# Night owl toddler is driving me nuts!!



## Perogi (Mar 31, 2004)

Okay, mamas, I seriously feel like I'm going to lose it on dd. If it wasn't for my loving and patient dh I don't know where we'd be. I cannot get dd into bed before 10pm and it is killing me. She started moving her bedtime in the summer and we went through hell and back trying to get her to sleep. Eventually I just said I couldn't do the nighttime battle, that I was just going to let her go and see what happened and she will climb up on me, cuddle in and fall asleep between 10-11pm. Today she was up at 8:20am, napped from 12:30 - 3:30 and would not sleep until 10:30. Days that she is up earlier or naps shorter don't seem to make any difference. Certainly not enough to get her to bed before 10. It's driving me up the wall. Anytime after 9pm I feel so frustrated and resentful of her still being up and lately I have started to really have to work hard to control my anger. I am pregnant and exhausted and just want a little time to myself before I fall into bed at night.

So, is there anything I can do??? Is she just naturally programmed like this? She totally prefers to sleep in and stay up late. I had her on a better routine for about 3 days after the time change but she slowly just reverted back to this one. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up....


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## morgainesmama (Sep 1, 2004)

Hugs to you mama. We go through this too. Tonight at 10:30 my 2yo was telling me, "I not sleep! I wake up at nighttime."

Yup, he speaks true.

I too am going crazy. He's been like this from birth. I used to childproof the bedroom and just let him crawl around for an hour or two in the dark at night. No joke. I was working third shift and just couldn't stay awake.

Now, he gets up, gets into the fridge and little corners of the house. He can undo the deadbolt we found out one morning when he let himself outside. He's not only a night owl but a dawn waker.

Sorry I don't have any advice, except be vigilant in making your home toddler safe. We will buying a second baby gate soon to stack on top of the first because he's almost at the point he can climb the high one, and I'm so afraid of him getting out of the house again.

Good luck, and make sure your dh is splitting the load with you!!!


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## Perogi (Mar 31, 2004)

Thanks Morgainesmama - so I guess it will just get worse as she gets older??

Dh is trying very, very hard to split the load with me, especially since we found out I'm pg but dd will go beserk and cry and cry for Mommy. So that's a tough one.


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## musingmama (Oct 31, 2004)

I am in the same boat too, from birth ds has always been a nightowl, he used to stay up til 1am or even 2, lately we got him down to 10-11, he went on a long stretch of going down at 9 for a couple of months but that has vanished up in smoke, I think because of teething. These past couple of weeks he just wants to nurse ALL night long, I haven't gotten more than a couple hrs sleep (scattered in half hr or so segments) in a long time. I am at wits end. I think its the molars. I am just so exhasuted all I can do is lay there and get extremely frustrated because if I get him up, he is running all over the house, and up for 3-4 hrs. I've read the no cry sleep solution book, but didn't find much practical advice. He doesn't want to be rocked at all any more, and he will never fall asleep w/o nursing, doesn't use pacifiers anymore.
Well, I am of no help here. Sorry, I guess I just needed to vent!
I've also found that the length of nap(s), and wake up time does not affect the bedtime
what is to be done with them??????I love him dearly but can't keep this up!







:


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## musingmama (Oct 31, 2004)

ohh, I really feel for you being pregnant








that must be extremely difficult and more exhausting than i can imagine


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## phaeon (Nov 15, 2004)

My DD, who will be 7 mos on Thanksgiving, also goes to bed super late (midnight or 1 AM.) She used to sleep like a champ from 10 wks until 5 mos. She would go 8, 9 hours without fail- which made the late bedtime very tolerable, although the length of time made me a little nervous... I even called the LC to make sure it was OK because 8-9 hrs didn't seem very normal for an EBF baby! (of course, she made up for the nursing time during the day, but I didn't mind...) Then, all of a sudden, she started night waking again. Now, she still goes to bed late, but nurses 3 to 5 times during the night. Sometimes she just latches on and nibbles ALL night!







I think it is a combination of (a) teething, and (b) making up for what she missed out on during waking hours, since she's busier now during the day with crawling and exploring.

I don't have any answers for ya, just commisery. But I'm pretty sure she won't be nursing like this when she's in high school, which is 15 years from now. And, since I graduated 15 years ago and it feels like yesterday for me, that gives me a lot of encouragement. :LOL


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## morgainesmama (Sep 1, 2004)

I'm just glad I'm an unschooler, and that in a few years he can play safely and quietly while i sleep.


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## beth568 (Jul 1, 2004)

That sounds very much like my DD, who is now 3. She didn't get to sleep before 10 or 11 pm until she was almost 2, when she finally gave up napping. Once the naps stopped altogether, she was out by 7 pm. Now that she's adjusted to that, she's usually asleep by 8:30 and up by 7. No naps, and sometimes she still wakes at night.

I did not see any difference in her bedtime when her naps were shorter, nor did her waking time appear to affect bedtime. But once she cut out sleeping during the day entirely, bedtime was suddenly a breeze.

Of course, I have no reason other than my experience with this one child to suggest that eliminating naps might be the answer. But what happens when you let your DD stay up all day? Is she really cranky in the evening, or can she get through it? Might be something to try, if you can keep her awake...

I feel for you. I remember how AWFUL those late, late bedtimes were. Hugs.


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## Perogi (Mar 31, 2004)

I've tried skipping the naptime a couple of times when it maybe got interrupted by something else in our day already. A couple of times she has fallen asleep on the way home from church, slept the 10 minutes in the car and then gotten up when we got home. Even still, around 5pm there is no way to keep her awake and she crashed in the living room and slept there soundly even with everything else going on around her for at least an hour.


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