My 4 year old DD does not sleep through the night. She has been this way now for over a year! I don't know what else to try. I have tried ignoring her, going to her door and but not going in, refusing to listen to what she is wanting to tell me. She isn't waking up to use the restroom. Usually she is just wanting to tell me something that happened the day before or something she wants to do in the morning. Once she wakes up, she is up on and off for a few hours. This morning it lasted from 2:00 to 5:00 a.m. and happens probably 5 out of 7 nights. She doesn't take a nap any more and she has never required a lot of sleep. I am hoping someone can give me some advice if this has happened to them. I told her this morning that when she wakes me up that it makes me very ugly and cranky but she still got up after that. Help, I need my sleep!

UGGGGG!!!!! I have a 4 year old who wakes me up, too. The last time I had a good night's sleep was in October of 2002. She started keeping me awake when I was 6 months pg and hasn't left me alone since. Mine wants to tell me about her dreams. Usually, I just put her in bed with me and try to go back to sleep. Sorry I don't have any advice, but I do feel your pain.

I have a four yearold that on occassion wakes up. Mostly, I just let her get in bed with me. that's when Im SO asleep I don't even realize it till later.

But also works if I get up and just hold her and rock in the chair (slowly) for a few, I make her lay quietly and hold her close and after afew minutes, she is ready to get tucked back in.

She is #3, my 1st daughter NEVER slept all night. Only when she started school full time did she finally sleep through the night!!

Good luck, I know it's frustrating.

I'm so glad I'm not alone here!! My 4 yr old daughter has never slept all night.. She's up at least 4 times a night sometimes more.. And most of the time just wants to talk... She doesn't take naps. She doesn't seem like anything is bothering her. She just doesn't require sleep!

I didn't realize that I wasn't alone on this issue. She is our 3rd child and the other two slept all night. I guess what is so frustrating is that she used to sleep all night. I do not want her in bed with us as I have had others who have done that and couldn't get them back in their own bed. I feel horible after I have hollered at her for not sleeping.

Well I try really hard not to get upset with her, but having to get up and read books to get her to sleep for 30-45 minutes at a time it's difficult not to be upset! She stays (I won't say sleeps) in my room with me. My husband sleeps in her room just to get some sleep at night..

I won't let her have any caffeine and she doesn't eat candy or cookies.. I know I must sound awful.. She eats yogurt and fruits. I think maybe I had that much energy when I was little... and I would sure like to have some of it back!!

Have you talked to her Dr about about? You may want to discuss this on your next visit. It may be anything to worry about, but it wouldn't hurt to get your Dr's opinion either.

It's been so long since I have had more than a couple of hours of sleep uninterrupted, I'm not sure how it feels any more. There are times that I'm so sleep deprived that I'm driving and totally realize that I'm not all there. SCARY.

Some children just need less sleep, unfortunately. My friend's daughter has always gone to bed at 6:30 PM and stayed down until 7:30 AM! She complains that she goes to sleep too early.

Well...I see I am not alone. My four year old daughter wakes up many nights, and stays up for hours. She's been this way as long as I can remember. We co-sleep so our kids are in bed with us. Her older brother started sleeping through the night when he quit nursing (13 months) and rarely wakes up at night. Her baby brother is still nursing, but has already begun weening himself so someties sleeps through the night. As for her, I've tried everything. I tried keeping the room dark and quiet and just ignoring her..thinking the boredom would take over and she'd fall asleep. I've tried keeping it dark and talking to her a little bit. I've tried turning on the tv and putting on something boring so she'd get bored and go to sleep. Nothing works. So for now I make sure to take a glass of water to bed and keep the remote handy. When she wakes up I give her her water and turn on Disney. She lays there and watches tv until she's tired and goes back to sleep. Sometimes it's half an hour, but more often then not it's 3-4 hours. I'm the same way...as is my mom and both aunts, as was my grandma. I like to read or watch tv when I'm awake for hours on end.

She'll be starting school this fall...a couple days each week...and I worry about her lack of sleep. I plan on talking to the doctor when we go later this month.

I'm so glad to know that we're not the only one's going through this. Comfort in numbers! Jodie

My niece who is 5 if often up at night as well, since my sister is single Mom often she just lets her crawl in bed with her, but for whatever reason when she spends the night with me we never have that problem (probably cause she knows getting into bed with me isnt gonna happen)...but we never hear a peep out of her. Who knows why, she also talks in her sleep and sometimes shouts out so even when she is not "up" sometimes my sister is listening to her!!!

