13 month old poor sleeping

[Mio1994]

Hi, currently writing this in tears. My 13 month old has started refusing naps, waking in the night screaming for hours, deciding the day starts at 4am. I can't cope, I don't know what's going on and I'm just a mess.

Today he's refused his half 10 nap and seems wide awake but fussy. I don't know what I'm meant to do and just feel lost. I suffered badly with postnatal anxiety and I feel like it's happening again.

I used to have to leave DD to fight naps in her cot for about an hour until she exhausted herself at that age. She'd take all the bedding off, then I'd go in to find her crashed out on a bare mattress.

Yeah nothing like that seems to work, he just gets in more of a state and then won't settle at all for ages!

Yesterday he refused to nap at all and went to bed at half 7. He slept until half 2 then until half 6. Recently he has cried and cried when he's woken in the night and won't settle for hours but this time he went back to sleep thank god!

Today he has so far skipped his morning nap and not looking promising for this afternoon.. I really don't understand it

Don’t panic. There’s a 12 month sleep regression, it could well be that. It’s hard but it’s temporary and it will pass. I suggest just riding it out for now.

Naps? If he is having two then it’s time to move to one nap a day.

My 13 month old is doing the same at the moment. She had her jabs 2 weeks ago so I’ve been putting it down to that. Has he had his jabs recently?

@Fitforforty yeah I have thought this, I just feel lost on how to do the transition but avoid over tiredness. Is that possible?

@Vicky1989x he has his next week as had to delay them due to a sickness and diarrhoea bug which I guess could also have knocked him out of routine?

The easiest way is to just go for it. He will be tired at first but he already is at the moment.

1 long nap a day is the sweet spot.

Is he learning to or recently learned to walk? Because that can whack sleep for a few weeks.

Just when you think you’ve got naps/sleep nailed, they love to throw a curve ball.

I found it all so exhausting when my DS was that age - naps changing, teething, picking up bugs, developmental leap. Everything seemed to fall apart and I couldn’t find a pattern to his behaviour.

Hang in there. It does get better. Try dropping to one nap on days when he is refusing his morning one but also be prepared he might randomly go back to two naps on certain days too (my DS massively liked to mix it up!) Don’t feel you are doing anything ‘wrong’ or that others have amazing hacks/quick fixes.

All children are different and one day in the not too distant future, they stop napping and start being able to tell you what’s wrong/what the want and my goodness, I found life/being a mum about a million times easier when this happened!

My little boy was down to one nap a day at that age. Way younger than the sleep 'experts' said he should be. We used to go for a morning outing then have a strategically timed drive home where he would fall asleep and we could pop him in the cot. Again, against expert advice but it worked for us. Sleep training gave me PND when he was 4 months old so I did what kept me sane.