The Scary Mommy Community is a place to find support and camaraderie with amazing moms who love to help one another. We are scattered all around the world, of all different colors and sizes and lifestyles, united by a single thing: motherhood.

Please create a profile to post and for access to all of boards. It's quick and completely painless!

Motherhood Comes Naturally (and other vicious lies) is available in stores, and online, NOW. Do you have it yet? Have you told all your friends and family about it? **Get it, share it, and spread the joy!**
HELP! 2 1/2 yr old daughter won't sleep!
  • GuiltBeGone
    Posts: 2Member
    Alright moms- I' m praying that someone out there has a child like mine. My 2 1/2 yr old daughter has never slept well...ever. And no matter what we trry, nothing seems to keep her asleep except us sleeping with her. My 3mo. old son sleeps through the night and daughter wakes up at least 6 times, maybe more. She's in a big kid bed now and out of our bed, goes to bed just fine, but does not stay asleep. Wake up times are not consistent, but she doesn't stay asleep for more than a half out to an hour. I have tried just about everything suggested by books, friends and doctors- using a chair instead od getting in her bed, using a sleeping bag in our room, taking out posible scary things, putting her right back in with no talking/ contact. She just cries and yells until we get in bed wth her. I can't have this because she'll wake the baby and then no one gets any sleep. I don't know what to do anymore.....Sleep deprivation is serious for both my husband and I and I already has post pardum depression. I can't seem to get a break here. Suggestions??
  • loveitloveit
    Posts: 1,738Member
    Benadryl for a few nights? Turn the lock around on her door and lock her in her room? (My in laws did this to exh little sister bc she would NOT stay in her room). Put her back in a crib until she can act like a "big girl"?
  • AKimiBAKimiB
    Posts: 1,812Member
    Does she have a nightlight? Maybe a tap-light with designs that glow on walls/ceiling?
    http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/5913225/homedics-soundspa-lullaby-sound-machine-with-picture-projection-reviews/reviews.htm
    Maybe show her how to turn it on, or a Violet puppy from leapfrog with a push-foot lullaby program?
    The puppy was my saving grace when my daughter started waking up in the night. We got her one and she now starts up the lullabies when she wakes up to get herself back to sleep. (paired with her star-taplight)
    SMSM_s_5 photo SMSM_s_5_zps5d122d86.jpg
  • Pumpkinmama
    Posts: 122Member
    My dd6 has always been a night owl. As soon as she started climbing out of her crib, we knew it was time for a toddler bed, but i knew she didn't sleep through the night and wondered what I'd find in the morning if I just let her run wild in the house all night. We got her the toddler bed, and this sounds bad, but we did lock the door when we put her to bed, and we child-proofed her room, but after a couple weeks of waking up to her in a pile of toys on the floor we realized that we had to make it absolutely boring in her room at night if we expected her to sleep. All she would do is wake up and pull out all her toys and play till she crashed, so we put a child lock on the closet and put all her toys in there every night. I would hear her get up and look for toys, start crying because she had nothing else to do, then eventually she would just lay back down and fall asleep. Not always in bed, but she started to understand that at night, her room was for sleeping, not playing, and she wasn't gonna get to come out til morning. It took a while before I noticed that she was sleeping through the night, but at least she stopped objecting to being stuck in her room for the night. A bad habit that i started when we moved to a new place was letting her watch a movie at bedtime. She was scared cuz she wasn't used to the new house, and it was the only thing that would get her to go to bed. We broke that habit (finally) when she went to pre-school. Just told her she was a big girl and she needed her sleep for school, and that was that. Eventually we didn't have to lock, or even close the door anymore. She learned to stay in bed even if she wasn't tired, but of corse, that came a little later. she still stays up late and gets up early. That's just how she is, but my dd4 would sleep til noon if i let her! I wish I had more specific advice, but I've been through this before n just thought I'd share what worked for us. Best of luck to you!
Add a Comment