2 1/2yo who won't stay in bed between 1 and 5AM - massive cries

[pupuce]

Now I would like to know if anyone has been there and what they did.... and did it work ??? This is for a friend.

This is a little boy who has always been a bad sleeper from birth when he couldn't bear to be put in a cot... he co-slept (if his mother tried to put him in his cot he would scream... from birth). He was breastfed too (until he was 15 months old). When he was 6 months old Tracey Hogg (the Baby Whisperer) saw them and managed to get him in his own cot but it was very hard work....

Today he is a good 2 1/2 years old, he sometimes goes down at 7PM (no way does he do this if he had a nap - which is now avoided at all costs but it still sometimes happen as he is knackered) but if he doesn't he can be up in his room (with a stairgate) until 10 or 11 in the evening. Sometimes shouting sometimes not... but this isn't the most difficult bit.... if he wakes at 2 AM (which he does most nights) he will not go back down until anything between 5 and 7AM (and then sleep until 8 or 9AM).... he will cry and shout - asking for mummy. If mummy does come she has to sit/lie next to him for a good 2 hours during which he lies still but does not sleep... if she doesn't do that he is up crying, tantrum,.... all very distressing. If she leaves before he is asleep as she has done in the past 2 nights (she stayed both nights for 10 minutes and didn't come back) he gets very angry and distressed.
They have tried many many things (probably tried it all)... but she is really fed up with this and doesn't know what to do next.

I am sure lots of you have ideas but what I am really looking for is someone who has been there..... hopefully not many of you!
Thank you on her behalf.

Bump?

Still no one ??? Well glad it's a rarety!

We've had similar pupuce.
DD (2.6 and a perfect Gf baby until 18 months) goes down beautifully at 7.30 if she hasn't napped, but will get out of bed until 9/10ish if she has. We tend to not put her down until later, then just keep putting her back into bed. It's annoying rather than upsetting, as she just sits behind the gate at the top of the stairs talking to her stuffed toys.

She also used to wake in the night (prob 3 out of 7) and demand milk. If she had milk she would go back to sleep, but I decided we had to stop that. So one of us would sleep in bed next to her until she fell asleep. For the first few nights she would still cry for milk, but she gradually got the message.
Tbh, I'm not sure how we stopped the having to sleep with her - it just gradually got better. She started falling asleep quicker, then we moved onto staying by the side of her bed until she was asleep, then just tucking her back in. Now she very rarely wakes, and I hae to admt if she does I usually let her come in with us as I figure she's either ill or scared.

So probably not much help - but it might offer her some hope. Has she tried a CD player in his room with stories on as part of the bedtime routine - that was a tip I got from here and we would sometimes put it on in the middle of the night if she seemed particularly awake.

When I read the post I thought of high need babies. Dr Sears talks about them on his site. They do grow out of it.

My dd sleeps on a futon right next to our bed. She is very affectionate and sleeps well in her own space next to us.

Interesting the Dr Sears stuff (i had not read this from him), will send to my friend.
Prufrock... believe me yours sounds like an angel compared to this little chap. He doesn't want milk, he wants "mummmmmmy".
He does have a CD player with music and stories but not at 2 AM I think. Also he has never slept well (forget being a pefect GF baby!!!).
I will share your stuff with her though.