Did starting preschool help your toddler to sleep better?

[LoveBWVVBR]

My DD is an awful sleeper. She's had some medical issues (apnea resolved by adenoid surgery, reflux that we just restarted medication for), but a lot of it is just her disposition IMHO. She goes full-out all day long, so it's not like she shouldn't be worn out. We have a pretty regular schedule of mommy-and-me classes and time at our indoor play place every day. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has helped me to get her on a sleep schedule or get her sleeping through the night. Despite my best efforts, she's back to sleeping in my bed too.

A mom told me that her son got on a really good sleep schedule once he started morning preschool. Now, I don't see why this would be better than the playplace in terms of wearing her out, but my curiosity is peaked at this point. Did you find that preschool helped your poor sleeper to sleep better and to get on a sleep schedule?

My DD is about to turn 2 and has never once even come close to sleeping through the night. A good night is 3 nightwakings. We've tried every sleep method under the sun. Everything works for a few weeks and then stops working. I'm willing to try preschool if it would help. I was planning to wait until DD turned 3 to start preschool, but I can be flexible.

 

[goofygal531]

My 4 year old DS has never slept through the night in his life!

He started preschool at age 2. Two days a week, three hours a day. Sleeping never changed.

This Sept he started private preschool which runs five days a week, six hours a day with a one hour nap. Well, my son gave up naps at age two. The teacher has him napping now, so his schedule at home has not changed either.

His night wakenings have decreased. We're down to one or two per night.

I've noticed that he sleeps better when he eats alot during the day, but he's not a good eater so it isn't easy to get him to eat.

In time, I know he'll eventually grow out of it. I tried everything, every sleep method nothing worked.

Oh my DS sleeps everywhere! He starts out in his bed, then the sofa, then our bed! We're all up every night.

However, my little one sleeps like an angel!

I dream of checking into a hotel just to get a full nights sleep by myself!

 

[bellebud]

my firstborn (dd now 8yo) slept through the night for the first time at 18 months old, but only for 1 night! I could say she 'really' slept through the night at around 5 years old. DS on the other hand (now 6yo) slept through the night for the first time at a few months old, and of course it was on and off, but basically he's not had any sleep problems. He even used to put himself down for a nap ("mommy, ba-ba, I tired" and he'd lay on the couch). DD on the other hand, used to walk into walls she'd be so tired as a toddler, but refuse to lay down for a nap. she was also a cat-napper since birth, whereas ds slept for hours and hours since birth.

we family bed (and always have). we have a king and queen pushed together. And again, it's dd w/ the sleep issues - she doesn't even want to talk about sleeping in her own room by herself. But ds would do it if that's what we decided to do. He's also the one who has slept in another room on vacations, and has slept over nanna's house. DD has never made it through the night when we've tried the nanna sleepover or a different room on vacation (sleeping w/ other little girlfriends). I think she just wakes too much during the night... if i'm beside her, she cuddles into me and goes back to sleep w/out *really* waking, but if i'm not there, she's up. I joke i'm going to have to dorm w/ her at college! (that's ok w/ me w/ all the scary stories you read and hear about! DH and I joke to each other the kids can go to any college they want... on-line!)

DD has a late bday in the cutoff for schools, so she started 3yo pre-K while still 2yo (going to turn 3yo in a couple of months), and it didn't help her sleeping at all. I think some people are just born 'sleepers' and others aren't. There are parents of my dd's friends (who are all 8yo) who tell me they still get up in the middle of the night and end up in each others beds, calling out for mom, etc, etc. One reason I still have family bed is because i can't imagine getting up every night for sleep issues. We all get better sleep this way (and i just still love it ).

and for the pre-K, maybe it does help because of the mental stimulation it provides (more than a playplace would, because of the absence of mom, the structure of listening to the teacher and following rules, etc). My ds was definitely more exhausted from school, but not my dd. And w/ my dd, sometimes she'd get wired, or just replay the day in her sleep and that would wake her up at night too. Anytime we had a very eventfull day, I knew that night it was a 50/50 chance of her sleeping better or worse from the days activities.

