17 month old can't get to sleep anymore

[sukiking]

I've been one of those ridiculously lucky mums blessed with a good sleeper... until now! (Mothers of poor sleepers - I feel your pain.)

DS just turned 17 months and suddenly can't get himself to sleep at night (lunch nap OK but not as easy as it used to be). He lies in his cot happily babbling and playing with his toys for 30 - 60 mins, then all hell breaks loose when the frustration of not being able to sleep kicks in. My gut feeling is that he's over-tired because he's learning to walk and absorbing tonnes of new words. I've taken him to GP and they've said he's fine, so it's not pain that's keeping him awake.

We have a routine (bath, books, bed by 7pm) and we use a lullaby light but it only lasts for 10 mins.

Hubbie and I don't know what to do as we've never really had to worry about it before. I've tried leaving DS to cry but even after 40 mins he's still screaming so I break every rule and go in to give him a big cuddle and read a book or two. He calms as soon as he sees me but kicks off again when put back down. I've also be playing his fave cd on the iPod - keeps him happy until it ends after 30 mins.I know the pick up and cuddling thing is probably the worst I can do but it used to work so well whenever he'd occasionally wake up in the night before this started.

Anyone got any suggestions on how to get through this? I don't really understand the controlled crying approach of 5 mins, then 10 mins etc. That just seems like a tease. And it prolongs the agony. Plus, we're talking about a little boy that's quite happy to lie in his cot awake for up to an hour so I don't think this is driven by insecurity.

Desperate for advice so please don't be shy! Thanks all.

PS: It's not teething either!

I know he's only 17 months but have you tried cutting back on or cutting out the daytime nap and replacing it with quiet time so he is really tired by bedtime?

My 20m has just been through this. Record was 3 hours of on-off crying.

It really was just phase (I know, I know). She would stand up yelling, and lie down if we sat down in the chair in her room. We used to wait for her to go to sleep, but it took too long after a while.

So, for one tough week, we put her down, sat in the chair for a little bit (5 mins), then left. When it kicked off, (usually before we had left the room), we would go back to her, cuddle her in the cot (so over the bars while she stood), say "goodnight", maybe do "goodnights" to the cuddly animals and go. Wiat 5 minutes. Still screaming. Go back in, cuddle in cot, but sit in chair. DD lies down. Wait 3 mins. Leave. repeat. Sitting briefly in chair each time.

By about the 4th or so go, we would then sit in the chair and wait it out till she was asleep because she was tired.

By the end of hte week we were back to her being happy to be fall asleep by herself, even saying "bye" as we left the room.

Can't promise it will work for everyone, but we hope it gave the balance that she was not abandoned, and that we would come, but that nothing exciting was going to happen when we did.

I think it does sounds like he is all a-go if he is about to walk - my DD was all to pot in the month before she walked.

The other thing is, it could be overtiredness, but on the other hand, is he actually tired enough? My (14 months) DD at the moment seems to need so little sleep at the moment - she will have one nap for about 90 mins before lunch, then goes through the afternoon, has supper at 6 ish, bath at about 7.30 and in bed about 8.30 or sometimes even nine. I have tried making it earlier but she just isn't tired enough! She gets up about 7.30 am and normally wakes once in the night for 20 mins or so.

If we have finished bath by 8.30pm it seems to work perfectly - she is not so tired that she can't enjoy a laugh having her bath and be alert for reading her story, but she is sleepy enough that once we have done story and milk, she is dropping off. If I put her to bed at 7 she would lie in bed for hours screaming!

Thanks for all your suggestions. He's def not ready to cut out the nap - he's beside himself by 12:30 and desperate for sleep. But afternoons tend not to be so hectic so perhaps he isn't physically tired enough. That said, though, he's certainly mentally strung out. Tonight we tried a bit of In the Night Garden (which was suprisingly hyperactive, I thought). Just 15 mins after bath and before books. He went down at 7:15. I didn't even turn the monitor on because I couldn't face it. But I'd hear screaming and there's been none so hopefully it's just been a passing phase.

Weirdly though, although he's very chipper during the day, I have noticed he's acting stressed at sudden noises or things like his buggy falling over. But I guess that's a whole other thread.

Thanks again for all the advice and support - much appreciated!