My son is 4, he’s never really had any luck sleeping throughout the night. But lately (passed few months) its been the worst it’s ever been. Maybe once a week, if I’m lucky, he’ll sleep the entire night (9-7) without waking. But almost every night it’s like having a newborn, he wakes up 2-5 times and runs into my room wanting me to put him back to bed. Now I know some people will say “just tell him to go back to bed himself” but I know my son and he won’t do that. He will just stand by my bed and cry, wanting me to come with him. When I first put him to bed it normally takes 20min to an hour to get him to sleep before I can leave the room. Every now and then it takes longer than that. I’ve had to start giving him melatonin pills to help him fall asleep, but they do not help him stay asleep. I make sure he has no sugar or anything with dyes in it 2-3 hours before bed. I’ve thought about letting him see a doctor, but I’m not sure it would help any. Suggestions?
My grandbaby still sleeps with me through the night snores like a old man but he sleeps good 
Is he still taking day naps?
Adam we are not alone…
We co sleep with our 6 and 8 yr old. They start off in thier own beds tho
Put him in bed with you? Maybe he’s waking up scared. Or put his bed in your bedroom…? You gotta remember he is still a baby, my niece sleeps all night long but does not like waking up and not having someone in the room with her.
You should not give children melatonin
Late naps?
My 4 yr old has a fan on low, white noise, at bedtime.
If it’s not in she will not sleep.
This may sound harsh but I refuse to co-sleep. I did that until he was 3 then immediately stopped because me and my boyfriend get even less sleep that way, there’s simply not enough room and he gets up early for work. My son loves having his own room and own bed, and actually doesn’t care to sleep with me. He just wants me to put him to bed.
I have a 4 yr old who was getting harder and harder to put to bed until lately. Until I discovered melatonin gummies made for kids. It has made such a difference. He finally sleeps through the night and we are both well-rested in the morning! And no, I don’t give it to him every night, just the first 4 nights in a row, and now every few days (like twice a week) if we are having a hard time getting him to fall asleep.
Melatonin gives me and my kids nightmares 
That could be causing him to wake up scared…
Melatonin can make sleep issues even worse for kids. It causes nightmares and sleep disturbances. People constantly say it’s “natural” because our bodies produce it but it’s NOT the same as the stuff produced in a lab that is modeled from melatonin that has been extracted from pigs. It can cause life long issues when used in young children and should never be used for longer than one week.
My daughter did this too. My doctor said we had to let her fall asleep on her own. If we kept sitting with her to fall asleep initially, and she woke up in the middle of the night, she would need us to be there physically because that is what comforts her. So my choices were to let her cry it out, or I eased her into it.
We put a cot in our room and told her if she came in mommy’s room she had to sleep on the cot. We gave her a timeline of how long the cot would be there. On her next birthday, we said there would be no cot and she had sleep in her own bed. The night of her birthday there was no cot. I did not sit with her to go to sleep and it worked.
low dose of melatonin vs a high dose. No naps. lavender bath and warm milk for bedtime. be strict -own bed only no crocodile tears allowed. Avoid naps and junk food added to any electronic devices for up to 2 to 3 hrs before bed.
You may need to take him to the dr. You need help you cant keep getting up. In the middle of the night. You need your rest…
Does he have naps still? Do you guys have a regular nighttime routine for him? Like bath time, read a book, tuck him in, lullabies, etc. Maybe music or sounds to help him fall asleep. Find a routine and stick with it and don’t give in. He’s probably learned that as long as he keeps asking or crying, hes going to get what he wants. It’s a habit now and you’ve got to be tough and let him know who the parent is and bedtime means bedtime.
Melatonin is 100% natural it does not make kids sleep problems worse. My son who is 2 gets it sometimes as per his Dr. All u have to remember with melatonin is that less is more
Anxiety, same issue with my almost 11 year old… honestly i refuse meds for her but counseling has helped… Some
Adhd my son has adhd and he will go to sleep at a normal time at wake up around 2 wide awake and will stay up for hours then go back to sleep. I use melitonin on nights where he’s way to hyper and won’t settle doen
I have a daughter that has a hard time sleeping as well and we found that a weighted blanket was the best option for her. She sleeps all night and says she feels so much more rested after. She has been using one for years. There not cheap, but I can say there really with it.
