14 Month Old Waking In Night And Every Naptime Comes With A Fight! Please Help!

[JamiesMummi]

My son is 14 months old and has started to wake in the night up to five times! We have tried controlled crying which sometimes works, but other times he can be up for hours on end. We give him plenty of food during day and has milk before bed, I thought the problem could of been to do with being hungry. He is not teething and is perfectly well. If anyone has experienced this please message me back, this is driving me mad.

Also naptime comes with a fight, he will not go to sleep in cot during day, and will not sleep on my knee. I have to walk for miles on end for a chance of him going to sleep. His preferred naptime place is in the car and as I don't drive it is a struggle when my partner is in work!! Please Help! Any suggestions welcomed :)

Just to share your pain really, although my 14 mo has never slept well. Are you sure he's not teething, as that is really affecting DD at the moment - she's getting all 4 pre-molars at once. The worst sleep appears to have been a couple of weeks ago when I didn't realise they were coming and she didn't seem to mind in the day. I really can't help as my DD is so similar and I haven't found a solution. I do drive, so if she won't have a nap in the cot in the morning, she drops off if we go out. She won't sleep in the pushchair anymore - far too much to see! I've found really early bedtimes help if she hasn't napped well (I mean in bed before 6pm), if only to give me a bit of sanity back before she starts the night time wake ups. Worth a try?

Thanks Belinda. Last night was a particularly bad night he woke at 2am and didn't settle until 4am. I gave him Ibuprofen but still didn't seem to be happy. And today has been a bad one for naptimes. We put him to bed earlier this evening 6.30pm he normally goes at 7. I am going to try dropping a nap and keeping bedtime a little earlier. Its all a big guessing game and working out what works and what doesnt. Thanks for your post, its nice to know im not on my own

I'm finding it such a guessing game too. There never really seems to be a pattern! Some days are really active and busy and she sleeps well, others might be similar and she's terrible. Same with quiet days. So hard to know! Good luck for tonight anyway. Mine was asleep by 6pm as had only had one nap with childminder so had been awake since midday. She's only woken once since, so a good start for us!