Advertisements
My 2 year old loves to be rocked to sleep. While I don't mind rocking her to sleep (actually enjoy it), she can't seem to comfort herself when she wakes up in the middle of the night.
She has been waking up for the last 2 weeks every night. The first several nights she woke up screaming. I thought it was her tummy (lots of history there) but the Gastro doc said she is fine. So, now I have to figure out a way for her to soothe herself back to sleep. I am thinking that by teaching her how to fall asleep on her own, this will also help her in the middle of the night when she wakes.
Currently, we are both quite sleep deprived and need a solution soon before I go crazy.
What way would you recommend to transition her? I am not a fan of the let her scream it out approach.
Like
Share
It is hard when your little one is used to being rocked to sleep to change it. The thing I always do with all my fc is to rock them for about 5 - 10 min, but only until they are relaxed. I then put them to bed AWAKE (not yelling, caps just for emphasis). It will take awhile, but it will be so worth it.
Another thought, waking in the night screaming is actually a pretty normal phase for 2 - 3 yo's. They are having what are called night terrors. When this happens you might try going in and lightly patting her back, without saying a word, for a few moments until she is relaxed again. I did this with my fs and he is now able to go right back to sleep when waking in the night.
Good luck.
Advertisements
Thank you for the response Withay. I have tried rocking her for just 10 minutes but a lot of times she is out by then. Maybe I should just try the 5 minutes and see if she is still Awake at that time. If so, try moving her over to the crib. Great feedback on how to handle the night terrors. I will try that with her. My neighbor has offered to take her for a few nights so I can catch up on some sleep. Thus, I can start trying these things with her when I am a little more fresh. Thanks again!