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I have a 4 year old daughter that wakes up nearly every night...sometimes once but as many as 4 times a night. She wakes up, comes into my room and asks me to either tuck her back in or to sleep in my bed. I always get up and tuck her back in. This has been going on forever...I have recently tried a little behavior modification. She has a sticker chart...each time she sleeps thru the night, she gets a sticker. After 4 stickers she gets to go to the store and pick out something small. Started that on Dec. 12th...within 8 days she had 4 stickers and we took her for her 'treat'. Then we upped the ante to 5 stickers. We have yet to get that 5th sticker...some 16 days later. I am going crazy with lack of sleep! Any other suggestions???
Cats Pjs
Cats Pjs
9 Comments for "4 year old still waking up at night"
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Sorry about the lack of sleep! Going through similar forum posts, it seems like this is a common problem for children your daughter's age.
Introducing the sticker chart was a great idea. I know the most important thing it took for my parents to get my little siblings to go to bed was consistency. Even if it doesn't look like a solution will help, keep it going as best you can.
For other ideas from parents in similar situations, check out these previous posts:
[url]http://www.milwaukeemoms.com/forum/generalboards/momtomom/111384331.html[/url]
[url]http://www.milwaukeemoms.com/forum/generalboards/momtomom/92847838.html[/url]
Good luck with everything! -
When I was a kid, my parents would make me sleep on the floor when I came in their room. You could try that route, she is still in there with your but it probably won't be comfortable.
My ds is 6 and he has what we call his ninja skills. He sneaks in our bed in the middle of the night and we won't know it until its time to wake up or if we get kicked or etc. I would love for him to stop doing it but its hard since we don't know that he is most of the time. LOL. There are times where dh will put him back in his bed, but I can't carry him anymore so sometimes if I do notice him, I don't want to wake up hubby to move him. Lazy yes, but when hubby has to wake at 4:30am and its 2am, I have a hard time waking hubby up for fear of waking my ds up to move him. -
Is she nighttime potty trained? Is it possible she has to go to the bathroom, but doesn't realize that's why she is waking up? My DD did the same thing around that age and it seemed to stop when she became nighttime pt'd (around age 5).
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My 4yr old son used to do this, and still does sometimes just not as frequently as he used to. What worked for me was to have a conversation with him during the day about it. I asked him why he does it and simply said he cannot do it anymore. I said if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he MUST stay in bed. This conversation took place when it was just the two of us snuggling during quiet time and I brought it up several other times during the day. Now he only does it about once a week and every morning he asks me, "Mom, did I stay in my own bed?" I will make a big deal out of it if he did......Good Luck!
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[quote=PinkBunny]Is she nighttime potty trained? Is it possible she has to go to the bathroom, but doesn't realize that's why she is waking up? My DD did the same thing around that age and it seemed to stop when she became nighttime pt'd (around age 5).[/quote]
Good point! She is not nighttime potty trained...she doesn't mention needing to use the bath but I will ask from now on. Thanks! -
Perhaps you upped the ante too quickly. She just achieved 4 nights in a row once; maybe going to 5 immediately was too daunting for her.
i'd say do 4 nights in a row at least four times (four prizes) and then up the ante. By then it should be a habit; or very close to it. -
My 3 1/2 year old is a night-waker, always has been. Can't complain too much though because it's only once a night, and like your child, wants to be tucked in, wants me to lay with him, etc. The sleeping on the floor thing sort of works for us, but sometimes he'll lay down on the floor and then STILL wake me up by asking if I'll rub his back, sing him a song, etc. We tried to tell him not to come to our room until he hears our alarm goes off (6:00 a.m.) but sometimes he'll start yelling from his room at 3:30 a.m., "Is the alarm going to go off soon?" repeatedly. Our next approach is going to be to put an alarm clock in his room and talk about the time, but haven't followed through yet. Thank God our 1 year old started sleeping through the night at 3 months...if I had two kids doing this I might lose my mind :(
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Wish I had some words of advice, but my 3 yr son still comes into bed with us. But I'm lazy so I just let him sleep with us, I might however steel your idea about the sticker/treat thing. Just know you're not alone in this battle!
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i found a fun little trick that might be worth a try, though it may work better for younger kids: [url]http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/12/tape-trick.html[/url]
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