Sep 21 2008
4 AM Wakeups
image from WP Clip-Art
Today was day 5 of the 4 a.m. wakeup saga. Gus has been getting up, coming into our room and trying to sleep in the spare bed in there. I’ve gotten up, removed his unwilling little body from the spare bed and steered him back to his own room. He’s been staying in his room for about an hour and a half before coming back. I cannot for the life of me figure out why he’s not sleeping!
First I thought he was getting that early morning chill, so I pile more blankets on. No dice.
I thought maybe it’s what he’s eating at night. Nope - he’s had plenty of protein and no sweets.
Replaced the night light - that made things worse.
Maybe he needs to go to bed later? But if he needed less sleep, he wouldn’t be so exhausted during the day.
I’m out of ideas. Any why not just let him stay in our room since we have a spare bed and all? Because he talks to himself…loudly. He can’t help it. I don’t know what else to do, but I know one thing. I am godawful tired.
Here’s what worked for us:
Diet
Melatonin
Hope you get some sleep soon!
How old is Gus? M never slept through the night until she was eight. She would be up for hours on end, hyper and ready to take on the world. She was happy and I was miserable. Well, sometimes she was miserable as well. Lacking sleep is so not good for anyone. We started M on Melatonin when she was three years old. It helped a lot. Also, she can not sleep without the television on. She needs the background noise. I don’t know if the sleep problems are just a phase or as severe as M’s were. Those are a couple of ideas if the nights are getting a tad out of control. Hang in there.
Trish: I actually did think about melatonin this morning, so I’ll look into it. thanks for the suggestions!
Marla: Gus is 7 and while he had a lot of sleep disturbances when he was younger, in general, he’s pretty consistent. Goes to sleep at the same time and usually wakes up between 5 and 6 no matter what. This is very odd for him. We do have a noise machine for him. He seems to have the idea in his head that his alarm is going off for some odd reason. One other thing I considered is that he may need more exercise in the late afternoon/evening. I’ll keep you posted on how this plays out! Thanks for the suggestions!