The two year old was up so his father got out of bed to watch him. In my world that's a good thing. The only thing he did wrong was not keep the noise down so that you could sleep.

As long as the child is waking up at a normal time, then the parent has to get his/her butt up.

Sorry, two year olds are like this. Babies are like this. Their schedules more or less dictate ours. I used to get up at 9, now my baby's up at 7 every morning so here I am, up at 7 too. If I or Dh really want to sleep, one of us will go soothe and play with BD and let the other person sleep.

Of course we let her cry it out at bedtime if she needs to, and during naptime, but other times they should be stimulated. They are little people who would, like us, find being stuck somehwere with nothing to do incredibly boring.

It is very different when it's your own. You say that now, that youwon't reward it, but at most you'll only be able to keep to 50%. I just went through this.

I said I'd never give into the binky, but when you're running on an hour of sleep and nothing else is working--you give in.

Ear plugs.

Two to three hours 'early' at my house would have been 3-4am. My toddlers always started their day by 6am. It wasn't a big deal as I got up usually 5am myself. I'd feed them their breakfast and then put them in their playroom with the gate up for 1/2 an hour or so (It was 100% safe and baby proof). Sometimes we'd just cuddle in the recliner while I read the morning news. I worked for us.

I think perhaps instead of the co-sleeping at BM's this may be coming from the fact at her house he's went from crib to youth bed. He's officially found his freedom. Woo-hoo , no bars to keep him in any more. I'm actually surprised your crib does keep him in. Mine usually figured out the trick of crawling over the side of a crib by 12months.

I think you're going to have to settle for DH getting up with the little one , feeds him and then very quietly plays or whatever. With you having a newborn (we all know they get up all night every night for a while), you do very much need to be able to sleep when you can. A toddler isn't going to sleep in. As you've got a like six weeks to work with before baby arrives it might be time for you to help DH settle toddler and himself into a regular schedule that the two of them start implementing now. You need your sleep now and you and baby will have a different schedule than what SS is on for quite a while. It might also mean putting SS to bed a bit later than currently and maybe even darkening his window coverings (is the sun coming up a factor in waking him up?).

A baby and a toddler both will be a handful and take lots of different adjustments in your home. It's going to be up to DH to 'teach' SS how to be and play quietly. The early morning hours also give DH a chance to have some one on one with SS, as surely SS is going to see soon you giving lots of one on one with the baby (naturally so) and also DH spending time with baby. SS may not feel excluded if he's built a routine of an hour or so with Dad each morning before he has to start sharing his father with his new little sibling.

Just some idea. It's important you get your rest, but DH isn't pregnant, it's not going to hurt DH to get up and do some Daddy Duty. The only other thing you might try would be to have DH go in and give SS a few toys to sit up in crib and play...but now that SS has tasted that morning can get out without bars freedom, I doubt SS will settle for that. It's not really a sense of SS being 'entitled' he's just a babe himself and his young life is entering a new stage. Not many little ones are going to be willing to stay in bed every morning so parents can sleep in.

Hopefully you can get him on a routine soon. it's perfectly ok for you to take naps at unusual times of the day too. Pregnant mothers and new mothers gotta sleep when they get the chance.

The 2 year old is not entitled! The 2 year old is behaving like a normal 2 year old. It is nigh on impossible to get a child that age back to sleep once they wake up, and you do not leave a toddler to scream in their room because you want to carry on sleeping. You're going to be a mother soon so you are going to have to accept this as a reality of parenting. You can do all sorts of things in terms of adjusting their routine to try to lengthen sleep duration: changing mealtimes, nap times, bedtime routine, but ultimately when your child wakes up, you have to wake up and take care of him/her. That's what your SO did and good on him for doing that. My 2 year old wakes between 6.30 and 7. He has been through phases where he wakes at 4.30/5.00am. I have friends whose toddlers NEVER sleep past 5. All children are different, but their needs DO dictate the schedule of the household. If you change anything about their sleep routine - the room, swapping from cot to bed, swapping from grobag to duvet, it is likely to impact their sleep for a while. Throwing off the covers in the night is a common reason for children waking up. When DS2 started waking before 6 I put him back into a baby sleeping bag and abandoned his big boy duvet and his sleep has improved. When I moved my first child from cot to bed when she was 3 it took a lot longer for her to settle and stay in bed because of the novelty, then she would go to sleep overtired, and wake earlier. I had a newborn at the time and wanted to free up the cot for him. I quickly realised it was a terrible mistake and it would have been much better to just buy another cot. When you are already sleep deprived it is not the right time to begin messing about with the routine of the child that was sleeping well!

