anyone up im in the middle of first controlld crying sesh

[whatdoesthefoxsay]

This is my third D's he has just turned 2 but sleeps terribly, he wakes every night at about midnight and as we can't settle him back we bring him n with us, and take it in turns to sleep on sofa as he is such a wriggler. The last few weeks he has been demanding milk in the night and even an apple the other night, but tonight he woke up, we bought him straight in with as so frickin desperate for some sleep, do went down to sofa and he had an epic tantrum calling for daddy so we swapped and I went on sofa then he screamed for milk and so do got home bottle which he drank and then settled for 10 mins and then woke up again screaming to go down stairs. I really think I'm losing it due to lack of sleep these last few months, the days can be hard work with other CDs to look after and work n the evenings. So something has snapped inside me tonight and I'm doing controlled crying but has been going on for nearly an hour now and he is still screaming for us. Don't know what to do but can't go on like this as he is getting worse as the months go on, has only ever slept through a handful of times. Feel guilty but also really don't want to be beaten by him which is so unlike me as I'm normally quite a soft touch and would never leave to cry. My relationship and sanity and patience with my other DC is definitely suffering. So sorry for really long post. It is my first as well.

Go in, give him a cuddle, hold his hand and reassure. Stay while he goes to sleep if necessary. After a few nights, you could try moving to just outside his room while he falls asleep by himself. Let him know you're there, and reassure him that you won't go away.

Controlled crying is horrible for everyone, and probably just makes you feel more stressed than you were before.

At that age kids make up a lot of excuses not to go to sleep or back to sleep. Before bed time my daughter asked for yogurt, apple sauce, water, milk etc. and no, she wasn't hungry as she had a huge dinner, plus snack before bed! She also asked to brush teeth again, read more books (we already read five short ones). Anyway, sometimes you just have to put them to bed. My daughter wanted milk in bed and bc we travelled to another country, I gave in for two weeks letting her get milk in bed. Now I've changed that to water. Of corse she cries now when I put her down for milk. I let her cry and after five mins she falls asleep. It's okay to let them cry a little.

Have you kept going back to him or just leaving him to cry?

He may be scared of something and not able to articulate it.
or too cold?
Needs a bigger bed?

It looks like he needs the comfort of being with you in the night.

Controlled crying might not be that bad if it only lasts 5-10 mins...versus having poor sleep and having to functiont he next day. I know its awful to listen to your child cry...but sometimes you have to. If I let my daughter have her way...I would be in her room 7-11pm reading and playing w her until she accepted its bed time. When she was younger she used to wake up a lot at 5am and I would go feed her...until one day I thought...lets see if she stops crying...after 2 mins she fell back asleep and after two or three days of this...she just slept through 7 to 7. If you keep bringing your child into bed...he is going to expect it. You need to nip it in the bud and be consistent. You could try to reason with him? Sometimes it works to tell my two year old (she turned two end of Feb) that im really tired so I need to go to bed...so she needs to sleep. Or baby is crying, I need to go calm him down...so you need to lie down and sleep. Or everyone in the house is sleeping...go night night. Sometimes this works and she says "bye bye. sweet dreams" or sometimes she says sit down! But I just insist and have to walk out.