(Warning: This post is a little long). . . So here's the situation. Our sweet little Lulu is having some MAJOR sleep issues. This is a girl who was sleeping through the night without any problems. We'd read stories, give a hug and kiss, turn out the lights, close the door and wouldn't hear a peep from her until morning. BLISSFUL!
Now let me paint a picture of what's been going on over the past 5 months. Lexi got a new room to make way for Brooklyn. "It's the new baby," you say, and we've thought about that and that is why we let her take her crib with her to the new room until she got used to sleeping in there. Shortly after moving her into there, 3 members of the family (I'm not one of them) thought it would be a great idea to teach her how to climb out of her crib. "Not good," I thought, "that's when the jack-in-the box syndrome starts". Sure enough, she learned quickly. My view is that once they know how to do this, you might as well switch them to the big bed to avoid injury. We knew it would be rough at first because we went through it with Jackson(3weeks as a matter of fact)and many more weeks of sitting on the floor by his door until he was asleep. But that's another story that we've tried to forget.
So now we've got a 2 year old sleeping her new pretty, big girl bed literally screaming and crying every night. Did I mention she climbs out of her bed, lays on the floor by the door and screams so that the sound is magnified? We tried leaving the door open just a little so she'd have light from the hall but all that produced was 2 hours of putting her back into bed every night. I was finally firm and made the decision we needed to go back to how we used to do it. Lights out, door closed. The last couple of weeks were better as we had a bedtime chart on the door. If she didn't scream or cry after we closed the door she got a sticker. After a week she was doing great and earned her "Princense" (how Lexi says princess) book. But the last couple of night she's back to the screaming, and is now waking up numerous times a night. I would just let her scream it out but she's already waking up half the family and I'm afraid she's going to start waking up the boys also.
Both Kurt and I have tried sleeping in her room to see if there's something that's waking her up, but have come up empty handed. We make sure she's had plenty to eat and drink before she goes to bed and have been consistent in our bedtime routine. We've thought that maybe it's night terrors but don't know if there's anything to do about that. I've read books and tried charts but not a whole lot is working right now. If anyone out there has something that has worked for your child or children, please share!! Sleep is so important and we want ours back!
Signed,
Desperately Seeking Sleep
1 year ago
6 comments:
Oh Tami, I am so sorry. I am like you...just give me a good nights sleep and I can handle almost anything.
I wish I had advice, but with every child so different...and you've tried all the things I would have tried. All I can emphasize is consistency which it sounds like you are doing.
Actually I do have an off the wall thought. Has Lexi always had her own room? Maybe she is just lonely and wants to be where someone else is. I know that we have always had the kids sharing rooms. Even as infants they always have shared. I know it sounds crazy, but they get used to each other's noises.
Maybe Lexi can be the big brave "babysitter" at night and have a new responsibility.
Anyways let me know how it goes.
Again, I am so sorry and sure do hope that you and Lexi can get it figured out.
Ugh. So sorry. Kara went through a rough stage where she went from sleeping through the night to refusing to sleep and waking up several times too. I thought I'd tear my hair out! Both my kids have night terrors too and I think you're right about not being able to do anything about those- it's pretty obvious when my kids are having a night terror. They are totally inconsolable (sp?) and the more we try to intervene, the more hysterical they get. Then after a little while, they snap out of it, as if nothing was wrong. It's weird. At least they don't get those too often. Anyways, something that's worked with Kara is that we let her sleep with her light on. I tried taking her to the store to buy her a princess lamp so she could sleep with that, but she'll only sleep with the big light on. If it gets turned off, she for sure wakes up crying in the middle of the night. During Kara's bad sleep phase, I actually ended up giving Colby ear plugs (upon his request) because he got so tired of her waking him up every night. Once I made sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong, I just had to let her cry it out and she eventually stopped and went back to her old blissful ways. I don't think I gave you any advice or ideas and empathy doesn't really help out your situation! I hope you're able to figure something out and that this phase ends soon!
Hey Tami -- seems like all this started when you switched her out of her crib? Maybe you should put her back in her crib, but put a "crib tent" on so she can't escape. I used crib tents w/ all my kids when they learned how to get out. (TJ @ 9 months!!!) Crib tents have been such a "god send" for us! Complete peace of mind!!!!!!!!!!!! Google "crib tent" -- they are all over the net for sale. Good luck!
Dude, been there for several months and am unfortunately in it again. You know Koen and his 4-5 AM wake up times. Anyway, lock the door, turn on all bathroom fans, turn on all box fans outside bedroom doors and sleep peacefully. Last time we did this with Koen it took exactly 37 days. Hey, they say that bad habits take 21 days to end...we knew this was an EXTREMELY bad habit and gave it a few more days. Just for something funny--I told Koen that he could have a fruit snack if he didn't kick the door and pound it to the next orbit. I went in there at 6:30 (that's our determined time for him) and he screams at me first thing, "I don't want a stupid fruit snack!" Funny. Anyway, it worked for us but it took a long time and prayers are always worth it. Good luck, sista!
I got nothin! (I do aggree with others that consistency is key) But you can send your kids over whenever you need a nap:) Or call to chat when you're up in the middle of the night. I feel your pain!
dang, im having the same problem. im up with a sreaming blake right now. up until a week ago he slept through the night too. now he wakes up every night for at least an hour. i change his diaper, try to feed him, make sure the temperature in the room is right, etc etc etc. no luck. every night its like this. kl on the other hand, i dont think has slept through the night more than 3 times in her 3 years of life. she wakes up at 2:00 a.m. (almost on the dot) every morning and comes to our room crying and wanting to sleep by us. the only way to get her to quit is to let her sleep by us. i've tried bribes. it all sounds good to her right up until 2a.m.
so here i am bouncing blake on my lap, while the queen is sleeping in my bed, with the words from so many older people going through my mind "it wont last forever."...obviously they have forgotten what its like to not get any sleep! love ya
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