My daughter just turned 3 and she sleeps pretty good at night. Lately, it has been much tougher to get her to take a nap in the afternoon though. On most days she really needs it. She almost falls asleep while she is eating or when we are driving somewhere, but then as soon as she gets to her bed she starts playing.
I have noticed that she has a tough time sleeping through the night when she doesn't get a nap or when she goes to bed too late. From time to time she talks in her sleep and I can tell that she dreams about fighting with a friend about a toy. Sometimes she wakes up and screams, I think it is when she has a nightmare. She'll say that there are dinosaurs outside or something else that scares her.

Is your son still taking naps? Maybe that would help. He is probably realizing that something is going to happen soon that is going to change his life. Try to be patient with him, soothe him when he wakes at night and cuddle with him a little. I would try not to sleep in his bed or let him sleep in your bed too often. When my daughter is upset, my husband or I are staying in her room long enough to calm her down. Then we turn her music (classic or children's music) back on and let her go back to sleep. Very rarely do we let her sleep in our bed and she doesn't even really like it. She has occasionally done it during a bad thunderstorm or so.

I think it is tough for a kid that age to adapt to major changes in their life. When your baby is there, he will probably get a little jealous from time to time. I am sure it will be a big challenge for you to manage your work and two little kids. Are you going to have some help with the kids? I know staying at home and mainly talking to a little kid can drive a person crazy.
Good luck!

Looser...thank you very much for the advice! Its nice to know I am not going nuts. We have been pretty good about not letting him sleep in our bed. I think since he was born he has slept a total of 2 or maybe 3 nights in our bed.

He does usually get a nap during the day. Sometimes that can be challenging as well. Like your daughter, he will get very sleepy and nod off in the car for 3 minutes and then definately won't take a nap.

I am definately trying to keep the patience. I don't think I mentioned I have a 14 month old as well. I work full time from home, and have to get up at 4am to start working. I really need to try to keep both kids on some sort of routine/schedule so I can try to squeeze in 8 hrs of work a day on top of tending to them. Really nervous about adding an infant into the routine! Should be very interesting!!

I really don't have help with the kids. Every other week I go get my nails done and leave kids with Dad. That is my break...my treat. That is it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my questions.

Wow, so you'll have three little kids soon. It's remarkable that you can handle the kids (even the two you have now) and work 8 hours a day. That's a great accomplishment. To keep your sanity, I think it would be good if you could find a little support. Do you have any friends who also have kids? I find it useful to have playdates every now and then. Sometimes our friends will watch our kid for a little while and other times we watch their kid(s). It helps to be able to relax a little for even just an hour or two. It is also very useful to have a babysitter in the case you have a doctors appointment or something like that. We have a few friends that we can rely on, so we don't have to pay anybody for it. I did sign up my daughter for hourly daycare...on a space available basis. I use it very rarely, but she really loves her "school". If it was up to her, she'd go on a regular basis. I know it could get pretty expensive though.
I don't work right now, but in a few months we'll move and then I'll look for a job. I'll probably try to get DD into some kind of pre-school program. We'll be close to family then, so they'd also help out.

Don't worry too much about adding an infant to your routine. It sounds as if you are doing a great job! You are definitely doing all you can and your kids can be proud of you.
Best of luck to you!

I wonder if you son is getting enough physical activity during the day. If he is really busy and doing lots of climbing, walking, etc etc, they he will probably sleep better at night.

I know this is difficult for you with your present situation, but something to consider.

Getting up at 4am, wow, you are a saint !

All the best to you with the new baby, I hope you get enough rest.

POPI

Night wakefulness is also a symptom of cow milk allergy. Just something to think about. It takes 4 weeks for all the milk to exit their system if they are allergic to cow milk, so if you are suspicious, remove all milk products and by -products from his diet for 4 weeks and see what happens.