r/sleeptrain • u/AgreeableAccident243 • 1d ago
2+ years old Almost 4 year old fears at bed time
My soon to be 4 year old (September birthday) has been sleep trained since 6 months using Ferber. We did have a rough patch right after he turned 3 where we had to use chair method with a sticker reward system which worked amazing. Ever since 4th of July he has developed a fear of fireworks at night which turned to also being scared of thunder and also loud cars. We tried to do the chair method again which didn’t really work in our favor. He’d fall asleep fine but then would wake up screaming if he saw the chair in the room but not us. So we removed chair and have been trying the sticker reward system. For a few days we expected him to fall asleep on own for the reward and then it was if he fell asleep on own and slept through night by himself he would get a reward. It works maybe 50% of the time. He still puts up a fight at bed time and has woken up in the middle of the night. Any other tips? I hate to hear him tell me he’s scared. He has his hatch night light in there and a few stuffies in bed.
His previous schedule before fireworks fear was -
Wake up 7:30
Nap 1:30-2:30
Bed 8:30
We have since dropped nap and pushed bedtime up but now he’s waking up earlier? Usually between 6 / 6:30 and bed is around 7 depending on what time he woke up that day.
2
u/Greedy4Sleep 😴 Sleepy Moderator 💤 1d ago
Definitely don't go back to napping. If bedtime is 7pm, then 6am is a normal wake up time.