We’ve always been very lucky when it comes to our kids sleeping patterns, by and large they have slept through the night and well into the morning from a very young age with nocturnal disturbances normally only brought about by illness.
I am a good father and not at all like the father in this post by the genius demigod of parenting Amber Dusick
http://crappypictures.com/what-it-is-like-to-not-sleep-at-night-illustrated-with-crappy-pictures/
Whaddya mean you’ve never read her site, go there now, come back here later, I’m pretty boring anyway.
Oh good you’re back now as I was saying for the last four nights in a row though our very nearly three-year old Monkey Boy has fought us over going to bed to the point where one of us is forced to sit with him until he eventually falls asleep. This would not be so bad if he didn’t then repeat the process and awaken his younger brother with vast amounts of wailing and sobbing again at two in the morning.
I don’t know if he has picked up on the impending changes in his life or if he’s just over excited about Christmas or simply over tired. I do know though that these late night thrombies are fraying the nerves of both Mrs BC and I.
We’re at a loss as to what to do, threatening him doesn’t work, the naughty step doesn’t work, removing Scooby Doo doesn’t work, smacking him doesn’t work, ignoring him makes him louder and disturbs his brother even more, begging doesn’t work, shouting doesn’t work, crying doesn’t work, cajoling doesn’t work, I’m out of things to try short of putting my pillow over my head and hoping Mrs BC comes up with a solution but even that doesn’t work because it results in acts of violence being meted upon me.
Any tips for a fractious sleep deprived family gratefully accepted.
TTFN
Mr Bunny Chow
The life and photography of Mr Bunny Chow 
I have no tips. but i have empathy. I have the same situation off and on, it’s the second kid that makes any action almost impossible–you don’t want to wake that second kid up. the best i can say is that these things tend to go in phases and you might just let him sleep with you if you can bear it
It’s a tempting proposition he can wedge in between the dog and two cats. Thanks Yoona
I have to say i agree with Yoona that if you have tried everything else, maybe you should just let him sleep with you when he wakes up and see if that helps. Maybe he is having night terrors or growing pains, and both of those things need lots of comforting. My youngest went through quite a few years where he just needed human contact at night, and we fought it tooth and nail. Finally, I gave up and let him crawl in with us at night when he needed to. Eventually, he grew out of it. My oldest used to wake up screaming in the night like someone was knifing him and all we could do was sit by him and comfort him until it passed. All I can say is that is only a stage and it will pass. It’s definitely not easy, but you will get through it because you sound like a great dad!!
harumph, sounds like there is a wriggling child in my sleepless future
Trust me, enjoy the snuggle time while you can! My youngest is 16 now, and he used to be the snuggliest kid in the world. Now he won’t even hug me because he’s too cool for that you know :). I miss it so much!!
cuddles are good, it’s being kicked and elbowed in the ribs.
LOL!!
It will pass. Perhaps he just wants some human contact. Maybe not so much Scooby Doo. There may be something there that is upsetting him and giving him bad dreams.
Scooby Doo is in active reduction although I suspect it’s more likely just a phase.