https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 01 May 2026 22:06:09 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882121 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 05:13:05 +0000 erwoo 1882121@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@abmamma: NP! I know, the A+A XL lasted quite a long time with my oldest who wasn't as tall as my youngest at the same age. So I didn't plan to order another set but I guess I had to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882120 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 05:05:37 +0000 abmamma 1882120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erwoo: Awesome, thanks! Yes, we had been using the A+A sleep sacks as well so I assumed they all stopped at around her size (or were really expensive). Maybe this will help at least a little! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882118 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:58:36 +0000 erwoo 1882118@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@abmamma: I know, it's for moms like us!!! LOL! Here's the link:</p> <p><a href="http://smile.amazon.com/SleepSack-Wearable-Blanket-Micro-Fleece/dp/B00B1M2NTM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1412070998&#038;sr=8-3&#038;keywords=halo+big+kids" rel="nofollow">http://smile.amazon.com/SleepSack-Wearable-Blanket-Micro-Fleece/dp/B00B1M2NTM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1412070998&#038;sr=8-3&#038;keywords=halo+big+kids</a></p> <p>Hope that helps somewhat. I don't like that it's 100% polyester but it's the only thing I could find that isn't very expensive since I wasn't sure if he would like it. We went from using A+A sleep sacks to these so it was a bit of a change; but I don't think he cared. A sleep sack was a sleep sack to my son! ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882116 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:54:41 +0000 abmamma 1882116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erwoo: Thanks! I don't think I realized they made such big sleep sacks-- I think I will order one and see if that helps. It's so hard to know what the root cause of this is but it would help to be able to at least eliminate something! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882114 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:46:08 +0000 erwoo 1882114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Have you tried of having quiet time for naps instead of forcing her to nap and then put her down earlier that night? And maybe just continue using the sleep sack. She might just be used to it and maybe getting rid of both the paci and sleep sakc may be too much for her. My 2.5 year old still refuses to use a blanket so I ordered him the Halo big kids sleep sack with the open feet if he wanted to stick his feet out. I just got the 4T - 5T since he's a tall 2.5 year old. He is happy again. At least I know that he's covered. His feet usually comes out overnight but, so far, it hasn't bothered him much. Consistency is key though... as hard as it may be, try to stick with it. These little ones really like routine. Break it up and all hell breaks loose! I still forget from time-to-time! It's terrible! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882113 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:42:15 +0000 abmamma 1882113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: we haven't tried keeping the door open. She doesn't seem to be scared or upset; the one good thing is that she rarely cries when she's awake. She mostly just plays in her room. If she has been up awhile in the middle of the night, she might fuss a little but nothing that would suggest she's having nightmares. But leaving the door open/hall light on is something we could try...at this point, anything is worth a try! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882112 Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:39:42 +0000 abmamma 1882112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@skibobrown: we have been using the same routine/sleep cues since she was an infant-- bathtime (every other night), pjs, brush teeth, white noise, 2-3 books in the rocking chair, light out, hug/kiss, in bed. The only change we've made recently has been to cut out the pacifier and her sleep sack (the latter primarily because she is in the 99th percentile for height and can't really fit into them well anymore so we decided to transition to blankets). I've thought about whether these changes are the problem, and while I do think they have exacerbated the issue, she was having some of these problems beforehand. </p> <p>She woke up at 4:30 (or maybe earlier, I am not sure) after having gone to sleep at 10:15 and I finally got her back to sleep (about 15 minutes ago) by sitting in the rocking chair in her room and telling her to lay down. So you may be right about her needing some help to fall asleep. I just worry about starting something that she'll come to expect....but maybe I should just focus on getting her over the overtired hump and then worry about that?