2Yr Old Always Asking to Be Picked up All Day and into the Night!

Stick to it. The EXACT same thing happened to one of my twins when he got sick at about two years of age. The little guy who was once a wonderful sleeper started to wake up because he had a fever and felt miserable. However, it took me a while to realize that he was feeling better but was now spoiled - he knew I'd come in to make it all better :) It was really tough for a couple of weeks, but I knew that crying it out was the way to go because he had previously been a good sleeper and there wasn't anything else wrong with him. By the way, his brother became an excellent sleeper through this debacle - I left him in the same room, so nothing wakes him still . . .

After my 2 year old was sick he started doing the samething. So I had my husband go in and tell him to go back to sleep. This way he saw someone come it but it is not mommy who he has trained to pick him up. You could try this on the weekend so your husband then could sleep in.

Good luck. Those two year olds are smart.

You've done a great job making an effort in a very hard exhausting situation. Unfortunately, you've trained him to cry for an hour! Cry it out only works if you don't give in, and they have to sooth themselves to sleep. If you give in eventually, they have learned how long they need to cry before you'll come in! This will be very hard to break now, because you know he will cry for at least an hour, and he goes until his cords are raw. But your only alternative to letting him cry for...two hours until he falls asleep,?, is to sooth him, which makes your life sleep deprived and doesn't enable him to learn to sleep securely on his own. I would personally let him cry it out, with a very definite new message that he must sleep all by himself. Maybe a new set of sheets or super special bedtime routine with the advance warning all day that "tonight, you will sleep all by yourself like a big big boy". Now matter how hard the night is, let him cry, and give him big praises in the morning for getting through the night by himself. This could go on a week or so, but probably not longer. If you can't do it, and you're going to sooth him, sooth him sooner, don't teach him to cry that long to get his way. Good luck!

You know, I think the boy has you pegged! He knows that you are coming in to get him so he just keeps on getting up. Even if you wait an hour, he knows your coming. You just have to let him go until he goes back to sleep on his own. I understand your concern about him waking up his sister though. Were you going to consider seperating them anyway in the future? Now might be the time to do it.
My oldest son and infant son share a room and recently after being sick the baby went through this and luckily I was able to send my oldest to Mom Mom's for a weekend and by the time he came back the wake up's weren't enough to wake him as well. Good Luck to you.

I'm sure you'll get lots of advice on this one. I can't tell you what to do. But i will admit what i did. I couldn't stand the CIO and my daughter was a vomiter. Cry so hard she puked, so not only was i exhausted, upset and now cleaning up vomit. And then if she woke up her brother i was really screwed.
I took a sleeping bag into her room and slept on her floor. I think i probably had to hold her hand at first and then moved on to just laying on the floor next to her and eventually like a week at a time inched my way out the door. sometimes i would wake up and go back to my own bed, sometimes she would wake up and it would set us back if she found me gone.
They do go in spurts where they get sick and regress. since she was about 3yrs she has been sleeping fine. So while it seems like things will never change, keep in mind that you will survive this stage.
I'm sure this won't work for everyone, but thought I would offer it as a suggestion for you if you are desperate.
Also you might want to make sure you have a consistent wake time and try adjusting bed time either forward or backwards by 15 mins at a time.

T.,
Unfortunately, I think he's just about got you trained! :-)
Any chance that you can send your daughter to a grandparent's house for a few nights so you can at least eliminate the "wake up factor" while you deal with this? Plan it in advance.
You could try (with her not in the room) going in & patting, comforting but NO talking or picking him up. Do it 10 minutes, then wait 20 min, etc and keep repeating. I could never really stand it like for the O. hour super snot and no voice phase.
Do you platy music in their room at night for them? I always used a lullaby CD on "repeat" all night and I think it was comforting to my son if he would wake up in the middle of the night. That might help.
Why do you think he is waking up? Is it a certain noise? The furnace maybe? A garage door at a certain time? Can you see any patterns.
Make sure his tummy is full before bedtime.
Good luck.

T.,

He is old enough that this shouldn't be happening. Have you tried reasoning with him? Not at night...but at a calm time during the day. Can you give him a special treat in the morning if he makes it through the night? (maybe some extra time with you or something else he might enjoy...a sticker...small toy etc.) Maybe you could create some type of sticker chart that after a certain number of "good nights" he would earn a trip to the toy store? You know what motivates him. If he has some type of incentive not to do this at night and he knows what he can earn...maybe it would help?

Good luck!

Hi T.,

What resources have you used to discovery why your baby is crying so much?

Have you contacted his pediatrician?

Don't let him cry so long. He needs to be soothed when he is crying.

Get some baby massage oil from young living at www.youngliving.org gentle baby

Give him an infant massage. http://www.infantmassageusa.org

I know you are exhausted but get help.

Good luck. All the Best. D.

I think it is just a stage and will pass. My 2yr old is doing the same thing after being sick now wakes a few times during the night, cries i console him and he goes back to sleep. It can be frustrating for us but remember he is still a baby. I though maybe it could be night terrors too my daughter had those around this age.

You're doing beautifully, my only advise would be to STICK TO IT! :D

I would put your daughter back in her crib, and start your son to bed there as well. When he cries at night, let him come and sleep between you and your husband. He'll feel warm and safe, and you guys can get some sleep. When he starts sleeping longer, he'll stay in his own bed longer again.

I have always been a fan of sleep. So it doesn't bother me to have a child in the middle of the bed unless we end up almost falling out. It means WAY more to me to have a chance at sleeping -- and eventually they stay in their own beds of their own free will. Why stay up rocking half the night? Or listening to him cry?

So, for very selfish reasons, we always let the kids join us in bed. The older they get, the less they join you, but it DOES mean that when there are nightmares, they end up getting up and coming to you, and you don't even have to get out of bed to cuddle and comfort them. ahhhhhhhhhhh