Waking up at night and early mornings - adivce needed!!!

[Lorzy Lor]

Hi all,

My son, who is just over 1 1/2 has just managed to work out how to excape from his cot, and open doors! This has brought a massive change in him. He used to be put to bed at 7, and sleep all the way through, however now, i still put him to be between 7 - 7.30, but he wakes up around 1am every night (for the last 2 wks), then, we put him back to bed, but he wont stay in there unless me or my hubby are with him, (we dont talk to him, nor do we cuddle him, just pick him up and put him back in his cot) even when he does go to sleep, as we creap out he wakes up again, and we have to start again from scrach! The last few nights, so one of us can get some decent sleep, either my hubby or i have had to sleep on the floor next to his cot, then he'll sleep, he calls out, and as soon as he knows we're there he goes back off. That is till 5ish! He seems to be waking up then, (it doesnt matter what time we put him to bed, he still wakes at this time). I think its Karma, as i used to tell everyone he slept so well and didnt rise till 7 every moning.
Has anyone got any tips for us? I am really not sure how to go from here! Advise would be muchly appreciated, as i am really not a morning person, and this is killing me!
Thanks in advance!
Lorzy x

[tigwig]

Hi I think you need to be more firm. Copy what Supernanny does and stick with it no matter what. If he is going to bed no problem you know he can do it he is just testing you and winning! When he gets out of bed tell him 'no its bedtime'. When he does it again say 'no' and put him back. After 3 times or more say nothing do not give eye contact, just put him back in a leave the room. Keep on doing this until he eventually realises he is not going to win. You will need a lot of patience and it might take 50 attempts but stay calm and after a few nights he should get the message! You could also try a reward chart when he does stay in his bed too. Good luck!

[ethanryan]

hi lorzy we had similar problems with my youngest, i used to end up sitting on the stairs cause i was sick of going up and down. it does take time and patience. my son climbed out of his cot from 14 months and would just literaly jump to the floor. we got him a toddler bed and that helped. it was no longer amusing for him to try and jump out his cot.
another thing that worked for us was to put a teddy bear or piece of cloth with mine or daddys perfume/aftershave on and that helped settle him too as he could smell our scent. we never give it him wen putting him up at first as he used to go straight to sleep, but we used it when he woke in night.
it does get easier if you stick to it, dont lie on his floor as he is winning, he will give up and get tired evenyually and will go back to sleep

[Lorzy Lor]

Hey, thanks tigwig and ethanryan! I find it hard, as everytime i've tried to do that, he just get so upset, and histerical.I feel so bad! guessing that i'm just going to have to keep it up and shut off the emotions!!! Love the reward chart idea, will def give that a go also the blanket idea. I'm going to make his cot into a bed tomorrow and guess the hard work starts from tomorrow night!!!!

I must confess, i have been rocking him to sleep recently, we never used to do this, and could put him down awake and he'd go off by himself. We have only started in the last few weeks, do you think i should just put him down awake and attack the late night get ups afresh tomorrow night? wish me luck! Any other tips are more than welcome!!!
x :)

[mumof3angels]

Hi Lorzy
Reading your post was like reading about my 4 yr old. I used to have to stay with him till he went to sleep and then he'd wake in the middle of the night and I'd have to stay with him again till he was sound asleep again because if I tried to leave his room and he heard the floor creak he'd be wide awake again. Some nights I felt as if I never went to bed. He'd still wake at 5 in the morning too. I couldn't leave him to cry himself back to sleep or keep taking him back to bed when he got out as he shared his room with his brother and it would disturb him. PLEASE put up with a week of hell to get him back to a routine as my little one only started going to sleep himself and not getting up in the night after he started nursery at 3 1/2. It was a long few years . He still gets up at 5 but at least I've got my evenings and nights back. GOOD LUCK!! x :)

[tigwig]

Hi again definitely stop the rocking to sleep thing! He needs to know how to fall asleep on his own. It will take patience though but be tough!! It will be worth it. Good luck and let us know how you get on

[Lorzy Lor]

Heya!!!

