Toddler not sleeping!

cyning

And I mean really not sleeping! She's 22 months and has dropped her nap in the last few weeks. If she doesn't have a nap she will go to bed at 7 and wake anything between 8 & 12 and can be awake for 3/4 hours. If she does have a nap it can be 1/2 on one memorable occasion a few weeks ago 3 in the morn. It doesn't matter where I put her to sleep her bed my bed it's the same thing (and I have no objection to her in my bed if she would just sleep). She's up at 630 every morning no matter what and I am exhausted.

Some of it is down to frequent tonsillitis and other infections I have no doubt but I can't fix that.

Any ideas? I'm exhausted. My husband is working 6 days at the moment and is mostly gone from 530am to 630pm so it's really all down to me. And no one will mind her as she gets sick so often.

I literally don't care if she wakes 3/4 times a night once she goes back to sleep. She doesn't have a bottle but does drink huge amounts of water night and day.

Couchkitten

I definitely don't have to any magic sleep answers so I won't even try. However the fact that she drinks so much water esp at night seems unusual. Maybe there is a medical problem there?

cyning

She's been tested for diabetes a number of times but her blood sugars are always just normal (unless she's dehydrated then they get very very low very quickly).

There is some medical issue she gets sick much more frequently than other kids her age but no one has been able to find out why. So it's frustrating on every level!

dori_dormer

Have you read the no cry sleep solution? It's very good for all ages. How is she surviving on so little sleep lol? My just 2 yr old naps 2-3 hrs and sleeps 11-12 hrs at night. He does wake often enough tho. Last night was 4 times. No idea why. Took him in with me but he was still restless and tossing. I'm putting it down to him only napping for 1 hr in nursery that afternoon. And him refusing his dinner.
You could. Have a look at her diet maybe? What shes eating in the evening, and at what time? Also if she sick a lot is she on any long term medication that might mess with her sleep?
Also she could be going through the 2 yr leap a little early?
My friend has a child that is constantly sick also. No medical reason. Just crap immune system. Also they pick up everythign going when they are young. She tries to avoid antibiotics if possible as they really mess kids systems up.

dori_dormer

Have you read the no cry sleep solution? It's very good for all ages. How is she surviving on so little sleep lol? My just 2 yr old naps 2-3 hrs and sleeps 11-12 hrs at night. He does wake often enough tho. Last night was 4 times. No idea why. Took him in with me but he was still restless and tossing. I'm putting it down to him only napping for 1 hr in nursery that afternoon. And him refusing his dinner.
You could. Have a look at her diet maybe? What shes eating in the evening, and at what time? Also if she sick a lot is she on any long term medication that might mess with her sleep?
Also she could be going through the 2 yr leap a little early?
My friend has a child that is constantly sick also. No medical reason. Just crap immune system. Also they pick up everythign going when they are young. She tries to avoid antibiotics if possible as they really mess kids systems up.

John Mason

I have one of them. This week have been awake from 1am to 5am. then we all have to get up at 6am and go to work/crèche.

We just go to bed really early and hope they will grow out of it eventually.

The no-cry sleep solution didn't work for me

cyning

She's on prophylactic antibiotics every mon/wed/fri as the infections are so severe and frequent, and probiotics and a multivitamin. But she's on this particular one since June. She was anaemic but isn't any more but is desperately pale at the moment. She is just finished a course of inhalers. She also faints we have no reason for that yet.

I might reread the no cry sleep and see can I try anything else. I have no idea how she survives I'm giving serious thought to locking the office door on tea break and going for a power nap!!

At least it's not just me... Is it wrong that makes me feel a small better

yellow hen

Jesus cyning that's horrific. Im not sure if I'm confusing you with someone else here but weren't you going to see an immunologist? Did that happen? I'm absolutely no expert and I'm sure I've done everything wrong but my son, when he's asthmatic, is a shocking sleeper. I know on those occasions that it's because he's unwell so personally I couldn't use something like the no cry solution. In your case it sounds less about a habit you need to break and more about a solution to a medical illness. It's probably not helpful but on the advice of one or two others here, I've been giving my son vitamin d and a probiotic and although it took a while to see an improvement, we're now 7 weeks since his last bad cold and asthma attack. I really think it's the vitamin d. Could you try that?

cyning

Ya that's her Yellow Hen... There are no words to describe the ignorance and obnoxiousness of the immunologist. And the fact that he plain made stuff up in his letter. He also literally gave out after accepting the referral that there was no point in us going to see him as we had appt in Crumlin the following week. We have seen infectious diseases and she has slightly low IgA but it's not low enough to be significant apparently. Cardiology tomorrow. So maybe I'm expecting too much from her.

She wasn't too bad last night woke at 11 asleep at 1.30 and while very unsettled after that crying in her sleep stayed asleep. I don't care if she's in my bed once she's asleep.

There's vit d in the multivit I think but must double check maybe an extra dose in case that's the issue?

