18 mo always wakes crying

[insywinsyspider]

ds has been a goodish sleeper, has periods we're he wakes at 7am and then other times much earlier - at the moment its around 6am but my main concern is its always crying, we never wake before him but to the sound of him upset... can I make he understand that being in his bed isn't the end of the world?? I'm due no 2 in 3 wks time and was hoping to have him 'trained' back to 7am but not sure what wakes him - he dropped his morning milk a few months ago and if we go in will calm down after a minute and then is happy to play while we shower and then tucks into breakfast so pretty sure its not hunger, any tips?

[meep]

Is he cold?
I posted about my DD waking early and someone suggested that I put my heating on earlier - it has worked a treat and she is now sleeping through to 7.30am!
So maybe your DS is waking up cold and can't get back to sleep?

[scattyspice]

Ds always woke crying from all sleep and naps right from day 1. He always needed us imediately.
I thought this was normal until I had DD who would wake up and coo / gurgle in her cot quite happily! Heres hoping you get one of those next time eh?

[insywinsyspider]

meep - thanks, changed thermostat temp a few weeks away so it kicks in at 5am and he always feels warm

scatty - thats what I was starting to think, thread is a last ditch attempt to try and get it sorted whilst I have the time might be just who he is, we can't all be great in the morning I suppose

[siobhs]

am in the same boat. nearly 18mth twin boys have always woken from sleep crying. Never ever cooing or talking - they roar!Thought was norm til sis mentioned none of her three did this. Any advice anyone??

[karen999]

My first dd was like this but I think that it was because everytime she even let out a little murmur I was there!! It was my first time and I did things completely differently to how I am doing them now. Dd2 wakes and can lie for up to 20 minutes babbling away to herself. If she does wake up crying I find it is usually because she is either hungry, (9 months so its always a possibility) or that she is still tired!! It's so hard to tell sometimes!!

[insywinsyspider]

ahhh ds was up at 5am - it might be hunger... (complete guess work but he's not cold, nappy ok and don't think he's sick) we eat together at 5.30pm and he's in bed by 7pm so not really enough time for dinner and supper before milk and bed, not sure what to do, decided that 6am crying is preferable at least its an extra hour in bed

dh away till sat, am 37 +1 and absolutely nackered

read baby whisperer for toddlers and she suggested going in before they wake so they don't associate crying with making you get up - I have no idea what time he's going to wake up at the moment so how can I do that??

[phraedd]

how old is your ds?

is he old enough for a sleep clock?

something like this?

[insywinsyspider]

I've seen those clocks before but ds is only 18 months so I don't think he'll get it, plus its too dark at 7am in his room to see it at mo.

We've had a complete change, now he is awake from 1-3am, nothing is wrong, I'm sure of it, then I wake him up at 7am.... at the end of my tether with him and keep worrying how I'll cope with that and newborn (to be honest that probably doesn't help!) don't know what to do for the best the past week as been a combination of sitting with him, letting him cry, and bringing him into my bed just so I can cope with it, dh is back now but he doesn't know what to do, last night we eventually just let him cry but don't want to make him unnecessarily upset

[babieseverywhere]

Could it be a full bladder ? If my 15 month old DD wakes at night/ early morning crying...we pop her on the toilet. She will wee and then stop crying like a switch. I am guessing in our case, a full bladder is uncomfortable until relieved.

If it might be this, you could try putting him on the toilet /potty before he goes to bed (run a tap to encourage him to go for the first couple of times)

HTH

[insywinsyspider]

dh put ds on the potty last night at about 2am - ds thought that was great fun but did nothing, it did completely break our rule of no activity at night and make it really unexciting to be awake, I'm starting to think its a habit - I really hope I'm right as I hate the thought something is wrong we just can't figure it out, it started when dh was in USA for a week and I think I made it worse by just 'coping' and doing anything to get him to sleep
we also tried a nightlight last night but that seemed to wind him up and he kept pointing to it saying 'noooo'

fingers crossed for tonight, he's had a busy day, settled fine and had a good dinner, dh and I have a dvd to watch if he wakes up and we will try cc (I hate it but it might work?!?) and take it in turns, lying in bed listening to him is too stressful

[hilsg]

Am in a similar situation with a DS 18mnths old and one due in may. he has never been a great sleeper but since holiday in sept worse than ever. wakes up random times in night and cries for up to 1.5 hours at which point we normally give in and hold him til sleeps. Apart from that just try to shush him and pat on back without picking up. GOing in to him seems to make him worse but cant bear to just leave him...leaving him ti cc just gets harder and harder. Dont know what to do...

[insywinsyspider]

throughly confused - 2 nights of sleeping throu again!
dh has banned dairy, no cheese or yoghurt for 2 days and we have our sleeper back

back to waking crying! don't think we'll solve that one, after being up in night 6-6.30 wake up is bliss - maybe he did it to teach us a lesson!

hilsg - I have no advice just as its exhausting isn't it?

[robin3]

DS1 was exactly the same. I think that they may lay awake for a short while and then their first communication is a scream.