3 1/2 year old waking in night, repeatedly!!!

[simplesarah]

Hi all,
I have a 3, nearly 4 year old little boy who's started waking in the night alot. He's currently being asessed by a paediatrician to see if he has dyspraxia or something alike so the normal rules don't apply to him.
At first, he said it was because he was scared of monsters, so we asked where they were and 'got rid of them'. This worked for a night, he got up once but when back to his bed if DH sat with him. Now it's back to getting 2-3 times a night and not settleing until we either let him in our bed or he falls asleep on out floor!
We've tried returning him to bed without talking to him, ala 'house of tiny tearaway's!', 2 hours the first night and 1 3/4 the next and he and we would be exhausted. Any suggestions, he's not at all gullible !

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You are not alone!! My DS who is 2.5yrs is waking between 12 and 4am. It can be once, it can be four times. He pads into our room whimpering and is taken back to bed, but won't stay unless me or DH get into bed with him. If we are by him he falls straight back. Not as good as it sounds! I don't want to spend all night in his bed for fear that he'll not begin to go to sleep at all unless one of us is there. So if I can I'll retreat back into our bed, but generally after I've nodded off and then woken up again. There doesn't appear to be any reason for him waking. He never asks for anything. Just whimpers at bit, but its SO tiring! We've done the tiny tearaways bit but it is exhausting (and cold at 3am). We gave up after two nights. It did work for the actual bed time routine though.
Is there a magic wand somewhere to make them stay in their own bed??????

Hi there, mine was doing, and now he has turned 4, still wakes at night. Mostly, we have worked out that he needs the loo, but because he is in a sleep like trance, its quite often hard for him to make sense or hear us properly. we have to speak quite firm to him in order for him to fully wake up and tell us why he is wimpering and calling for us.

My DD (2 yrs) has started to stir now as well, and equally we htink it might be becasue she has wee'd or something. Not sure this is helpful, but its a start.

Other things that we also know have disturbed him, are when me and DH have been bickering alot, or I have shouted at DS a lot... emotional distrubance, upsetting fo rhim, easy forgotten by parent - sort of thing.

xx

My 2 1/2 year old slept through night like an angel from 3 months to about 2 years when we potty trained. For the last 6 months he wakes on average 3 times a night. Sometimes for a wee, sometimes a nightmare, sometimes no reason. We tuck him in, don't stay with him and he goes straight back to sleep so that is good but the broken night's sleep is killing us. Tried not giving late drinks but seems to have little effect. Hope he grows out of it soon.

Urghhh - good to know we are not alone.

Our DD 3.5 does the same. I think it is a combination of needing the toilet and saying she's "scared". I even wondered if it is because I have allowed her to watch a number of DVDs recently, but her friends watch far scarier things and don't wake at night.

I've tried lifting her onto the potty in her room when I got to bed around 10, but she still wakes up at 3am and I struggle to settle her. I keep taking her back to her room and talk only if absolutely necessary, but last night after about 7 failed attempts at her going back to her room and repeatedly trotting through to us I nearly lost the will to live. It's such a shame as it has meant that I am short tempered during the day and less tollerant. I do hope she grows out of it soon, but it will probably be just as her younger brother starts the same phase. So perhaps I am destined to never get a good night's sleep again.

Very depressing - part of the reason I'm going back to work later this month - I can't hack the daytime with the children after continual disturbed sleep. I almost feel they are better off with a nanny who has had a good night's sleep.... very sad.

Do you think we are just unlucky and that one day our kids will grow out of it?
x

Hi - my little girl is going to turn 3 next month and she has just started doing this too. She can be awake from 1am - 5am!!! I have no idea what it is - but am hoping it is going to be a short lived phase!!! Is there actually a reason that this happens to kids at this age? Does anybody know? I have just had a blissful year of undisturbed nights and going back to her waking again is just pure torture!! At least we are not alone!! I am sure they will grow out of it.....

Hi everyone,
I know this is an old thread but as my 3.5 y/o daughter is going through the same thing as described here I would love to know if anyone found out a way to stop the night-time waking??
For us it can vary from once per night to as many as 10 times! Each time we take her back to her bed she will (usually) fall asleep again without complaining, but sometimes she comes back to our room just a few minutes later.
She doesn't always give a reason for waking up, but sometimes says she is scared. I know 3-4 years is when children start to recognise scary things and the feeling of fear, and Lily exemplifies this with her night-time routine where she will try to find every excuse to not go to sleep (needs the toilet, her room is too dark, wants a cuddle, stomach ache, etc...).
It's hard for us to handle because she has always slept through the night from when she was less than 2 months old (I know how lucky we were with this!!) so we aren't used to waking during the night.
I'm really hoping it will pass soon... we are seeing a child psychiatrist to see if she can help, but she just says that Lily is "insecure" and that we should reassure her that we are there for her, etc. But this doesn't seem to work!!
Any tips, suggestions or details of others' experiences would be hugely appreciated!
Thanks, E.