Does your 3 year old sleep through?

[again2020]

My DD (just turned 3) wakes up once at night, occasionally twice. It's not every night, but often, maybe 8 times out of 10. She comes into my bed but is a very fidgety sleeper and I like my own space (we never co slept when she was tiny) so if I can't get back to sleep with her next to me I'll take her back to bed and wait for her to fall asleep then leave.

She often has nightmares, it's always about the 'fairy house' (our friends gave her a wooden fairy house as a present and unfortunately she didn't like it, I have taken it out of her room but she still gets nightmares about it).
My partner is no help so I do all the wake ups. Luckily I'm fine on 5-6 hours sleep but often get less.

She hasn't always been this way, slept well mostly from 3 months to 18months then had a bad 18 month sleep regression and has been on and off since. She has never slept 7-7 but I know she can do stretches of 8-9 hours from 9-5ish. Gro clock doesn't work for her not do sticker charts (although she might be a little young for the latter). She rarely naps these days either.

Am I alone in this? Does it pass and what can I do?

Mine does 12 hours straight, very rarely wakes up. We used the controlled crying method when younger as they used to wake every 15 minutes and I was close to the edge.

How do you settle her when she wakes? Does she expect to come until your bed? It sounds like a habit tbh

My 3.5 year old has only just started sleeping through. 7-6ish. If I put her to bed later she doesn't sleep in later etc. She was still waking for milk but I stopped that,. no incentive for her to wake up anymore. Ive no advice tbh i think it's just a waiting game, they're all so different!

My 4 year old still wakes up in the night and whoever wakes first, me or DH, goes and gets her and sleeps in the spare bed with her the rest of the night. If she's fidgety, putting a pillow between us in the bed helps and we're quickly back off to sleep. I can count on one hand the number of times she's slept through the whole night and it's really rare that I wake up next to DH! My 6 year old has just recently stopped waking in the night.

My 3.9yo used to sleep like an angel but has been sleeping really badly lately. We're upping his asthma meds, which I'm hoping will help.

Dd sleeps through now but I was very strict with what happens with wake ups - needing the loo she comes through to my en-suite and gets straight back into bed, needing a drink - I put a glass of water next to her bed, a nightmare - I go in a cuddle her and rock her to sleep again, but she doesn’t come in my bed until it’s morning (or she’s ill).

She was a crap sleeper till she was 2, so I needed to make sure I wasn’t getting her into bad habits again.

I would make sure they’re definitely nightmares, because Dd can say she’s had a nightmare because it ensures I definitely get out of bed and it’s generally just she’s woken up and wants me to come to her. So I’ll tell her it’s ok, and to go back to sleep, and if she’s actually upset I’ll go in and resettle.

My son is 6 and still occasionally wakes for a cuddle.

My three year old sleeps really well at night

No, my 3 year old (4 in feb) wakes up at least once a night

My 3 nearly 4 year old does. My 2 nearly 3 year old has slept through maybe twice in his whole life.

My da only started sleeping through about 3. It’s nightmare. Now that I look back I wonder if he was needing the toilet and waking up the need to pee - although he still had pull ups on. He sleeps through now if we lift him for a wee when we go to bed!

Mine slept well at that age but we did co-sleep from babyhood, no fidgeting, it was peaceful and cosy so I have no idea what it would have been like otherwise.

Nearly 3 here, about 75/25 in sleeping through (75 being the sleeping one). Occasionally will wake and refuse to resettle unless she's in our bed in which case she's then out like a light! It's usually stupid o clock when this happens so we're ok with it as we can all get back to sleep, rather than struggling on and being knackered the next day.

We never did any training really, she was BF to sleep as a baby and we now do stories then stay in with her until she sleeps at night. People might say rod for our own back but it won't be forever!

That sounds really normal OP. Both mine slept through more predictably once they dropped their naps , some point between 3 and 4 years old. One dc will usually sleep 11-11 1/2 hours, one simply doesn't need as much and it's between 10 and 11hours.

My 4 year old sleeps through, my 2 year old is way off sleeping through

Until two weeks ago my three year old has slept 12/13 hours most nights since he was tiny. He’s been waking up with bad dreams or a sore tummy. he seems to be beginning to settle again but now likes the company! Bad dreams seem to be a common development at that age from what I’ve read

At 3 dd was pretty hit and miss butwould sleep 7-6 most of the time as long as I got her up for a week at about 10-11pm. Weirdly when she was 6 she also received a fairy house that gave her nightmares and I had to remove it

You have to be disciplined and put your child back in their bed. It'll be hard.... the first few nights won't be very happy. But it works!

That said if the kids come to out bed after, say, 6:30 they can stay, they won't go back to sleep by themselves and it's ok. Even the fidgety DC2.... at least I slept until the sun came up

My DD is now 4. We had this briefly when she was 3, and in her case it was fixed by a nightlight. Worth a shot? Turned out someone at preschool had told her about monsters in wardrobes....

My almost 3 year old sleeps through when he doesn’t need a wee I’m the night. He’s got up for a wee the last 4 nights, but 3 nights previously slept through.