My lil girl is almost 3yrs old why doesn't she sleep through the night yet?

Question

Since the day I brought her home from the hospital she has never slept through the night. Occasionally she would sleep the whole night but that wasn't until she was about 1 and 1/2. I am still finding myself waking up about every night to put her back to sleep. If someone might think they have an answer let me know.

Answer 1

I think a lot depends on how you put her back to sleep.  My son is 20 months and he used to go to bed with a bottle of milk but just a couple days ago I switched to water to try and get him off the bottle and then if he wakes up in the middle of the night I see if he'll go back to sleep on his own.  He wimpers a little but ends up falling back a sleep.  If I do go in there I just hand him a new bottle of really cold water and lay him back down (don't pick him up) and rub his tummy a bit, kiss him and leave.  I don't turn on any lights or talk to him. I think it's starting to work.  He used to be so bad about waking up at night.  He'd just scream and wouldn't let me do anything and I think it was because he was half a sleep and just wanted to go back to sleep and I was preventing him from doing that but he was confused because he felt he needed me to go back to sleep.  Hope this helped some what, good luck.

Answer 2

Well, my son is almost two - and he's been sleeping through the night since he was about six months old.

If your girl is three, try this - it's what we do and it seems to work.

Start winding down around 6:30 PM, make sure she eats dinner and has a bit of milk. Give her a bath at about 7 PM, and dress her in her PJs. Around 8, read her a story and get her settled in bed - maybe give her a little more milk or some water and a cracker. Aim for bedtime between 8:30 and 9 PM.

Depending on what time she wakes up in the morning, lay her down for a nap anywhere between noon and two PM. Don't let her sleep any later than 4 PM. (or about five hours before she would go to sleep for the night.) A nap(of an hour or two) would still be a good idea, because I've discovered that when my son hasn't slept during the day, he becomes overtired and it's actually more difficult to get him to sleep at night.

Ease her into the routine, and try to stick with the same thing every night (IE reading a story or playing soft music.) Eventually, when she gets into the pattern of bedtime ritual, her body and mind will start adapting to the notion of bedtime, and she will be well rested and calm enough to sleep deeply enough to last though the night.

Also, try not to let your child play in her room too much during the day. Feng Shui tells you that the bedroom is a place for rest and relaxation - and by letting her play with toys too much can give the mind an association with playtime, not sleep. If there is a TV in her room, take it out. Also try to avoid TV for about an hour or so before she goes to sleep, the bright colors and excitement won't let her mind settle to calm, and it can actually stimulate her thoughts too much...the last thing she needs is Dora singing and clapping a fast tempo song stuck in her mind..LOL.

Answer 3

This same this happened with my daughter.  It started around 18 months old, so we got her a toddler bed thinking that was the problem.  Nope, didn't solve it.  So she is now almost 4.  About 2 months ago the doctor gave me some advice.  She had a light snore at night.  Not much.  So light that i didn't notice it until he asked me to listen carefully.  So, we had her tonsils and adenoids taken out.  She is more energenic now thru the day and wore out more at night.  It didn't solve all of the problem.  She will sleep for about 5 hours without waking up, and then she comes to our room and she climbs in bed with me and my husband.  They are only little once, so that doesn't bother me because she is going to sleep in her own bed.  But, the only other advice the doc gave me was to have a sleep study done.  That is real expensive and hard to do at that age anyway, so we went for the tonsil removal.  Your daughter may stop breathing thru the night too like my daughter.  That causes them to wake up.  We have also used a air cleaner for noise in her room.  There are alot of little creeks and sounds that houses make at night and we live close to a busy road, so that just helps drown out the background noise while she sleeps.  

Answer 4

Because you tend to her and you let her get up.  You aren't strict enough.  3 is WAY too old to be getting up in the middle of the night.  

Answer 5

Does she take naps during the day? If she does, you may to try to keep her up for a little while before letting her nap. Also, check her sugar intake... the amount she takes in may cause for less sleep at night.  

Answer 6

My daughter never slept through the night either, until I got her a bed.  Is she in a big bed?  I think she just wasn't comfortable on the crib mattress in the crib or the toddler bed.  You could try buying her some type of music that she can turn on and off herself (like the ones that attach to a crib).  I used that so that she could get herself back to sleep.

Answer 7

I'm with you...my daughter didn't sleep through until almost 3 either!  She's 3 1/2 now and sleeps good finally!  I think it's just something she has to grow out of.  It should be soon!  Does she fall asleep on her own at night?  If not it may be that when she wakes up at night she needs you to fall back asleep.

Answer 8

My almost 3 year old still goes downstairs every night between 2 and 3:30 for a cup of milk. He's finally hit the stage where rather than yelling for milk, he wakes up his dad to take him downstairs so he can do it himself and then they both go back to bed. It's a 10-15 minute ritual, and I'm really glad it's Dad and not me. ;)