John Mason

I work with someone whose daughter had similar issues. she brought her to Dr. Goodwin McDonnell in Dublin.

She has been diagnosed with Asthma. She is on 2 inhalers and hasn't been sick at all this year but they had 3 years of hell.

I am sure you have looked into all of this anyway.

yellow hen

cyning wrote: »

There's vit d in the multivit I think but must double check maybe an extra dose in case that's the issue?

It probably won't do a lot but when my son gets a cold or sniffle, it's a very sloppy slope into full chest infection and asthma attack. So we figured if we could build his resistance or immunity to the sniffles, we'd have some chance of controlling the asthma. So far, ok although it's only been 7 weeks but that has been 7 weeks of damp and muggy weather.

Have you booked to see another immunologist? Don't let it rest there. There's clearly something not right with her and it might be something you can control with the right advice. Hope it improves for you soon.

Mink

I've only recently had a small taste of what you're going through with the whole up for hours thing and it is torture. I prob asked you this before but did the restlessness start at same time as any particular meds/ supplements?

If it's a leap/phase then it shouldn't be going on more than a few weeks (in my experience)

Sligo1

Hi cyning, sorry to hear this. Hope you guys are doing ok. Has there been any change to her medications or inhalers? Steroids and steroid inhalers taken in the evening or night time could possibly interfere with sleep. Hopefully it's just a phase and you both get a good nights sleep soon. X

Cunning Stunt

I have no advice, just wanted to chime in and say that I know what its like. Our boy just turned 2 in dec and for the past few weeks he has been waking fresh as a daisy at different hours of the night /morning and taking hours to go back to sleep. He cries, sings, talks, everything. We tried changing bedtime, taking away naps etc. But nothing helps. We are hoping its just a phase. But my god its very draining! Someone here mentioned a 2 yr leap - is there such a thing?

TrueIt

Has she ever slept in a different house? If so, still trouble sleeping?

Roselm

I don't suppose putting her to bed later would help?! Like much later, around 11pm??

cyning

It's going on since the middle of Dec... She got her 14 months vaccinations got sick and has needed antihistamines (for a localised reaction), 3 courses of antibiotics (2 tonsillitis and an ear/throat infection not sure she needed that one tbh), steroids (for croup like stridor with bouts of coughing with one of the bouts of tonsillitis), she was back on Atrovant inhalers for a wheeze but is off that again too. So all she's on for the last 2 weeks is her prophylactic antibiotic and probiotic and multivitamin all she is on for the last 7 months. It sounds like a lot but is pretty normal for her.

She never really sleeps anywhere else so not sure about that.

I'm going to hope it's a leap combined with dropping her nap. She didn't go to bed till 1130 last night as we were put at a family thing she woke at 2 for an hour and a few more times for a few minutes.... But she slept until 830 this morn

bp

You poor thing no advice, just sympathy

RentDayBlues

Do you think perhaps it could be the nap thing? As in, she's not getting a nap so she's not sleeping well at night to get into a deep sleep, and the cycle continues.

In our house sleep begets sleep. My 23 month old recently tried to drop her nap and I let it go for a week, until I enforced the naps again. That week she was ok but did wake at night which she normally wouldn't. It now might take up to an hour for her to nap but she does eventually.

When my 3 year old dropped her final nap we had weeks of night wakings, not as bad as you're having but bad enough. Took about 3 months for her to get over the dropped nap and sleep well at night

cyning

I wish! Even a half an hour nap at 11 means it could be 1 in the morning before she falls asleep (or 2.50am one morning. Still not over that!).... My older girl dropped them at this age too (22 months).

Neyite

My lad never slept like other babies, even as a newborn, if the books said babies of that age usually nap for 1.5hrs, my lad would be anywhere between 20 mins and 40 mins. And it continued on like that, with him waking several times a night. Up until he turned three, we'd usually have at least 3 night wakings a night, sometimes as much as 10. Tried every book and sleep solution and he resisted them all, right up until he was about 3.

He sleeps through mostly now. Thank fcuk. So I've no advice or suggestions, but you fellow-sleep deprived parents have my sympathies.

yellow hen

I think babies/toddlers are who they are and if they're not going to conform, they're not going to confirm. Our lad was a terrible sleeper as baby...would scream in the cot so I'd walk most days and he began to nap for more than 20mins at a time when he was about 1. He's 3 next month and although he sleeps all night, up time is 5:30am. He still naps for 45 mins every day and we tried to drop it but it didn't change the morning wake time and instead, he;d be falling asleep into his dinner at 5:30. I've learned to just go with the flow now.

dori_dormer

Cunning Stunt wrote: »

I have no advice, just wanted to chime in and say that I know what its like. Our boy just turned 2 in dec and for the past few weeks he has been waking fresh as a daisy at different hours of the night /morning and taking hours to go back to sleep. He cries, sings, talks, everything. We tried changing bedtime, taking away naps etc. But nothing helps. We are hoping its just a phase. But my god its very draining! Someone here mentioned a 2 yr leap - is there such a thing?

