15 month old waking for hours at night

[barbiebostock]

HELP!!!

My DS has never been a great sleeper but things have now reached a new level!
I have never had a strict routine, but by following his cues, we tend to get up at around 6am, have a nap for 1 1/2 hours at around 9am and then an afternoon nap of 45 mins (sometimes more) at about 2pm, then bed at 7 or 8pm.
He used to wake a few times in the night and need resettling (not ideal, but much better than he used to be) or occassionally a bottle (usually if having a bit of a growth spurt or teething etc)
BUT he has started waking at around 1 or 2am and not going back to sleep for anything between 2 - 4 hours.
We've tried various ways of getting him back to sleep, but nothings working and i'm at the end of my tether, so would really appreciate any help or suggestions

Watching with interest as DD is very similar (close your ears OP) but she's 3 :( better than she used to be but the bit between 230-5 this morning wasn't fun although she was in a lovely mood

Well, I would think at his age one nap of an hour or an hour and a half should be enough. Have you tried moving his first nap to later in the morning? He might need some distraction though, like playgroup to keep his mind off sleep.

Thanks JiltedJohnsJulie, I had thought about dropping to one nap, so we moved his nap to 12.30 today and he slept for two hours (I couldn't brinmg myself to wake him, so let him sleep till he wakes himself) He's just gone to bed now, so fingers crossed, although I know not to expect miracles on the first day!
Yorky - i'm glad you're dd is better than she used to be, i guess even the slightest chink of light at the end of the tunnel is better than nothing!

I dropped DD's naps to just one at about 12.30 and she sleeps much better at night. We also go out for a lot of fresh air in the afternoon so she can run about.

Also at this age there is a big growth spurt which doesn't help with sleep routines unfortunately.

How was last night? Did the change in naps make any difference today?

He woke last night at 12, had a bottle (he's off food as teething) and managed to fall asleep again at 1.30, so not ideal, but much better than normal!
He had a 1 1/2 hour nap at 11 today and another hour at 3 as he couldn't keep his eyes open, so he's just gone to bed now.
Fingers crossed!

When he wakes up I would keep it very low key, offer water not milk, keep lights out or v low, check nappy isn't making him uncomfy, once done all those things lay him down and go back to bed!!!

If he cries leave for 5 or 10mins (depending on whether its just a bit of grizzling or full on screaming!) then go in to reassure say sleeptime baby or something similiar and leave again.

He can obviously settle himself fine so my guess would be either teeth or seperation anxiety. Have you tried the teething powder or calpol - does that help?

Hope you get some kip tonight

Thank you,
i'll try the water trick tonight, and i never turn the lights on or talk to him etc (other than ssshhhh!). Not sure how good i'll be with the leaving the room for 5 - 10 mins when he cries though, as he's not really that good at setting himself (we let him develop lots of bad sleep habits during his first year as he had an undiagnosed lactose intollerance (another story!) which meant he couldn't sleep and was in a lot of pain) but we're getting there and i might be brave enough to try tonight!
we use anbesol for his teeth and he's had a dose of calpol this evening, but you could be right about the seperation anxiety as he is getting very clingy, although that could be down to teeth too!