In an average week, how many times would your 19mo wake in the night?

[rubybambini]

I'm really not sure what I'm trying to find out with this line of inquiry...maybe just 'is this normal'?! I'm tired, really really tired (and working four days a week on top of sleepless nights), and feel like I've exhausted all options of dealing with night waking, other than just good old-fashioned acceptance that this is the way it is with DD - she's never been a 'good' sleeper, or perhaps I'm just naive.

Our DD is just 19mo, and I would say that in an average 7 nights, she'll wake up 3-4 nights.

Other nights, she goes down at her usual 7pm, and wake at 6.30 / 7am. She often shouts and screams in her sleep, just for seconds, but it seems she does it when she's moving around, and still asleep.

If she wakes it's usually 2am or 5am, and will moan and groan (not purple-faced screaming) for a good couple of hours. We'll go in, see if she needs water, or if she's too hot too cold etc, and usually it seems nothing obvious is wrong. Sometimes, we bring her in with us, then take her back to her cot 20 mins later, and she'll usually drop off then.

Her daytime nap is 12ish til 2ish. She eats very well. She's very active, very chatty to the point of never being quiet. She's in nursery 4 days a week.

So...tell me, your 18/19mo - how many times in an average week would s/he wake?

At that age:
DD1 = only when ill or teething
DD2 = every fucking night
DD3 = maybe once a week?

Think your DD sounds well within the range of normal, but much sympathy to you - nightwaking at any age is exhausting.

every night here. usually around 4 times in the night. am like a zombie (what a shocker)

DD2, 19 months, sleeps through most nights Down at 7, wakes at 6:45 ish, although she has only just adjusted to the clocks going back (damn you BST). One daytime nap of 1 to 1.5 hours. No nursery.

DD1 was a nightmare if it makes you feel any better! She woke in the night every night till she was 3.

Sounds horribly familiar. Ds1 wakes if ill, same for dd. Ds2 didn't sleep reliably until 3. Doesn't make it any easier though.

There are various techniques to help, tho not sure how much these will help if she isn't waking. A friend saw a sleep therapist (i think was called) for her dd which really helped.

At 19mo they all woke more than once a night. At 25mo I am finally getting the occasional full night's sleep, but that's 8-5. Sounds like your dd is doing really well from here! (sorry)

Every night.

DS1 (now 26 months) would only wake up if ill at that age or if his nappy leaked by that age. But he started sleeping through (i.e., 10pm dream feed to 7am) from 5 months, bless him.

DS2 is only 2 months old but promises to be a completely different story...

You can tell I lack sleep from my typing there.

My 19 mo tends to wake 1-2 times 5 nights out of 7 and sleep through the other 2. Once a fortnight or so she wakes up & is for hours with no reason.

She has a a dummy so sometimes loses all 4 and needs us to help find it. Most nights us going to help her find it means she wants to sleep with us. Sometimes she wakes with her dummy in and wants us. I can't be bothered sitting next to her resettling her in her cot when we could all be asleep again in 10 mins in our bed. At 15 months she woke 3-4 times a night to bf so this is a massive improvement.

She tends to sleep 1 1/2 - 2 hours in the day either 11-1 or 12.30-2 (before or after lunch) Current bedtime is about half 8. Tends to sleep til 7.

I work 4 days too, as does my DH so we just try to get as much sleep each night as we can. I nap at the weekends, sometimes on my week day off.

Having a toddler is exhausting. Even when she sleeps through I'm ready for bed at half 9!

DS wakes 6/7 nights.

Takes ages to drop off too, and we're up early for work, so 8/9pm-6am.

A bad night is one where the wakeup is after 4am.

I reckon it's pretty normal.

3 or 4 times every night of the week. Aged 17 months. I have accepted my fate. :-(

Goodness, you must be so tired.

Don't know if there's anything you can do, I think they're either good sleepers or not. My DD (23 months) never wakes up unless she's ill, so probably about 4 nights over the past 18 months.

Though I've always been a really heavy sleeper and I'm sure she takes after me, honestly, I've never done any sleep training or whatever she just really seems to like sleeping.

