I have reached the end of my tether with my son’s sleep and it’s starting to affect my whole family.
Since the beginning of last summer he’s been in a cotbed without the sides after trying to climb out of his cot. He is two and a half next month.
Each night he gets out of bed as soon as he is put down. At the various points he is in bed he kicks his bed guard off or throws everything out of bed. This can go on for an hour or so. My husband disagrees with a bed guard on his door so currently I end up sitting in there with my hand on his back for up to an hour (which is something I really don’t want to do). Recently DS seems to find it really hard to settle, even though he’s really tried to go to sleep. He wriggles around a lot.
My husband works away a lot and I’m finding bedtimes exhausting. Added to this DS is up 2-3 times a night and naps for a max of 45 minutes at nursery (we’ve capped it). The only time he goes down quickly is when I’ve cut naps out but he fell asleep at 3pm the other day, so I’m not sure he’s ready for it (he‘ll only nap in the car).
He is also kicking and pinching etc a lot which is starting to scare his five
year old sister and we are all arguing about his behaviour, particularly my husband and I. He takes the brunt of the put downs when he is home.
I’ve tried everything and am waiting for a referral to the NHS sleep clinic. We’ve done rapid return, ignoring him, raising our voices, going downstairs, bringing bedtimes forward, pushing them back etc. He has a standard bedtime routine. I work three days a week so he goes to bed around 7, but anytime between 6-7 the rest of the week.
I feel like a terrible parent as I feel so fed up with his behaviour and I tell him off so much. He’s the most wonderful boy and it makes me so sad that he is so frustrated.