Hello!

My 4 year old daughter who was a good sleeper has now started to call out and cry most nights when she goes to sleep. It doesn’t stop until we go in there and on occasion she can do this 3-4 times. We recently got back from a long OS holiday and we know this may have something to do with it, however we can’t continue like this. We’ve just initiated a reward chart for not calling out which is a bit hit and miss. What are other suggestions to help with this?


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  • Children and adults can suddenly find their sleep habits have changed, sometimes resulting in many months or years of struggling to fall asleep.
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  • You might be able to find a library book you could read about similar issues. Our child did a similar thing and we found putting in a nightlight and putting up a princess canopy helped (i think she felt a bit more secure with something over her head). We also came in and reassured her as much as she needed and didn’t make a big deal about it. She eventually just sleet through on her own when she wasn’t scared or uncomfortable at night.


  • nightlights and give her a new toy that she can “put to bed” and show how to sleep through the night.


  • I would be asking her what she thinks is causing her to wake up.

    Maybe you could try spraying some of your perfume in her room so she smells you while she is sleeping? Failing that I would try some lavender spray for her pillow, it is calming and might be just enough to put her into a deeper sleep than what she may be having – good luck :)


  • Travel and big changes to routine often cause this type of problem – if you keep up what you are doing it will all get back to normal soon enough. Sometimes on holidays the child/ren get used to being quite close to you all the time and that can be the cause of them wanting you close at home. You are probably lucky she isn’t wetting the bed too – that can happen in situations like these – it all goes back to normal soon enough.


  • my daughter has issues with sleep – I go in and resettle her, reassure her that we aren’t far away, give her a big hug and kiss and tell her she needs to go to bed. It takes a few times but she finally goes off to sleep.


  • I would ask her why she keeps waking up.

    Is she having pains? Nightmares? Adjusting to her old routine?
    Does she spend the same amount of time with you both sinve getting back?
    -if not, maybe she misses the attention..

    Did she stay up later than normal on holidays?

    I hope you can have this issue sorted soon.

    Best of luck


  • Patience- it will pass! However rewards charts will help & maybe just check she isn’t getting night tremors?


  • No ideas here. Stamina and patience! With sone hard core prayers that it will fe a quickly passing phase. Sorry, I have no more to offer


  • I’ve never had to deal with this issue, but if I did I would probably ask my daughter what’s causing her to wake up – is she scared, uncomfortable, not well etc. If she’s scared, she may want to take a cuddly toy with her to bed for a while to make her feel more secure.


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