Yep there are development leaps every 6 months from 2 yrs old. Can't remember the name , maybe gessells?

cyning

She woke at 1230 last night. Sometime before 5 when she finally went to sleep. She dozed off a few times alright. Then she made her 3 year old sister cry because "she was just so tired and Néad wont stop singing." I was an hour and a half late for work we all slept in. Deep breaths! She will eventually sleep but I'm sleep deprived at the moment. I'll go for a lovely 5k walk on my lunch should perk me up a bit

Unreg0909

Cyning did your daughter ever have acid reflux? Everything you're describing sounds like my 2 year old (bar the fainting) - she has severe acid reflux (confirmed by 2 barium swallow X Ray's) and allergies (cows milk, soya, peanut). She has never slept a night since she was born, despite being on varying medications etc. Just when you said about the stridor, my little one had this very badly until she was put on anti reflux meds. Just a thought and of course I could be totally wrong. How is she with foods/milk etc also feel your pain on the sleep deprivation

cyning

Unreg0909 wrote: »

Cyning did your daughter ever have acid reflux? Everything you're describing sounds like my 2 year old (bar the fainting) - she has severe acid reflux (confirmed by 2 barium swallow X Ray's) and allergies (cows milk, soya, peanut). She has never slept a night since she was born, despite being on varying medications etc. Just when you said about the stridor, my little one had this very badly until she was put on anti reflux meds. Just a thought and of course I could be totally wrong. How is she with foods/milk etc also feel your pain on the sleep deprivation

She did confirmed by barium too... She eventually settled on losec but is off it since the summer. She's ok with foods doesn't drink milk but is ok with cheese/yogurt etc. I know at night she does a lot of swallowing in her sleep so maybe she still has some degree of reflux? Might mention it to the paed next time we see him. She is getting over another ear infection so I'm hoping she settles a bit more soon.

CaraMay

With so much antibiotic, there is often an overgrowth of yeast in the gut which can cause night wakings amongst many other things. Look up the symptoms of yeast overgrowth and see if it fits. The doctors will probably recommend something like nystatin but grapefruit extract from the health shop also works. On top of that probiotics need to be changed to maintain effectiveness so I would change her probiotic every 3/4 months. We use mind linx as its one of the few that doesn't contain lactose. Last winter we had him on neoclartyn which is an antihistamine snd he wasn't sick for 10 months which confirmed to me that his 'infections' were due to immunity issues rather than actual infections. Get oregano oil in the health shop and rub one drop into her feet at night (with oil) as it reduces inflammation.

A very good doctor told me repeated ear infections can be due to allergies. I would take her off dairy and see as she could be the same as my son - allergic to dairy. Tbh I would be changing doctors / getting a second opinion. Our doctor gave him 14 antibiotics in 2 years and his gut was very damaged. The sad truth is some doctors no imagination and are just antibiotic peddlers rather than interested in getting to the bottom of it.

My child has so many after effects of repeated antibiotics

cyning

We change probiotics every 3 months.....We have trialled off dairy with no improvements. Our ENT has suggested shes on the allergic march: and to repeat all allergy tests etc at the age of 3. She is also likely to have her tonsils out when she's 3 as they wont do it before that. I must look up about the yeast overgrowth as she is certainly very prone to thrush.

In the last 12 months we have seen 2 GP's, 2 pediatricians, an ENT, an immunologist/allergist, infectious disease specialist and cardiologist. Unfortunately she goes down hill extremely fast so since we started her on Zithromax prophylactically we've only had 2 A&E visits for fluids. Before that she had 10 admissions in 15 months. We will take her off it come March as a trial so dreading that. We only use antibiotic ear drops for ear infections, no point in using oral antibios for ear infections. Our GP feels there is something underlying and has said he could re-refer us back to Crumlin as they discharged us. Is it any wonder the poor child doesnt sleep really?!

Just really hoping shes starting to grow out of it... the last couple of nights weren't horrendous

CaraMay

Wow you have it so well covered!!!

I'm kind of disillusioned (as you may have guessed) with gp's and a friend recommended Naet therapy. Her son had many allergies and this helped him hugely. It's a kind of kenisology (spell?) and is non invasive. It might be worth a go. We had started but it was a 1.5 hour trip to naas from our house as of course himself was sleeping all the way up and back so the sleep went nuts.

I would love to give it a good go. Our new gp has heard great reports of it too.

CaraMay

Wow you have it so well covered!!!

I'm kind of disillusioned (as you may have guessed) with gp's and a friend recommended Naet therapy. Her son had many allergies and this helped him hugely. It's a kind of kenisology (spell?) and is non invasive. It might be worth a go. We had started but it was a 1.5 hour trip to naas from our house as of course himself was sleeping all the way up and back so the sleep went nuts.

I would love to give it a good go. Our new gp has heard great reports of it too.