3.5 yr old night waking

[2flowers]

My 3.5 yr old DD has recently started awakening numerous times throughout the night.  I am an avid Healthy Sleep Habits reader and until now she has been a golden sleeper.  She no longer takes a nap as she attends school and has grown out of it.  I have been reading these boards and tried putting her back in bed with no interaction for four nights, but it hasn't worked.  We tried sleep rules, but I don't think she understands.  Every evening she tells us she will go to sleep and stay in bed till the sun comes up.  I would appreciate any help you could give us.  I also have a 4 month old, so letting her cry and scream in her room is difficult as it wakes her lil sister.  Thanks!

[Founder]

If she is not napping anymore, make sure her bedtime is no later than 6pm right now.  Make sure that you completely ignore her unless she actually leaves her room.  If she leaves the room, that is when you escort her back into her room without looking or talking to her.  At 3.5 years she totally understands these rules.  Tell us more in detail the process

[2flowers]

Thanks so much for you quick reply...Well, there have been some small changes since my previous post.  Saturday night we put DD to bed at 6:45 ( I hadn't seen your reply yet) and she came out of her room twice right after being put to bed.  My husband put her back in her bed the first time and told her it was time to go to sleep and we would see her when the sun came up.  I put her back the second time and said nothing to her.  She slept until 7 AM Sunday morning.  Sunday night she fell asleep on the couch wile drinking her evening milk at about 6 PM, my husband brought her upstairs and put her into bed.  She awoke at 2:30 AM, and according to my husband, she was petrified and disoriented.  He brought her back to bed, reassured her she was safe, and she slept til 6:45 AM.  I know you said to ignore her, but if she is terrified and in a twilight sleep does this still apply? I don't know if she is having bad dreams, but there isn't any more screaming, just whimpering with super fast pleas of hold my hand.  Any suggestins, or should we continue with you original plan of ignoring.
The reason I said she might not understand the rules is because she was a speech delay and goes to a developmental preschool to address this issue.  She still doesn't understand all "wh" questions and has a particular problem with "why" questions.  When we ask he why she gets out of bed when she isn't supposed to, she just says "yes mommy."  I am not making an excuse for her, but I know she has some comprehension issues.
She does have a bed time routine.  We put PJ's on, have a cup of milk on the couch, then go upstairs to her room.  She climbs in bed, we cover her, give her a stuffed animal, kiss her and tell her we will she her when the sun comes up and to stay in bed like a big girl.  Up until recently she would look forward to going to bed.  She was actually happy to be going up to her big girl bed, but now she is disenchanted. If you can offer anymore insight we would really appreciate it!  Thanks for your hep, this sight is a lifesaver.

[Founder]

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction.  As far as her not understanding she totally does, it really has nothing to do with here she is in regards to her speech because it's all about the actions not the words .  This is why it also works for kids under 2 years of age as well.

[2flowers]

I was wondering what we should be doing when she wakes up petrified.  Is it ok to reassure her verbally? We were making good progress but now it seems like she is waking up afraid, but not totally awake.  Almost like she is half asleep still, like twilight sleep.  She we still be putting her back in bed with no communication?  Some times she doesn't get out of bed at all, my husband went in her room last night because we heard her crying and whimpering.  She was not awake but was scared and upset.  How should we handle this?  Thanks for your help

[Founder]

That sounds more like she is asleep, more like sleep talking she is probably not aware of it at all.  I would let her go through the motions, you don't want to wake her during the process and then she really will get scared because she was really asleep