17 month DS wont sleep!

[Leosyummymummy]

Hey all, I'm new MumsNet and this is my first post! Woo!

So, my DS is 17 months old and used to be in a routine bed by latest of 8pm and wouldnt wake up till the following morning around 7-8am.

2 weeks ago, he bit into a Daz Washing Tab and swallowed the juicy stuff. I rushed him to hospital and after choking it all back up 3 times, thankfully he was fine and well. On the afternoon he slept for about 3 hours but my mum said not to wake him as being sick etc has taken it out of him and he needs his rest. I thought okay, I'll let him sleep. On that night he didnt go to sleep till gone 11pm and even then he wouldnt sleep unless I was lying next to him. He wouldnt sleep in his room, so I put him in my bed and we fell asleep together.

Ever since that day, he refuses to go to bed any time earlier than 9pm. He sleeps in his own room and has a stair gate on his bedroom door. Last night, I put him to bed at 8.30 as he seemed tired, rubbing his eyes and very clingy and whingy. As soon as he got to bed, i gave him his milk and his blanket and put a DVD on for him (big cook little cook - his fave). After about an hour or so, he was at his gate screaming and crying.

I have tried to ignore him and hope that he will get tired and go to bed, but no, he stays there, crying, screaming, and on some occasions, tries to make himself sick by coughing excessivly or putting his fingers down his throat.

I have done the putting him back into bed everytime he gets out like on supernanny, but that doesnt work either. In the end, he didnt go to sleep till gone 10pm after he had cried for what seemed like forever and a day and me stroking his hand and head.

I seriously, cant do this every night. Night time should be my time. He is a very hyperactive child in general and during the day he definatly keeps me busy. It feels like I am constantly on the go and when I sleep and wake up, it feels like iv only slept for 20mins.

Does anyone have any tips/ideas I could try as I'm getting sick of it now!

Thank you in advance!!

Hello. I would suggest that letting him watch a DVD in bed is too stimulating. How about if you get him ready for bed, give him his milk and then read him a story. When the story is finished, tell him it is time to go to sleep and that you are going to turn the light off.

If he objects, tell him you have some washing to put away and will be back in one minute. Then leave the room and return after one minute. Do not go back earlier, even if he is crying. When you return you can say that you only left for one minute and will stay with him for five minutes. With my DD (15 months) I sometimes have to stay in her room, but I do not talk to her or touch her - I usually tidy her clothes and after a few minutes she gets bored and goes to sleep.

I guess your DS is in a bed rather than a cot, so if her gets out of bed while you are in the room, I suggest you silently put him back to bed. After 5 minutes, say you have another job to do and leave for a minute. Hopefully he will get the message that the day has become boring so he might aswell sleep.

Hope you get some me time soon!

Hello mum2em.

Tried the story, didnt work, he really wasnt interested in the book. So now, he is at his bedroom gate whinging his head off! No tears, just noise!

I'm getting quite annoyed now as he has been on the go ALL day and i'm tired and stressed out and need a bloody break!

Anyone else have any other ideas?

Well, my DS finds it hard to fall asleep too, also 17mths. I give him his bottle and if that doesn't work and I know he is tired I take him for a drive. It works for me but I know alot of parents probably wouldn't be willing to go for a drive most nights.

At least you get your nights back though

Hi,

We had the same problem with DS a couple of months ago (he's 18 mths now). No Daz incident, but DS startd taking a long time to go to sleep, then wake up 3 or 4 times in the night before wanting to get up at 5am. I tried bringing him into our bed, but that was an excuse for him to wake up mummy & play (she didn't take kindly to that..) There was never anything wrong, he just suddenly seemed to have realised that we weren't there.

The first thing is that it didn't last forever - even if it seems like it at the time.

You say he's been on the go all day - does he have a nap at all? It could be that he's getting overtired, and that's disrupting his night time sleep.

DS has a nap at about 10am til 12, and then goes to bed at about 7pm, sleeping through til about 6/6.30am.

I'd agree with mumtoem though - I think that a DVD at night might be too stimulating. We do let DS watch something in the evening - either a bit of bedtime hour, or the sing & sign DVD (his current fave). But we'll make sure that anything like that is done downstairs, so that when I take him up it's bedtime. Sometime's he'll want to look at a book, but I'll do that with him before I change him. That way I can turn the light down, give him milk & then it's straight into the cot.

In the short term though, maybe take him out for a walk in the evening. I've done this a couple of times, & by the time we walk round the corner back to the house, he's hugging my leg & ready for bed.

Good luck!