14 month old sleep problems - please tell me it gets better

[user1499258315]

My 14 month old has been sleeping terribly at night for the past 2 months, he wakes every 20-30 mins and cries out. I have tried going in to settle him, leaving him to settle himself, giving him a drink, rocking and singing but nothing seems to work and he continues the pattern for 4 hours at a time. I am going crazy due to the lack of sleep. Has anyone else experienced this and can give me some hope that it's just a phase? I really need some positive vibes! Thank you!

[FATEdestiny]

Is he literally waking every half hour all night long? (I didn't know if this was just a figure of speech)

That is not normal. It's also not OK.

Everyone, including babies, in fact especially babies with their growing minds, need the restorative deep sleep in order to function. Its a biological need just like water and calories. So to have been surviving without it for such a prolonged period of time is not good.

Is there any way you can help your baby get into a deep sleep?

Could you lie down together and cuddle? Could you feed to sleep? Does baby have a dummy to comfort suck? Could he be in pain? Or ill?

[user1499258315]

Thanks for your message. It isn't all night long, it's in roughly 4 hour blocks so he will start at about 10:30pm and keeps crying out every 20 -30 mins till about 2:30am.
He has never had a dummy, and stopped night feeds about 4 months ago. If I go to him and cuddle him he seems to settle back to sleep but it starts again every 20-30 mins after I put him in his cot. He seems happy during the day and he naps for 2 hours at lunchtime without any problems, but I wonder if it could be teething that's bothering him at night? This has been going on for about 2 months and no new teeth have come through in that time.

[FATEdestiny]

The biggest issue here is baby being transferred into the cot whilst asleep. You could do with finding a way you are comfortable with to teach baby to be calm, relax and go to sleep all done in the cot, not in your arms.

Baby could also do with a comforter of some kind (toy, blankie, muslin) that becomes associated with bedtime comfort.

Then decide which method you want to do. At 14 months there are several options:

Gradual Withdrawal

Do all of the settling in the cot. Stroking, patting, whatever is needed. Baby will scream lots initially but you stay with baby throughout, comforting.

Over time reduce the movement (Stroking patting) you need to do to calm baby so that just your hand on chest/back calms baby down in the cot.

Then slowly reduce the need for you to be physically close to baby. All done at a pace that is slow, gentle and compassionate

Pick Up, Put Down

In cot settling unless baby gets very distressed, at which point you pick baby up and calm down. Then put back down once calm and continue as above.

Controlled Crying

Do bedtime routine, put put baby into cot and leave. If crying starts wait a set amount of time and go back in.

[user1499258315]

Thank you for your help. He does go to sleep on his own in the cot at bed time and naps, and he did sleep through the night for 2 months (March -may) so I know he can self settle, including in the night, but for some reason he isn't doing it any more. I'll try him with a comfort toy tonight to see if that helps. I really appreciate your input.