Hailey goes to bed at 9-9:30pm. For the past month she has been getting up anywhere from 1 to 3 and trying to get in the bed with me. I pick her up and put her back in the bed and go back to sleep and she doesn't wake again til morning. BUT...help, I cannot go with interupted sleep!! She takes a good nap during the day and she is only 20 months so I don't think I should take that away from her..she still acts very tired and practically crashes all by herself around noon. Any advice, what am I going to do??? I joked with my mom the other day saying, "well, at least I will be used to getting up in the middle of the night when the baby gets here", but I would like a few weeks of uninterupted sleep before the baby gets here..

It is hard enough on me now to find a comfortable position to sleep in then I get woke up. I shut her door and guess what she knocks on the door and starts crying to get out... The only way i will get any sleep is if I let her sleep with me then it is not pleasant sleep because she is a wiggle worm. help!

By Hlgmom on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - 01:07 pm:

How about having your dh go in and put her back- sometimes when it is not you they will quit making the effort once they realize that they cannot get to you!

I definetely would not take her nap away- they tend t osleep worse at night if they don't sleep well during the day.

On the flip side, what about a pallet on the floor in your bedroom next to you? She could get the comfort and you might still get sleep?

By Kaye on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - 01:08 pm:

My seven year old still wakes up in the middle of the night..YIKES! He goes through spurts. What we have finally done is tell him not to wake us up, he mostly goes to the couch. But when he was little and if I did not want him in my bed, what we did was make a pallet on the floor for him. And just say, look this is mommys bed and mommy needs sleep. You have a bed, but if you can't stay there, then this is your place. She will take to it, and then you have a new issue to deal with, but it is an easy issue (just slowly move it to where you want her to be *S*)

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - 01:12 pm:

Before #2 was born I tended to all of DS's night wakings, etc.. After DD was born I recruited DH to help out more. I simply couldn't do it all by myself, especially with a newborn. After all, they're his kids, too! I suggest encouraging your DH to pick up your DD and put her back to bed. {{{HUGS}}}

By Fraggle on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - 01:13 pm:

I remember my youngest DD going through this, too. We have a futon in our bedroom, so we told her she could sleep there if she woke up in the middle of the night. It probably lasted for a couple of weeks and then one night she just stayed in her room and hasn't come into our room since then.

By Heaventree on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - 02:51 pm:

DS was going to sleep around 9 pm which I thought was too late, but he didn't seem tired before that.

We started putting him to bed between 7 and 8 and now he sleeps until 6:30 or 7:30 am. No more waking during the night. It seems the earlier we put him down the longer he sleeps.

By Cat on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - 03:09 pm:

I don't have any advise other than what's already been mentioned, but I want to send some {{{{{hugs}}}}}. I remember that sleep deprivation. It was the pits! Just remember, it doesn't last forever.