Fast forward to the present:
Yes it is three o clock in the morning and yes I am awake because Ambree has decided that after almost 1 1/2 years of sleeping through the night she doesn't want to anymore! For the last two months or so, she has been waking up a couple times a night crying and wanting to be held or wanting food, or wanting her diaper changed, etc. She has a hard time going to bed and doesn't usually go until like 9:00 or 10:00pm. She usually wakes up around 6:00am. We have tried letting her just cry and she will stand in her crib yelling and crying for like 30 minutes until we get her, and by this time she has usually woken up Cade! The reason she is like this is because she was sick about two months ago and couldn't breath out of her nose for like a week, therefore she was unable to suck her thumb! She must have gotten out of the habit because of that, and now she doesn't suck her thumb at all and doesn't seem to be able to soothe herself to sleep when she wakes up or is going to bed! I knew I had good reason for not minding that she sucked her thumb! I would rather have her suck her thumb until she was 10 and have to get her braces, rather than deal with this! I have read all kinds of books for training a baby to sleep through the night, but not a toddler. Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe I just need to go to the library and get some books on this topic, because it is driving us crazy!
9 comments:
Oh, man! That stinks! I have no clue! We usually let them cry themselves back to sleep, but I just don't know! I miss you though! I was thinking this morning, dang, I need to get together with Trenda. At least we're both going to the Twilight movie tomorrow night! It's going to be a late night! I finished my shirt this morning! It makes me laugh when I look at it! : )
i read on babycenter.com thyat sometimes when they start waking up at night it's because they are taking too many naps durring the day, and therefore can't sleep at night.
Another article on there said try putting them down to bed 1/2 hour earlier than before. I guess sometimes they wake up when they need more sleep for some reason.
Good luck!
My kids have always had a comfort sutffed animal and blanket that help them sleep. Unfortunatly AJ also sucks on his 2 fingers when he sleeps, so we are trying to get him to just use the animal and blanky for comfort. Waht can you do though once you leave the room? At least the binky I can take away. They say she should be sleeping 12-13 hours at this age, which also includes a 1-2 hour nap during the day. Maybe she is napping too late? I put the kids to bed at 7:30 and I know if they stay up past 9 then they get a burst of energy and won't sleep and then still wake up even earlier. Deosn't make sense. Maybe a set routine, if you aren't already. Start with a snack then a bath with those soothing lavendar baby bubbles(there a walmart brand), then stories, prayers, and turn on the classical music.(or primary music) Sometimes I will turn on the music in the background to get them to relax and prepare for bedtime, while we are reading our stories. It will still probably take a week for all of this to kick in and make a difference though. That and being consistent with not giving in to her at night. I hate to hear my kids scream, and I hate it when they wake up the whole house, when you are already tired from one kid. I had the kids and Rob camp out in the basement for a week to get cheyenne to sleep through the night. I always jumped up and grabbed her before she could wake anyone and she knew I would, so she was waking all of the time. The problem with toddlers is they are even smarter, and good at manipulating. Yet, they also understand what you are asking them, they are just going to push it just the same. Good luck---it's not fair to have to get through the baby stage and have them start waking up again!
Nathan is doing the exact same thing right now! (Except the thumb sucking part...) Maybe that nap thing has merit...I know that Nathan's naps are skeewamps because I have to pick up Matthew from school at 2 p.m. (bummer--right during nap time...) Between Brinna's new "scaredycat" phase, Nathan's "waking up several times" phase, and Kyle's "middle of the night feedings", we aren't getting much sleep around here either! Let me know when you find a solution! I"ll take it too!
kenidee was doing the samething after the binky went away. she had started sucking her thumb to go to sleep so I got out her binky again. I have said the same thing she doesn't know how to self sooth I just don't have the energy to deal with her getting up all night so the binky won. Really she wont take it to school with her and right now I am okay with it.
I hope you can get it all figured out.
That is no fun at all. I remember trying to figure out Bailey when she was going through that phase. I was so tempted to have Chris and the older two go sleep somewhere else for a few days and let her cry it out. I don't remember what we ended up doing to get through that phase. Maybe she's hit a growth spurt. Good Luck!!
Well, I'm totally with you on the thumb sucking thing, only ours is a pacifier. Everyone has to tell me how bad it is for my kids yadda yadda. All of my kids have had pacifiers until about 3 years old. Their teeth are fine and they all talk very well. It makes them happy and calms them down and that is all I care about. I'm no expert but I have a feeling if you wait this out things will change. Good luck though!
I'm a mean mom and just let my kids cry it out unless they are sick. I refuse to allow bad sleeping habits to form.
Maybe Ambree is actually over-tired and that starts a vicious cycle!! Does she have the same nap and bedtime routine every day?
Gavin still naps for 2+ hours every day, going down between 11:30am & noon. I have to leave at 2:00pm to pick up B&B from school so I just get him up out of his crib and put him in the car. He usually sleeps all the way there. Bedtime routine for us starts around 6:45pm with baths every school night and Saturdays. Pjs on, brush teeth, story and prayers. Lights are out by 7:30pm at the latest and we hardly ever hear a peep from the kids once we leave the room. Everyone is up around 6:30am in order to get B&B out the door for school on time.
Gavin is still sucking his thumb too!
I'm sorry that is so tough. I hate it when Andrew wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to be up. It happened last night. I hope it gets better soon. The Halloween costumes are cute.
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