Split nights at 3yo

[boysaremad]

Writing here in the hope someone can shed some light on this, as the google isn't helping.
Since birth DS3 has had split nights. He wakes anywhere between 3and 5 and will be awake for around 2 hrs before falling back to sleep. Everything a read talks about this being normal behaviour for babies etc.....but he isn't a baby anymore. He cant have naps anymore to make up for it. He's 3 and a half and it's starting to affect nursery.
Hes very good while he's awake, and stays in his bed, but talks and sings which keeps me awake. Last night he woke at 3:30pm, I took him to the toilet incase he needed it then he's been awake until my work alarm went off at 6am. It's killing me, it's the 3rd time in 7 days.
His room isn't cold, we've limited his drinks on an evening, he has a night light. it doesn't seem to make any difference how much physical activity he does during the day...
Has anyone else experinced this? It's not a phase it's been happening for 3 years 😫. I thought nursery would help by tiring him out but if anything it's getting worse. And his behaviour is worse when he's tired so it becoming a serious issue. Help!

i’m so sorry, hopefully more knowledgeable people will be around soon. we had this but only for a period of about a year and then it suddenly stopped. my dc was younger so i had a mattress in their room and laid on it to sleep to encourage them to. used to take them a couple of hours to get back to sleep. could they have a story on audible or something, a quiet and relaxing one?Good Luck! i do remember this time was awful.

I probably should have mentioned he goes to bed at 8pm so i don't think it's too early for him or he's getting too much sleep. My older son is being assessed for ADHD, could it be that?

Hi OP.

No advice for you unfortunately but I'm in the exact same boat with ds who's turning 3 next month.
He's always been a terrible sleeper, until around 6 months ago he'd be awake 3 or 4 times a night. Now he wakes around 2-3am for around 2 hours, it's a killer and I have no answers as to why! Just solidarity

It's not one I have had, but a friends did. She woke up her ds just before he would normally wake up, not completely but enough to disturb the sleep cycle. Think it only took a couple of days and then they slept through. I think the theory is they wake up from habit so if you break the sleep cycle they reset and then don't wake up. Might be worth a google

This is normal for some humans of any age. The straight eight hours is a pretty modern imposition.

The issue is how to deal with it. Does he need your input or is he safe in his room when awake?

The first thing I'd try is an earlier bedtime, 8pm seems very late to me, especially if nursery has just made him more tired.

Also don't limit drinks in the evening, it won't help the waking.

Appreciate this is an old post but really struggling with the same. DS has always been a bad sleeper and the split nights are far more often than not. Did you get any help or a resolution? (Typing this at 2:15am having been awake since 11pm 🙃)

@boysaremad any update?

i would also be interested in an update!

No news I'm afraid! He still does it 😮‍💨. we've tried white noise in case my husband leaving early is waking him but no luck. We are lucky he says in his bed and amuses himself for up to 2 hrs but I'm still none the wiser as to why. Hopefully he will grow out it....?

@Boymum3623 has this improved? We've had 2 years of this and it's killing us. I'm hoping when he starts school it'll improve but that's still a year!

I'm almost scared to write this incase I jinx it, but yes i think it has stopped! He's 4 now and although he does still wake in the night there havent been any long awake periods for quite a few months 🤞
Praying yours grows out of it soon too! x

@Boymum3623 oh good good good. This gives me hope. He turns 3 this week so just a year to go...