Sorry i can't offer any real advice... I just do what gives all of us the most sleep, and that's family bed for us.

 

[badblackpug]

Yes, yes, yes. My kids tended to be much better sleepers when hey started school. I think it had to do with stricter routines and more stimulation. Both mental and physical.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

OK, 2 of these posts have me even more freaked out that I already was about DD's sleeping Are you guys serious that I might be waiting until DD is 4 or 5 for her to sleep through? I don't even care if she sleeps in her own bed. She can come into our bed at night...no biggie. I just care that she lays down at bedtime and stays in her own bed for at least part of the night. Also, I care that she isn't waking me up all night long.

If DD is 4 or 5 before she sleeps through then she will certainly be an only child. I am waiting until she is sleeping through regularly before I am even willing to consider a pregnancy. By the time she's 4 or 5, I'll be of "advanced gestational age" to but it nicely

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

we family bed (and always have). we have a king and queen pushed together. And again, it's dd w/ the sleep issues - she doesn't even want to talk about sleeping in her own room by herself. But ds would do it if that's what we decided to do. He's also the one who has slept in another room on vacations, and has slept over nanna's house. DD has never made it through the night when we've tried the nanna sleepover or a different room on vacation (sleeping w/ other little girlfriends). I think she just wakes too much during the night... if i'm beside her, she cuddles into me and goes back to sleep w/out *really* waking, but if i'm not there, she's up. I joke i'm going to have to dorm w/ her at college! (that's ok w/ me w/ all the scary stories you read and hear about! DH and I joke to each other the kids can go to any college they want... on-line!)

My DD would gladly be in our bed full time at age 8 too I'm sure. I'm not sure what it's going to take, but I am determined to get her sleeping in her own room for at least the first part of the night this year.

It's true that she wasn't born a sleeper. Still, though, I think that a lot of her sleep issues are behavioral now. I'm afraid that if I don't figure something out, she will be in my bed until college

 

[bumbershoot]

I am waiting until she is sleeping through regularly before I am even willing to consider a pregnancy.

I say this as the oldest in my family... when you do get pregnant and then have the baby, your girl is going to have wonky sleep again, so there's REALLY no point to get her into a routine, when you're just going to then change it all up around her within 40 weeks minimum.

My guys is 3.5 and just recently he's started to sleep better! We have had a family bed since day one, and love it (though we have made him aware that he could think about sleeping elsewhere if he wished to), so I'm well aware of his sleep habits. It's only been since he/we have dropped his naps that he's really going most or all of the night. His best sleep days are those when he eats a good amount of good food, when we get outside even for half an hour for a walk to the post office (even if he stays in the jogging stroller), and when he helps me around the house. And then the KEY of the whole thing is to get him to bed EARLY. In our past we let him stay up until he was overtired, b/c DH and I are night owls. But then we were realizing that he was staying up longer than we were, b/c he was overtired...since that realization we have tried to mandate a bedtime, or at least when bedtime starts. And on those days when all those factors are hit, and then we do bedtime on the earlier side (which to others still is late, relatively, I'm talking 8pm is the absolute earliest we've ever started bedtime), he gets to sleep fast and sleeps through.

I was such a nightowl, and loved staying up late, that I've been watching Saturday Night Live since the day before or after I turned 5 (it premiered on one of those days and I've watched it since then). I also had a lovely trick where I would be crazy crazy crazy, then fall and bonk some part of me, cry, and THEN I would fall asleep. Drove my mom nuts. As an adult in a serious relationship with DH, I used to have to talk myself to sleep. Luckily he was nice about it...but he does NOT miss it since it stopped, which happened after DS arrived.

