Sleep PLEASE!

[pointyearedpixie]

Please could anyone offer me some guidance on 22 month old sleep problems.....the main issue is night waking and I know I need to work on his self settling. I don't want to do cry it out - do I go in and comfort him, just speak from the doorway - leave him for a few mins, then go in? no idea - all the advice in books seems to be conflicting. Are some children just perpetually bad sleepers?

1. He's always been a bad sleeper - lots of night wakings - i've kept a diary, but there is no consistency in his behavior - some nights 6 times, others, none (though none is rare!)

1. Bed time routine is always the same at the same time - bath, book, bed. He used to let me put him down and leave the room, but now begs/screams for me to lie down with him. He's a bit better with DH, but again, sometimes he goes down fine with him, others not.

1. He wakes and calls out for me in the night and will go back sleep if I just go in and say "sleepy time" but other times wants me to stay/lie down (again tears/hysterics).

1. He's an early riser - 5am on a bad day, 6am on a good day. He's in bed at 7pm, asleep at 730pm ish, and he naps for about 1.5 hours in the day.

1. New baby sister obviously makes things more tricky, but none of the above is new since she arrived.

At wits end..advice gratefully received?

Should I just be tough and ignore the tears and hysterics - is it just toddlerdom? If I stick it out for a week for so will it get better or will he just get more traumatised?

Sorry for long post - wanted to cover all the details!

I did a 5 min rule with dd1. Ie if she cries, wait 5 mins before resettling. Resettle with minimal interaction. It did help a lot. She could learn that mum will come back but not immediately, so it if only worth crying if it is really important. It was v hard work for the first 3 days - I'd always be tempted to go in sooner, and had to stick a timer on my phone to enforce the wait

Dd1 now sleeps but I'm up at 5:30 with dd2.

Thank you! will give it a go....
x

I think that when toddlerhood as opposed to babyhood strikes there is a bit of an issue with boundaries that can start to affect sleep. I mean regardless of what wakes them they are asserting themselves as to how they like you to help them back to sleep.

My 16 1/2 month old is just hitting 18 month sleep regression I think, and there seems to be a definite difference in his behaviour both during the day and at night - I feel more like I'm being manipulated now. I am trying setting very clear boundaries for him at night - I will give him a quick cuddle and a drink of water then tell him I'm putting him back in bed now and will hold his hand for a while till he goes to sleep. (I have a mattress next to him so that's easy). Last night he screamed standing up for a while after this but I held firm and left him to it whilst i laid down and held out my hand. Then he sat down and cried less for a while, then he laid down, held my hand and went to sleep. I have hated leaving him to cry previous to this, but have done it at bedtime for the last couple of nights (leaving him alone to settle - usually he just settles fine on his own but not now). Last night he did settle quicker at bedtime. (but then was awake for ages in the night....) I haven't really felt bad about the crying as i do feel he's essentially having a kind of tantrum. I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving him alone in his room in the middle of the night to do it though, at least I know he knows I'm there this way.

I'll see how I get on the next few nights, I think this regression has a way to run...... :(

What time is his nap? Maybe he's having a bit too much daytime sleep now?