Previously perfect 2.5 year old sleeper waking in night at wits end

[Londonlady92]

Please someone help my 2 and a half DD has slept perfectly since she was 6 weeks old we've been incredibly lucky I know.

For 4 weeks now she has been waking anywhere from 10pm to 1am and staying awake till 4am not wanting to go back go sleep we are beyond exhausted and at our wits end we csnt figure out any reason. My poor 6 year old DS has school and its effecting him, I don't know how much longer I can cope.

Is the hungry? I give mine a banana between story and teeth every night as she is more fuzzy at dinner times and more active, so she really does need it.

She eats all day I really don't think its hunger :(

Argh! This sounds so hard? Sounds like it's baffling you. What's their day like?

Does she nap?

As in routine etc. Still napping?

Is she fully potty trained? What's the nappy / toilet situation?

@1940s cross post! My 2.5 year old still naps and in watchful that she may need to drop it if it's affecting night sleep or early waking....

Thank you for replies, I feel so down.

She doesn't nap anymore and hasn't for a whole (it never effected her bedtime sleep)

Shes not potty training yet.

Does she already have all of her teeth? The two year molars can be a bitch.

If not that, it's likely just a developmental leap kind of thing - her brain is processing something and when she slightly wakes up it keeps her up for a while. Should pass by itself if that is the case. Just an exhausting blip!

Otherwise I'd look at her bedroom environment - covers, light, pyjamas - could she be getting cold in the middle of the night?

If she is eating all day she might actually just be having a growth spurt and be ravenous.

Or it might be her bedtime needs to be shifted 30-60 minutes later, as she's not tired enough at bedtime and her body is treating that as an extended nap.

Might be the heat? How hot is her room?

Or worms?

Do they actually get upset? Do you need to get up with them? At this age, they're old enough to be put back into bed and left to sleep IMO.

I used to keep a stairgate on my DC bedroom at that age (mainly to stop them falling downstairs when I was asleep and didn't hear them awake, not because I'm a cruel parent). I'd hear them wake up in the night sometimes but unless they shouted for me, or were upset, I left them to it.

It's ridiculously hot at the moment in the night, could this be bothering them? Anything going on the day which means they don't get enough attention etc?

Hmmm. Well I don't have any advice but mine, at the same age, has just become a nightmare. He is now not going to sleep until after his siblings (so about 9.00!), then waking up and getting into our bed at about 2.00 and basically just singing. I got up last night because I heard random singing, and it was him just wandering round the house like a small ghost. Then he gets up at 7 and isn't even tired.

My 2.5 DS sleep has gone to absolute shit lately, waking up loads in the night and wide awake at 5am. No advice but i feel your pain

She has all her teeth and this started before the hot weather :(

We are all so exhausted i don't know how shes coping in the day on 6/7 hours sleep i had to drive an hour in the car earlier to try get her to nap its just a nightmare

Maybe she doesn't need the nap. Try letting her get through the whole day without it.

My 2.5 year old has been like this since day 1. It’s hell

Yeah that sounds like you've tried a lot. No wonder you're feeling down. We have a good sleeper and whenever she's ill and doesn't sleep enough I'm torn between feeling incredibly grateful we've been able to sleep too and also tortured by exhaustion. There's much happening developmentally and tricky for all if she's been a sound sleeper from early on. When's her wake and do you do a bedtime routine? Mine wakes at 6 (no matter the bedtime) then gets a nap about 1230 or thereabouts and is usually down by 7. I'm aware she'll likely drop the nap soon and then we'll try her earlier and stuck to as 12 hour day. Not sure if any of this is useful and just wanted to offer support and help pick brains as to what you might tweak.

*stick to a 12 hour day

All 3 of mine have done that. It’s a pain. Lasted about 4/5 months and then ended. It’s a phase, this too will pass.

She wakes up crying and wanting to go downstairs, I refuse and lay her back down kiss her goodnight and do this repeatedly until she stops crying and just sits in bed playing, won't go back to sleep for 3/4 hours it's like 6 hours sleep is the wake up point suddenly!

We have a good bedtime routine always have done and its always worked so great she has self settled from an early age no dummy (me eldest had a dummy still at this age) I've always put her in bed awake and she has drifted off no fuss until 7am.

I really hope its just phase, I've even considered paying a sleep consultant but surely if she has slept well in the pass I can get it back?! X

Mine were always chronic sleepers (my 4.5 year old has only just reliably started sleeping through the night) so it was less of a shock to the system, but they did just that. You used to be able to set the clock that the big one would be awake from 1am - 4am and then would just go back to sleep.

It’s just a phase

Have you tried something like a gro clock? That was really helpful for DS2.

I am reading this great sleep book at the moment for 18 months + called Still Awake, that seems to have helpful advice although I haven't finished it yet.

My son has a gro clock but I'm not sure DD would understand it and it would just be another distraction :(

Been up since 1.30am its 3am now and fe so alone and down the nights are so shit.