# Frequently waking 4 year old



## RABITGRL (Sep 3, 2008)

I have asked for help with this situation before. That thread can be read here if anyone is interested: http://www.mothering.com/forum/37-c...eaned-2-year-old-still-waking-constantly.html

My daughter has never been a great sleeper, and the struggle continues. 
We have a regular bedtime and routine that seems to work. She goes to sleep just fine. She sleeps in her own bed, in a room with her big sister. The trouble is she wakes up many times a night, and the whole family is effected.

She has probably slept through the night 6 times in her whole life. She will typically wake up anywhere from 1-5 times per night. Most often she gets out of bed, comes into my room, and crawls into my bed very quietly.

I always return her to her own bed when this happens.

Sometimes she stays in her bed and calls for me, and/or cries. When she does this I go to her, hold her, pat her back, whatever it takes to get her back to sleep. I never bring her into my bed.

Every night at bedtime I ask her to please stay in her bed, and to please not get in my bed. I have explained that this makes me very tired. We have a reward chart where she can get positive marks for staying in bed. None of that has worked.

When I ask her why she is doing this she just says my bed is more cozy. That is the only reason she has ever voiced on her frequent night wakings. I have tried everything I can think of to make her bed very cozy.

I don't want to lock my bedroom door at night. I don't want to ignore her cries either. However, something needs to change. I feel like I only get 4-6 hours of sleep every night, and I am just TIRED.

A friend suggested giving her melatonin. I have researched this option, but thought it best to seek more advice before going that route.

Any thoughts are appreciated.


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## mumto1 (Feb 17, 2016)

I dunno. I think it's typical for this age to develop new fears. I can't remember if it was at 4 or 6 my son had a sudden irrational fear of the dark. I remember it was around 4 I didn't try to keep my son in a room alone, I just put a small mattress beside ours (which was already on the floor). This eliminated the whole up down scenarios you describe and lasted for about a year. I do have memories as a small child wandering the house alone in the middle of the night and feeling bereft that my parents categorically would not allow me into their room. I couldn't tell you why I was up. I think sometimes it was nightmares, sometimes it was noisy weather.


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## sageowl (Nov 16, 2010)

I remember my son had a lot of issues with staying asleep at this age too. I think it's just something about being four, and all of the development that goes with that... So I'm pretty sure it's normal, and she will probably grow out of it within the next year.


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