I am reaching out because a while ago we had discussed my daughter Savannah’s sleeping pattern. After we spoke it had gotten better but now we are back to square one. I want to provide you with our routine and her sleep schedule
Routine:
Dinner: 6:30-7:15 pm
Bathtime: 8/8:30 pm (I add Epsom salt & put sleep lotion with magnesium on her)
Read: 8:45/9 pm
Bedtime: 9/9:30 pm
Savannah has been waking up consistently at 4 am (on the dot) and staying up until 6:30 or 7 am every day. There are no other times I can provide you because these are the exact times it’s been happening every day (bedtime 9/9:30 and wake up at 4) This happens with or without a nap during the day it doesn’t matter. She is always scripting so she is reciting Ms. Rachel over and over again. For the most part, I let her lay in her bed by herself and hope she goes back to sleep. However, sometimes she gets up turns on the lights, and comes into my bedroom. There are days I put her back into her bed and she still stays up until 7 in her room or sometimes I put her in my bed to sleep with me.
No matter which option I chose she still doesn’t go back to sleep until 7 am. She has school at 9:15 am so she should be waking up at 8 am. She goes to school every day from 9:15 – 3:15 pm and then to speech therapy and OT therapy 3x a week after school.
Is there anything I can do to change her sleep schedule? I am exhausted and want to do anything to help.
Answer:
Hello! Thank you for your question. This is so detailed and very helpful for me so thank you! First off, positive feedback to you for already having what looks like a consistent and great bedtime routine for Savannah! Here are some ideas of what we can do to make it a little better and see if we can get Savannah sleeping through the night.
1. You mention that her sleep had been on track, but recently not so much. Is there anything you can identify that occurred or changed that may have caused her to start waking up in the middle of the night again? And remind me how old Savannah is please!
2. The big thing I always tell families to add to your child's afternoon/evening routine is exercise! Tire that kid out and she will be more likely to sleep through the night. This can occur before or after dinner. I forget how old Savannah is, but this can be anything from playing outside or going to the playground after school to doing some yoga before bed (there are a ton of kids yoga YouTube videos that you can follow along to). So definitely make sure you add some exercise to Savannah's routine if it is not there currently!
3. Even though you are currently getting the same result whether or not Savannah is in your bed, try your best to not have her sleep in your bed! There can definitely be an attention aspect to these wake-ups and we want to rule out that Savannah is not waking up to get access to "sleeping with mom." So whenever she comes to your room, neutrally bring her back to her room, tuck her in, say good night, and go back to your room. If she begins scripting you can even give her a book to look at to redirect her until she falls back asleep.
4. The last thing you can try that I usually tell parents is pushing her bedtime back by 30 minutes. If she does not seem tired when you put her to bed this could definitely help!
Hello! Thank you for your question. This is so detailed and very helpful for me so thank you! First off, positive feedback to you for already having what looks like a consistent and great bedtime routine for Savannah! Here are some ideas of what we can do to make it a little better and see if we can get Savannah sleeping through the night.
1. You mention that her sleep had been on track, but recently not so much. Is there anything you can identify that occurred or changed that may have caused her to start waking up in the middle of the night again? And remind me how old Savannah is please!
2. The big thing I always tell families to add to your child’s afternoon/evening routine is exercise! Tire that kid out and she will be more likely to sleep through the night. This can occur before or after dinner. I forget how old Savannah is, but this can be anything from playing outside or going to the playground after school to doing some yoga before bed (there are a ton of kids yoga YouTube videos that you can follow along to). So definitely make sure you add some exercise to Savannah’s routine if it is not there currently!
3. Even though you are currently getting the same result whether or not Savannah is in your bed, try your best to not have her sleep in your bed! There can definitely be an attention aspect to these wake-ups and we want to rule out that Savannah is not waking up to get access to “sleeping with mom.” So whenever she comes to your room, neutrally bring her back to her room, tuck her in, say good night, and go back to your room. If she begins scripting you can even give her a book to look at to redirect her until she falls back asleep.
4. The last thing you can try that I usually tell parents is pushing her bedtime back by 30 minutes. If she does not seem tired when you put her to bed this could definitely help!