Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Sleep Issues and Strategies

Stole the above from another topic.

Is "horrible napping" common? We have sleep issues several nights a week. Jr does may nap 30 min twice a day and sleep 8 hours a night. He averages 10 hours a day. Some nights he will not fall asleep and wants our constant attention. To stay sane, my DW and I are now trading off on nights so one of us can sleep 7-8 hours uninterrupted.

Does anyone have issues? What do you do to deal with it? Does it ever get better or is this a "feature" of these kids?

The way I dealt with it was to nurse them to sleep until they were three years old. I'm not necessarily recommending that strategy, but they now sleep all night in their own beds.

This is what we call a feature, not a bug.

My ds8 seemed to never sleep, but, really he just never slept unless I was there, and I mean right there. This was until about 2.5, but maybe I coddled too much. I think he might have a bit of 'gerd', but other than that I think he just wanted to be around us...
Back in the days of $1 gas, we used to drive him around to get him down for a nap. (sorry ozone layer...) We could hardly ever successfully transfer him from car seat to crib, though. It seemed like the minute you let go of him, he'd feel the temperature change or something and wake up. My sister later suggested a sheepskin for this..I think they sell them at ikea now. Another thing you need is a very tall stack of good kids books to get you through the night. Singing always seemed to just keep him up longer, maybe the books did too...

Also, when they are going through intense developmental stages it can get worse: sitting up in the middle of the night to sing the abcs. But in the end it's all fun.

My dd2 is doing better than ds did. Maybe I'm better at this, now. She is a better napper and will even go down by herself, but she still loves to be up when I am up, even if that means 5:15 am.

Many GT kids have minds too active to sleep. It is pretty common. Exercise helps some kids, as does an early enough bedtime that they don't get overtired.

I am one of the lucky ones. My kids both slept through the night quite early (6 weeks for DS7 and 8 weeks for DS4). Of course, they were giant kids, too, so there's something of a trade-off there, I think...Big babies, harder labor, but sleep sooner.

As for sleeping alone: I was a hard-you-know-what and let them each scream it out for a night when they were old enough to put themselves to sleep (over a year old, but I forget how much over a year--???). It was a night of pure misery, but it was just one night. They were both good at getting themselves to sleep after that. It's not a strategy that everyone can use, but it worked like a charm for me. I just reminded myself that they weren't hurt, just tossing a fit. Fits I can resist!

Also, both our kids are pretty independent, so if they wake up at night, they usually just deal with it on their own. (And I stay up so late that if they wake in the middle of the night, I'm usually still up anyway.)

So all in all, they're good sleepers. Not all GT kids are, so I am VERY grateful to the GT gods (or whomever) on this one!

Hi - DS4 was a 20-minute cat napper. We had about a 6-month period just around age 3, when he took 2-3 hour naps. Yay! but when he was <1, pretty much the only naps he would take would be in the baby bjorn or in the car. He would not transfer from carseat to anywhere either. Ugh. (He did transfer and continue sleeping once -when he was 3 and had run around Legoland in CA all day. I guess complete exhaustion is the ticket!

I have to admit, though, that DS has always been a good night sleeper. He has always slept 10-12 at night, no problems. (Well, I did nurse him to sleep for quite a long time...and now we have to "just stay in my room for a little bit" at bedtime.) But we gave up on napping somewhere before 3.5, I think.

This is still a sore subject for me. I think I may have developed PTSD as a result of them never sleeping. Then looking around and seeing all the sleeping angel babies and wondering what I was doing wrong.
But, yes, it does get better. DD8 still doesn't sleep well but will stare at her ceiling quietly for hours(self described) and not wake us up.
I must not be very bright because I need a lot of sleep.

Me, too, 'Neato. I do have insomnia issues when I don't exercise, but even then I need LOTS of sleep. Just in the morning instead of at night, like normal people.

I'm convinced that my kids' ability to sleep well is a survival instinct because when Mommy doesn't get enough sleep, she's *not* a nice person!

Ditto this. The rule in my house growing up is the same one we're using with our kids: they may stay up reading pretty much as late as they want, but they must be in bed the whole time. No toys. It worked for me when I was a kid and it seems to work for our boys.

I am exactly like this! I must exercise or I lay awake. But I need plenty of sleep. Especially being home with kids full time!

My kids don't seem to appreciate this as well as yours though! DD4 is STILL weaseling her way into our bed at night. Which is particularly unpleasant after a 90 and humid day! I was not a nice mommy at all today.

Well, obviously you're too nice, kimck. You need to take "How to be a nasty mommy" lessons from me.

I'm EEEEEEEEEEEVIL! They're happy to avoid me!