Hi my 2 daughter has always seemed to have had a problem falling asleep and staying asleep every since she was little. She will run all day with at best an hour nap but can last a total of 22 hrs straight. Should i be alarmed and is there anything that i can do to help her? We literally don't go to bed until 3am and wake back up a 9am give or take. Usually she wakes up at least 3 to 4 times in between her sleep time.
Hi A.. I ditto what "Talkstotrees" wrote and could not have written it better myself :) You are a great momma for asking. Good luck to you...as an aside, Elizabeth Pantley's website on "no cry sleep solution"...was really helpful to us at this stage.
Best.
What do you mean by "we literally don't go to bed until 3 am"? Do you just let her stay up and roam the house and have the run of the place until she wears herself down enough to go to bed and fall asleep?
You need to implement a bedtime schedule/routine. And it needs to happen WAAAAYYYYYY before 3:00 a.m.
Some kids just get more and more wound up the longer they are up. Usually, there is a window earlier in the evening when they are more likely to fall asleep easily (with the right routine and schedule in place). I'm not saying she will just up and go to her bed at 7:00 pm and go right to seep. Not likely.
But what happens if you tell her bedtime is at 7:00 and you begin a bedtime routine/ritual around 6:30? Bath, brush teeth, PJ's, story, prayers, night-night kisses, tuck into bed and lights out. Have you tried it? How many nights in a row did you try? If you have tried it, and (of course) she balked and got up several times, how did you handle that? Did you give in and let her get back up?
Honestly, it sounds like she needs a lot more sleep and it is affecting her ability to stay asleep.
I told my children that they didn't have to sleep, but they had to stay in their beds. They could read or play quietly until 7am.
We did bath, stories, and they were in bed at 7. Not one second later.
If they woke up and the clock didn't say 7, they were to go back to sleep or read. They had small flashlights for that purpose.
No way was I dealing with kids all day and half the night.
You are the parent.
Set some rules!
I had a friend with kids like this. Three of them. It turned out to be her permissive parenting style, and once she realized that and set more boundaries for them, the kids finally started getting a decent night's sleep.
We co-slept with our kids, and that meant we often would lay down with them to go to sleep. Sometimes we fell asleep with them, sometimes they fell asleep first and we were able to get up and stay up longer. Dark room, no noise except maybe a fan, and slowing our own breathing down all helped our kids settle down after a regular bedtime routine that included brushing teeth and reading a story. No tv for at least an hour before bedtime (in our house bedtime was 8pm for children under 8yo). Cut out the naps if she won't stay asleep longer than an hour.
Figure out a routine that can't be "dragged out", stick to it. Make her comfortable and feeling safe. But above all, be consistent. Good luck!
What does the MD say?
I'm going to go with starting a routine with her for bedtime. You can start like 30-45 minutes earlier and then at the designated time like 7 or 8 pm, lay her down. It may be frustrating and taxing, but once you have set the boundaries, it'll work better.
If the problem persists, talk to your pediatrician about it. Suggest melatonin. It's a chemical that your body already creates in itself, but hers may just a little unbalanced. They come in either pill or liquid. You will not have to give it to her constantly. You can buy it over the counter or have it prescribed. You could take a few drops and put it in her milk or kool-ade or whatever drink she's having and then she'll be good to go. I've had to use it as an adult when my insomnia kicks in and it does help me get back on track. Good luck and keep us updated!
Your child is overtired and she need to be taught how to settle herself.
Please go to the library and look for a sleep training book for toddlers. Then please teach your child how to sleep.
Sleep is essential for learning.
Wow, that's not much sleep. Kids need sleep because that's when the body is shut down. The brain is using minimal power to run the body, it's just keeping the heart beating and air moving, etc.... Sleep is the time when our bodies fight off disease, kills germs the best, and repairs damage to it.
We must sleep or our bodies will be weakened.
I'd honestly talk to the doc about a sleep aid. We did this for my grandson that is ADHD. He would often stay up until 3 or 4 then be back up at 7 or 8. Knowing how damaging this is to his body I talked to his psychiatrist that treats him for the ADHD. She was leery of giving any sleep aid to a child this young but she know me and how I manage meds. I take minimal doses. If it works I never use a full dose.
We give him half the dose she prescribed. He can take a whole pill, every night. I give him half a pill only when he's bouncing off the walls and isn't able to fall asleep in a dark room with a full tummy and every little thing we can think of that would relax him and help him to fall asleep.
Taking a sleep aid has been a good choice for us. He wakes up after taking it the night before and he's a much happier boy, he's rested, he's just better off.
It's a big decision but please talk to the doc about it. 2 hours of sleep a night is not healthy for any child. A child this age should be going to bed by 9pm, sleeping all night unless there are extenuating circumstances, and waking up around 7:30 or 8. Then taking a 2 -2 1/2 hour nap in the early early early afternoon.
Needs a set bedtime and routine now. Start tonight.
