Great sleeper has suddenly become a terrible sleeper at 14 months

[KT07]

I am sure that this topic has come up before, however I am looking for guidance, moral support and maybe hoping for some glimmer of light waiting at the end of the tunnel!!

My son is now 15 months old and since being quite young has been a good sleeper both day and night. We could put him in his cot awake at 7pm and he would be totally happy and smile at us as we said 'night night' etc. For a long time we have been on a pretty consistent daytime sleep pattern of 2 sleeps at about 9am and then about 2pm, always in his cot. It all sounds a bit too good to be true..!!

About 6 weeks ago, it was as if some flicked a switch and he changed almost overnight so that he was waking in the night, won't go down in his cot at bedtime (he just screams as soon as we put him in it). We have probably done all of the wrong things through sleep deprived desperation, as we have taken him into our bed when he wakes (if we can't settle him fairly quickly) and lie down with him to get him to sleep.

I am desperate to try to change the pattern as getting him to sleep at night is taking nearly 2 hours and he is not always settling in our bed in the night now anyway (we get constantly pestered, scratched, hit by him until we get up....it was 5:30 this morning)

Has anyone else struggled with the same thing (I am sure there are plenty), what did you do about it or is is 'just a phase'?!

Many thanks in advance

It sounds like you might need to reduce the amount if daytime sleep if you can. Either shorten each nap a little bit or try to merge them into one nap in the middle if the day. My dd2 1 has just dropped her two naps at a similar times to yours down to one at 12.30 and she goes to bed much better now....

I haven't had similar problems, but I'd second dropping tha am nap. It might be tricky for a few weeks as you'll have a few issues pushing through - might have to eat your lunch at 11am for a couple of weeks - but if you're fairly sure there's nothing else bothering him it's worth a shot!

Thanks for your comments, we are dropping to one sleep on most days, although the timing is very variable! He's going down to sleep a lot better albeit with us cuddling him, however is still waking in the night and struggling to settle. I'm sure we'll get there

If you're dropping to one nap then he could be over-tired going down at his usual time - I'd try an earlier bedtime for a while too to try and avoid meltdown. (DD is also 15 months and trying the same; this is the only thing that seems to make a difference. We are also struggling with very early mornings!!!)

MY DS went through the same thing; I think this age is huge for developmental leaps. Also try books about going to bed (Maisy's Bedtime etc) as he will start to understand the message now.

Hi we went through similar with DD between 13 and 14 months - and I thought it was probably time to drop a nap but because she still was still so tired we carried on - its really settled down again now so I think much of it was developmental - coinciding with learning to walk.
She was getting physically tired but it was like she couldn't shut her brain off.
Not sure how much help that is - but I guess just that it may well be a phase that will pass without you changing anything.
Having said that I am sure we will get hit with the need to drop a nap sometime soon so am just enjoying this calm phase while it lasts.