JRAE33 I dont know how you sleep at all if you are sleeping with 3 kids!

So last night my DD slept all night - I am sure it is only the 2 out the 7 nights during the week that she does sleep all night. I did tell her before she went to sleep if she woke up, to talk to her care bears instead of waking me up. I don't know if she woke up and talked to them or not.

I have mentioned something to the doctor about her waking up before and they didn't act like it was any big deal. Maybe they should live with her at night and see if it a big deal after it goes on for months and months!

Maybe we should all meet somewhere and rent 2 hotel rooms. One for kids and one for the moms. Let them wake each other up and let us sleep!

At 4 years old, they are old enough to understand that getting out of bed when it's dark is unacceptable.

Have you tried an incentive chart? Let her pick out a new toy and tell her she has to go a month (or whatever amount of time you choose) and if she stays in her own room at night, she gets the toy. Tell her she can play in her room, look at books or whatever, but she has to stay in her room and not disturb the rest of the family.

Such things would not fly at my house. I need my sleep and I am really strict about bedtime. They are not allowed out of their rooms except to potty unless they are bleeding or on fire!

Good luck!

yeah, i cannot have kids sleeping with me. my kids know this doesn't fly either. i guess i'm a hard a$$. once in a while we'd fall asleep nursing but if i woke up, they were out. i have 3 and i had to sort of "train" them to be good sleepers because i am NOT NICE with out at least 5-6 hours of sleep. they need the sleep and so do i. plus, every little noise they or i make, i or they wake up even if we don't know it.

when my first was new i asked my pediatrician (who i adore) what his opinion was about the baby sleeping in our room. he said "what do I think? well, i think you should sleep in your room and the baby should sleep in hers. our babies slept in our room." he went on to explain how it was his wife's decision because she was nursing and it was easier. but, not long after this lecture i kicked the kid-o out. i was a wreck for a couple of nights and then we all slept a lot better.

we had a similar problem with my 3 year old a while ago. he was getting up really early. i put a string of novelty lights up in his room and put 'em on a timer. told him he couldn't get up until the lights came on. works like a dream!

i HAVE TO have my sleep!

I used to have a problem with my 4 year old getting up in the middle of the night, so I cut back on any naps and we use the incentive chart... BUT you must stick by your guns. At first it didnt work for me because I would go soft..... but I realized that if I stayed with what I told him and didnt go back on what I said, then it would eventually be better for him. It is working for now.
AND also if you are married or have a signifiant other...make sure they follow by the same rules. I founf out the hard way that it will take a lot longer if you and your spouse are not on the same page. !!!!

My recently turned 5 year old son has been waking up any where from 2 a.m. -6 a.m. and coming in our bedroom and crawling into bed with us. My husband has been gone for the last seven months and he STILL does it. Granted it's not every night which is amazing but at least 3 nights a week he comes in. If I happen to wake up at 5 in the morning and he's not in bed next to me I wonder to myself "where's Johnny?" I actually have to go and check to see if he's still in his room. I was hoping to break him of this almost 3 year old habit before my husband comes home but it's just not working. We've done everything but put a locking door knob on his door. I have a feeling that's next when my husband gets home.

His excuse is he doesn't like his bed. He recently got Spiderman bedding and I was hoping that would help keep him in his bed. NOT!!!!! Now he's afraid of monsters in his room. He's just coming up with so many different things. I really don't know what to do.

I've tried bribery, put his favorite things on his walls. Nothing!!!


Amy

I know that my mom had trouble with my newphew coming into their room (they are raising him). They finally had to put a lock on their door and lock it every night. I just don't feel comfortable shutting my door while we are sleeping. Knowing my DD, she would stand there knocking on it and making more noise!

That is a great idea about the lights. I may have to try that one and put them on a timer for 8:00 - then maybe I can even sleep in a little!

My Grandaughter had that problem. She is 3. They would start to put her down before 8:00 and sometimes it would be midnight before she would fall to sleep. She would want to get up constantly and my Daughter stuck to her guns so then she would lay in bed playing with anything she could reach. She was having what appeared to be seizures and a trip to the Neurologist made it evident she was having migraines and the head to the side and the extreme dizziness and throwing up were all classic signs. Anyway, they mentioned the sleeping problem and he recommended over the counter Melatonin for children. You can find it at Whole Foods or Sun Harvest (health food grocery). It is a natural ingredient that you body makes and he told them that some people do not make enough. Ever since they started giving her 3 drops each night 30 minutes before bed she has had wonderful nights and wakes up in such a better mood now. It is not habit forming and is not a drug that puts you to sleep. I have started taking the 3 mg. every night and I feel so much better. I wasn't sleeping through the night and was waking off and on. It is wonderful and I would recommend it to everyone. You wake up to noise or children calling and the alarm in the morning and you aren't groggy at all.

