I have a feeling this may be a long post, so my apologies...
DS turned 2 yrs a month and a half ago. A month ago we transitioned from all sleeping in the same room (DS in crib next to our bed) to DS sleeping in own room. In many ways the transition has gone really well. He's able to fall asleep without anyone in the room with him - something I never thought he'd be able to do. We even had this amazing "honeymoon" where he slept 10 hours straight for 5 days in a row - I was in heaven.
Needless to say, things have changed....and I just don't know what's going on with him. He's asleep by about 10:30-11pm each night and usually wakes up once between 2am-6am. Sometimes he wakes (and cries for us) with a soaking wet diaper, other times he's dry or just a bit damp and lies down as soon as one of us goes into his room. (DH or I sit there for a few minutes, holding his hand, and then we leave.) Typically DH is the one to do the overnight diaper change. The few times recently that I've done it - last night being one of those times - DS had a fit. He kept crying and yelling that he had to go potty. I asked if for peepee or poop. He says poop. But, the thing is, he already had a big poop at bedtime. Also, he NEVER poops overnight.
This "I need to poop" thing has been coming up recently during both nap time and overnight. He always spends time on the potty before nap and at bedtime (as well as other times). A few times recently he's not made a poop at nap time, even after sitting for 15 minutes, but 30 minutes into his naptime he has started to go poop in his diaper and cries to go to the potty (which we go do, and then, of course, nap is completely thrown off and he ends up finishing his nap pretty late). Other times, though, he is totally "crying poopie on the potty" a la "crying wolf" - a stalling-sleep tactic or something.
When DH changes his diaper in the middle of the night, DS seems fine, doesn't insist he needs to use potty, may ask for mommy but is fine with daddy. Why, when I go in for a diaper change, is it a big loud mess? I ended up being up with him for almost an hour last night (3-4am). He kept insisting on potty and I kept telling him he already pooped and his body didn't need to make a poop right now. Then he wanted me to sing a song (which I do at bedtime), but...and I know this will make me sound like a terrible mom...the last thing I felt like doing after having to get up at 3am, and having to wrestle him into a diaper, and having to argue about the potty for 20+ minutes, was sing. So I didn't. And of course we just stayed in this cycle of him crying and cuddling not being enough, and me being angry that my sleep was being so disrupted. I kept telling him to lie down so I could cover him up and hold his hand, but he kept refusing. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore and I went back to my room for a few minutes, while he started yelling that he wanted blankies on. Ultimately, he let me cover him, we held hands for a little bit and he went back to sleep. Frustrating!!
On top of this, he seems to be shortening his overnight sleep from 10-12 hours most nights to 8.5-9.5 hours. His naps have never been long (60-90 minutes usually), so I don't like the idea of him getting even less sleep. And the last few days he's also had a much smaller appetite (will eat a normal breakfast, hardly eat lunch, and no dinner).
I guess there are a few questions embedded in here...
Does your toddler go to the potty overnight? How long are they allowed to sit there?
Do you and your partner get different reactions from your toddler overnight?
Why is my DS sleeping less? Why is he eating less?
How can I keep from going crazy overnight?
DH will be away on business for 3 weeks in October, so it'll just be me doing everything....and if our nights suck, day time will also be awful.
DS turned 2 yrs a month and a half ago. A month ago we transitioned from all sleeping in the same room (DS in crib next to our bed) to DS sleeping in own room. In many ways the transition has gone really well. He's able to fall asleep without anyone in the room with him - something I never thought he'd be able to do. We even had this amazing "honeymoon" where he slept 10 hours straight for 5 days in a row - I was in heaven.
Needless to say, things have changed....and I just don't know what's going on with him. He's asleep by about 10:30-11pm each night and usually wakes up once between 2am-6am. Sometimes he wakes (and cries for us) with a soaking wet diaper, other times he's dry or just a bit damp and lies down as soon as one of us goes into his room. (DH or I sit there for a few minutes, holding his hand, and then we leave.) Typically DH is the one to do the overnight diaper change. The few times recently that I've done it - last night being one of those times - DS had a fit. He kept crying and yelling that he had to go potty. I asked if for peepee or poop. He says poop. But, the thing is, he already had a big poop at bedtime. Also, he NEVER poops overnight.
This "I need to poop" thing has been coming up recently during both nap time and overnight. He always spends time on the potty before nap and at bedtime (as well as other times). A few times recently he's not made a poop at nap time, even after sitting for 15 minutes, but 30 minutes into his naptime he has started to go poop in his diaper and cries to go to the potty (which we go do, and then, of course, nap is completely thrown off and he ends up finishing his nap pretty late). Other times, though, he is totally "crying poopie on the potty" a la "crying wolf" - a stalling-sleep tactic or something.
When DH changes his diaper in the middle of the night, DS seems fine, doesn't insist he needs to use potty, may ask for mommy but is fine with daddy. Why, when I go in for a diaper change, is it a big loud mess? I ended up being up with him for almost an hour last night (3-4am). He kept insisting on potty and I kept telling him he already pooped and his body didn't need to make a poop right now. Then he wanted me to sing a song (which I do at bedtime), but...and I know this will make me sound like a terrible mom...the last thing I felt like doing after having to get up at 3am, and having to wrestle him into a diaper, and having to argue about the potty for 20+ minutes, was sing. So I didn't. And of course we just stayed in this cycle of him crying and cuddling not being enough, and me being angry that my sleep was being so disrupted. I kept telling him to lie down so I could cover him up and hold his hand, but he kept refusing. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore and I went back to my room for a few minutes, while he started yelling that he wanted blankies on. Ultimately, he let me cover him, we held hands for a little bit and he went back to sleep. Frustrating!!
On top of this, he seems to be shortening his overnight sleep from 10-12 hours most nights to 8.5-9.5 hours. His naps have never been long (60-90 minutes usually), so I don't like the idea of him getting even less sleep. And the last few days he's also had a much smaller appetite (will eat a normal breakfast, hardly eat lunch, and no dinner).
I guess there are a few questions embedded in here...
Does your toddler go to the potty overnight? How long are they allowed to sit there?
Do you and your partner get different reactions from your toddler overnight?
Why is my DS sleeping less? Why is he eating less?
How can I keep from going crazy overnight?
DH will be away on business for 3 weeks in October, so it'll just be me doing everything....and if our nights suck, day time will also be awful.
