Please Help!
My DS is 2.5 years and since about his first birthday he had been a really good sleeper, after a bedtime routine of bath, milk, stories and lullaby, he’s get into bed, cuddle his teddy and fall asleep by himself without any fussing or help from us needed. He’d sleep roughly 7-7. Obviously there was the odd night when this didn’t happen, usually due to teething/illness/heatwave etc.
However, for the past 5 months he’s suddenly started to struggle with falling asleep in bed, and can lie awake for an average of an hour, sometimes up to 2 hours, until he eventually falls asleep. Our routine is the same and we’re very active in the day - he loves to run and climb and explore, he goes to bed yawning and with baggy eyes but just can’t seem to fall asleep. We don’t allow tv after dinner so the evening before bedtime routine is spent playing.
This is happening night after night, and after 5 months I feel like it’s not just a phase that will pass.
I’ve tried dropping his nap or shortening his nap, as he likes to have an hour-ish of sleep in the day but that hasn’t helped. He just seems exhausted all the time and that impacts his behaviour in the day. He’s not playing up at bedtime, he stays in his bed but sometimes gets upset from frustration at being awake I think.
Does anyone please have any advice on how to help my little one get the sleep he needs?
We recently had a new baby, who is now 3 months old, but the sleep problems started a couple of months before his arrival so I don’t think it’s related.