my 20 month old boy won't sleep, got any suggestions???

Question

He goes to bed at 8 every night, awake in his cot, that is fine we go up at 10 normally and he is fast asleep, lovely but by around 3 or 4 in the morning he is wide awake, and bouncing around, we put him in bed with us (i know we shouldn't!!!) but he is absoulutely wide awake, he gets up and goes into my other son's room and tries to wake him up, which is very un-fair because he goes to school, so i end up downstairs with him, it is driving me and my husband insane and i am so tired all the time, any sensible suggestions please help. oh yes and he screams at the top of his lungs when he does wake up!!!!

Answer 1

they have these all natrual teething tablets that make them sleepy try those for a day

Answer 2

Don't worry too much about him jumping into bed with you, ours did that as well, in fact it got to the point were it wouldn't even wake us up. We would just wake up in the morning and find him there between us. This went on till he was 4 and then we decided to put a stop to it.. it was an effort to wake ourselves up when he jumped into our bed but it only took 2 or 3 nights to get him out of the habit and back into his own bed.
As for getting him to sleep, the only thing I found that worked 100% was to put him in the baby seat in the back of the car and drive around.. fell asleep again in about 60 seconds

Answer 3

he will start to understand 'reason' very soon and you will be able to bribe him more successfully to stay in bed. a wall chart is really excellent. take him to a store, get him to chose a little toy (not too big otherwise he'll always want big ones), something like an addition to a train set or character set is always fun. put it on a shelf and tell him when he gets ten stickers for good nights sleep he can have it. take away stickers for terrible nights. it is great incentive, and he's coming to the age where he will start to understand his gain.
also, try blackout curtains. they are really great, and have worked wonders in our house.
there are also great (but pricey) sunlight alarm clocks where it simulates sunset and sunrise. tell him he can only get up once the 'sun' has come up.
last resort, give him his own torch and tell him he can play with certain toys that are kept at the bottom of his bed until mummy and daddy get up. good luck, its a real life destroyer lack of sleep!!!!
also, i wouldnt put him to bed later than he already goes. he needs the sleep, so its best to teach him to stay in bed rather than send him to bed exhausted and overtired.
maybe take him to a park after dinner to run around and get out any excess energy before bed to help him sleep through the night

Answer 4

Does he take naps during the day? If so try keeping him up I had to do that with my 1 yr old for about a month. Is he comfortable in his room or bed. Do you give him sugar or anything with sugar in it (juice, syrup, candy etc.)! What time does he eat dinner. If he eats too close to bedtime then maybe you should try changing that too or changing his bedtime. These are all suggestions I got from my doctor and other parents I know who have gone through the same thing.

Answer 5

Try a later bedtime a nap in the day is fine but then put up with him being cranky until 9.30 10 and feel the benefit in the morning if he rises at 6 that isn't to unsociable

Answer 6

I nanny for two twin boys who do the same but they wake up at 5:30am and are wide awake. They also go to bed about 8pm. Some kids are just the early birds and there is really nothing you can do. They should grow out of it because my daughter did. She would go to bed about 9pm and wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning only because that is when my hubby got up and stirred things around by turning lights on and getting ready for work. So there was noise and activity going on so she thought it was time to get up. Same with the boys I nanny their dad is up at 5:30am getting ready for work. I don't have really any suggestions on how to keep them asleep longer beside maybe being quieter when getting ready for work and hopefully he will out grown it.

Answer 7

Maybe you are putting to bed really early. I cannot put by daughter to bed that early. Her bed time is exactly at 10:30 and let me tell you, it's good. She sleeps at least 10 hours a night. Usually she goes to sleep at 10:30 and wakes up at 10:30. Sometimes at 12:30. So maybe you should try keeping him up until that time and maybe he'll sleep longer.

Answer 8

Don't let him take long naps in the day, later around 7 before he sleeps do some activity with him, tired him a bit out so this way he rest up more time and his sleep time begin to expand every day a little bit more.

Answer 9

i had the exact same problem. we tried everything but believe me you will live to regret putting him in with you..leave some toys in the cot AFTER he goes to sleep for when he wakes,put him up as late as you can and absolutely NO daytime naps...you may just have to accept that this is how he is, my boy is nearly 13 now and still is the last one too sleep! as they get older they can occupy themselves so it does get easier....many breaktimes at work my husband fell asleep! (at least he got a break!) sorry if this isnt helpful but i am speaking from experience and can tell you that it doesnt last forever

Answer 10

You can stop putting him down for naps, doesn't sound like he needs it. You may want to put him to be later, too. try letting him have a little drink, then try to read him a story with the lights dimmed down to settle him down and try to get him back in bed. May even have to give him a very small snack and brush his teeth again. Otherwise, I would say try putting a fan that doesn't blow on him or something for some white noise in his room. My daughter sleeps horribly without her radio barely playing and her fan.

Answer 11

If he takes a nap during the day stop putting him down for that nap.