Nightly waking - 3.5 year old

[Aberchips]

Am getting increasingly hacked off (not to mention tired out!) by being woken by my 3 year old son every night. Sometimes 2 or 3 times per night.
There seems to be nothing wrong with him - often he comes in for a drink of water even though he has a drink next to his bed. He's not distressed & goes straight back to sleep, but it takes me a while to settle again & I am suffering from the broken nights (I also work 3 days a week).

He shares a room with his brother (5.5) so is not on his own. It started when we moved house & I put it down to him being unsettled by this, however it has been going on, on & off for almost a year now. It does not seem to make a difference what he does during the day (he was at 2 parties back to back on Saturday and was exhausted at bedtime but still woke twice) he does not sleep during the day either.

Have tried bribery - charts etc, taking away favourite toys & ignoring him when he does it, but none of it works! Any ideas or experience of this?!

It sounds like you're punishing him for your tiredness. Both my DC did/do this. How about giving him a little cuddle and a kiss as you carry him back to his own room and settle him down again?

I'm sure someone will be along with better advice. My 5yr old sleeps through most nights now (and has done for around 12 months unless ill) but my younger dc just climbs into bed with me for a cuddle around 3am and we fall asleep cuddling. I know she will eventually sleep through the night. Get those cuddles whilst you can because they're soon gone IMO.

Purpleflamingos I do settle him back down with a kiss etc but am wary of giving too much attention in case he sees it as appealing to keep getting out of bed.
He has gone from being an excellent sleeper who would never wake at all right from being 6 weeks old to this. I appreciate that I should make the most of cuddles etc but as far as I'm concerned this can be done during waking hours rather than at 3am. I don't function well on broken sleep & neither does he for that matter.

I know you tried bribery, but have you offered a clear, short simple bribe? Eg if you stay in your own bed all night tonight, in the morning you can have a chocolate button.

We got amazing results bribing our 3.5 year old to stay in her room until the sun comes up on her gro clock. If she stays in bed all week, she gets ice cream at weekend.

Might have to resort to that Greenstone! Last night was better - only once & very brief.

We had this problem with our son when he was slightly younger. We cut out all night drinking as he seemed to be waking for that, and made sure he drank more during the day. We also used a reward chart for staying in bed all night which was fairly successful. He still wakes some nights at nearly 4 but it's a lot better than it was!