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2 Year Old Reverted To A Sleep Pattern Of An Infant

by Laura Day
(Washington)

My 2 year old has recently stopped sleeping through the night. He was never a napper, even as a baby, so no nap is typical. My husband is in the Navy and was on deployment all of last year. Recently we moved back together as a family, it has been about a month and a half.


I am sure that some of my son's sleep problems are due to the move and getting accustomed to his new surroundings, and being a family again. However he went from sleeping the normal 12 hours a night to maybe (if I'm lucky) 4-5 hours of sleep, and no nap during the day.

This formula is a recipe for disaster. I have tried rocking him to sleep, patting his butt, warm milk. Getting him to sleep is not the issue, it's getting him to stay asleep so that he gets well rested. He is so tired and it is very apparent with his personality, and by 4:00pm he is unbearable (back talking, hitting, throwing huge tantrums).

I am afraid that prolonged periods of no sleep will affect his development. He attends daycare during the day, and the daycare provider stated that we need to figure something out for him, or he won't be able to attend daycare any more due to his behavior which all stems from lack of sleep.

How long will the adjustment period last, and what can i do to minimize the blow back?

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