Children - Poor Sleepers??

[Elaine38]

Hi,

I just wonder how many of us have a child who is a poor sleeper? Just wanted to start a thread to see what others do.

Josh has always been a poor sleeper - he didn't sleep through til 8 months, gave up afternoon naps at 19 months and he rarely has more than 8 hours sleep. Last night he was still awake at 10:30pm and to be honest I'm not sure when he fell as sleep as DH & I went off to bed. He was still up at 6:30am this morning.

Everyone says he just needs to burn up energy but he's a very active boy - on Fridays he has a whole day doing sports at school, other parents say how shattered their children are especially as it's at the end of week but not my boy. Last Friday it was past 10:30pm before he slept. It's getting to the stage that's he's awake later than us and he's only 4.
He has a good bedtime routine - has no problem with going to bed but he just lies awake. One pattern we've noticed is that when he's growing he needs less sleep - same when he's under the weather. Odd as you would think it's the other way around.
After school we tend to go to a play park and I've taken to walking or he goes on his scooter to school as other ways to burn up energy.We never had this problem with the girls - DD was an excellent sleeper, or course I didn't really appreciate it as I took it for granted.
Just wondered if anyone had a child like this? Did it get better ? Are they just kids who turn into adults that have 4 hours sleep a night?

[Deee]

My child is the world worst sleeper - in that he still does not sleep all the way through the night without waking up at least once

He will not go off to sleep unless someone is with him.

Whenever he wakes up in the night, which could be 1am or 4 am or anything in between he gets out of bed and climbs in next to me and happily goes back off to sleep

Both of those are habits I need to break but I can't do that until I have a week or two off work cos I know what a nightmare its going to be. I'll no doubt be up half the night getting him back in his own bed

He wakes up usually at 6.30 am and we usually get him off so sleep by 7.30 ish.

But the bugger will not sleep through and I am sure its habit.

And I agree Elaine, the times when he ought to be totally knackered, for example when we were out on bonfire night and he went to sleep at 10pm - he was still awake at 6.30 !

I have nearly 2 weeks off over xmas and new year - might try then !

D
X

[alexandra_c]

DS7 can sleep for England ... but thats a relatively recent occurence. Has to be dragged from his bed in the week, and we are always awake before him at weekends. Should try and get him to bed a bit earlier in the evenings but we like his company

However as a tiddler he rarely slept through, and I felt like I never had a nights uninterrupted sleep for about 3 years.

Elaine, Josh really sounds like he doesnt need much sleep - bless him for going to bed and not complaining though.

Alexandra x

[Liz1967]

Hi all

Interesting thread as Daniel has taken over the mantel of bad sleeper in this house. It used to be Joshua who was a poor sleeper, didn't sleep through the night until he was 1 and even now we get about 2 nights a fortnight where he ends up in with us. Just lately Daniel has got in with us every single night, if we try and take him back to his own bed he makes so much noise and fuss he ends up waking everyone else up.

Today after having both TTs in with us last night (what a squash that was!) I have given them both a sticker chart, Joshua doesn't really need it but I thought the competition to beat him stickerwise might spur Daniel on and keep him in his own bed. He always used to be a great sleeper but not anymore.

Love
Liz
xx

[Ruth Walker]

Sam goes to sleep fine at 7pm, however, he wakes and demands to get up and play downstairs at any time from 4am to 5.30am. On saturday he started the day at 3.15am! Which meant so did I. He won't stay in his cot, just screams for "light on" or that he is "stuck" (ie stuck in cot and wants to get out). I do get him out and don't leave him to cry because a) he is obviously wide awake and b) I don't want him teaching himself to climb out of the cot as that would make going to bed a problem. In fact he is such a monkey I don't feel I will ever sleep again at night once he can escape the cot as I will be expecting him to be shoving things in electric plug sockets (he can already remove those socket protector things), falling from his upstairs window (I have a restrictor on it but he already climbs onto window sills and has taught himself to open windows, so I will be relying on a little bit of plastic to save him) and escaping his room and ransacking our entire house... I have tried putting him in bed with us but sadly he hates it, just starts kicking and wailing, climbs off the bed and heads for the stairs... I think it's just how he is and just consider myself lucky that he DOES go straight to bed at 7pm, so at least DP and I get to enjoy a relaxing evening together. I think Josh is a little darling for staying quietly in his room when he is awake all those hours. As others have said, it just sounds like he doesn't need much sleep.
xxx

[Mouse]

oooh, don't start me off on this subject, you 'll never hear the end of it!

My son was a horrendous sleeper right up until he was 2 and 1/2 to the point where at a year old the health visitor sent a sleep expert round to try and help us.

I don't think what I have to say will help much, I think that he only slept through when he was good and ready, I don't think anything I did really changed when it was going to happen.

I now look about 80 instead of 40 and I'm sure it's all those horrendous nights!!!! But he's such a lively, interested, enthusiastic, exciteable little boy that I guess that's part of the way he is and I love him despite the sleep battles!!!

Interesting to read other people's stories. I shall keep an eye on this thread!

Mouse xx

[pink3times]

Feeling very blessed to have good sleepers.
DD1 was my worst but even she sounds ok after what you lot have to put up with. She didn't sleep through until the age of 1 then up at 5am. She went into a bed at 2yrs and never got out don't think she realised she could, lol!
The others have been kept in a cot until 3 years, never had a climber or shouter. Hope I'm not cursing myself here! They all slept from 7.30- 6.30, Henry a little later at 7am wake up.
Henry asks to go "night , nights" and snuggles down and settles really quickly. The girls always go to bed when asked at 8pm for E and M with no questions or messing around.

Find it really tough when they are ill though, Henry was up most of last night bunged up and cough puking with a temp. He is up already this evening. He cries in his cot but whimpers in my bed so a very unsettled night for us both. Last night was the worst night on record here, bless him. Suppose I'm just experiencing an average night for some of you, so I'll stop moaning now.

He's a pro at puking though, he's the right height for being sick in the toilet and just went of his own accord, he is so mucus ridden.

Becxx

[Elaine38]

Oh, bless a non sleeping support thread

Interesting how we have so many sleep challenges.
Ruth, sounds like you have a mini Josh - he was exactly like that. One of his first words was 'UP' which was his word to get him out of the cot. Like you we worried he would never stay in his bed but he was actually good, the novelty of getting out of bed wore off in a week (but for that week he thought it was great to get up and move his bedding around. I once found him surrounded by his duvet and pillow, giggling on the half landing, he had moved all the bedding himself).

You're all right - there is a positive - he's reasonably quiet when he goes to bed - he does try the 'I need to go to the loo, I need a drink, I want a hug' but he doesn't make too much off a fuss.

Liz, Interestingly - Josh would never sleep in our bed - only once when he was very sick but then then it was only because he wasn't aware he was in our bed. He can't bear to be hot or cuddled when trying to sleep.
Dee, I hope you can get a complete night sleep - try stickers as Josh loves rewards.
Alexandra, I'm craving the time when I have to wake Josh up - bet when he's a teen it will happen and by then he'll be too big for me to lift him out of bed.
Becs, good for you having good sleepers - DD would have been an only child if she had been anything like Josh