From one tired mummy please help🥹

[Foreverboymumma]

As of Saturday evening, my 22 month old just isn’t sleeping and his behaviour and tantrums have really hit off.
Saturday night I think he slept from
8:30-2am then was awake most of the night. Sunday he was absolutely shattered, had a 2hr nap, but is very wingy. He then had a good sleep Sunday night, last night he was exactly the same. I think he had 3hrs sleep all night.
we’ve been out today for some
fresh air, a run around and now he’s asleep in the car.
is there anything I can do?
on a typical night, he can show all the tired signs but is up jumping around in his cot, pulls everything he can get (he’s in my room as I’m only in a flat) my room is small.
id appreciate any advice x

Hi there, I didn't want to read and run as I've been through awful sleep regressions myself (that have lasted months) and know how soul-destroying they are.

All I can say from experience is that sleep changes usually happen during developmental leaps, and/or illness, teething or environmental changes. If you can't find a medical reason for it (e.g. teething pain), then the best thing I found was to remain consistent with everthing and be very very patient. Keep bedtime routines etc the same, offer as much comfort as you can (don't be tempted to 'punish' the behaviour) and - this is really important - do everything possible to maximise your sleep whilst you get through it. I was often in bed by 8pm and would get DH to look after dc in the morning so I could get a couple of extra hours.

It was hell, but it eventually passed completely on its own. Good luck.

There are some things you can do but whether they'll work is another matter unfortunately.

Get him up at 7 if he's not up already. You don't want him not sleeping and night and making up for it in the morning.

Getting outside is good, try and do it at least twice a day. There is a proven link between sunlight exposure and sleep.

Taking him swimming should help too, if you can. That usually exhausts them.

Give him a dose of calpol before bed to see if pain or discomfort have been bothering him.

Limit the nap to 1.5 hours. That's two full sleep cycles.

Introduce some sleep associations if you haven't already. The No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers has some good information on this and your library might have a copy.

Is he getting enough to eat? One of my DF's DC was just like this and the HV suggested offering more food. Have a look at this guide from the Caroline Walker Trust as it gives suggested menus and portion sizes.

Hope they start sleeping again soon

And it could just be that they're having a developmental leap like they are suddenly about to talk a lot more.