Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group
This community is focused on the joys, challenges and concerns faced by parents of toddlers (1 to 3 year olds). The major areas of child development include: physical development, perception and sensory development, communication and language development, cognitive development, emotional development and social development. Join to share your stories and get advice.
i have a 2yr old daughter who has never slept at night and she has over the past couple of months got worse i'm at the end of my tether with her and i'm really bad tempered all of the time because i'm exhausted i have 3 other children too one of which is autistic any advice would be greatly appreciated she also doesn't eat very well and i think that could be part of the problem
thanks mel x
thanks mel x
What do you do when she wakes up? My 2 year old went through a recent bad spell because of an illness. When we were relearning how to sleep I put him back in his crib and sat in his room until he fell asleep on his own. I don't interact with him at all, but he knows I'm there so he settles down more and drifts off. My husband has been known to fall asleep in the rocking chair waiting on our son to fall asleep. ;-)
Could your husband help at night? It will be a long process getting her to figure out how to fall asleep on her own, but it will be worth it. It was hard for us, but I couldn't handle getting up 3 times a night any more with a 15 mo old. I was still nursing so I had to make my husband go in there so Brian didn't expect a snack. For a week it was really long, but after that things got a ton better.
One other thing is if while trying you cave one night (let her bed with you or give up listening to her cry), give up trying on sleep training for a few nights. If you let her cry 20 minutes and then give in all she has learned is cry longer than 20 min.
How 2 is she? I mean is she closer to 3? If she can get her to tell you what she wants to help fall asleep and to figure out your plan. Whatever you do, let her know what you plan is. "I'll come in to your room, but I won't pick you up. I'll just sit in the chair until you fall back asleep." You might have to move the chair out of the room slowly, I know I've seen that a lot, but I never had to do that. Just make sure you have a comfortable chair!!!!! Also be prepared for set backs with any illness or teething.
I hope I could give you some ideas you didn't know from your other children. ;-)
Oh is she in a crib or a big girl bed? If she wants to move into the big girl bed maybe you could use it as a bribe. If she sleeps all night 3 nights in a row she can pick out the sheets for her new big bed. Such a big development difference between just 2 and almost 3 that I'm just tossing out ideas.
Hope I helped!!!