So be glad your daughter doesn't have to accidentally hurt herself to fall asleep!

oh, I also wonder...is she *learning* anything in the play place? Might that be a difference? Just playing doesn't really seem to do ALL that much for DS, there has to be some aspect of learning in his day. So preschool (which we're not planning on doing b/c we're planning on homeschooling, so why get him geared towards "school") might add a learning aspect that helps kids sleep better, while a play sort of place might not have that?

 

[MSSANDRA]

I agree with a lot said here. Preschool in its self might not solve the sleep problems but some of the benefits of a preschool program might. Having a routine throughout the entire day is important for some kids. That variety of preschool is also important to stimulate all parts of your child;physical , mental and social. it can also shift their enery levels so that a nap or a rest time in the early afternoon is needed therefore lowering the chance of being too tired to sleep well at night. DS was a great sleeper untill age three when I moved him into his big bed. It was horrible for (sorry) years. He ended up back in bed with us but also with some bad sleep habits. A few things I did was reintroduce a early afternoon nap. It prevented him from being too tired to deal with the "trauma" of going to bed and therefore he slept better. Also having a regular bedtime routine that we never varied helped too. A pain to have to be home at 7:30 everynight but so worth it for a while to get through a tough time.
Sometimes however, it just takes time, patience and lots of love!!! They do grow up and then never want to come out of those rooms. DS now 15 was really sick about a year ago and I tried to get him to sleep in our room to be near me and he would not.Could'tbelieve how sad it made me after it taking #%X years to get him sleeping in his room!!!

 

[bellebud]

My DD would gladly be in our bed full time at age 8 too I'm sure. I'm not sure what it's going to take, but I am determined to get her sleeping in her own room for at least the first part of the night this year.

It's true that she wasn't born a sleeper. Still, though, I think that a lot of her sleep issues are behavioral now. I'm afraid that if I don't figure something out, she will be in my bed until college

Like they have mommy-and-me classes, maybe they'll have mommy-and-me dorms!

You don't say anything about a bedtime routine, whether you lay w/ her in her own room, etc. I know very few people who can just kiss their little ones goodnight and have them fall asleep in their own beds, AND sleep through! And someone else posted about getting them to bed BEFORE they get too tired... I found the same to be true w/ my kids. Getting them to bed before they get tired helps a lot w/ them falling asleep faster. Can you do a bedtime routine in her room, then sit there w/ a magazine and reading light or something till she falls asleep... then sneak out and if/when she wakes up, you said you don't care if she comes into your room. I find my kids most deep sleep is the first 4 hours they're alseep. then they toss and turn a lot, and in the morning, it's 50/50 whether they get up or not when i get up.

I seriously wouldn't worry about her sleeping through till you get pregnant again. She might not sleep through for a long time, and i wouldn't base your family design on that. I've read so many tips on family bed, part time family bed, or having a sleeping spot in your bedroom, but not in your bed (for easier transitioning later on).

My sil has a 2yo and 1yo... the 2yo is a horrible sleeper (like my dd was), and the 1yo is fantastic and likes to sleep alone in his crib, goes to sleep at 7-8pm and pretty much sleeps through. The 2yo falls asleep on the couch, they carry him to his new toddler car bed which is in sil's bedroom, and he either sleeps the rest of the night in his car bed, or wakes and simply climbs up to her bed for the rest of the night. She feels at least he's part time in his own bed, and when the day comes she tries to move the bed into his own room, maybe it won't be so hard. (???)

I also had a friend who did family bed part time. She and her dh took turns w/ the bedtime routine. Dinner early, a special tv show her dd liked, bath, books, bed. The parent would stay w/ her dd in her dd's room till she fell asleep, then go back downstairs till adult bedtime. Then if dd woke up (which she did for years, but eventually stopped), either they'd go get her and bring her into their bed, or one would go lay in her bed the rest of the night (they bought dd a full size bed for this reason).

I know how frustrating sleep problems can be! Hang in there, and try different things.