How do I get the dcs to sleep through the night?

[spookycharlotte121]

I have a dd who is 2 tomorrow and ds who is 3 next week. Their sleep was ok up untill I went into hospital but now with all the disruption of everything they will not get back into their routine.

They are being totally impossible at the moment. When its bed time they will not calm down. We used to have do bathtime then put on jim jams and do something quiet like a puzzle or read for half an hour before bed. Now im lucky if I can get their pyjamas on. They run around screaming and chasing one another and get extreemly hyper so when it comes to putting them to bed they either have a huge screaming tantrum in protest or wont stay in bed and end up fighting or hurting themselfs.

Ds isnt too bad once he is asleep.... dd on the other hand wakes continuosly through the night and demands juice. I have tried giving her just water but she screams her head off and the walls are paper thin between the houses so I worry about disturbing my neighbours. Once she is awake she wont sleep unless she comes in bed with me.

Then after all that they both wake at 5am and I get pretty much no sleep. Its getting worse and worse and I dont know what to do to make it better. Im on my own and its really beginning to effect me. Everything is falling to pieces because Im getting no sleep and I feel like I dont want to do this anymore..... but I havent got a choice but to plod on.

Im going to get them a blackout blind to see if it will help but tbh Im not really that hopeful. Im really exhausted but I dont know what to do.

Im going to cook dinner in a mo so I can reheat it this evening so that the kids eat at a good time and have a good bedtime routine but i dont know how much longer I can keep going like this. I have been totally vile to the kids all morninng and I dont want to be like that.

Hi , I've just posted my toddler sleep woes (my 2yr old dd talks half the night).
I can totally empathise . Broken sleep night after night is not good for anyone and will drive us demented.
I'm going to make an app with the doc and ask to be referred to a sleep clinc. Either that or I'll end up mentally ill and Im not kidding.
Perhaps you should do the same - I'm sure like me you've 'tried everything'.
Best of luck with it all.

Have you thought of perhaps moving their bathtime to the morning? It used to calm them down but it sounds to me that it's doing the opposite now. Perhaps try giving them a bath first thing in the morning (or are they like my ds who is utterly filthy at the end of most days and there's no way I can let him go to bed without a wash?)

liberty i totally agree.... its literally driving me mad.
I do think there is more I could do but Im exhausted. it had totally buggered up my own sleep pattern too. I just dont have the energy anymore.

Dd has to have a bath before bed.... she dribbles and so her neck and hair are always sticky.

she has been poorly tonight so is dosed up on calpol and has been supprisingly quiet... all be in on the sofa next to me. Im hoping a good nights sleep will set the trend.... annd will make her feel better. its her birthday tomorrow.

It's so hard with that age. Some random ideas which may or may not help:

• only leave the door open if they stay in bed (only works if they mind having it shut though)
• give your DD some juice in an anyway up cup so she can help herself? not good for teeth having it after brushing I know but perhaps then you could gradually water it down.
• rewards/stickers for staying in bed/going back to bed
• fairy lights on a timer switch which come on when it's time to get up
• tv as quiet time before bed
• soft toy for dd birthday which is her new special sleeping partner (or something else that would encourage her to stay in bed and can be a special birthday present)
• and completely random: let them share a bed so dd has ds to cuddle up to.

Hope it gets better soon and that you are feeling better too.

Second the suggestion for leaving a cup with DD. dS1 used to wake a lot for water, so he chose a special nighttime cup from the shops which stays by his bed. As suggested you can start with a weak dilution of juice or sugar-free squash and gradually phase to just water.