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2yo waking between 3-5am - which - if any - of these two 'habits' should I break?

9 replies

flipflopsonfifthavenue · 02/09/2014 08:12

DS is 25mo and generally sleeps through the night. We put him down about 7:15pm and he happily chats in his cot and falls asleep on his own anywhere between 730-8pm.

Most night he then sleeps for 10 hrs without a peep (you can set your clock by him - 10 hrs, and not a minute more...).

Occasionally, and it tends to happen in cycles, so for several nights in a row, he'll wake anywhere between 3-5am. I go get him some warm milk in a beaker, give it to him, he lies back down, I lie down on the floor, he falls asleep, I go back to bed, and he'll then sleep for another 1-2hrs, depending what time he woke up. Basically he brings his total sleep up to 10 hrs ;)

I'm 30 wks pregnant and finding the lying on the floor (even on a mattrass I've put down) hard work, and I often end up falling asleep there, waking up cold and stiff and tired.

If DP goes in DS screams and screams for me and noone gets back to sleep.

I would be happy giving him the milk if I could then just go back to bed, but he wants me in there when he falls asleep.

So - should we a) just carry on - he'll eventually stop, in the way he's eventually stopped all his other sleeping 'quirks', and its not every night.

b) slowly get him to accept the milk but fall asleep on his own - after all he does this at bed time, so we could crack it am sure over a few nights, however much he protests at first.

c) stop the millk and try to get him back to sleep on his own - again, possible with a few nights effort I think.

Am just worried about when DC2 comes along, and I'll be up all night feeding anyway - I don't then want to also have to spend some of the night lying with DS to get him back to sleep on those nights that he wakes up.

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bberry · 02/09/2014 08:23

We had exactly the same.... DD used to sleep through but was waking at 3ish and I was giving her milk and a quick cuddle/kiss....

I went cold turkey on the milk... No milk till 6am.... I though she was stirring and instead of going back to sleep knew she would get milk if she cried.... She did complain but it only took 3/4 nights for her to accept

It seems to have worked and now I am thinking of no milk till up after 7am.... Wish me luck, ours is 29 months btw....

Oh, and let daddy go in, she has to learn to let him settle her so you can have a break... It will only take a couple of nights, I mean, that would have to happen if you were away wouldn't it.....

Good luck

TryingNotToLaugh · 02/09/2014 08:32

Replace the milk with water as he might be waking with thirst.

You're dp needs to be able to go in to him in the night, especially with another baby on the way.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 02/09/2014 08:38

Could you try a Gro Clock so he knows its still night time? Go in and say "look the night time star is still out so its still sleepy time. Back to sleep now baby" and try it fora bit and see if ot works?

id go cold turkey on both of those habits.

flipflopsonfifthavenue · 02/09/2014 08:43

Good idea re water. We've started to give him better snacks throughout the day, so say cheese muffins rather than rice cakes, as I think he's been going through a growth spurt/hungry phase, and I wondered if he was waking with hunger, hence I just milked him up...!

DP used to go in until several few months ago, we used to rotate a lot more, and last night we were trying to remember why that stopped...?! DS would def accept that he may get either of us eventually, and I agree we should be able to take turns. DP has looked after DS several times when I've been away, so it's more about having slipped into a habit than anything else.

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flipflopsonfifthavenue · 02/09/2014 08:44

we bought a gro clock a few months ago but not started using it yet, I was also thinking that this would be a good time to start, as he def understands "bed time" and "wake up time" (hence the shouts of MUMMY WAKE UP! at 6am...!)

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bberry · 02/09/2014 09:17

Yes...I have a gro clock, going to start using it this week along with water not milk...x

lindaRa182 · 03/09/2014 20:06

I just cracked that problem with our little toddler (23months) He was waking up about 1am and refused to go back to sleep unless myself or my dh put our hand on his face! Don't ask me where he got that habit!
We just had to let him cry it out for a few nights. It took about 4 nights but hes now back to his normal 10/11 hours.

In regard to the gro clock. We got him one a couple of months ago to try get him to sleep in later in the morning (after 6am) but the little night light was just too bright in his room. He is used to sleeping in the dark and when he woke anytime in the night it woke him up more so the gro clock went back in its box!

bberry · 04/09/2014 07:50

Yes... We had that issue with the light a few months ago but put dd now wants the hall light left on so may try it again...

flipflopsonfifthavenue · 04/09/2014 08:04

Ds has been sleeping with one of these since I can't remember when so am hoping gro clock light will be ok, although I've not tested it yet, or even taken it out of the box..

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40150993/

He slept til 530am this morning, so an early wake up but meant we all just got up and I didn't have to do a night time intervention...

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