Parenting Forums

Posted: 19 September 2008 at 7:51am | IP Logged

Since Louis started school a fortnight, his sleeping pattern has changed.  He used to go to bed at 6pm and that was him until 6-6.30am.

However; more so this last week, he has been going to bed at 6pm as normal then around midnight he wakes up, comes into our room saying there is a monster on the window sill, or under the bed, or there is a spider on his pillow.

We get up, assure him nothing is there but thats it then he wont settle back off until 3-4am then he is up at 7 for school.

He has taken to pulling his pillow and duvet on the landing and sleeping there right outside our bedroom door, so we have to get up and put him back to bed.

I know he is tired as one look at him gives it away.  I'm putting it down to him starting school, but the trouble is, he is going full time from Monday 9-3.20 and with his sleeping routine all up in the air im worried he'll wear himself out.

Last night he woke me up at 12.20am, then again at 1am to say a dinosaur was at the window, then at 1.40am, then at 3am I found him asleep on the landing

What can I do? 

Posted: 19 September 2008 at 5:05pm | IP Logged

oh no! Is it usually the same thing.. dinosaurs or monsters? Maybe you could go find a book with these characters in, hide it and at night leave a plain pad of paper on his window sill and tell him they'll catch anyone that comes in his room. Then when he falls asleep swop it for the real book, so when he wakes up saying there are dinosaurs/monsters you can show him they have all been caught in the book, and are gone into a story forever. That has worked a treat a few times for me, cant remember where I heard it but I have recommended it, and used it, and its always been a positive outcome.

Also when Joshua went through a phase of getting up in the night, and sometimes all night, I put his bedtime back half an hour. So instead of going at 7.30pm he now goes at 8pm, I told him this was big boy time, but he had to be a big boy and sleep all night and we havent looked back, he's even gone back to sleeping all night in his bed!

Hope you can find something to work, other than these lots of reassurance and checking hopefully he'll grow out of it. They aren't doing a school project on dinosaurs are they? I just remembered when Joshua did Jack and the Beanstalk he had nightmares for days about spidars (apparently they drew spidars at the bottom of the beanstalk on the display in the undergrowth). Its funny how the little things play on their minds so much.

Posted: 19 September 2008 at 7:25pm | IP Logged

Yes, he has a night light which is on constantly.  His favourite books are 'Harry and the dinosaurs' and 'not now Bernard', which feature both monsters and dinosaurs, so maybe I should try and read his other favourite, 'pass the jam Jim'?

I like the idea of the plain paper and the book swap, might have to give this ago?!

I am at a loose end really, will just have to play it by ear I suppose