i am beyond done with the sleep-time issues

i really have no idea what the deal is with my LO's.
before the summer started, they rarely had issues with bed. they fell asleep on their own, STAYED IN BED ALL NIGHT and slept THROUGH the night.
now i can barely get one of my LOs to bed. he seriously needs to be soothed. he wakes-up mid night sometime and picks his stuffed animals up, cries and my DH brings him into our bed. now, i realllly dont care; as long as he sleeps and he does.
if i leave him, reassure him im in the other room, etc and try to not pick him up - he screams, and screams and screams and wakes his brother up.

however. lately he wont go to bed! HE WANTS TO BE PICKED UP and im assuming, brought into our bed to go to sleep. however, im not sleeping at 800, lol! we have kept up with naps and our normal bedtime routine but i am truly at my wits end here.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. :grouphug:

 

I don't have much in the way of specific advice - we've been going through a heck of a time with Riley over the last few weeks (it started with a really bad intestinal virus & sleeping with me till she was better). Now, when she wakes at night, she either wants me to stay in her room with her (which is really uncomfortable for me in my current state) or she wants to sleep in our bed (again, really uncomfortable because my belly takes up the extra space & usually, within an hour of Riley joining us, Danika wants in too). I picked up Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers & Preschoolers (I'd read several of her other books & really like her approach) and am finding lots of really good ideas. We've already implemented some & are going to try setting up a sleep area on the floor of our room for the girls for tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I kind of skimmed the chapter on bedtime battles as that wasn't our particular problem, but it might be worth taking a look at for you. :hug:

 

I think your husband meant well by bringing him into bed with you so everyone can get some sleep, but I do think he's probably created this monster too Especially now that they are older, it only takes doing something ONCE for them to think they can do it again, and again, and again...especially when it includes a bad habit you really didn't want to start in the first place.

For us, my son will wake in the middle of the night if he has a wet diaper and he wants it changed. But it took MANY nights of trying everything before I figured out what his problem was. He hates having a wet butt. I think, if it was me in your situation, I'd have to do CIO. Or research a non CIO sleep solution that will work for you.

The only other suggestion I have is, how long are they napping? If their nap is running too long he may not need as much sleep, which is why he won't settle down at bedtime. I recently had to cut naps out completely because my two-some wouldn't go to sleep at night. I had to chose between nap, or a proper bedtime, and I chose proper bedtime

Sleep issues suck, because not only are you tired of dealing with them, but you are literally tired because it happens when you need/want to be sleeping! Good luck!

 

their naps go for about 2 hours. they nap at 12 and nap great. they fall asleep great and on occasion, i DO wake them when they sleep past 2 hours....

 

This is a really common age for fears, nightmares etc because of the increased imagination. Maybe he needs a nightlight that he is in control of. We got the mini glomate lights for our twins and they have really helped with the fighting of bedtime because they were scared to have us leave. Mine also have music they can turn on (crib soothers that used to have their mobiles attached) and if they wake at night they often turn them on to help them fall back to sleep.

 

they sleep with the twilight turtle on.....
do you think that's not enough?