16 month old's sleep getting worse and worse-now almost unbearable!

[mamapea]

Hi,

I am after some advice (or just a shoulder to moan cry on )

My 16 month old DS has never been the best of sleepers (neither was his older brother until about 14months when everything seemed to fall into place ) but the last few nights have been particulary hard - hence me needing some help from you lovelies.

The last 2 nights he has been up for 3 hours solid - fine when held but crying and screaming when left. He has always
settled to sleep in our arms fairly quickly which was something we were going to deal with eventually but which is fine for now but this extended night waking is getting very tiring now.

My DH has to be up at 0530 so I am left mainly to deal with this (not on weekends thankfully and he is very good when it gets too much) and as I work evenings I am getting very stressed about my levels of tiredness now.

DS has had a very unsettled 4 months as was hospitalised (overnight) then had chicken pox and has teethed about 8 teeth also in this time.He has also started walking and had various viruses but we are all exhausted now with the culmination of broken sleep.

Sorry this is sooooo long but does anyone have a similar experience or any helpful tips!?! This too shall pass is wearing a little thin

Thanks in anticipation

P.S Also meant to say he was bf until 14 months and now just has a beaker of cow's milk before bed

Bump - no better last night - 3 1/2 hours sleep for me

Hi Mamapea, I dont have any real pearls of wisdom but didnt want you to remain unanswered. Sleep depravation is possibly the worst thing especially if over a long period of time. I am no expert but it sounds like he has lost the idea of how to sleep/ settle (by himself). If its as bad as you say it might be worth getting some help from the baby sleep clinic type places. I dont know how much it costs but if it pays off then it has to be good! Also there are books that you can refer to for a cheaper option. It may be that you need to apply some tough love in how you deal with him at night? I know its not everyone's way but sounds like he needs to relearn that night is for sleep! Does he nap during the day? Also what is he like at the start of the night, good bed time? Settles ok? Like I said no expert but just wanted to keep you company until someone better qualified comes along..

My ds is just a little older than yours and this sounds very familiar! We got into picking him up, walking him around back to sleep etc several times a night due to various illnesses, camping, holidays etc. He also shares a room with his 3 year old sister, so we were keen to minimise him making a noise in the night.

We eventually decided enough was enough - the first time he woke up, we moved his sister into our room and 'sleep trained' him. This comprised of 2.5 hours of crying etc firstnight, then much, much less. He now sleeps through until about 5am, has a bf, then goes back to sleep until about 7am on the whole.

We still engage in a bit more bed-hopping than we'd ideally like, but at least we reliably get a good chunk of sleep.

good luck!

My DS was/is exactly the same ( could it be boys are worse sleepers??). Any kind of illness, change or just generally being over tired/excited seems to affect his sleep. we changed his routine slighlty and now spend a good half hour with him in bed, in his room, reading stories and saying good night to all the stuffed toys etc, then leaving him to go to sleep on his own with no props ( esp milk!)...and it has worked. Not every night but many many more nights he sleeps through. I do think it's that thing about going to sleep feeling relaxed and on their own rather than sitting with them which i used to do. Hope this helps, i know exactly how you feel!

Thanks to you both - was getting a little lonesome and having feelings of doom about tonight!

He used to have one hour or so nap in the morning 3/4 hours after waking - we cut his afternoon nap when he started being harder to settle in the evening as wasn't tired enough. Over the last few days this nap has also gone awry and I took him out in the car today in desperation although he has been up since 4.30am and only slept for 45 mins!

He goes upstairs with DS1 at 6.30pm for bedtime then same routine every night (we don't have time for nightly baths but he does have a good solid pattern before bed). He has a full beaker of milk in my/DH arms then drifts off to sleep-usually in less than 10 mins.

Rosebud05 - this does sound very similar - I do worry he will wake his brother with the noise and as I am so shattered it seems to make sense just to hold him rather than get up and down to him repeatedly - I know that this is just because I am sooooo tired though as it does, in my sleep deprived brain, make sense what you are saying about sleep training...

Which line did you take? Pick up/Put down? CC? I am very interested as they sound similar babies and situations! Thanks so much for your help so far x

Kirky12 - thank you - it does help to feel it's not just me!! I will be armed with some tips now tonight and also be going to bed at 8pm so bring on the sleep!!

Mamapea good luck for tonight. Thankfully dd is normally a reasonable sleeper ( at the moment though thats changed to getting up to replace dummy one or two times a night.. we all have our own crosses to bear ) but I remember that slightly sick feeling of wondering what the night will bring. Def agree that stupidly early bed times will help sanity. Sounds like there is some good advice her, just wondered whether you could try a nap after lunch? Not sure how that would work with two dc but dd now sleeps for 1.5 - 2 hours between 12 and 2 and it seems to suit her better than her old pattern of morning and afternoon shorter naps. I am firmly of the sleep breeds sleep camp! Wishing you and your ds lots of restful sleep tonight..

Ahhhh thanks Whiteybaby.

Would you believe it...he slept!!

We did our version of cc and when he woke at midnight I left him for 5 mins before heading in, soothed and left. Then returned after 5 mins and did same. DH went in after 10 mins and miraculously we didn't even have to return after 15minutes as he was fast asleep!! Then he didn't wake til 7.45am!!

Due to my crazy early night I had a about 9 hours sleep and feel great!

I am keeping everything crossed for tonight and also think I will try to put him down after lunch for his nap (I think DS1's naps started to move later and later at about this age ending up at 1pm-3pm) and maybe that will help too!

Thanks again to you all xx