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2 yo not sleeping through the night...
  • nonamejustmommy
    Posts: 162Member
    So there was a time for about 6-10 months that he did sleep through the night but now he is up at least once most times twice. He wants to be in our bed and we are expecting #3 and I don't want 2 kids in bed w me...Any tips or help would be great...I don't really want to do the cry it out thing so I sit in his room and hold him or lay down w him till he falls asleep at bed time.
    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....It's about learning to dance in the rain.

    Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
    Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

    These Eight words the Rede fulfill:

    "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"
  • unforgivenunforgiven
    Posts: 12,700Confessional Manager
    My daughter slept with me for the first 6 months of her life, after that it's been crib. I did use the cry it out method at first. There are times lately though that she will resist bedtime for hours! Or wake up in the middle of the night. We've tried reading to her which worked but it took like an hour for her to fall asleep, we've tried petting her head/hair, again took over an hour. I've found that it might just be my presence. I asked her to lay down and I simply sat in the corner of her room where she could see me. She had the comfort of me there but we weren't interacting so she got bored with watching me after a while turned around and fell asleep. Just get him in the crib even if he's awake and distract him from there. If you read to him you can ask him to lay down in between pages, eventually he will get tired. I hope this helps. 

    confessional-manager

    "What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
    What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
    When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
    And I say I don't know you
    But you say it's finished"
  • onetimeonetime
    Posts: 2,014Member
    Does he take naps? Maybe he is just ready to NOT take naps, or at least shorter ones. Is he getting outside? My 2.5 yo sleeps through the night much better when she gets fresh air and less nap. 
    Suck it up buttercup!
  • unforgivenunforgiven
    Posts: 12,700Confessional Manager
    Those are good questions @onetime. I agree, the days I take my daughter to the park or running errands she sleeps a little better but sometimes it's hit and miss. :/

    confessional-manager

    "What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
    What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
    When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
    And I say I don't know you
    But you say it's finished"
  • nonamejustmommy
    Posts: 162Member
    Some days he naps some days he doesn't. It's a fight to get him to lay down at any time. I have had to lock him in his room at nap time to get him to nap. Unless we are in the car and then inevitably (sp?) he fall asleep right as we are pulling into the neighbor hood or the parking lot to where we are going...Some times he falls asleep in the morning on his own but not often. I'm just stuck 

    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....It's about learning to dance in the rain.

    Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
    Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

    These Eight words the Rede fulfill:

    "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"
  • unforgivenunforgiven
    Posts: 12,700Confessional Manager
    All you can really do is be consistent. Get a schedule and stick to it. The routine will end up being a comfort to him. If his naps are sporadic it might begin to make him cranky or uneasy. 

    confessional-manager

    "What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
    What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
    When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
    And I say I don't know you
    But you say it's finished"
  • [Deleted User]
    Posts: 7,022
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    well behaved women seldom make history
  • unforgivenunforgiven
    Posts: 12,700Confessional Manager
    YES! A night light couldn't hurt. 

    confessional-manager

    "What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
    What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
    When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
    And I say I don't know you
    But you say it's finished"
  • [Deleted User]
    Posts: 2,528

    YES! A night light couldn't hurt. 



    This^^ and a humidifier. The white noise really helps my two sleep through the night.
    When my son gets up and doesn't want to go to his bed, I put him in there, run my hands through his hair and talk to him to soothe him. It works 80% of the time! :) He's also 2.
    Get me a damn beer.
  • unforgivenunforgiven
    Posts: 12,700Confessional Manager
    We also have a 'spa' type machine it was 20 bux at bed bath and beyond and it plays different noises like rain, rainforest, and so on, we use rain and it sounds like white noise. 

    confessional-manager

    "What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
    What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
    When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
    And I say I don't know you
    But you say it's finished"
  • etherieletheriel
    Posts: 713Member

    Is he a mouth breather, snorer, or tooth grinder when he sleeps? DS was all of the above and they are all indicators of enlarged adenoids. Enlarged adenoids can impede nighttime breathing which means frequent waking during the night (and slow growth). DS was sleeping through the night at about 8 weeks old, but in the toddler years was waking frequently. He had his adenoids and tonsils removed when he was 5 and sleeps so much better now. If a bedtime routine doesn't work, you may want to look into physical causes.

    If I'm not supposed to do it, how come I can?
  • shouldcleanshouldclean
    Posts: 2,370Member
    Man, this sounds EXACTLY like our house!  So, I guess misery loves company!  Honestly, I would just go with it.  I am due April 28th and I have decided that I DO NOT want to fall asleep in a toddler bed with my 2 year old and I need to get a full night sleep.  SO, when she wakes up in the middle of the night she hops in with us.  They won't do it forever and they are only little once. 

