Help 19 month old constant waking and hysteria!

[sct]

My 19 month old ds wakes on average 5 times a night and is up about 5.30 am driving us nuts! He seems to start wailing hysterically even before hes properly awake - the second he stirs. Weve halfheartedly tried controlled crying but he vomits copiously if left to cry for more than 5 minutes. He will settle a bit if hes in bed with us but still wakes and wails a bit every couple of hours. Ive started to dread nighttime, dh and i are rowing through lack of sleep and i cant get anything done during the day im just soooo knackered. eeek. my firstborn was almost as bad but not quite - he slept through at 3 - if i have to wait till then i dont know what ill do. And to think we were going to have anotherone! NOWAY!!!
Thanks for any advice, or empathy

Ooh you must be creamed! I have a twenty month old and had real problems getting him to sleep through. Eventually I borrowed 'Toddler Taming' from the library and despite previously being absolutely convinced that controlled crying was another name for cruelty I read the book and was convinced that it was worth a try. When you hear it explained properly by Dr. Christopher Green it does take on a different perspective. I realised that I was doing it for my son's benefit and although I was a bit of a softie and couldn't bare to listen to him cry for any length of time at first, I did toughen up when I realised how much more contented he became in general as his sleep time increased. I'm not saying it is right for everyone but perhaps it is worth reading the book and finding out about the theory properly. My little one was sleeping for at least ten hours straight within a week so for us it was worth it.

I'm convinced I'm tempting fate now that I've written this he'll probably be up screaming in ten minutes! I'm sure we'll run into more trouble but for now we're doing ok!

Best of luck and don't feel alone I reckon all those who say they've never been sleep deprived are just so delirious through exhaustion they've lost all sense of reality!!!

Poor you SCT. My DS was a really bad sleeper and if left to cry, would get into such a state his nose would bleed! I left it for a month and tried again - hey presto, within a week, one sleeping boy! Might be worth trying again.

Sct, this all sounds so familiar, I to have a 19 month old boy who until about 6 months ruled the nights with constant waking, screaming, bed hopping and bouts of play. We lost night after nights sleep and eventually enough was enough and decided to put a gate on his bedroom door. This didn't stop him waking in the night but kept him off the landing and out of our bedrooms, leaving us to sleep. He eventually got used to sleeping all night in his own bed. You need to perservere with this and realise that everyone goes through this if the truth be told!!

My 13 month dd is exactly the same. She has never slept through the night and dp and I have tried so many things, we are a stage now where we are just so knackered, we are at a loss. dd also becomes hysterical when waking, and vomits if left to cry it out for a few minutes. I totally sympathise with ya, and if I ever find the miricle answer, I will be sure to let u know! How long do we delude ourselves with the, "it's just a phase" chesnut!????