BTW your not being able to sleep through is natures way of preparing you for the repeated night time waking that you'll experience when you're feeding your newborn. I had broken sleep in the late stages of pregnancy with all 3 of mine. It's really common. I get that the 2 year old isn't helping, but he is not the cause of your exhaustion so try not to take it out on him. And nap, whenever you can, making up for lost nighttime sleep in the day is one way to try and cope.

I'm lucky if I can sleep through the night, also. I'm currently 8 months pregnant and sleeping in stages is what my body has decided to do.

Take naps whenever you can, this will make a huge difference. Sleeping is a luxury that you won't have for years to come.

What punkin said. And what you refer to as a "temper tantrum" IS a baby/toddler expressing that he has needs. YOU only take it as a temper tantrum because you care more about your sleep than this 2 yr old. You can say it till you're blue in the face, but a 2 yr old waking up and wanting his dad which results in crying, screaming, kicking, etc. is NOT a temper tantrum. If he were on the same floor, it probably would not have escalated to that because Daddy would have been there quicker. My kids are 19 months apart and my 2nd was sleeping through the night before my first. My first was 21 months before I could say he was sleeping regularly through the night. My daughter started at 4 weeks. TOTALLY different babies. And I thank God that my marriage was intact at that point and he didn't have a sm "dealing" with him.

And see... I don't see it as a temper tantrum I see it as a little person who has woken up after the night alone and is raring to go. From a different floor, he can't get the adults' attention in anyway but being loud. So he is getting the attention in the only way he can. What time was he actually wake? 2-3-4 hours early doesn't tell us much. The time would help. Unless we're talking 2-3-4am, it's really not that early for a 2yo. And a back rub is unlikely to put him back to sleep at 5/6am. He is ready for his day to start. So Dad needs to figure out a different routine. As someone suggested, a change of nappy, breakfast or a small snack and (quiet) one-on-one time with Daddy.

One thing I will suggest - do NOT let your newborn get used to complete quiet when he sleeps - that is a recipe for disaster! You want him to sleep through routine household noise - and yes, with a toddler in the house, that includes some yelling, carrying on, etc. No one should be tip-toeing around while baby's asleep.

Also... I understand your concern about his waking the baby up at night (baby will wake quite nicely w/o your stepson's help). What about the baby waking your stepson up when he wakes up every hour crying? How is that going to be addressed?

Hang in there - it will be okay. I think your biggest issue is getting Dad to understand that morning is a time for quiet play...

2 year olds have a hard time dealing with certain feelings like anger and frustration. I remember when SD would get so angry she would throw the most horrible fits (gotta love terrible 2's). You have to explain to them how to express these new feelings. I think that hitting the wall and screaming at the top of his lungs ins't that normal when waking up. Your DH should go in there and let him know that this isn't acceptable and to calm down. I agree with some in not taking him out of the crib but going in and calming him down without picking him up and playing with him. It's very difficult for toddlers to understand the difference between moms house and dads house. Be patient and be consistant on handling this behaviour. He will eventually learn.

And believe me, I understand what you mean about not getting any sleep while pregnant. I just had my baby boy in November. I got zero sleep while pregnant, plus being uncomfortable and hormanal doesn't help. Take deep breathes and remember soon you will have your body back (somewhat)! We live in a tiny apartment, we put a sound machine in SD's room before the baby came to help drown out the crying and it hasn't woken her up yet. Hey you may have a great baby that doesn't cry every hour. In the beginning mine woke up every two hours to feed. He didn't cry every night either, you just have to listen for them stirring.

A swat to the diaper and put em back to bed. If he wants to cry, so be it. The more DH caters to this the longer it is going to last.

We were fortunate. Our kid (my SS) was a mutant. He was mellow and could entertain himself quietly for hours. We started dating when he was 15mos old and married a week before he turned 2. Our friends still comment and tell stories about how quiet and mellow he was. All while their children are running amok. I point out that free range parenting does not work and results in their little hell spawn children interfering in others state of peaceful bliss. For some reason my friends chose to be offended by my comments.

Go figure. :?

Interestingly when their children are around me they tend to sit down, be reasonably calm and STFU. For some reason the kids don't like my lack of tolerance for their little shit behavior. Most of our friends tend to leave their children at home with a sitter rather than expose society to their little shit children when I am around.

I am not sure why. I love kids and kids love me. Particularly the well behaved kids. What I don't like are children that are the result of idiot parents.

A friend of mine who had a very difficult toddler used to hop over the US/Canadian border and buy a case of Gripe Water periodically. He swore by the stuff. Apparently it is herbally infused whiskey. According to my friend, put in on teething gums. Instant relief. Incorrigible toddler, a teaspoon and the kid is out cold in a few minutes flat.

We never tried it. We never had to. It may be worth a try if your SS does not figure it out soon.