Why won't my son sleep???

[Jamir]

This almost justifies being in the flame forum. For some reason, my 18 month old son does not need to sleep. The little spode can go all day and all night! The night before last he went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at midnight. He stayed up screaming and yelling until about 4:30! Then, yesterday, he refused to take a nap all day long, so I put him down at 8:00 last night. He woke up about 1am and started it again. This is a regular thing for him. What kills me is that number one, nothing is wrong. If we go into his room, he starts laughing and wanting to play. Number two, he only does it at home. He sleeps fine at the grandparents' houses. He plays hard all day so he should be getting worn out. I know I am! I am about to get fired because by the time I get to sleep, I can not wake up in time to get to work by 6:00 am. I have explained to my boss as to why I am late but he does not seem to care because his kids always slept fine.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can get this little booger to sleep? I know beer works for me but somehow, I can't bring myself to let him hit the other bottle yet.

 

[thorman75]

my daughter was the same way.we'd put her in the car drive around the neighbor hood,5 minutes O U T cold.drastic but it worked.

 

[Jamir]

My parents said that they did that with me too. Maybe I am getting paid back for them. It would really suck to have to get dressed and go out at 1AM.

 

[CR Swade]

Jmaie, get his little ears checked. He may have an inner ear infection-pretty common with little ones. With our three boys, we can tell just by the way they act when their ears are bothering them. Plus the ears don't bother them as much when they are up, but lay down to try to sleep and they hurt. Actually that is how I lost the hearing in my right ear-an undiagnosed infection.

 

[Jamir]

We have done that. Actually, he had tubes put in about a year ago. They just took them out. Maybe I will take him in again and have it checked out. The poor fella has spent a lot of time in hospitals and doctor's offices.

 

[Patman]

Be careful what he eats for dinner and when, also be sure he's eating enough to keep his belly full so he's no being woke up by being hungry. Milk seemed to be a good sleepy head drink around our house. Also reading a story before bed might make him stay out longer as will no afternoon nap. Put him to bed later so you get more quality snooze time. My dad mixed a teaspoon of Irish whiskey in my milk when I was that age and doing the same thing, oh sure I have a taste for it to this day but I'm not too braindead, I think.:confused:

 

[Jamir]

It is starting to look like I have tried everything. Eating is no problem for this boy! We usually read to him every night. We have tried keeping him up later, all the way to keeping him up until about midnight. He still wakes up bright and early. My wife just called and said that he got up at 6:15. AAAAHHHHH!!!!

I can not wait until he is 16 and sleeping one off. I will go into his room at 4am and set up my drums and proceed to play like I have never played before!


Maybe that is why my dad calls me every Saturday morning bright and early.

 

[zilla]

I have some experience here having raised four boys.. Kids that age eat and sleep when they want.. A few tips. Don't sugar him up in the evening. Why does he sleep fine at Gmma/Gmpa's? Try to set a routine.. He'll catch on fast. If you know he's tired, put him to bed, turn out the light and put up with the wailing.. He'll get the habit after a few times.. Lastly, some kids stay up at night.. One of my boys is still a night owl at 25.. If all else fails consult your pediatrician..

zilla

 

[CR Swade]

Yeah, I spent almost 5 solid years in and out of the doctors office and hospitals-probably why I have such a tendancy to not go now.

If he is old enough to be tested for allergies, I would suggest it as that is what caused all of my problems. Mom and Dad quit smoking, allergy proofed the house, made me get shots for a few years and now I don't have much problems at all-except for that nagging deafness thing...huh?

 

[Jamir]

We give him almost no sugar at all. Here is the kicker, my dad gives him sugar like crazy when he stays there! Maybe I should try that. My pediatrician just says to let him cry. That is what we try to do, but after 3-4 hours of it every night, it gets so old. I told her that we would do that, but I wanted her home number so I could call her every time he wakes up. She did not think that was funny. I think I am just going to build a bedroom in the back of my yard.

 

[XRpredator]

I gotta agree with the driving, Thunder. I had about a 10 mile loop that I'd take the daughter on, worked every time. Just throw on a pair of sweats and hit the road.

This will pass. Give it about 6 months. :eek:

 

[ghunter]

Does he have his own room? Is he crying from pain or just because he's lonely and bored? Does he still need a diaper change in the middle of the night?

I ask because as bad as it may sound, sometimes its best to just let the little buggers cry themselves to sleep, even if it takes a long time. Eventually he will come to understand the all the crying in the world isn't going to get you up in the middle of the night and he'll cry himself out. Of course, this doesn't work if they sleep within hearing;)

Other things that worked for me: Turn on as many little lights as possible to prevent him from being scared. Turn on the radio or play a CD and set it to repeat over and over. Get a fan and point it at the corner - it's the 'white' noise that matters. We use all of these things for our 4-year-old; he woke up every night at 12pm and would scream until we put him in our bed or slept with him. Now we have to wake him up in the morning!

Good luck, and don't give up. It could be something as minor as a neighbor driving by at the same time every night and waking him, or a dog barking. Besides, didn't your parents always say: 'I can't wait until you have kids!' ? now you understand and will one day say the same thing to your son.

 

[Jamir]

Actually, my parents always said, "God I hope you don't reproduce!"

