DD is 4.5yo and for at least 18 months now we seem to have a split night where she goes to bed fine at 7pm. Sleeps well for 7ish hours, wakes for 2/3 hours and then goes back for another solid sleep for 4ish hours (if we let her, we often have to wake her for school.)
When she is awake, she just lies there, sometimes she moves around, recites some phonics or prays (?) but never cries out or even gets out of bed. We have established she is awake, this isn't a parasomnia.
We have tried:
-sleep restriction through Millpond (regardless of restriction timing after a couple of nights she would revert to waking, we had to abandon it as she was so restricted she was a zombie)
-attending to her and reiterating the importance of sleep
-leaving her to it
-consistently waking her at the same time every morning to try and reset
-magnesium and l-theanine supplements
-sleepy foods at bedtime
-sleep hygiene and environmental factors all reviewed and OK with the health visiting team
We have little medical support as she can go to sleep well and she has no developmental delay, traits of ASD/ADHD, so GP doesn't know what to do next!
One paediatrician suggested it was behavioural and we just need to get tough with her when she is awake. We believe she genuinely can't get back to sleep without this wake-up period. Why would you choose to lie there awake and not seek attention? As I have said she doesn't call out or get distressed, I watch her on the baby monitor to know when she is awake and keep a diary.
Now she is at school and we have to wake her, she isn't getting a full night's sleep and school has commented on her tiredness, so worry this will impact her learning.
Ironically, she was an embarrassingly good sleeper as a baby and toddler.