I’m still having problems sleeping. My normal schedule is to bed at 7:30 PM (sometimes a little later if we go out) and wake about 6:30 AM. I take about a 2 hour nap somewhere around 10:00 – 10:30 AM each morning. My first nap is sometimes a little longer if I’m up a lot the previous night. Mom tries to give me a nap around 2:00 – 3:00 PM but hasn’t been very successful the last month or so.
Grandma has removed almost all processed sugar snacks from my diet now. The only sugar I get comes from fruit and an occasional waffle.
After going to bed I will more than likely wake up between 10:00 and 11:30 PM and again at about 2:00 – 3:00 AM. On a bad night I can wake about every 90 minutes.
And when I wake up, I WAKE up. I’m pretty sure the neighbors three doors down can hear me scream. Mom nor my Grandparents can figure out why I wake up so upset.
We did watch a pretty interesting show called “The Doctors” the other day that had a segment about getting a toddle to sleep. Using their theory’s, I’m too tired to go to sleep and so I never make it through the night. Grandma is concerned that I might not be getting enough to eat before I finally go to bed for the night.
Everyone seems to have an opinion yet I’m still not getting my solid 8-10 hours of GOOD sleep each night.
If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them
Thanks for stopping by
Later
Anthony
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Anthony: Tales from a Toddler 
I realize you don’t know me from Adam. I was just checking out your blog(s) and could relate to your situation.
My oldest son went through the same sort of “sleeplessness”. Our pediatrician said one nap a day was not enough. So, we had our 2 boys take 2 naps a day until they were about 3. 1 nap from 10 to 12 and the other from around 2 to 4. We noticed that they slept better at night with 2 naps and conversely that they woke up more when they didn’t get one for some reason.
Then we had the task of trying to teach them how to put themselves back to sleep. That really just meant not picking them up and rocking them back to sleep. We tried to sooth them while they were still in the crib/bed. This was initially met with a lot of tears and wrestling but it eventually worked. Waking up is inevitable so this is an important skill for them to learn.
We were also told that there would be sleep disturbances during periods of major development or growth. Maybe your grandson is just going through a growth spurt or some cognitive development. This was when our nightly rituals really came in handy – dinner, bath, snack, brush teeth, read a story, say our prayers, and then leave them to put themselves to sleep. We also ensured them that we would be there in the morning when it was time to get up.
I guess the three things we developed to help our boys sleep were:
1. Take 2 naps – kids who aren’t getting enough sleep don’t act tired, they get restless.
2. Teach them to put themselves to sleep – don’t rock them even though this is a very enjoyable time for the parent/grandparent.
3. Follow rituals as closely as you can – this helps children know that it is bedtime and not playtime. It got to the point where the boys were falling asleep during the reading time.
Maybe you’ve tried these things. I can only say that it took weeks/months to develop different habits but it has paid off. My boys are now 7 and almost 4 and are great sleepers – neither of them were initially. They often get up to go to the bathroom or wake up when the dog barks but they put themselves back to sleep and are ready to go when they wake up.
I sincerely hope he gets the rest his little body desperately needs. Good luck!
Thank you for the very nice comment. Some of your advice is right in line with what the “Doctors” TV show recommended.
We are planning on trying out all that you suggested.
Thanks
I hope all is going well with your grandson’s sleep habbits. It would be interesting to hear if you found something that works. I have several friends in the same boat that are always looking for tricks and/or encouragement.