I will try some of this stuff. I thought about the radio. I sleep with one on and it helps me. I am afraid that if I drive him in the night, I will fall asleep too.

 

[MikeT]

I got two for you Thunder.

1. Does he have any teeth coming in?? Oragel works great.

2. Couch time. This is an idea that worked for us that we got out of a parenting book. They had good reasoning and at first it doesn't make sense and you won't want to try it. I would give it a try for a few nights and see if it works. Here is the theory. you and Mrs. Thunder are probably always running fixing things and cleaning up going food shopping and stuff like that. If you both work Jr. doesn't see either one of you the whole day. If Mrs Thunder stays home Jr. doesn't see you two together all day, then when you come home you run into the garage and try to catch up on whatever project your working on. Jr. don't play that game. You see even though he has every toy in the world and all he can eat, that doesn't matter much to him. What he wants to see is that everything is fine with you and Mrs. Thunder. I don't know how they know it, but they do. The way couch time works is when you come home from work you and the Mrs. sit down on the couch and spend AT LEAST 15 MINUTES talking about anything. Don't let Jr. interrupt you. Get him some toys and play on the floor. The theory is that he cries at night and gets the both of you up because that's the only time you both aren't running and are both together. We had the same problem with our little one and didn't believe this would work but we tried it and it works. The only time it won't work is when he has teeth coming in or his tummy is empty.

See if the above senarios depict your household and try it. It won't cost you a dime. :D

MikeT

 

[Jamir]

We will have to try that one Mike. Come to think of it, there are a lot of nights the Mrs.T works and it is just him and I and vice-versa. We will give that a shot. Unfortunately, there are still those nights that we can't do it because she leaves for work the minute I get home. That is the joy of mot wanting him to go to a sitter all day.

 

[MJ27]

Your radio is probably keeping him up! :D Just kidding.

Sometimes putting the kids to bed earlier makes them sleep longer. I think the theory is that they get overtired and can't fall into a deep sleep. There are some good tips on babycenter.com. After reading this thread, I had to make sure that's not where I was in the first place. :)

As for the boss not understanding...get his home number and crank call him while your awake. It will give you guys something to do in the middle of the night when you can't sleep anyway and maybe the boss will be more sympathetic.

When my daughter (2 years) wakes up and won't go back to bed, I just take her to the living room and we watch Supercross tapes while laying on the couch. That way, I'm not that pissed that I can't go to bed and the TV usually puts her to sleep.

Good luck - it will pass.

 

[MikeT]

Originally posted by Thunder 33
there are a lot of nights the Mrs.T works and it is just him and I and vice-versa. <<Snip>> she leaves for work the minute I get home.

See, I thought so. On the other hand, having Mrs. Thunder home with him is a good thing. Try your best to make those 15 minutes. Maybe you can go in to work a little earlier, maybe she can go in a little later and stay a little later. You may have found your problem. Feel free to contact me and I'll see if I can help further and find some more info on it. My little guy is having teeth problems at the moment. He wakes up when the oragel or tylenol wears off.

 

[Jamir]

Thanks Mike, and thanks to everyone for your help. He pretty much has all of his teeth now so I doubt if that is the problem. I am going to try everything that was suggested here. I hope I can post some good results in the next week or so.:aj:

 

[Old CR goat]

We've done the couch time thing with our daughter, has worked great. Started it at about a year, before long she knew the routine and all is well.
Play a bit, have the milk with a Barney tape ( god I hate Barney, but it worked) Time for night night:)

 

[Jamir]

Okay, we tried couch time, the radio, and later bed time. Plus, he didn't have a late nap and he played very hard with some friends.

3am, up and crying for an hour
5 am, up and ready to start his day!



AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!:whiner: :whiner:

 

[MikeT]

You've got to give the couch time about a week to work. That will set it into his routine. Read above and notice someone stated get into a routine. One day won't do it. To him one day of change just adds to the chaos. When you do it the same way for about a week you should see some difference. Also when he wakes up during the night keep track of what time he wakes up.

Keep at it. You got to do the same routine for at least a week! Just to let you know, if we visit the grand parents and stay over night, it throws their schedule off and takes about two days to get back on track.

You did good, keep it up.:)

PS. Do the same routine tonight AT THE SAME TIME AS LAST NIGHT. SAME TIME IS VERY IMPORTANT!!

 

[Jamir]

He has to stay with the grandparents every other Sunday. That is unavoidable. I am afraid that our schedule will always be hectic. This could be bad.

 

[84XRGuy]

My son didn't sleep through the night untill 18 months. Come to find out, he was having problems with gas in his stomach!

 

[MikeT]

Originally posted by Thunder 33
He has to stay with the grandparents every other Sunday. That is unavoidable. I am afraid that our schedule will always be hectic. This could be bad.

Work with what you have. Make every other weekend with the Grandparents part of the routine. It will be, won't it??

 

[Jamir]

He always sleep fine there. Either that or they just can't hear him. Actually my mom says that he usually wakes up once a night there but just jabbers a bit and goes right back to sleep. The thing that really baffles me is that he acts like he needs no sleep. He will go all day without as much as a yawn. Maybe it is heretitary. I usually got to bed about midnight and I get up at 5:00 am. Of course now that I want to sleep more, he won't!