Posts: 16
11/5/09 3:08 P

My 19 month old is not quite at the place where your LO is, but she's on her way. If she wasn't still sleeping in bed with us, she'd be up at least twice a night, and the only way I keep her in bed till a reasonable hour is by frequent early morning nursing.

I just wanted to echo the advice about the full tummy and bath. I've also noticed that if I try for an early bedtime, say 7:30, she's ready for it and sleeps pretty well for quite some time. If I let it lag till 8:30, she's too wound up and uncomfortable and we're up till 10:00 or later.

Maybe one other thing that might contribute to her restlessness, if she's anything like mine, is having synthetic materials too close to her, including her pajamas, sheets, and the mattress. Mine has always been sensitive to that sort of thing. We haven't been able to afford a decent organic mattress yet, but I got a great pad that I think is made with wool and organic cotton. It's worth a try!

Posts: 704
10/29/09 2:30 P

You are right to worry... 6 hours of sleep for a 2 year old will eventually start to take a toll on both behavior and learning. (Lack of sleep can lead to ADD/ADHD type of behavior.)

I've been recommending it a lot lately, but I like the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." It explains the physiology behind sleep and gives strategies for sleep problems at each age. It might be worth buying it or checking it out of a library.

I second the PPs recommendations of a bedtime routine... does she have a stuffed animal "friend" that she sleeps with? It helped my son a lot when he started sleeping with his Elmo doll. He's 4 and still does. :-)

Edited by: JADELOTUS02 at: 10/29/2009 (14:31)

Posts: 36
10/29/09 2:15 P

My son was like that for a while and then we found out he would cry because he wanted to sleep with us. It would take him hours upon hours to fall asleep at night. My husband and I decided to start giving him baths right before bed time and we both sit down and sing bed time songs and lullabys with him so he felt more comfortable sleeping by himself. He still moves alot, ALL NIGHT lol, but he doesn't wake up anymore

Posts: 173
10/28/09 4:05 P

when is she having her last meal
is there a wide gap between her mealtime and sleeping time
children with full tummy tend to sleep easily
if that is not the problem
then try giving her some warm milk prior to sleeptime
warm bath also helps - the child gets relaxed by the warm bath
i dont know what religion u follow but saying a night prayer with the child also calms and relaxes them
best wishes

Posts: 408
10/28/09 11:27 A

My daughter just turned 2 and has always been an awful sleeper! But, it seems like lately it is getting worse! She is maybe sleeping about 5 hours a night and maybe an hour nap during the day. It takes her over an hour to fall asleep and then she is a very restless sleeper...always tossing and turning and talking in her sleep. She wakes up crying at least 5 times a night and is very hard to get to fall back to sleep.

We just moved her from her crib to a toddler bed this weekend and that is helping a little bit. We've gone from over an hour to fall asleep to 30-45 mins and she is only waking up maybe 3 times a night crying, but she is still very restless.

It doesn't really seem to affect her too much during the day...she is very active and always playing and is super smart..her doctor said she has the vocabulary of a 4 year old!

I guess I'm just concerned because she probably only gets maybe about 6 good hours of sleep a day and I'm worried that it is affecting her growth. She is on the small side....only 23lbs and sorta short but both myself and her father are both smaller people.

So, I guess I'm just wondering if any of you all have restless sleepers? What do you do to help them sleep more soundly? Thanks in advance!!