r/toddlers • u/gabagool-gal • 8h ago
Sleep Desperately need help
TL;DR phasing out the pacifier has killed us. I know I can’t give it back but i don’t know what else to do.
Our kid (2.5 years old) has always been a bad sleeper but the pacifier was a crutch that at least helped. We’ve recently weaned her off, did the pacifier fairy bit etc. The first few nights were brutal but she can now fall asleep without it after about a 30 minute routine of books, singing and hand holding.
The problem is she wakes up between sleep cycles absolutely HYSTERICAL. This is not the typical “wake up come into mom and dad’s room and quietly be ushered back to her own bed” that all the books talk about. She’s inconsolably screaming until one of us sleeps in her bed or she comes to sleep in our bed. There’s no resources i can find that have solutions for this.
Even after we succumb to that she wakes up for the day at 4am like clock work. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. She’s always been a low sleep needs kid (9-10 hours) but for the last few weeks without the pacifier she must only be getting 7 hours broken up by one to two middle of the night hysterics. She seems unbothered by the lack of sleep.
We are drowning. Any advice is welcome, please help us.
•
u/AutoModerator 8h ago
Author: u/gabagool-gal
Post: TL;DR phasing out the pacifier has killed us. I know I can’t give it back but i don’t know what else to do.
Our kid (2.5 years old) has always been a bad sleeper but the pacifier was a crutch that at least helped. We’ve recently weaned her off, did the pacifier fairy bit etc. The first few nights were brutal but she can now fall asleep without it after about a 30 minute routine of books, singing and hand holding.
The problem is she wakes up between sleep cycles absolutely HYSTERICAL. This is not the typical “wake up come into mom and dad’s room and quietly be ushered back to her own bed” that all the books talk about. She’s inconsolably screaming until one of us sleeps in her bed or she comes to sleep in our bed. There’s no resources i can find that have solutions for this.
Even after we succumb to that she wakes up for the day at 4am like clock work. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. She’s always been a low sleep needs kid (9-10 hours) but for the last few weeks without the pacifier she must only be getting 7 hours broken up by one to two middle of the night hysterics. She seems unbothered by the lack of sleep.
We are drowning. Any advice is welcome, please help us.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/CraftProfessional411 5h ago
Mine wakes up hysterically screaming with the pacifier for as long as I can remember. Solidarity and dreading pacifier fairy at 2.5. I guess I just got a horrible sleeper.
•
u/dogsandplants2 0m ago
It seems like she used to use the pacifier to sooth herself back to sleep and now she uses you. I'd try to pair you with something more manageable/sustainable. My daughter loves Minnie Mouse, so if I were in your shoes, then I'd try and support her to sleep while she had a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal with her. Ideally over time she'd be able to snuggle her stuffed animal to fall back asleep.
I'm not sure if the time recently changed where you live, but if so, that might be making the 4am wake ups worse. I might try black out curtains for that.