Luke Keeps Waking in the Night
I can't figure it out. Why does Luke keep waking up 2-3 times a night and come to get me? This has been going on for a couple of months now, it seems, since he made the transition to his big boy bed (a twin mattress on the floor). But at first, he'd stay put all night. Then all of a sudden, he just starting waking me up, and mostly asks for milk or juice every night.
I'd chalk it up to thirst, but it happens too often. It's usually around 1 or 1:30, then again at 4 or 4:30, and then he'll climb into bed with me after Marty has left for work, usually around 6:30 or so. Needless to say, my sleep is so disrupted that it feels like I have a newborn in the house again. (Thank God that Lexie is sleeping 12-13 hours a night without waking these days!)
I thought it might be because he's a bit dependent upon drinking a sippy cup of milk while he falls asleep. But I've stopped that, and won't let him have one anymore to go to bed each night. He usually gets his last cup of milk around 9 or 9:30.
Luke doesn't always need a drink to get back to sleep, and sometimes he does need a new diaper. But usually, if I just walk him back and tuck him in, he'll go right back to sleep. Unfortunately, it doesn't last for longer than 3 hours.
He also tends to be a very picky eater who prefers milk or watered-down juice to food. It goes in spurts, which the pediatrician said is normal; he'll have his eating and non-eating days. And he's healthy and certainly has plenty of energy during the day.
Is it insecurity? He won't settle for daddy tucking him back in, or even doing the bedtime routine. It has to be mommy. He's definitely going through separation anxiety from me when I leave him with a sitter or in the nursery at church. So I'm praying it's just a stage he's going through. He gets grumpy from time to time, but that's probably because he's not sleeping well at night.
He'll turn 3 in September, and I have discovered a couple other moms whose kids seemed to wake more frequently around this age. I'm open to suggestions, or discovering what has worked for you.
The one thing that Marty and I agree is not an option for Luke is locking him in his room. I tried that a couple of times and he went ballistic... totally flipped out and hysterical. He was so upset that he started choking. Besides, I really believe this has something to do with needing access to mommy right now.
Please feel free to leave comments here or put them on my Facebook Wall. Thanks so much for listening, and I sure appreciate your prayers! (In the meantime, thank God for naps!)
posted by Amber @ 1:40 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I don't know everything there is to know about raising children, but Ivy will be 4 in Sept, and Ari turned 2 in March. One thing that I have learned over the years, children will do what they can get away with. (and I don't mean that in a heartless way)
Children aren't programed to need a sippy cup in bed, someone would have had to introduce this for the child to want it. Some parents find it the "easy" way, or calmest way out. The child has now learned that if he/she cries while in bed, mom/dad will bring milk/juice. Ivy and Ari both know to this day, that after a certain time (before bed) they are only allowed to have water (no juice or milk) and that is before they go to bed...so one of the things could be that if you are giving him something to drink when he wakes up in the middle of the night, you could be setting a schedule in him and he knows that you are going to get him something if he wants it.
As far as "locking" him in his room, When Ari and Ivy were sharing a room, and Nate and I were trying to sleep through the night, we put a baby gate up in their doorway. All doors were open, but they had to stay in their room. For the first couple of days we explained to them that they needed to stay in bed and when they would cry at the gate, we would put them back in their beds. Then after a few days we "ignored" them when they would cry at the gate. It took a few days, but eventually they no longer cried at the gate. Sometimes we would find them sleeping on the floor, but they learned that when it was night time, they were to stay in their room and that it was time to sleep. It was nice, because when they would wake up in the morning, they would play quietly in their room until we woke up and came to get them. That worked until Ivy was big enough to climb over the baby gate...then we started getting a morning snuggler! :)
Now the routine of the Johnson children is sleep where you are put, sleep through the night, and come to Mommy and Daddy's bed in the morning and snuggle till I'm ready to get up. Of course there are times that it doesn't go exactly like that, but I would say most of the time this is the case.
Good luck. Just make the rules, and stick to them. It will be hard at first, but when you don't budge, Luke will learn, and he will adjust
I think I have a reputation of being stricter on my kids than most parents are, if that's true I'm not ashamed of it. I don't feel like I deprive my children, I feel that in a small way they are learning self discipline and how to appreciate the "special" things in life. Well, that is enough rambling from me...Good Luck. Let me know what you decide.
My friend Sarah little's girl had the same sleep issues. I think I told you about them, but maybe not? Every time she woke, they would take her back to her bed and be "boring" the whole time - walk back, no talking, no excitement, etc. I know that it took them several months before she would stay in bed and she would do it a lot during the night.
Now, Belle has been waking at night for us. Of course, she only wants me. She was sick a few weeks ago and when she woke then, I gave in to everything and now she wants to be rocked asleep before placed in bed. She has gone to sleep a few times without me rocking her to sleep. I have let her cry-it-out again, but she cries and cries too long. So, I just hoping in time, we will back on schedule again...
Good luck to you.
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