This is fascinating. I genuinely thought that you had about six months of sleeplessness post-birth, then -ping- remarkable sleeping baby, except for occasional teething or illness glitches. Thank you so much for sharing your stories. I might not feel quite so benevolent when I'm singing the Alphabet Song at 2am, but... it's genuinely insightful and makes me think that it's just the way it is, so I've (and DP to be fair) got to suck it up. (For now!)

When ds was that age - oh only maybe once but he only slept 11pm until 1am and then 5-7 so wasn't much opportunity to wake!

Dd (just 2 now but was same at 19m) every night at least once - sometime twice but in bed 7-6/7

Bea - you must've been whacked! I've posted elsewhere on MN about DD, and have really tied myself in knots thinking oh, it's a development thing, or oh, it's because she napped for one pico second longer than usual etc etc, but I'm finally, finally realising / accepting, it's just the way it is. Doesn't make me feel any better when work emails are swimming before my eyes at 9.04am tho!

Dd is about to turn 20 months & is very similar to your dd op. She'll wake up a few times a night & have a grizzle & then settle herself most of the time but a couple if nights/ week she wakes up properly & needs a cuddle or sometimes a bottle or failing that might come in to bed with us. On fri she was just wide awake for 2 hours from 2-4, despite cuddles & being in bed with me, it took 10oz of milk to finally knock her out!

We went through a truly hideous phase from about 14-16 months when she woke up 4-6 times/ night & needed settling every time she woke. We were like the walking dead, it was awful. So in comparison her current sleep habits are bloody brilliant! I have friends who babies of a similar age wake & need settling once in a blue moon but we just accept that our dd ain't one of those children!

17 month old - wakes up 3-4 times per night.

Due another baby in January and am praying my toddler sleeps through by then.

19mo twins - DT2 wakes 3-4 times every night and needs settling each time - usually feeding back to sleep. At about 3am he won't go back into cot so sleeps with his Dad. DT1 sleeps from 730 to 6 about twice a week. Other nights he will wake 1-2 times and need feeding back to sleep but then sleeps to about 7.

19mo twins - DT2 wakes 3-4 times every night and needs settling each time - usually feeding back to sleep. At about 3am he won't go back into cot so sleeps with his Dad. DT1 sleeps from 730 to 6 about twice a week. Other nights he will wake 1-2 times and need feeding back to sleep but then sleeps to about 7.

Dw123 you must be worn out with double trouble. i wont feel sorry for myself again with my every night 5 timer lol

Usually every night though we moved house 2 weeks ago and moved lo into room with his 7 yr old sister. (he was in our room) and he slept through the night 7-6 for the first week! We couldn't believe it. However it didn't last he's back to waking every night ( though he slept through again last night so am hoping he is starting to get it.

It sounds completely normal to me.

I have teins who are just 2. Until two weeks before thir 2nd birthday, they both woke 2 to 4 times every night. Very occasionally DS would sleep through from 10 til6 ish.

Two weeks before thier birthday, DS started sleeping though more nights than not :) he probably wakes once on maybe two or three nights a week now.

DD still wakes 2 - 4 times every night. She just needs more cuddles and reassurance I think. She'll sleep later in the morning though, so if DH can get up with DS when he wakes at 5 or 6 when he wakes, DD and I can have another hour or two :)

Toddlerdom is exhausting! But to be honest, I quite like the quiet cuddles in the night :) We cosleep so I don't have to get up - I couldn't survive at work if I had to get out of bed in the night.

Your baby will work things out in his own time :)

OP my 19 month old is v similar, I too think a lot of the shouting (once or twice a night) is in her sleep, but she has a nightmare or something about once a week. And about once a week not a peep!

At 19 months my boy would wake up about 2/3 nights a week, but it would be a 5 minute thing - go through and stick a dummy in and give a 2 minute cuddle.

Have you tried a bottle on grizzly nights? 18 month ds is about the same as your dd. which is a huge improvement for us. But we find some nights he just needs a bottle for some reason and will winge a bit until he gets one.