My daughter has three children, the youngest of which are a 21-month old daughter and a five-month old son. Generally, she has no problems with any of her children – until the dreaded bedtime.
I don’t know why specifically, but bedtime is very traumatic to most toddlers. If you have one that has not been a problem of some kind at bedtime, consider yourself extremely lucky!
I had three children, and with the first two, we always went through World War Three when bedtime arrived. The third child, my daughter, was not as difficult.
Anyway, we have researched many methods found on the Internet and doctor’s advice on the issue, but so far, nothing has worked for our 21-month old granddaughter.
Not long ago, she spent the night in a hotel with my husband and I, and the first night, I was up and down with her until I was exhausted and ended up, two and a half hours later, putting her in the bed with us. Then we romped and flipped for another hour or so before she finally passed out and I could carry her back to the bed she was sharing with her older sister.
She wasn’t being unruly; it was like she couldn’t turn her body off. She was quiet and sweet, but fidgety and unable to lay still. My daughter says they go through this most every night. This isn’t healthy for the child or the mother.
So, after exhaustive tries with various remedies, we’ve hit on one more thing to try: Hyland’s Calms Forté 4Kids. We’ve ordered it, but haven’t tried it yet.
I don’t ever push a certain product, and I’m not pushing Hyland’s products, but there are several good things to consider when using them.
We’ve used Hyland’s teething pills before, and they work amazingly well. Hyland’s products are homeopathic medicines for all ages, and they have something for just about anything you can think of. In fact, I’m going to order some of their “Restful Legs” for another family member.
Some of you with infants may be familiar with Hyland’s Teething products. There was a recall of the teething pills in October 2010. There were problems with adverse effects with some children, the dosing safety, and the packaging. Hyland’s recalled all their teething products and are in a comprehensive review of the product.
However, that in no way affects the many other products the company manufactures, so we’re more than ready to use the Calms Forté 4Kids! We’re hoping it will work as well as the teething tablets.
I didn’t have the Internet to help me investigate different methods of calming my children when they were toddlers and going through the “but I don’t want to go to bed” stage. I always chalked it up to stubbornness, but now-a-days, there are all kinds of reasons your child might be having problems. In fact, one site said this is probably the most discussed aspect of baby care.
Www.allaboutsleep.com says “sleep struggles rarely end with a growing child’s move from crib to bed. It simply changes form. Instead of cries, it’s pleas or refusals. Instead of a feeding at 3:00 a.m., it’s a nightmare or a request for water.”
Children, no matter what the age, need routines. Sleep is no different. Children need a routine with naps and a routine with bedtime. A toddler that doesn’t get a nap during the day can be unbearable in the evening before bedtime. Their little bodies get so tired that their brains cannot process what’s going on and the way they should respond. They’re over-tired. Keeping a toddler up to make him or her sleep better at night is a mistake.
There can be several reasons a toddler doesn’t sleep well. Some of it can be separation anxiety, or maybe they don’t want to miss anything mommy and daddy might do, and then sometimes it’s just contrariness. Sometimes it can be a combination of all three, starting out honestly with separation anxiety and then slowly progressing to the other issues.
I’m certainly no expert with this problem. Hence, the reason we’re experimenting with different avenues with our toddler granddaughter. However, one thing on which all experts agree is that whatever your bedtime ritual might be, it should be the same every night. That way, your children will know what to expect when you announce the “Dreaded Time.”
Read to them, play soft music, say their prayers, give them their “blankie” or favorite stuffed animal, and make sure you spend the same amount of time with your child each night. Don’t allow them to keep you longer than normal. Thirty minutes is a good time to attend to all of their sleep needs.
If you’re having a problem, do some research – there’s a lot of information out there! Sweet dreams!