Pregnant, bad toddler sleep and tired

[Lid98]

Hi guys

Could do with some general advice and really do feel like this is all exaggerated by the pregnancy. Since getting rid of the cot and moving our LO into his own bed (2y 2month) our sleep is just awful. We went from self settling and sleeping through to neither. He also really struggles to settle for my husband and uses my face to self soothe stroking eyebrows etc which honestly is v overstimulating in the night but he gets v upset if I stop him.

He no longer naps at home only on car journeys and at nursery. Only difference on no nap day is hes easier to get to sleep but doesn't really affect his night wakes. He's waking maybe like 4 times sometimes minutes to get back other times hour.

I really don't know what to do and just wondering how many other toddlers are waking this much. I'm 31 weeks pregnant and just feel soooo nauseous and tired and my symptoms are so much worse with lack of sleep

Thank you

The first thing to do is to hand over all settling duties to DH. He WILL settle for DH it just might take longer. If you need to get out of the house for a few days so you don't have the option of interfering. You're not going to be able to deal with him and a newborn at night so your DH will end up settling the toddler anyway; do it now. Let DH and DS find their bedtime groove before the baby is born.

Do you have a bed guard so it feels as cot-like as possible. Has he gone from a sleeping bag to a duvet as well? If yes, go back to a sleeping bag.

Thanks DH was able to bed time and had just been in with him resettling him. Always starts with the most horrific screaming but usually settles after a while

Yeah he has rails and duvet. Interesting about sleeping bag I could try that. V anti anything trapping him in arm.

Any chance you can go back to the cot? I know plenty of 2 year olds still in one. And a friend had to go back for the same reason.

Or was he climbing out already?

Oh and my brother needed to touch my mum's cheek every night until he was 7...she couldn't move until he was a good one or two hours in a deep sleep. So him stroking your face is very, very normal.

It might be normal for kids to want to do it, ist not normal to put up with lying in bed for two hours every night until your child is seven! Most people would be beyond the end of their tether by that point. The OP should not feel bad for having had enough.

Your Mum must have the patience of a saint!