    Here is how we messed up the sleeping.  Thanksgiving weekend I decided to assemble the world's coolest toddler bed.  She hated it but there was no turning back, we had opened the flood gates and she wanted nothing to do with the crib.  She has slept one full night in her bed since then and when she did ds4 ended up sneaking in with us. 

    I would suggest saving you money.  We bought the lovies, a special $10 Dora nightlight that we let dd pick, a should machine (you can order a decent on on amazon for about $10) and everything else in between.  Personally I just keep telling myself she will outgrow it.

    If you want a little chuckle here is how it all went down.
    http://www.shouldclean.com/2011/11/princess-predicament.html
    Good luck!
  • anonymommy
    Posts: 1,420Member
    @ShouldClean....that's how it went down at our house too!  He was sleeping fine in the crib, but started to nose dive out of it, so we got him a toddler bed.  Since then, he's been in our bed.  It started off with him just coming in when he woke up in the middle of the night, now he won't go to sleep at all unless it's with us.  I know he'll get back into his own room eventually, I'm just not sure yet how to get him there.
  • shouldcleanshouldclean
    Posts: 2,370Member
    @anonymommy we have tried everything. She starts the night in her own bed, have to hang out with her until she passes out. Now she some time adding 3 am she climbs in with us. I wish there was a magic spell!
  • anonymommy
    Posts: 1,420Member
    @shouldclean...me too!  He ended up starting the night in our bed because we got tired to lying on the floor next to his toddler bed. 

    @nonamejustmommy--didn't mean to hijack.  I wish I had some advice for you, but as you can see, I can't get my own 2 year old to sleep, so I'm not much help!  Good luck, mama!
  • [Deleted User]
    Posts: 7,022
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    well behaved women seldom make history
  • GirdyOleeGirdyOlee
    Posts: 427Member
    I know it's hard to find the time to read, but I downloaded The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. She has amazing advice, and the book helped me with my son a LOT!
  • nonamejustmommy
    Posts: 162Member
    We have a "nightlight" from Ikea. It's a star that goes on the wall and he screams when it's on now so we have been leaving his door cracked after we lay him down. I have been holding him until he falls asleep either down stairs or in his bedroom. It has been working he slept from 930-10ish to 630 this morning with 2 30 min naps that he put himself down for. Thank you for all the help and advice. =)
    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....It's about learning to dance in the rain.

    Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
    Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

    These Eight words the Rede fulfill:

    "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"
  • shate98shate98
    Posts: 2,804Member
    My friend was preggo and had a 2 yr old with the same problem. Would go to bed in his bed but join his parents in their big bed later. They had a great solution...

    They put a blanket and a pillow on the floor and that was "his bed" in Mommy and Daddy's room. He was no longer allowed in the big bed because Mommy was pregnant. And the kid would get up and sleep on the blanket for awhile. But the floor was uncomfortable, so he would wander back into his room.

    Worked for them... hope this helps.
    "As you wander through your life, whatever be your goal,
    keep your eye upon the doughnut, not upon the hole."
  • canadamom
    Posts: 867Member
    I babygated my kid in his room at night.  He would get up in the night and wander around the house.  He figured out how to get the door locks open at 18 months so we were afraid he would get out while we were sleeping.  IF he had just come to my room, I wouldn't have worried so much.  We left the door open so we could hear him if he really was crying or called to us.  We put the gate up once he was asleep.

    Neither kid was much for crawling in with us - until after the divorce and then I had them both with me for awhile.

    However, I have reems of advice for thumbsucking and bedwetting !!!
  • RedTiger
    Posts: 483Member
    Have you tried letting him sleep somewhere else? Both mine went through a phase like this at 2 yr old so i them sleep on the couch. I think they were sitting up to change positions and maybe hitting their heads on wall or rails of their toddler beds.

    For the most part they slept through the night on the couch but every once in a while did wake up & wind up in my bed. With my oldest i put a thick rug down covered by a soft blanket in case he fell off, which really didn't happen very often. With my youngest i had a reclining loveseat that she slept on so i just put up the foot rest.

    My oldest went through another phase at around 7 yrs old where he refused to sleep in his bed and slept on a pallet made on the floor next to his bed or on the living room floor instead.
    "The meaning of our very existence is created though stories, tales and imagination. They are at the very core of humanity." -Tuomas Holopainen
  • nonamejustmommy
    Posts: 162Member
    I will have to try the pallet thing. We have one in the office that he falls asleep on and he does sleep on the couch sometimes.
    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....It's about learning to dance in the rain.

    Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
    Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

    These Eight words the Rede fulfill:

    "An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"