A Waking in the Night Waking 

After 1 am he would wake every half hour, come into our room or cry until we went to him. Four year old Louis only slept properly when finally exhausted – usually at around 10.pm. 

Problem – 4 year old waking throughout the night.

Amanda and Michael , both 37, suffered years of sleepless nights with their youngest son’s sleep problems, Louis four. Amanda, a full-time mum, and Michael, also have a daughter, Daisy, two.

Until he was about 18 months Louis refused to go to his cot and spent most nights in bed with Michael and me. I was eager to get him used to sleeping alone before Daisy – a good sleeper – was born but failed miserably.The nightly ritual went something like this: Louis fell asleep in bed with me or Michael lying next to him at about 7.30pm. About half an hour later he woke and came downstairs just as we were sitting down to dinner. One of us would bounce him on our knee until about 10pm when we’d try to get him back to bed.

Between then and 1am he would shout from his bed at least twice until we went to him. After 1 am he would wake every half hour, come into our room or cry until we went to him. Louis only slept properly when finally exhausted – usually at around 6am.

We took him to Millpond sleep clinic when he was four.

The Solution

Mandy drew up a tailor-made plan which began with us putting Louis to bed at 10pm. This was his natural falling asleep time but eventually, as he adjusted to the programme, the time was brought forward until he was asleep by 7pm. In Louis’ case , the main problem seemed to be that he didn’t seem to be able to get himself back to sleep when he woke without us stroking his hair and soothing him back to sleep.

When Louis shouted out in the night or came into us we were advised to guide him back to bed without talking to him,but simply to say: “It’s sleepy time Louis back to bed”.  We then sat by his bed on a small cushion while he went back to sleep, but we no longer stroked his hair. Gradually we moved the cushion every few nights until we were finally out of Louis’s bedroom and he was able to go back to sleep in the night without us.

As a reward for lying still and quiet in bed while we sat on the cushion Louis was rewarded stars on a chart. Three stars entitled him to a trip to the cinema or swimming pool.

He responded well to the reward system quickly realising it was worth his while to stay quiet in bed. He was  also reassured by us sitting on the cushion and so never got upset. As we moved the cushion out of his room in small stages he adapted well. Within three weeks Louis was sleeping from 8.30pm to 6am.

That was a year ago and we were cautious at first, fearful it was just a phase, but we’ve brought his bedtime forward to 7pm and he’s managing 11 unbroken hours.