Toddler sleep regression

Ok friends, talk to me...

A little back story... DS is 26 months. Our DD was born on 11/29 - 4 weeks early. At that time, DS had an awful cold/fever. A little over a week after we brought DD home, she was readmitted to the PICU with RSV. Our stay lasted 10 days. When we finally brought her home for good, DS came down with an ear infection.. we are all finally well and needless to say, it's been a stressful and crazy 6 weeks for all of us.

I know our DS has been through a lot, but for the last week or so, he is going through one hell of a sleep regression. Tonight was particularly bad. He will not let us leave his room - screams and cries so hard I feel like he's gonna make himself throw up! It takes 30-60 mins for us to set,le him and when he finally falls asleep he's up screaming 1-4 times throughout the night until we finally relent and bring him to our bed if it's after 4 or 5am. I don't know how to remedy this!

Nothing has changed with his bedtime routine. Every time I go in to settle him I tell him to lay down and repeat the same script - mommy and daddy are right next door, it's time for sleep, I love you, see you in the morning.

Anyone have any experience with toddlers regressing? What helped? Do we just need to wait it out?

Toddler sleep regression

Have your tried a nightlight? It was around that time my daughter didn't like it totally dark. We never brought her into our bed but we usually do sit with our daughter for a few minutes until she falls asleep. It seems to comfort her and we can then leave and she (almost always) sleeps at night.

Toddler sleep regression

That's tough considering how much he's gone through. When I had my second a month early I didn't get to say goodbye to my 2.5yo bc she was asleep and I though I'd be right back. I didn't see her for 5 full days. She was happy as can be hanging with grandma but when I did come home the first bedtime was terrible. Suddenly all her emotions came pouring out and we both cried for a while (I'm tearing up just writing this). It was really hard the first few nights bc she was scared I'd disappear again but thankfully it didn't last long. She was a very verbal kid and logical thinker even at that age so I'm sure it helped that we could talk it out.

My youngest is now almost 26 months. I can't see having the same kind of conversation at her age or level. She does still wake up during the night and I go in, fix her blankets, and tell her to go to sleep. Usually it's no more than once or twice but on occasion it's more. Compared to waking to a newborn or to a nursing baby it's no big deal so I don't mind. DH just laughs that she misses me. Once in a while she wakes a bunch of times and that sucks but I can't imagine dealing with that and an infant. Hopefully he does get back to better habits soon. I know my older one did have a few regressions after we had the baby so we did sticker charts and things like that but she was a bit older which helped.

Message edited 1/7/2017 9:00:07 PM.

Re: Toddler sleep regression

I feel like they all go through phases. My older son, who is 5, still goes through phases of waking up. Your son is probably doing a lot of adjusting right now so that's probably the trigger. Just be consistent and hang in there. It's such an annoying process. Good luck

Re: Toddler sleep regression

DS goes through phases like that. We got him a nightlight that stays on all night. He sleeps with a few stuffed animals and falls asleep with music on. There was a short time that he wanted the light on dim in his room until he fell asleep or we'd leave the hallway light on with his door open.

He's almost 4 and there are still nights he's off or wants to sleep with us. For me, it's just about consistency and he usually gets back on track in a few days.