We will end up killing each other if this carries on

[StickEmWithThePointyEnd]

"We" being Dh and I of course. Ds is 2.4 and over the last couple of weeks night time has turned into a nightmare! Previously, there were no issues with his sleep at all. He goes to bed fine, falls asleep fine.

However, he keeps waking up throughout the night. It normally starts at about 11pm and goes on until 6am when he falls asleep through sheer exhaustion until 9am (as do we!).

He will wake and shout for us so we go in but there is nothing wrong, and so it goes on, every 15 to 30 mins. Dh and I are exhausted having done this every night for about 2 weeks. Tempers are running short throughout the household.

I have resorted to sleeping in a sleeping bag on ds's floor which does help but is really uncomfortable and I still get no sleep! Ds can't come into our bed because he just messes about instead of sleeping.

How can we get ds to actually sleep at night again? Please help!

Bit of background info I forgot to put in;

Ds doesn't nap during the day and hasn't for about 4 or 5 months.

An obvious reason for this imo, is that my mum died two weeks ago. Ds and my mum were very close. Given his age I haven't actually told him what has happened as he wouldn't understand, however I'm sure he will have picked up on everyone elses emotional state. If it is this what has unsettled him, how do I make it better for him?

Can you co-sleep for a while? Get a single mattress if you can, and just bed down on your boy's floor, with him in the bed too. Then gradually over a few weeks, work on getting him back into his bed.

He's certainly picking up on your emotions. Was he used to seeing his Grandma regularly?

What happens if you dont go.in when he shouts?

Hi. Very sorry for your loss Stick. I think you're probably right and that ds's sleep problems are related to your mum dying. It's highly likely that he's overheard conversations about what's happened and what with the emotional state you'll all be in at the moment, he's probably very confused and worried.

I think you do need to talk to him, but am not sure how, or what needs to be said! Hopefully someone will be along with advice about that or perhaps you could post in bereavement. Your ds will be grieving for his gran even though he's so young. You are doing the right thing I think in going to him when he calls for you, and I second the suggestion above about putting a bed in his room so you are there for him. Perhaps ds is worried that mummy and daddy will go away like gran and not come back.

HTH.

thanks for the replies.

If we don't go in to him then he just gets louder and more hysterical and starts kicking things about.

I'll see what I can do about co-sleeping in his room for the time being. He adored my mum, and talks about her all the time. Whenever I've been on the phone to my sister recently he has thought it is his nana and tried to speak to her . I just don't know what I can say that will make him understand.