Frequent waking in 3-yr-old. Any ideas?

[Ellbell]

Hi there

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas to help us get a decent night's sleep...

I have 2 DDs aged 3 (just) and 4yrs 10 months. DD1 has always been a great sleeper (at night, anyway - wouldn't sleep in the day from her first birthday onwards, but that's another story!) and is out like a light as soon as her head hits the pillow. She'd happily sleep from 7.30 p.m. to 7.00 a.m.

DD2 has always been a lighter sleeper than DD1. They share a room (their choice) and just recently DD2 has been climbing into DD1's bed to fall asleep. The problem, however, is that she then goes on to wake up anything from 1 to 8 times a night, either crying and saying that she has a 'hurty knee/toe/hand/fringe...' (that last one had us confused for ages, till we realised she meant forehead!) or just appearing in our bedroom and climbing into our bed without a word. She has also started waking up early (usually before 6!). She rarely sleeps during the day (just occasionally she'll have a nap in the pushchair when the childminder takes her to pick DD1 up from school) so she is getting increasingly tired and grumpy, and she is also waking her sister up early (by climbing on her head, mostly!). I am just at a loss to know how to encourage her to sleep a bit more soundly. I can't ignore her, because she just climbs out of bed and comes into our room. And I can't tie the door shut (as recommended in toddler taming) because the girls need to be able to get out to go to the loo if necessary. I don't get enough sleep as it is, as I end up bringing a lot of work home with me and doing it late at night, so I am getting increasingly worn down by this.

Any suggestions very welcome. And sorry for going on so long.

Hello Ellbell, How could anyone ignore your message, I have 2 boys 1 aged 8 and has always been a great sleeper, we did have about 6 mths where his routine was a bit broken but he soon settled back into things!! However my youngest son aged 2 and 5 months still doesnt sleep through. Hes a total mummys boy so would happily sleep in mum and dads bed all night but Im not a great beliver in that, so really do know how you feel!! My 2 lads are so far in separate rooms but my hubby has suggested putting them in same room but Im a little worried about youngest waking eldest as hes in school and obviously needs all the sleep he can get!! The health visitor came round loads to go through things to try, the Dr put him on medication (Vallegan Syrup) but nothing has worked, the health visitor gave up on us and said he'd sleep through when hes ready but when will this be!! I have been watching a few programmes on tv (Driving mum and dad mad, nanny 911 and supernanny) which all have various children with various problems from sleep to behaviour and the tactics on there seems to work!! One boy aged 3 wouldnt sleep without TV so they altered it so mum or dad read a story and then left the room and when he got up they just did the put back thing, the only problem with this is, I work full time (and from the sounds of it you do too) so after putting back about 8 times in the night Im no good the next day so give in for the peace and just a little sleep. I have read many articles that say most parents nowadays have a child sleeping with them so I guess the Drs, Heath Visitors and Parents have just let this slide and allowed this to get to a norm way of life. But I want what others have, I have spoke to many parents where their kids go to bed between 7-7.30pm and sleep right through!! My youngest's early night is prob 9pm onwards, I would just love a peaceful night, no disturbances and some good rest!!! I know I havent given you much to go on but I just wanted you to know you are not the only parents experiencing this problem!!! Hopefully we could put our heads together and share our successes and disappointments!!! Hopefully catch you later!!!

Sticker charts / rewards ?

Chat about how mummy and daddy are tired and need to sleep so they won't get cross with her in the day.

Cross voice when going to her when she does wake up.

Bunny clock (to try and stop early morning waking)

All of the above work with my 4 year old who goes through phases of waking 2/3 times for loo,blankets, water, lost toys etc. But then need reinforcing every few weeks. Other times she goes weeks not waking at all.