Need advice re: son's sleeping habits

Alexander has been waking up in the middle of the night and doesn't get back to sleep for several hours and my hubby and I are exhausted. Another problem is it takes him over an hour to fall asleep. Here is his schedule:

7:30-8am wake up
1pm nap (he falls asleep at 2)
4pm wake
8pm bedtime (he falls asleep at 9)

Yesterday I woke him up early from his nap in the hopes he would sleep through the night last night, but he was up from 3-5am this morning.

Any ideas / advice? I'm exhausted.

 

I'd wake him from his nap earlier. He could be one of those kids who just doesn't need as much sleep. All my 3 older kids stopped napping right at 2. These two, however, still need it. I do have one who is a night partier as well, though. He is often up around 4 for at least an hour. It has been this way from day one, and I haven't figured out what to do about it yet. So I don't really have any advice, just :hug: because I know exactly how you feel!

 

I would suggest trying to put him down for his nap earlier.. if he lays down at 11:30 or 12, then he should be asleep by 1, then might only sleep until 3, therefor might be more tired by 8pm. Also, if he isnt really worn out when he goes down for a nap at 12, he might not sleep the full 2 hrs, so he might be even more tired if he only takes like an hour nap.

But there are also cons to not getting enough sleep, and being overtired can cause them to wake a lot at night as well. .

 

We went through the same exact thing w/DD a couple of months ago. What help her was actually getting her down for her nap a little earlier. We started putting them down at 12:15-12:30, and she would fall right to sleep. It also gave a little more time between waking from nap and bedtime. She seems to do best if she has no more than 5 hours of wake time. HTH...and makes sense!