My kids are trying to kill me I swear!

[norahsmommy]

For 5 nights in a row and at least 4 weeks before that, I've had barely any sleep. My almost one year old gets up 4-7 times a night. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, he starts the minute I go to bed. When he is up he stays up for at least a half an hour. Last night I was up with him until 12:30 ( his bed time is 8 and he went to bed fine. i had work to do so i stayed up until about 11). He was up again at not quite 2 until 3 and then at 4:30 he was up. My 3 year old turned on all the lights in the main area of the house and then went back to bed. I have no idea what time she did that. While I was trying to get him back to sleep one of the kids was wandering the house and opening and shutting their door over and over. So now we are all up and the kids are hyper and loud and I'm about to cry because I'm so tired. Last night he got up every hour and pretty much does this every day. I can't figure it out. I have tried getting to him fast while he is still half asleep, I've tried changing him frequently at night, I've tried letting him cry ( doesn't work at all he literally cries for hours, nods off for 15 minutes and then cries for hours again.). I've tried letting him fuss for about 15 minutes to see if he will fall asleep again before going in. Dh has tried putting him to bed ( that just makes him hysterical). I've tried making sure he his really full before bed because he always wants to eat nonstop from about 5 pm to bedtime. I've tried warm baths and lotion. All my kids have done the frequent night waking and I have no idea why. They are trying to drive me batty, I guess. :(. I had one night last week where he only got up once. That felt so good!!

[CJsMommy92]

He realizes crying will eventually work if he cries loud enough. I had this same battle with my baby. The pediatrcian told me they will never quit if you give them any hope you'll come. After about 3 nights of Cj screaming and making me feel really sad he finally started staying in bed all night. With your other children they are old enough to punish for being up. If you spanked them or took somthing away if you caught them being up if it wasn't for a drink or bathroom they'd quit

[CJsMommy92]

Also try not to let him nap so much in the daytime. He's getting enough rest doing that becaue he's napping during the day while you need to be up

[norahsmommy]

He takes 1 nap during the day for about an hour and a half. When he was taking 2, 2 hour naps a day he actually slept much better at night. But he won't nap like that anymore.

Quoting CJsMommy92:

Also try not to let him nap so much in the daytime. He's getting enough rest doing that becaue he's napping during the day while you need to be up

[norahsmommy]

The older kids get punished consistently each time they do this. They still do it but they will stop for a while after being punished.
I let ds cry every night for a week until he quit and started sleeping more but then he got stomach flu and I was up with him frequently for days. Then he wouldn't sleep so we did the cuing thing again for another 4 days he stopped but then he got sick again and we had to get up with him a lot. Since doing the crying thing he is terrified of his bed, clings to me all day and whines or freaks out if I walk away from him. He was previously a very independent baby. He actually ripped my sweater trying to hold on to me when I tried to put him down so I could do dishes. I feel like I broke the baby :(

Quoting CJsMommy92:

He realizes crying will eventually work if he cries loud enough. I had this same battle with my baby. The pediatrcian told me they will never quit if you give them any hope you'll come. After about 3 nights of Cj screaming and making me feel really sad he finally started staying in bed all night. With your other children they are old enough to punish for being up. If you spanked them or took somthing away if you caught them being up if it wasn't for a drink or bathroom they'd quit

[Ktina11]

Honestly, the littlest one sounds overtired to me. If he is constantly wanting to eat in the evening, for our house that is a sign that they are sleepy and are trying to stay awake. I will say that my little ones have gone through spurts of not sleeping well....but I generally can't complain. They know to come get me or DH if they wake uo. Only my oldest at 5.5 is allowed to go to the bathroom or get a drink on his own. He is the only one we can trust to not get into things or leave the water running all night. Mds (4.5) has been getting up one to two times a night for various reasons. He is about ready to drop his nap completely.Although I want to snuggle...I immediately take him back and put him in bed. We established this norm so there is no arguing. Yds (just turned 3) is very reliable in waking us if he wakes. He just wants someone to tuck him back in. Do you have a bright nite light? Do you leave the door cracked? Is he afraid of the closet or under the bed?

[Ktina11]

I have a C.J. too! Is it short for something? My son is Christian Jeremiah. :)

Quoting CJsMommy92:

He realizes crying will eventually work if he cries loud enough. I had this same battle with my baby. The pediatrcian told me they will never quit if you give them any hope you'll come. After about 3 nights of Cj screaming and making me feel really sad he finally started staying in bed all night. With your other children they are old enough to punish for being up. If you spanked them or took somthing away if you caught them being up if it wasn't for a drink or bathroom they'd quit

[norahsmommy]

It's my 3 yr old dd that does the house wandering. Our bedroom is in our walkout basement and the kids all sleep on the main level. I don't always hear her when she gets up, even with the baby monitor. She isn't scared and won't tell anyone she is up. She will just turn all the lights on and go potty, then go to bed or wander more. She would probably come get us but we have a gate on the stairs.

The baby is overtired. We try to get him to take 2 naps but he won't.

Quoting Ktina11:

Honestly, the littlest one sounds overtired to me. If he is constantly wanting to eat in the evening, for our house that is a sign that they are sleepy and are trying to stay awake. I will say that my little ones have gone through spurts of not sleeping well....but I generally can't complain. They know to come get me or DH if they wake uo. Only my oldest at 5.5 is allowed to go to the bathroom or get a drink on his own. He is the only one we can trust to not get into things or leave the water running all night. Mds (4.5) has been getting up one to two times a night for various reasons. He is about ready to drop his nap completely.Although I want to snuggle...I immediately take him back and put him in bed. We established this norm so there is no arguing. Yds (just turned 3) is very reliable in waking us if he wakes. He just wants someone to tuck him back in. Do you have a bright nite light? Do you leave the door cracked? Is he afraid of the closet or under the bed?

[jkleinman]

Wow! I am so sorry. I have no advice, but good luck!

[CJsMommy92]

I'm sorry. I've never known a baby afraid of their bed.