3yr old waking up in the middle of the night

Hi!

Of late my daughter who is 3 yrs old wakes up in the middle of the night talking something and starts crying. Either she comes to us or I have to go to her and sleep next to her. Goes to sleep again if I pat her back. I thought she might have had a dream or she may be afraid to sleep by herself alone in her bed.(just started trying to make her sleep in her room, earlier she sleeps in our room)
But yesterday she was sleeping with us and yesterday also she woke up and looked for me here and there, the moment she saw me next to her she slept again. But she didnt cry. Then later in the night as the bed is so small I left her with her dad went to her room and slept there. She started crying 'Amma, amma' and came to me. This is not only with me. If my husband had left to the other room instead of me, she wd have cried 'Appa, Appa'. I dont know why she wakes up so many times in the night to see whether we are nearyby.
I dont know how to make her sleep for the whole night in her room / bed. Help me Ladies. How can I make this workout? Or atleast I want her to be asleep for the whole night regardless of where she sleeps, whether it is with us or in her room.

Cheers
Vidhya

Hi Vidhya,

When you changed her bed from your room to hers, was the change sudden or gradual? I think your daughter is not able to adjust to the change. If you make the change gradual, she might be more comfortable adjusting to it.

My daughter is 4years old and i am changing her bed from our room to her own room. But as kids cannot adjust to sudden changes, we first made her sleep in her own bed but in the same room. After 2 weeks, we changed her bed to her own room and i used to sleep beside her bed on a matress. Slowly, we made her sleep early with lights on and we are still awake. Now she is able to sleep by herself in her own room. But occasionally she comes to our room and insists on sleeping between us

Hope this helps.

-Lakshmi

I am seeing the concept of making small children sleep in a separate room only after coming to America. In India(atleast during my childhood days), young children always slept with parents(or grandparents or aunties or some relatives). If children are left to sleep alone, they may develop insecurities (or may go to the other extreme of being too independent and secluded from parents). In my opinion 3 years is still too young for a child to be sleeping alone. This is just my personal opinion, not to offend anyone.
Take care.

Vidhya, DS who is also three years old is going through night frights. Wakes up screaming. I am told it is something common in that age. We had DS sleeping the first half of the night in his room and then joining us in our family bed. But after the night frights started one of us sleeps with him in his room or he goes to sleep with us in our family bed. I am waiting to see if it will pass.
We stopped cosleeping after I developed debilitating back pain from sleeping with him squished up next to me. So, I do understand you can have different needs from all mom. IMO, holding off on transitioning her to her big girl bed till she is more ready to maybe a better idea.

Originally Posted by vidhyavidh

Hi!

Of late my daughter who is 3 yrs old wakes up in the middle of the night talking something and starts crying. Either she comes to us or I have to go to her and sleep next to her. Goes to sleep again if I pat her back. I thought she might have had a dream or she may be afraid to sleep by herself alone in her bed.(just started trying to make her sleep in her room, earlier she sleeps in our room)
But yesterday she was sleeping with us and yesterday also she woke up and looked for me here and there, the moment she saw me next to her she slept again. But she didnt cry. Then later in the night as the bed is so small I left her with her dad went to her room and slept there. She started crying 'Amma, amma' and came to me. This is not only with me. If my husband had left to the other room instead of me, she wd have cried 'Appa, Appa'. I dont know why she wakes up so many times in the night to see whether we are nearyby.
I dont know how to make her sleep for the whole night in her room / bed. Help me Ladies. How can I make this workout? Or atleast I want her to be asleep for the whole night regardless of where she sleeps, whether it is with us or in her room.

Cheers
Vidhya