17 month old sleep issues

[Sally21222]

Hi there,

I would really appreciate some advice...

My son has never been a good sleeper, he has only slept through the night a handful of times...He did seem to be improving, but things have gone down hill again the last few weeks.

He used to breastfeed regularly and was waking because of this, but I have managed to stop all night feeds six weeks ago and he still wakes up... there was a period of a week where he slept well, but now waking regularly again.

He has one nap a day, has to be rocked to sleep at nap time, but he does fall asleep on his own in the evening.

His routine looks like this:

Wake up 6:30
Breakfast at 7
Snack at 09:30
Lunch at 11:30
Nap 12-1:30 (can be longer some days)
Snack at 2pm
DInner at 5pm
Supper at 6:30
Bottle and Bedtime 7pm - can take up to 45 mins for him to fall asleep.

Sometimes he doesn't wake until 2, but other nights he'll wake at 10. Sometimes he can self settle other times he can't and won't go back to sleep unless I go and pat and shush him. Sometimes it is very quick and other times can take up to 20mins for him to fall back to sleep.

I introduced supper when I was reducing the night feeds and think that really helped and I do not think he is waking because he is hungry now. I know he just wants me to comfort him as he won't settle for my husband.

Any advice?

Is that the only wake up he is doing? If so I don't think that's too bad and completely normal for his age. My 3 year old still often wakes once and I resettle. He will grow out of it and eventually self settle.

With our son we use sleep meditation frequencies played through a Bluetooth speaker from YouTube, which seems to have kept him settled.

I also have a YouTube channel with stories I have recorded so after he has had his bedtime story and is settling these can play so he drifts off listening to my voice which makes him feel safe.

I hope this helps?

Thanks for your replies.

He is very inconsistent sometimes he wakes just once, other nights I have to go in their multiple times. If we co-sleep he will sleep much better, but my husband and I then don't get much sleep...

I am not sure if is cold, he hates having a blanket, but I am not sure he is warm enough in the sleep suit. It is about 23 in his room and he is in pyjamas and 1 tog sleep suit. Do you think this could be an issue?

I will try the meditation and that is a good idea about the stories. I play the Sarah Ockwell Smith Alpha Music whilst he is settling at the moment, but turn it off once he is asleep.

It might be a little cold maybe a light blanket after they have fallen to sleep, sometimes when the room has been dark and silent that has caused our son to wake up and call out for us, but the sleep frequencies help him drift off again.

If you wanted to try some of the stories I have read the channel name on YouTube is Daddy Bear Reads at Bedtime