Help! we need sleep!!

[NattyNatural]

Me and hubby have just sold our house and we are temporary living with mil. My ds is 2.8 and has been a nightmare at bed time. He always slept through at our old house. He has always stayed with mil whenever we needed a baby sitter etc and has always slept fine there.

He has his own room.
Since moving in he has been waking us every hour and asking for milk or anything really.
My dh is at the end of his tether as he is so tired and has to work.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do /try to get a decent night sleep??

Tia

Hmmm no experience at all to offer but i work with older kids with autism and think some of the visuals we use might help little ones too? Read ur post and thought maybe you could give him 3/4 'up' cards/ something tangible to swap for a drink/cuddle etc then reduce over time, that way he might consider his 'ups' also maybe offer a reward if he doesnt use them/ a reward chart for staying in bed? Lots of positivity when he does well and rather than 'cross' i always go with 'sad' to describe how you feel after a bad night.

Maybe also search 'social stories' good tool for explaining things to kids in a medium they enjoy.

We have a 10 month old but have already bought a gro clock in the black friday sales for when he's a bit older, might help too?

Prob talking rubbish here, just thought i'd try! Good luck x

Didn't have time to explain social stories properly last night but think actually you should maybe give them a go first rather than up cards as you'd be committing to a while of wake ups!

Basically make a book, take photos of all parts of his bedtime routine i.e. his toothbrush, milk, pjs, bed etc. Make the wording simple personal sentences such as 'At bedtime i brush my teeth, i read a story with mummy, i cuddle teddy' etc then a pic of his bed with ' i like my bed, it is cosy and warm' 'i stay in my bed until.....(mummy comes to get me/the sun comes up/whatever sign you choose)

Read thru the book each night and hopefully he'll begin to understand that staying in bed is part of his routine?

Thank you! I really like the book idea, definitely going to give it a try.
Yesterday I didn't let him have his usual daytime nap to see if it made a difference, he only woke us 4 times last night but was up at 6 and usually didn't see him till half 7.

Strange one for us as he has always been a good sleeper from 6 months he slept from 6.30pm-10am! So this is out of character.

Thanks again for the response x

Hope it works for you!

Wow thats great he's slept so well tho, hopefully just a blip at the mo, our lo is 10 months and up between 1-3 times a night, i'm hoping for a gradual improvement! X