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882085 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 22:44:48 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1882085@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>yes, 2-3 was the worst for us too, but we thought it was because it was also when we transitioned her to a big girl bed. based on the boards what i've read on the boards though, that doesn't seem to matter... it totally is trial and error though! </p> <p>have you tried keeping the door open? i saw above that you already have a nightlight for her. ever since we kept the door wide open, hallway light on, and closet light on the sleep improved. this is also when they start having overactive imaginations so maybe she's scared? does she get nightmares or night terrors? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882054 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:30:48 +0000 skibobrown 1882054@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We also ditched the binky a couple of weeks ago, and we're also having some sleep issues. We're lucky that our daughter has always been great at night, but we're currently having some very serious issues at naptime. </p> <p>Some things we have learned --<br /> - Have a strict routine and a set of sleep cues. We do a warm bath every night, then water and stories in the glider chair, then into bed with a tuck-in and turn on her white noise. The white noise machine has been her sleep cue since she was an infant. We still use it every night at bedtime, and we turn it on again if she has any night wakings.<br /> - Sometimes they need help falling asleep. For us, this is mostly a naptime issue. When DD is bouncing up and down in her crib but clearly tired, we intervene. If we pick her up, hold her, and rock her a bit, she starts to calm down, and will then fall asleep. It feels ridiculous to be rocking a big toddler, but it seems to be what is required right now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882043 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:06:51 +0000 abmamma 1882043@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs.bee-- she does have a nightlight (and a lovey) but I was considering giving one of the ok to wake alarm clocks a try. Lullabies was one of the next things on my list (and we do have an old ipod speaker thing set up in her room already)-- just not sure how to introduce them (how many, at what point in the bedtime routine, etc.). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882036 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:00:59 +0000 Mrs. Bee 1882036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>sleep battles began at that age for both kids with us. 2-3 was the worst. it is a lot of trial and error!</p> <p>do you have a nightlight? you could play lullabies? introduce a lovey? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-toddler-sleep-a-total-disaster-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do#post-1882034 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:56:15 +0000 abmamma 1882034@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sorry this is so long....TL; DR—my two year old's sleep has gone to hell the last few months and she is an overtired mess (which is having an impact on the rest of us).</p> <p>OMG—someone please help. We are going through a terrible sleep phase right now and I’m at my wits end. </p> <p>Basic info: DD turned 2 last month, still sleeps in a crib, we recently (3 weeks ago?) got rid of the pacifier which she had for naps/bedtime (it went better than expected), we are also trying to get her to sleep with a blanket instead of a sleep sack (although we let her have the sleep sack if she asks for it). </p> <p>She has never been a super awesome sleeper but I never thought she was a problem sleeper until this summer. 3-4 months ago she started taking longer and longer to go to sleep and 7:30 became 7:45 and then 8:00 and then 8:30. She still mostly slept through the night but had occasional episodes of waking up in the middle of the night for 1-2 hours at a time—rarely crying but loud enough that I could hear her and would wake up/worry about her not getting enough sleep. On these occasions, I’d have to wake her up the next morning to get her ready before I left for work (I WOH and we have a nanny share that is at our house). When this first started, she was mostly still napping fine (usually 2-3 hours). We tried limiting her afternoon naps to closer to 2 hours in the hopes that would help with nighttime. It didn’t. We tired putting her to bed earlier in case she was overtired. That didn’t work—it still took her more than an hour to fall asleep most nights. We tried moving her 7pm bedtime to later but that didn’t seem to make a difference either. I chalked it up to 2 year molars and being almost 2 and hoped it would end soon.</p> <p>It hasn’t.</p> <p>The last month and especially the last few weeks have gotten even worse. It feels like she has been up for hours in the middle of the night most nights (which thanks to my mommy hearing means I am up too even if she doesn’t cry). In addition to taking forever to fall asleep at night (Case in point—she is still awake as I write this, almost 2.5 hours after we put her down), she is now having a hard time falling asleep for naps too. She cannot seem to settle down—bouncing in her crib like a trampoline, running from one side to the other. The lack of sleep is making her difficult to deal with during the day too—more tantrums than usual/cries over everything. She is obviously overtired—the second wind she seems to get at bedtime only emphasizes that. I don’t know what to do but we are all tired and I am so worried about the effect the lack of sleep is having on her in general. Anyone have any suggestions?! </p>