I'm so tired. Wide awake toddler

[skyberry]

DS is nearly 20 months and if i'm honest, i've always felt a bit smug with the fact that he's been a really good sleeper.
Until recently he'd have an hour and a half daytime nap and 12 hours at night.

About 5 weeks ago he started waking in the night. Usually about 2 ish.
The problem I have is that he doesn't cry. He laughs, talks to himself, shouts and kicks the sides of his cot. It sounds like he's having a great time. DH and I are absolutely exhausted. He gets louder and louder and this can last for hours.

We've ignored this and left him to it hoping it was a blip, but he just continues to do it every night.

I've cut his daytime nap back to 20 mins and have started to put him to bed at 8 rather than 7. This has made no difference. The past couple of nights i've got up and gone in to him as DH works fulltime and is so tired and i'm worrried about our neighbours. Anyway he pretends to be asleep so i stay in his room for 10 to 15 mins get back in bed and then a couple of mins later he's shouting and banging again!

Anybody else had this too with their toddler? Am considering putting him in a bed so at least he has no cot sides to bang on. I just can't understand why he won't sleep. I always make sure I take him somewhere everyday so he's stimulated and take him for plenty of trips to the park etc so he can have a good run around and burn off some energy.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things, it's important not to stimulate him or leave toys in his cot, and for his room to be really dark? I wouldn' put him in a bed personally, as he might start get up and playing about the room/house.

Would he have a big tooth coming out? I know that both my children wouldn't cry when their big teeth were coming out they would just wake up. Then it becomes a habit.

My dd1 used to do this. Her thing was singing in the middle of the night I think she was about 2ish maybe a little younger when it started. I remember nights lying awake listening to her recite bob the builder at the top of her voice. Sometimes I would listen to her babbling and talking and wasn't fully convinced whether she was actually awake or not. Like you it could go on for hours and she was none the worse for it in the morning.

I never went in to her and it wasn't every night but was a phase and did stop can't remember how long it went on for. What i did was get ear plugs it didn't bother dh I knew he would wake if he heard her crying or something and I was free to put in the ear plugs. I just felt it was ludicrous to be lying awake listening to her singing! I defo think it was linked to a devlopment leap and coincided with an increase in her vocabularly.