18mo no longer settling at bedtime - 7pm too early?

[Camelbak]

DS used to be brilliant at going down. Now he faffs about in his cot, banging and shouting for us and generally taking AGES to get to sleep. We tried going back to give extra cuddles but that made things worse. Now we leave him and it can take an hour for him to get to sleep.
He naps only about 2hrs max in the day, sometimes 1hr 40, and goes to bed at 7pm. He is also up early, often waking at 0615 despite taking ages to get to sleep. I wonder if he's just not tired enough or what the problem might be?

We use CD stories and they work well. Sounds like your ds just wants some company and we found the 'voice' of the story teller, gave this .Our ds' were quite happy to lie listening whilst they fell asleep .

I would cut the nap time

DS (14 months) is the same, until a couple of weeks ago it was taking him about 15 mins to fall asleep, now it can be up to an hour. I can see he is tired, but he can't switch off. Although we still have the occasional night when he will settle in a few minutes.

The duration of the nap doesn't seem to matter, neither if he had a big tea or not. I was wondering if it has anything to do with learning a new skill (for DS it's walking). Also, I've read that at 18 months they have a sleep regression (not looking forward to that one).

Sorry, OP, I'm not much help, but you are not the only one.

The storyteller is a good one, missmap. He's still awake now so that's an hour and a half. I think he's overstimulated and exuberant relatives chasing him all over the living room at 6pm doesn't help but they've gone thankfully! He gets 20-30mins of milk, story and cuddles with me so thats more than enough. Let's just hope it's a phase like everything else difficult we go through that seems never-ending.

Going through exactly the same with my 18 DS - some nights he's fine and then others it's like a party in his cot!! I didnt know there was an 18mth sleep regression, oh joy!

7pm is not too early. What time does he nap and eat at?

Maybe it's too late, try 6:30 or 6.

14 hours is the average required amount of sleep at that age.

He naps 1230-2.30 at most, sometimes less and is definitely tired at 7pm. He's only getting 10hrs 45 at night at the moment, waking too early for my liking at 0615.

I've read that putting them down 20mins earlier can help but I'm finding that hard as I have a 4 month old too who also gets tired at 6pm!

My 20mo DS is a useless sleeper (which is nothing new) but we find that fresh air and exercise really helps. For some reason if it isn't outdoors it doesn't count- although swimming is the exception to that rule.

If he hasn't had at least an hour of free range activity in the afternoon/ early evening sleep is a distant dream.

Is he actually crying/miserable for the hour or just not asleep?
If he's happy then it's not a huge problem is it?
When the DDs were this age we put a couple of bits in the cot for them to play with/look at.
Mine both dropped naps when they turned 1, they are all different, they did go roughly 7-7 around that age. I don't think 7 is too early - they still go to bed at 7 now and one has just started school!
Try and cut back on the naps, make sure there has been activity in the day, if he's not crying/distressed then taking a while to go to sleep is not in itself a bad thing. I don't go straight to sleep when I get into bed - it's a skill for them to learn.
Also at this age shouting for you is starting to test the rules/boundaries/see if he can get some more attention etc.
Obviously if he is distressed that is different and a different tack needs to be taken, but I don't get that as the problem from your post.

The naps sound ok, try putting him done earlier, see if that helps...

My ds goes to bed at 7 but still wakes at 6:30, no sure you can do much about that, birds and sun etc.

DD is 23mo and struggling to adapt to the lighter evenings. Where she used to fall asleep in the time it took me to get back downstairs, now she does what your DS does - chats and plays for up to an hour after she goes in the cot.

She's not unhappy, but possibly struggling to switch off because of the light coming round her blackout curtains and blackout blind for good measure.

I agree with the PP who said he might be too tired. If DD goes past her best in the evening, she wakes really early the next day, absolutely wired and ready to start, and occasionally she'll wake through the night too.

Can your DP/H do one DC's bedtime while you do the other, so you can try getting DS down slightly earlier? Just 10 or 15 minutes could make all the difference.

Certainly it could be the lighter evenings. Lord help me if he's needing less daytime sleep as that was my sanctuary away from the two of them for a short sanity break! DH and I do a bedtime each so I certainly need to try and get bath etc done earlier though I really am not sure that he's gone past his sleep- he doesn't show the signs particularly (rubbing eyes etc).
I think more of a runaround in the afternoon might be in order as he goes down perfectly at 1230 for his nap after a 6-hr manic morning.
Thanks for the tips!

By the way,SardineQueen, he is distressed- not horrendously so- but cross and frustrated that the sleep isn't coming. It's a mixture of crying and whinging. I guess its the way I feel when I can't get to sleep if my head is buzzing after a stressful day.

You need to play it by ear, I think.
In a way, there are as many answers as there are people!
You need to feel confident in doing what you feel. If you feel he needs comfort, then comfort. If you feel bedtime to be when it is, then leave unless properly crying. that sort of thing. Do what your instinct tells you, is the best with this. My instinct tells me to leave, DHs tells him to comfort. I think it is usually best to go with the "softer" option unless it is getting out of hand! DH goes and cuddles them to sleep, I don't mind at all. So do what you think best