Sleep

[Clairecaw]

I have a 14 month old boy. Up until he was 1 he went to bed every night no problem. At 7.30pm he went into his cot awake and went to sleep on his own, he would wake at 4 or 5 and come into us. Now when we put him in his cot he screams the house down. When he finally sleeps he only stays asleep for 2 or 3 hours and then the screaming starts again. I am at a complete loss as to why he has changed so much regarding bed time. Any suggestions?

Have you tried staying with him until he sleeps?

He is as distressed with us in the room as he is when we stand outside the door. The only thing that soothes him is to lift him from his cot and nurse him. My heart says lift him but I know we are not helping him in the long run. Last night he was down for less than 2 hrs when the tears and screaming started. I really don't know what to do next.

Honest - id nurse him. My 2.6 year old was like this around that age and nope I'm not nursing him now. We stopped at about 16-18 months as it didn't work. He'd nurse then come off and I'd be able to put him down or he'd want a cuddle first. I look back now and wish I didn't worry so much.

How much does he sleep during the day?

He sleeps for 1 hr in the morning and the same in the afternoon which is about normal according to the books.

Sounds similar to ds. He took a long time to drop the morning nap - started around 15 months but that sporadic and if he had an early morning he'd need it. Then he started needing a shorter morning nap of 20 mins (which we had to enforce) which made his post lunch one longer then he dropped it by 18 - 20 months (as we got to 20 months we stopped putting him down but he'd fall asleep if we were out).

Has he always had the 2 naps of 1 hour? I would say he sounds overtired but as I don't know his history it's hard to work out why. Generally it's better to have a shorter morning nap and longer after lunch nap as iggly says, just because it prevents overtiredness by bedtime.