I have a two year old that doesn't sleep and my older son was like that too until he was about 3. The KEY for us is getting them to run around and wear off their energy. If we go swimming for a couple hours or if they do some other really physical things, they will sleep them. They just might need more exercise.

Either that or they just don't need as much sleep. What time do they got to bed (get the exercise in first and then try this)? If you are having them go to bed at 8 pm or earlier, maybe letting them stay up longer will help them sleep better too, but not just sitting aroud... keep them active throughout the day.

Melissa

try getting them up very early and no naps it seems to work for me

Having reared three children, one now an adult, I have found the most effective method for getting children to sleep at night is a routine. Performed every night without variation. I always started with a warm bath, favorite jammies, and, of course, reading "The Spooky Old Tree".
Also, keep notice of her activities and diet during the day. Try limiting sweets and snacks containing chocolate and red, blue and purple dyes. If you were to increase her physical activity mid-afternoon (Intense dancing, playing tag, hop scotch, foot racing against mom, etc.) she may welcome the winding down routine in the evening. I do realize you may be performing these very same routines, but, I learned them from a very wise woman when my children were small.
Fortuneately, only one of my babies had a hard time sleeping at night. As he matured, we realized he has several food allergies paired with adhd. When became old enough to participate in sports, bedtime was no longer an issue. I do not believe in medicating children so that they behave properly, but to teach them to manage their disability. All said and done, I still miss the little footsteps paired with "NO NO GO SLEEPY IN THE BED!!"

Perhaps, your little cherub could benefit from this advice, most likely, you are already doing as such.

I have this problem with my 3 year -old. He's hardly ever slept through the night since he was born. We finally figured out that for him it's a security issue. He just seems to need more security and reassurance than our other 2 kids. For a while he would climb into bed with us, but that was so uncomfortable and DH and I couldn't get any sleep that way.

We finally put some pillows and a blanket on the floor by our bed and told him he could sleep there. We put him to bed in his own bed, but if he came in during the night we made him sleep on the pillows. It got to the point where he would just come in and lay down there without waking us up. We just had to be careful not to step on him in the morning.

Another thing we discovered with him is that part of the problem is that he doesn't like the dark, so if we put on a night light in his room or give him a flashlight (the kind you shake so you don't have to keep replacing the batteries) or a glow-stick, he'll usually stay in his own bed all night.

With him, getting upset and grumpy about it didn't help at all and sometimes made it worse, so we just had to find a way to deal with the problem that we could all live with.

Well...my four year old was up for about 4 hours last night thanks to the crying fit of her 18 month old brother. She's been a bear today. Came to the dinner table and started crying that she hates taco salad (she doesn't), ate a couple of doritos, walked out to living room and crashed. Now she's been sleeping for about an hour and a half and bed time's in another hour...now she'll probably be awake again tonight. As long as the baby isn't awake she'll leave me alone...hopefully!

Earlier in the evening last night I woke up to her crying...she was bouncing on her knees and "holding herself"....I asked her if she had to go to the bathroom but she just kept crying...I realized she wasn't fully awake. I picked her up and started carrying her down the stairs, she wanted down, walked down the rest of the stairs, into the bathroom and turned on the light....I thought she awake but apparently not...I heard her crying again and walked into the bathroom to find her standing on the footstool soaked...for some reason she didn't go the the tiolet. I enlisted her daddy's help and we got her cleaned up. Daddy carried her upstairs (still crying) and once she laid her head on the pillow she stopped crying and went right back to sleep. I don't think she ever fully woke up.

She has these fits during the night where she'll start throwing herself about and screaming and crying...she never wakes up and you can't comfort her...if you try and pick her up or hug her it makes it worse. And eventually she'll just lay down and go back to sleep....very strange. And some how her brothers will sleep right through it!!

I'm going to talk to doctor about it next week when we go. She doesn't sleep well, and when she does she has those fits. Been this way as long as I can remember.

my daughter, who is now 5, had a similar sort of thing as you JRAE33, when she was 2. it's called night terrors. they happened almost every night for about 2 weeks. it was terrible and sad. i think it's about having to go to the bathroom. can't remember what the pediatrician told us then, seems like a long time ago. but ask, they should be able to give you some tips on how to handle it. if they can't, pm me and i'll ask ours. she's wonderful and great with questions.