Unbelievably he's almost got it! Changed his cot to his bed during the day, so made a fresh start completely! He wasnt so keen, but tried to make it as exciting as pos! Frist night was hell, felt sooooo bad, but knew it was for best so stuck with it! Took hours.....! But yesterday, (second night) he only got up about 10 times straight after eachother, and i was downstairs by 8! he woke up at 4.30 this morn! But i put him back to bed about 4 times, then he didnt come back till 6! What a result!!!! So pleased! coz tonight he only got up twice so far!!!!

So it really does work! Thank you so much for giving me the confidence to go for it and it also helped get hubby on side too! Though he hasnt attempted it so far.....! One more question though, should i do the same when i put him down for his nap during the day? ie rock him to sleep verses night time tecneque. Been a bit unsure of that over last few days! What do you think?

I got some star stickers for him today (he loves stars for some reason!!) and going to do a reward chart, hubby thinks he's to young to get it, but i think its worth a try! So thanks again, your advise has really helped, and given me the confidence to go for it! Ooooh, and get way more sleep!

happy, chilled lorzy returns!!! yay!!!!! :)

[mumof3angels]

Hi Lorzy
Really pleased your little one seems to be settling down for you. If I was you I'd do exactly the same in the day as at night and then at least he won't get confused. Fingers crossed it'll keep working. :)

[tigwig]

well done for being tough and sticking with it Plenty of people give in! I would stop the rocking and just put him to bed and leave him as you do on a night. He needs to learn its ok to go to sleep on his own. In addition to the reward chart when he gets so many stars and has cracked the routine you could let him choose a little pressie!

[Lorzy Lor]

Heya!

Thanks for you advice! he was a touch desterbed last night, but still stayed in bed most of the night! I Woke up at 5 to find him in our bed, (he'd crept in very quetily!!) pretending to be asleep! Cheeky boy! So put him back in his bed a couple more times, and then he stayed their till 6.15! Just put him down for his nap, took over an hour, but we'll get there i guess!

Thanks again lovely mummies! Have a lovely day x

[ethanryan]

glad it is working out for you. i have 2 boys aged 2 and 3 so know what it is like. i could never get my boys to sleep in there bed in the day but they lie on the sofa with a blanket and go to sleep so thats good enough for me.
glad you managed to stick with it it can be very hard and frustrating sometimes.

[sazdisk]

hiya my youngest is 3 and no matter what time he goes to bed hes up and lively at 5am, iv tried everything! if any advice you get works plz plz let me know be very grateful

[nutgoneflake]

sazdisk - if you haven't tried this already - try blackout blinds or curtains. It's sun-up, and therefore little ones think the day starts then. We were given this advice and although it seems too simple, it really works!

A friend of mine still has them for her 4 kids (8,7,6 and 5 years old) and they lie in most days. She won't be without them. They stayed at friends recently, and all 4 were up with the sun because they were in a room with thin curtains.....

Good luck x

[pinkbunny]

I am not suggesting at all that you do this but I thought you might find it amuzing! My mum sewed the legs of my baby grows together when I started doing this so i could not lift my leg up to climb out!! It did work but a bit mean I think, but the visual image I have makes me smile!
Sorry I cant be of any more use to you hope you get some good advice soon x x

[Lorzy Lor]

pinkbunny - hahahaaa! that made me laugh out loud!!! Fantastic! Dont think i'll try it as things have greatly impoved and jack'd lose the plot, but hey, maybe with the next!!! Classic!!! :)

sazdisk - Jacks been getting up early, but i kept putting him back to bed (explaining its still sleep time for the first two times then the rest silently), he didnt like it, but hey, he now gets up at 6 giving me a little extra time in bed! THe black out blinds are great tho, if we didnt have them, god only knows what time he'd get up!!! Think he still gets up early because of the edge of light at the edges, may be if we had curtens too, it'd be better! Good luck. Follow the advise i've been given, its been mega helpful. Hope this helps x