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My son has been screaming the house down every night for 5 week at bed time! HELP!

Hey mummys! Looking for a bit of advice.. my son has always been a fantastic sleeper since birth but these past 5 week have been a challenge! As soon as it comes round to bed time he just screams and screams. If we are in his view he seems to settle but the minute were not there he starts again. Even if he wakes through night he runs to the gate screaming! 

Replies

  • You don't say how old your son is, but i'm going to guess toddler as he has a stair gate. He could be having night terrors? Can he articulate if there is something wrong? How have you been calming him so far? 

  • He's 2.. he does it at nap times as well.. just screams constantly if we aren't in his view.. He can't talk properly yet so is unable to tell us if anything is wrong. He does it as soon as we put him to bed then when we do eventually get him over sometimes 5am then he's back up in an hour screaming at the gate. We've been sitting in his room until he's fallen asleep then we leave. 

  • Oh goodness, you must be in pieces, this just sounds so horrendous. Not entirely sure what to suggest, but have you tried the following:
    A special night light (we have a colour changing unicorn) to distract him (this site has lovely ones - https://www.glow.co.uk/night-lights-1.html )

    You could try a book called 'the rabbit who want's to fall asleep' which is meant to help kids fall into a deep sleep. 

    I've seen it all over my facebook about Lush Sleepy lotion, google it.

    And also, sounds ridiculous but my friend swears by a banana before bedtime. 

    Failing everything else, if you have the money, maybe speak to a sleep trainer. 
    Hopefully though it will just be a phase and soon he'll go back to usual. 

  • The past couple of nights he has gone to bed without a fuss and slept all night as he always used to.. hopefully it will keep up.. touch wood.. 

    I've heard of the lush lotion I might give a try and he loves bananas so I can try that also. 

    He has a hippo that projects stars and plays soothing music which he does put on himself every night but even that isn't settling him.

    Don't know if it's a bit of separation anxiety also..

    Thank you so much for your advice. I will keep you posted on how I get on! 

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