Please help. I'm getting sooo frustrated. I am so tired, I have a 3 month old and 2.5 year old. My toddler is refusing to nap, won't go to sleep until 930+ and is waking multiple times a night, sometimes for longer than an hour.
He has a routine and just keeps getting out of bed and just simply not sleeping.
He always delays bed time (he is in bed at 8) by asking for things (done a poo, needs water, wants this toy etc).
I don't know what to do. I'm so tired, and when I get crappy sleep I get severe headaches. My husband is no help because my son cries for mummy.
I know all mums have it bad and worse than this, but I'm not coping! It's making me incredibly frustrated so much so that I could punch a hole in the wall or smack my child (I haven't, I walk away when I get this angry).
What can I do. How do I get him to sleep all night at a decent hour.
3 Replies
Personally I'd take the baby and go and stay at my mums for a few nights. You'd be amazed what can happen when mum isn't there to ask for! Let dad deal with it for a night or two. You need to get to sleep and that is more important than getting up to your 2.5 year old at the moment. Because when we are over tired we can't see the wood for the trees and can't be effective.
My 3 year old started doing this when our newborn arrived. It started with just one wake during then night and progressed to 10, yes 10 wake ups during the night and this is after taking us about an hour or more to get him to bed initially. It was hell.
I don't know what in particular made the change but we tried everything.the latest thing we've one. - I took him to the shops and bought a whole heap of crappy 2 dollar toys which he picked out (bouncy balls, bubbles, bugs, cars etc). We made a box which we decorated with sun pictures and if he stays in bed and doesn't get up he gets to choose a toy from the special sun box the next morning.
The other thing we did at the same time as this is bought a safety gate as well as a door handle with a lock. At the shops, He enquired what it was and I explained that I was going to get daddy to put a gate on his door as well as a lock because he keeps getting out if bed. He was quite upset and begged me to put it back on the shelf. I went ahead and purchased and it's just been sitting on the dining room table.
It took 8 weeks of absolute nightmare nights before it changed.
Good luck :-/
Im in same boat as you. Mine are 2.5 years and three weeks. Im also alone as my spouse works away 5 weeks at a time. I don't think what I do is ideal, but it works for now as my sleep and serenity are a priority. Might give you some temporary ideas. Shower, dinner is before it at 5. After that it's clean up and quiet activities and cuddles. At 6.30, I take them for a drive. My 2yo calls asleep and stays asleep. He wakes once during the night and comes into our bed and sleeps til morning.
I don't try to make him nap, as he dropped daynaps before he was 2.
As said, not ideal. Id love for him to go to bed and stay there! And just do what I say! But sleep is more important at the moment. That and patient temperament ~ something I have little or when I'm so severely tired. And I totally get the headache a too.