Try the Calm App i use it with my god son this has sleep stories as calming lullibies. Basically soothing noises while he sleeps. I use these stories and he is out within 10 min. If he wakes up i replay a story or some music which can be on a timer.
My daughter did this for a while and our solution was to put her back to sleep on the couch. For some reason her room was scaring her and the couch in the living room was less scary to her lol but either way it worked and she wasn’t in our bed. Just a suggestion 
Take your child to a GP and get a referal to a sleep school to be assessed, rather than medicate him because your tired…
Parenting is exhausting, I have 6 but never would I dose them up on non FDA approved medication with no long term study done on the effects in children.
When you choose to have kids, sleepless nights are part of the deal.
Get yourself an oil diffuser best thing I ever did and get some calming and breathing oil mixes helps alot
Melatonin gave me bad dreams too. Also woke up more or had a harder time getting to sleep.
Wake him up earlier in the morning ,Let him take a nap mid day for like1hr.and keep him awake until it’s bedtime !
Also I don’t think you should be giving him melatonin!
My son is like this. When he first starts waking I give him his sippy cup and that kinda soothes him right back to sleep. He is 3 tho. Have you tried noise machines or massages after a warm bath with some nighttime lotion? Cbd oil might really help him too!
CBD oil , does he take a nap ?
There was a post on Facebook
That made me go Uh huh
When you are scared or lonely what do you do?
Do you snuggle with your partner?
Talk about your problems?
You are your child’s support network he feels safe with you. He just wants his mumma.
He won’t be like this forever I promise…
there will be a day when he sleeps through .
There will be a night when he puts himself to bed.
I know it’s frustrating for you and you’re probably all touched out and wanting your own space to sit and relax.
But hold him a little longer.
Cuddle him to sleep.
Let him know his not a pain in ass even when you think he is…
Just sit with him in his room until he falls asleep
Or let him co sleep
My son who’s 3½ is similar but he has a severe learning delay hasn’t had a diagnosis yet but it took my daughter until kindergarten to get hers. We always give him a drink and cuddles and put him back in bed we also have started giving him allergy meds at night I think it’s the off brand for claritin or zyrtec I dont remember but his allergies are really bad around this time of year and they help him sleep we also have a medicine that helps settle his tummy if he needs it… he is speech delayed as well so it’s a guessing game with him… I usually dont give him meds unless he is inconsolable
Try co-sleeping or bed sharing worked wonders for my kids and I!!
Sounds exactly like my 4 yr old daughter. I did start the bad habit of putting a movie on while she goes to bed but shes usually out in ten minutes on a good night. She wakes up about the same time and I just keep sending her back in, no movie allowed. I have 5 other kids though and she shares a room with her 2 sisters and must have a night light. Other daughter will be 6 tomorrow though and she was worse up until kindergarten. A banana on the coych always helped her as she cried she was “scared”.
Yes, let a doctor see him, but make your own decisions. My family told me that when my daughter was 5 that something was OFF with her. (I didnt see it). Then the school called to tell me that they wanted to test her for ADHD. The Guidance called me after that and warned me that IF I had her tested that she may be LABELED. and NOT get into colleges etc. SO I listened to the counselor. Well, when she graduated high school she would not go to college, or get a job. I had her tested professionlly and she has a form of Autism on the intelligent side. Extreme Social issues. She is 25 now, Never had a job. ITS HARD to think about. I would say YES, get your baby help now. But be careful about it.
I used to lay down next to my son when he did that and pretend i fell asleep and I started snoring and then he would go asleep but you might have to bring him to the doctors to do a sleep apnea test
Lights… my daughter did this because she would wake up to darkness and panic, a small nightlight did not provide her enough to feel comfortable. We used Christmas type lights around a window and she would wake, see the light and lul herself back to sleep. Good luck
Try a Pink Himalayan Salt lamp in his room. Makes a great nightlight too. I keep mines on all the time though. So many benefits to having one. I suggest having one on in every room of the home.
