Most parents think their days of interrupted sleep will end when their baby is no longer a baby. Sadly, many toddlers, preschoolers, and even grade school-aged children still don’t sleep through the night for one reason or another. The reason is the important factor to determine if you want to help make sleep an eight hour event again in your household.
So, what can cause an older child to not sleep through the night?
Night terrors or nightmares:
My toddlers frequently wake 2-3 times a night thanks to night terrors. During either occurrence your child will wake up screaming uncontrollably in the middle of the night, often around the same time. In a night terror, your child will not be awake and should not be woke up. In a nightmare, your child will likely require comforting. You can read more about preventing nightmares and terrors by clicking the phrase in this sentence.
Too many liquids:
You may find your child is drinking too many fluids before bed time, and having to go pee in the middle of the night, or peeing in his or her diaper. In either case, some children have difficulty going back to sleep after waking even if it’s for a short walk to the bathroom. You can try to limit fluids towards the tail end of the day, and remind your child to use the bathroom just before bed.
A flawed routine:
There are several routine issues that can lead to night time waking in older kids. First, if your child is napping, he or she may no longer need a nap. If so, the extra sleep during the day is preventing a full night’s sleep later. It’s also possible you are allowing naps too close to bed time, or if you are skipping naps, your child still needs one, and is treating bed-bed time like a nap, hence waking a few hours into the night. In the later case, you may find your child goes back to bed after a few hours. If you have no established routine, you could try establishing one. All of the above have obvious solutions.
Changes in routine:
If you’ve just stopped co-sleeping, moved your child’s bed, switched bed types, or moved homes, all of the above can cause sleep issues for a short time. Ride it out, once your child adjusts chances are the issue will resolve itself.
Sleep issues:
Finally, its possible there is something medically wrong interfering with your child’s sleep, such as sleep apnea or middle ear pain. It can help to ask your child why they wake up, and try to dig up the cause from their description, but if you’ve exhausted all options, or your child is complaining of pain, you should seek medical advice.
Note, that this list is not all inclusive.
As a mom with two toddlers who wake frequently through the night, I find solace in and offer up the nugget of information, “This too shall pass”-someday.
You may also enjoy:
Melatonin: Is It Safe for Kids?
Night Owls: What to Do About a Child that Stays Up All Night
Dealing with Sleep Deprivation as a Parent