Struggling with 15 month olds behaviour

[AlishaLouise]

Please no judgement here, just one tired mum looking for some reassurance that things get easier.

My 15 month old son has never been a good sleeper but we have always managed. However, for about 4 weeks now he has had trouble staying asleep for more than 30 minutes.

He has a bath, bottle, listens to calming lullabies and has a galaxy/star projector nightlight that he likes. This all takes no longer than 45 minutes. And he often goes to sleep easily, but the issue is that he wakes up 30-45 mins later and is wide awake full of energy again. He treats it like another nap? He has one two hour nap around 12pm and has done since he was 12 months old, this has never been a problem until now. All the times he has had 2 naps in the day, if we've been out in the car or something, he struggles falling asleep at bedtime.

He will only stay asleep if he is in my bed, and even then i can't move, turn over, make a sound without him waking up again. I must admit i have been giving in lately and staying in bed with him from his bedtime until morning just to get some sleep. I'm 8 weeks pregnant and struggling with nausea and fatigue and the lack of sleep is really affecting me and my relationship with my partner as we don't get any down time to just watch tv or have a conversation!

He has become extremely clingy towards me since being pregnant do you think that's just coincidence?

He is an extremely energetic and happy boy but has tantrums over literally everything recently, to the point where it takes 10 minutes of him kicking and screaming and fighting me just to get his nappy on.

Im worrying about the future and how i'll cope with him and a new baby.

Any advice/ reassurance appreciated :(

Congratulations on your your PG!

I think you have a few things going on and yes, it's very likely that he's sensed a change in you due to the PG.

First thing I'd try is changing the nap to 1.5 hours , this will give him two full sleep cycles and hopefully make him more tired at night.

If he likes your bed, gave you tried sleeping with his cot sheets before you put them on? It should give his cot the sane smell as your bed.

Is he getting frustrated as well? This is an age where they usually get frustrated because they can understand a lot but might have trouble expressing themselves. How's his speech?

And us he getting enough exercise? Get your DH to take him swimming in his days off and make sure he's outside at least once a day.

Thank you!

I should've mentioned DS is actually in a toddler bed, a cot has never worked for him. We tried to sleep train him in it at 7 months after he outgrew his next to me crib and he hated it. He was just hysterical every time we put him in there, as if it was a punishment but we never let him "cry it out" in there. He's the same now he hates car seats, high chairs, anything that restricts him! He got so frustrated he would scrape his teeth against the wooden cot rails and actually managed to bite a chunk out at one point.

But even so, i could try that with the sheets! Thank you!

I try and make sure he has enough exercise but i guess i could improve on this, i find it hard in the winter to think of places to take him, soft plays etc can get pricey after a while! I've had little motivation recently too with this pregnancy and feeling rubbish constantly. I'm hoping after the first trimester i'll get my energy back and things will begin to improve!

He is quite intelligent, he communicates well with us through gestures, pointing, words etc. He will rub my tummy if i ask him where the baby is too, so you're right they do understand a lot at this age and i can see how he gets frustrated!

Thank you for your advice, im hoping this is just a phase as a result of change at the moment!