Sleeping Disorder?

[riverrat]

My 4 year old has disturbing sleeping patterns.
He grinds his teeth, tosses and turns, sweats, and worst of all, he STOPS BREATHING! It's maddening, but when I've tried to intervene, I've only made things worse.
At first I tried to soothe the beast, smoothing back his hair and singing or talking about all the good things he should be dreaming about. It had no effect whatsoever.
So then I tried waking him. This usually has disastrous results, as it is IMPOSSIBLE to wake him, short of abuse. (Splashing water on him seems like it could help, but I'm never willing to do it properly.) So I just end up stressing him out more as I poke him, shake him, gently slap his cheeks, whatever.

So I looked online and a lot of people seemed to be saying that it's a kid thing, and is usually outgrown. Oh GAWD I hope so! It tortures me to hear those teeth being ruined (his mom grinds her teeth, too - its being hereditary would be no consolation for me).

[Grayden]

I was in my late 20's when I realized I grind my teeth. I question if it will go away or not.

But as for your 4 yr old. I'd say close the bedroom door, then you cannot hear it hehe.

But seriously, is he actually getting sleep? Or is he waking up cranky and grumpy like he got none. If he's getting rest, and waking up happy. Then I wouldn't worry too much.

[riverrat]

True that - his rest seems whole. He's waking up happy.
I forgot to mention this above - one of the sources online recommended that the child get a regular sleeping schedule, and that they not be fed too late (kinda like Gremlins®).

[sarah1234]

Oh boy, did I ever make a mistake in letting Marcus sleep in my bed last night. That kid MOVES in his sleep! His head whips back and forth from side to side and his legs bounce up in the air. Of course, my half-dead and delirious solution is to stick a boob in his mouth every time, which keeps me up all night. I should have left him in his crib! The landlords were having a party upstairs and he kept waking up so I thought we'd both get more sleep if he was with me. He slept great! Me, not so much.
I don't think a restless sleeper is necessarily a concern. My husband is a very restless sleeper, but he is also a deep sleeper (go figure), so he gets well-rested even though I wake up to every little body spasm that shudders the bed.

[Persephone]

Heh...

I haven't encountered any sleep issues yet!
Well, not true. I did when my son was 2; I had to lay down beside him to get him to sleep. It was some silly little phase he went through....

These days (he is just about 9), he sleeps just fine....

Gracie falls sleeps between 11-12am until wakes up between 5 and 6am before having another snooze after she eats, usually lasting about 2-3 hours....
So sleep is fine around here... Just begins super late for me.

[Jensniffer]

my 12 yr old grinds his teeth really bad in his sleep and I asked his dentist about it and she explained it was because of he still has some baby teeth and some adult teeth so they are uneven and grind against each other. I hope that's all because its really annoying!

[Raen]

It's definitly a normal part of growing up. My daughter never did it but my friend's little guy (he's 4) is going through the same thing and so are several kids at daycare all around that age. But the teeth grinding might just be hereditary. Have you taken him for his first dental visit yet?

What you could also do that sometimes works is to wake him up an hour after he falls asleep, even just for a minute to go to the bathroom or for a hug. He's not yet in deep sleep after an hour so it should be easy to wake him. I can't remember why waking a child up after an hour causes them to have a less restless sleep but for some people it works.

Best of luck!

[sarah1234]

I think this falls under the sleep disorder category...
My son is a little weiner. He won't fall asleep on his own. We have to bounce him to sleep every single time. (By bouncing him, I mean we sit with him swaddled up in our arms and bounce up and down on an exercise ball). He won't be rocked, sang, sushed or distracted into sleep EVER. Lying him in his crib and praying for slumber does not work. He just yells louder. My question is, will he eventually figure it out on his own and learn to soothe himself to sleep, or will I have to keep buying larger and larger swaddling blankets into his twenties? Has anybody else had a kid that had to be put to sleep and then the kid figured out how to fall asleep on his or her own? And at what age can we be expecting that to happen? Letting him cry it out is not an option for us... It hurts my heart too much.

[alas]

My oldest is 10 and still grinds his teeth. Long time ago the dentist said it was his 6 year molars coming in. Now the dentist says he's a tooth grinder. (and it's horrible sounding). My oldest also had the "snuggle me to sleep" syndrome. I think it was around the time he got a "big boy bed" that he started falling to sleep on his own or it could also be said around the time he got a little sister.

[riverrat]

Letting him cry it out is not an option for us... It hurts my heart too much.

Then stick it out a little longer. In a month or two, if he still cries his little heart out, you'll feel a little less bad for him, cuz he'll be older. Kids learn quickly, and it's the mums' and dads' hurting hearts that prevent them from learning all they should.
(My own weakness was leaving my boy - so, I pretty much never did it - it was hard on my social life, of course, but I was spared the guilt, and he's fine with daycare/school etc now, so I guess it didn't affect him, being stuck to my side all the time.)