Advice on how to get toddler to stop calling for me through the night?

My daughter is 2.


She has made the transition from crib to big bed.


She has been waking up every night for 1-2 hours, calling me over and over and over again to put her blankie on her.


Advice on getting her to sleep through the night?Advice on how to get toddler to stop calling for me through the night?
I wish I knew if she was actually getting out of her bed and coming into your room to get you. But at any rate, I had a similar problem with my little guy. He would call out for me and I would get up 2 or 3 times a night. I went without sleep for over a year. And for a year my son got exactly what he wanted... attention. When I finally started to ignore him calling me he got the hint and started sleeping through the night. If you continue getting up and giving her attention in the middle of the night, your daughter is going to keep on doing it. It will be hard at first to ignore her because you love and want to comfort her but she needs to learn to comfort herself.Advice on how to get toddler to stop calling for me through the night?
i went through this!! It is hard and I really did not want to let my kid scream herslef to sleep. she would wake up every night, ususally once, for me to get her stuffed animal for her. I'd do it and then she would go right back to bed. it was easy. until she was 4 years old!! And then I thought it got ridiculous and that I should finally be able to get a real night's sleep. I to9ld her that I would not be coming in to get her stuffed animal for her anymore. I told her when she went to bed that I did not want her to ask me in the middle of the night and that if she did, I would not respond. She called for me and I ignored her. After a few minutes she came into my room and stood next to my bed crying. I ignored her. Finally I just siad -- you can stand there crying if you want or you can go back to sleep. she went back to sleep and that was the end of it. she is 17 yrs old now and leaving for a summer trip to Thailand tomorrow!! I know she could have slept through the night much sooner but, I didn't want to abandon her by not responding at all, and all she wanted was someting so easy. So, I waited until it drove me crazy and I knew that I had to do it. I also needed for myself to wait until I thought she was old enough to understand. My son had a somewhat similar situation-- he was about 2 and a half and he was up once in the middle of the night and continually called me to come wipe his eyes because he was crying and they needed to be wiped. I went in several times, left the tissues in the crib (he threw them out) and finally gave up. He cried himself to sleep saying ';I just want a tissue to wipe my eyes,'; over and over and it hurt me but he slept after that....!


good luck
I don't have any long drawn out answers for you but this is what I did.





Child: ';Mom, my blankie fell.';





Me: ';(sternly) Pick it up. No more talking. (sweetly) Good Night!';





Child: ';Aren't you gonna do it?';





Me: ';No more takling. Good Night!';





Child: ';But I want YOU to!';





Me: (like the wicked witch of the west) GOOD. NIGHT.





Child (making pathetic sounds of trying to get blankie) I...can't...





Me (stony silence)





That happened for a couple of days. Then on the fourth day this gets added on to the script:





Child calls a couple more times. Then he gets out of bed gets his blankie. Gets back in bed. Yells to me that he got his blankie and says ';Good Night!';
Perhaps you can try a few things I tried..


at this stage it's just that it's new and we tend to say things like ';now you are a big girl..'; etc. I think it's possible that kids at that age are just making sure you still will be there when needed. So...my suggestions would be:


1. Two matching teddy bears or another favorite ';stuffed'; toy...when she thinks of you she squeezes the bear and you sleep with yours (for when you think of her)..


2. Study the stars- watch them for a few nights together and have fun (guess how many) (make pictures) etc... then after a few nights- tell her '; the star right in front of your window is the one I named after you';...tell her '; at night anytime mommy wants you to feel a hug from her , while she's asleep, you wish on that very star and you know she feels your hug!';


3. Walkie-talkies...great to spare you from getting up and great for her to know she can say I love you anytime she wants!


4. (this was my son's favorite...) We took turns each night picking a place to meet in our dreams! For ex.- I would say ';tonight I think we will meet at Santa's house..'; the next night he said '; I'll meet you in Candy Land';... and each time he woke up he would tell me: ';DID YOU SEE ME!? I WAS DRESSED LIKE THE GINGERBREAD MAN!';


It was always alot of fun!





Be patient - she is just getting used to newness.
She's a sly one! There's nothing a two year old wants more than her own way. Calling you out of bed to do your bidding is fun! If she's calling you because blankie fell on the floor and she's afraid, leave the light on or put a night light in her room.


Now for the fun part:


The next time you put her to bed, have her practice putting her blankie on herself. When she puts the blanket over herself make a huge deal about what a big girl she is. Have her do it over and over making a big deal each time. Then when she calls in the night, remind her that she can do it all by herself. She'll say she can't and you'll say she can. And then firmly say good night. Now she'll see how many times she has to call you before you give in.





Caution--If she calls for 20 minutes and finally you go to her just to get her quiet, you teach her to last for twenty one minutes. If you stay in your room you'll have one night of pure hell and then it'll get better.





If she gets out of bed, don't talk to her. Try not even to look at her, and if you can manage it, don't even turn on a light. Just lead her back to bed but don't put the blankie on. That's her job.





Each night after that...this probably won't be solved in one night...have the same blankie practice session. If she's as smart as I think she is, she won't practice the second night until you tell her you don't think she's big enough to put her blankie on herself.





Happy parenting!
She might not want to be alone at night... If she is able to talk in full sentences ask her what is wrong??? Don't get to upset, she is only 2 years old... If she sees you upset then she might be even scared to talk to you or tell you why she is doing that... Get eye level with her and talk to her calmly...





Maybe get her a night light so she'll feel more secure at night...





I hope that helps...