3yr old hasnt slept thru the night

my 3yr old boy has only slept through the night about 4 times in his life..we have done everything we can think of as far as a warm bath and a cup of milk before bed.we've even cut out naps.could there be something wrong with him?

[AnnieBrooke]

How do you define sleeping through the night?  Some doctors use "5 hours in a row" as a definition.  Is he doing at least that much?

[laci25]

Well all kids are different!  What time do you put him to bed?  Also, what do you do with him when he wakes up?  Do you get him up and give him something to eat or drink or do you just tell him to go back to sleep?  Then how long does he sleep before he wakes up?  Like AnnieBrooke said, 5 hours in a row is usually defined as a full night sleep by the drs.  

[zazou]

I agree all kids are different. My daughter is the same, she is 15 months though and has slept through the night a few times but based on a minimum of 5 hours in a row then of course more times (but not so many!). She is a light sleeper and so am I. I still wake up many times at night, also before I had her, so everyone is different.

When he wakes up at night what do you do? If you always go to him he may be too used to that like my daughter is. I'm using the Cry it Our Method on her slowly and have to implement that during the night so she can learn to self-soothe. Perhaps he can't self soothe.

[mammo]

He needs his naps, sometimes if they are too tired it's difficult for them to sleep and it can cause night terrors. I would also put him to bed at a later time.  I don't feel there's anything wrong with him.  Make sure he isn't getting too warm or cold, and that there aren't any noises happening at night to wake him, like a tree branch rubbing against the house.  Maybe after he goes to sleep, sit in there and see if you notice anything that may be going on that wakes him, there can be a lot of noises when it's quiet at night and if he's a light sleeper they will wake him.  I know it's frustrating and always a puzzle, good luck and take care!

[boys2girlsx]

he sleeps a couple hours at a time.he'll wake up at 2 then 4 then 6..when he wakes i can sometimes get him back to sleep with a back pat but alot of times with a drink.i cant let him cry it out cuz we live with other people that dont appreciate the noise.i put him to sleep at about 8 or 8:30.use to give him naps regularly but the doc said to cut them out to see if it helps..im soooo tired.but it was nice last night he slept 5 hours straight!