Sorry but you give him a drug with little known about any side effects but you wont try tough love. The mind boggles. If he is really as bad as you say maybe it is time to seek professional help.
Have you tried a projector that plays noise? My son had one and i pointed it on the ceiling above his crib and when he woke up he would just lay and watch it he was still an infant but just a thought… I also do bath time and a massage when i put lotion on after and bed time prayers. My boys have always shared my bed so i don’t really have any tips on getting him back in his own bed but i hope you can find a solution soon good luck
I remember growing up having “night terrors” it was really bad, lasted for yrs, think til about 20 yrs old. Hopefully he will outgrow whatever is going on, praying not what I had.
Melatonin is a natural sleep aids you can tell some of you ladies have no idea what it is. please look it up. stop judging this lady.
3 out of 4 of my kids used to wake up and climb into bed with me. Id end up barely getting any sleep but I was always too tired to take them all back to their own beds so I started locking my bedroom door. After 3 nights of them crying and banging on my door in the night(I kept the store locked and yelled through the door that it was night night time go back to bed) they finally started in their beds and slept through the night!
Melatonin CAN cause nightmares… I’d stop giving that to him. Maybe get him tested for Autism and ADHD
Get a sleep study done. I got the run around for 15 yrs as to why my daughter slept like a newborn, new doctor ordered a sleep study and turns out she has severe sleep apnea! Study showed she stopped breathing 115 times an hour!! She has had her C-pap machine for 2 weeks and I’m happy to say last night she got 7.8 hours of sleep!! 
Sounds like he doesn’t know how to go to sleep on his own which means when he has micro wakings throughout the night he needs you to put him back to sleep instead of putting himself back to sleep like kids do that do put themselves to sleep. 1 thing is make sure there’s not a medical reason. 2 no more melatonin, it could be making it worse throughout the night. 3 let him put himself to sleep and eventually the night wakings will stop. I’ve been using www.babysleepsite.com to help with sleep training my 3 year old. He has medical issues up until 6 months ago and there wasn’t even a point in it before now. I’ve also found some useful information just googling what’s going on. We also see a sleep specialist which is how I found out he needed his tonsils and adenoids out.
Melatonin can cause nightmares, that could be why he is waking. Did you consult his doctor before giving it to him? Definitely schedule an appointment with his pediatrician.
My son went through a massive sleep regression around 3-4 and we tried melatonin and had the same result, he would fall asleep but it did not help with staying asleep. I would try to set as strict a routine as possible (within 10-15 minutes if possible). Come home for the day at the same time, dinner at the same time, and a predictable night time routine. Also, I suggest doing your best to wear home out through the evening with trips to the park, walks, playing outside. Little ones have so much energy and it often prevents them from being able to stay asleep.
My suggestion is to go to the doctor
Is there any change in the house hold.Like has anyone moved away.Just give it time.Dont take to doctor.They will just give him pills.Hes to young.Try warm milk and a small bowl of cereal.That helps me sleep all nite.Good luck.
He may have sleep apnea. Have him him checked. Does he have big adenoids? My son stopped breathing throughout the night and he snored. He had to have his tonsils out at 4yrs old and slept great after that.
Some of you obviously didn’t read my post thoroughly. Bashing me for using melatonin maybe 3 times a week to help him fall asleep is honestly quite rude. You’re not in my position. He takes up to an hour to fall asleep without it, sometimes longer. But I don’t give it to him every night. Either way, he wakes up a lot. I lay with him until he falls asleep then sneak out. He has plenty of light in his room (two night lights and a colorful disco ball). He loves his room. He’s half asleep when he comes to wake me up and falls right back asleep not even 2 mins after I put him back to bed. I’m going to take him to the doctor this week to see if I can get him evaluated.
Get him outside to play, until he is exhausted. Is he not burning up enough eneygy through out the day.
My son uses “rain sounds” on a meditation app or a fan to help him relax and sleep. Night light could also be useful