Re-settling Pre-schooler to Sleep

[Kylie1977]

Up until about 2 months ago my son who is now almost 3 1/2 has always been a good sleeper. Just recently he has been waking up in the night (2-5 times a night) calling out for Mummy or Daddy.

In most instances he tells us he has had a bad dream. We comfort him for a few minutes by cuddling him, asking him what his dream was about and re-assuring him that everything will be okay. Then when we go to leave the room, he gets all upset and tells us he is not tired (when clearly he is).

In other instances he just wakes up randomly with no bad dream and we can't get him to re-settle because he tells us he is not tired. We even suspect that sometimes when he tells us he has had a bad dream, he is infact not telling us the truth (common in other aspects of his behavour).

He has a night light, a clock that tells him when it's morning time (Gro-Clock), a comforting teddy, a quiet sleepng environment and the bedroom is kept at a consistent temperate.

My husband & I are desperate for some suggestions and a good night sleep!

Kylie1977

[Lorina]

Hi Kylie,

Im not a parent but I can only imagine how frustrated it must be, not knowing if your son will be able to sleep through the whole night... ok so you mentioned that your son wakes up and tells you he has had a bad dream and after he doesn't settle himself back to sleep but what happens then... Does he get up? I mean do you get him up out of bed... Sometimes children get into a habit of tellings things like this to get what they want... Have you tried lullaby music... Does he go to Childcare and if so does he sleep there? You also mentioned that this habit has only a begun recently, so something must of changed for this to start to happen...

Sorry to ask many questions just trying to figure out the underlying cause of this issue so you can get back to sleeping again...

Cheers ,
L.A