I am desperate for sleep and I need some help and wisdom from like minded parents! My 4 year old has always been a terrible sleeper, even when co-sleeping he would wake so much at night that I haven’t gotten any sort of decent sleep since he was born. We co-slept until about age 2, because I literally could not do it anymore. Things didn’t get better though, because then I had to walk him back to his room 5 times each night when he woke up. We tried putting him on his bed in our room, and with his older brother in his room, but nothing worked. At age 3, I night weaned him *hoping* that he would start sleeping better- he was still waking 3-4 times at night to nurse. It sort of worked, as he woke less often, but now he’s back to waking 2-3 times at night lately. I’m pregnant and not only exhausted and having a difficult pregnancy, but have terrible insomnia and I am totally at my wits end right now.
A typical night goes something like this- he goes to bed between 10-11pm, and I go to bed at the same time. Every single night since I got pregnant, I wake up between 2-3am, usually because he comes into my room. I put him back in his bed after he falls asleep and then I can’t sleep at all for the next 2-4 hours. And EVERY SINGLE morning when I finally fall back asleep (usually between 5-6am), he comes in my room again, usually is awake for the day at that point but occasionally he’ll lay with us and go back to sleep, but there is no room in our bed and I basically lay there awake. By 7am he is always awake and ready to play and have breakfast.
I’ve been having my husband get up with him since he’s up for work anyways, so I can get an extra hour of sleep by going into my other sons room, but this only works because we’re on break from school and he sleeps in until about 8-8:30. So all in all I am getting approx. 4 hours of broken sleep per night even with that little extra time in the morning. I’ve tried cutting out Alex’s naps, but then he’s grumpy all evening and falls asleep at 8pm, then is up for the day at ridiculous times of the night- he is a 7-8 hour sleeper and that’s it, but he and I both need to catch that hour long snooze in the afternoons right now.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get a 4.5 year old to sleep through the night? He comes in my bed no matter how many times we talk with him about it, offering rewards for sleeping through the night, putting him in his brothers room, even when he sleeps on the floor in my room he STILL comes into the bed multiple times. I just feel like I’ve been loving and patient most nights for almost 5 years, and I am more than done with this- we’re going to have a new baby and I have got to gain some control over my sleeping situation if I intend to survive it all. Also- any ideas on natural remedies that are safe to take during pregnancy to help sleep? Chamomile tea isn’t strong enough to sustain this problem =(
I might also add that normally, I need 8-9 hours of sleep to function and be a good mother- now that I'm pregnant, my sleep needs have increased to 10 hours per night plus a short nap, that would be ideal- so you can see we're not even close to what I need here...thanks for any advice!!
A typical night goes something like this- he goes to bed between 10-11pm, and I go to bed at the same time. Every single night since I got pregnant, I wake up between 2-3am, usually because he comes into my room. I put him back in his bed after he falls asleep and then I can’t sleep at all for the next 2-4 hours. And EVERY SINGLE morning when I finally fall back asleep (usually between 5-6am), he comes in my room again, usually is awake for the day at that point but occasionally he’ll lay with us and go back to sleep, but there is no room in our bed and I basically lay there awake. By 7am he is always awake and ready to play and have breakfast.
I’ve been having my husband get up with him since he’s up for work anyways, so I can get an extra hour of sleep by going into my other sons room, but this only works because we’re on break from school and he sleeps in until about 8-8:30. So all in all I am getting approx. 4 hours of broken sleep per night even with that little extra time in the morning. I’ve tried cutting out Alex’s naps, but then he’s grumpy all evening and falls asleep at 8pm, then is up for the day at ridiculous times of the night- he is a 7-8 hour sleeper and that’s it, but he and I both need to catch that hour long snooze in the afternoons right now.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get a 4.5 year old to sleep through the night? He comes in my bed no matter how many times we talk with him about it, offering rewards for sleeping through the night, putting him in his brothers room, even when he sleeps on the floor in my room he STILL comes into the bed multiple times. I just feel like I’ve been loving and patient most nights for almost 5 years, and I am more than done with this- we’re going to have a new baby and I have got to gain some control over my sleeping situation if I intend to survive it all. Also- any ideas on natural remedies that are safe to take during pregnancy to help sleep? Chamomile tea isn’t strong enough to sustain this problem =(
I might also add that normally, I need 8-9 hours of sleep to function and be a good mother- now that I'm pregnant, my sleep needs have increased to 10 hours per night plus a short nap, that would be ideal- so you can see we're not even close to what I need here...thanks for any advice!!
