he couldnt cope with that. the nights didnt improve- he was just more grotty in the evening. we've now settled on giving him 30 mins- an hour which seems about right. since we've given him that amount (the last 3 days) hes settled better in the evening but is still waking throuhout the night. I dont think its as extreme as night terrors, more just things that are on his mind that he tells us about at bedtime. Hes scared of a little man from one of his tellytubbies videos and he just keeps saying ' tubbies man house noise' over and over. Consequently that video is now on its way to the charity shop!!!

thanks for reassuring words-nice to not be the only one! we're going through exactly the balancing act that you've said with lunchtime nap. he was having an hour and a half still. we tried phasing it out but he couldnt cope with that. the nights didnt improve- he was just more grotty in the evening. we've now settled on giving him 30 mins- an hour which seems about right. since we've given him that amount (the last 3 days) hes settled better in the evening but is still waking throuhout the night. I dont think its as extreme as night terrors, more just things that are on his mind that he tells us about at bedtime. Hes scared of a little man from one of his tellytubbies videos and he just keeps saying ' tubbies man house noise' over and over. Consequently that video is now on its way to the charity shop!!!

sorry- dont know how i managed to post last message 3 times!!