19mo waking several times in the night

[cornflakegirl]

In some ways DS is a good sleeper. He naps well in the day (total of about 2.5 hours, which he still seems to want), and usually goes to bed without any hassle at night. He sleeps till 7ish in the morning.

However, for several months now, he has been waking up once or more in the night on a regular basis. He probably sleeps through only one night in four.

For a while, I was feeding him when he woke at night, but I haven't done that for two or three months. DH goes in (so DS doesn't ask for milk) and DS resettles really easily with just a quick cuddle and maybe a drink.

DS doesn't seem too bothered by the night-wakings - but DH is knackered! Fortunately he's a SAHD, so gets some naptime, but it's still not much fun for him.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Hi Cornflakegirl
You beat me to this post! My DD is doing the same (just coming up for 19mths) You are describing my life at the mo. She doesnt need a feed, tried putting her on the toilet, tried taking her into bed (thank g that didn't work) tried giving a drink all with no success she still keeps waking and like your DS resettles with a quick reassurance from me or DP. I thought maybe it was teething but its been months now? Do you think its something to do with their age and another development spurt they are going through? I am totally knackered and not used to these sleepless nights as I cant resettle easy!
Sorry can't be of much help just a wee nod to say someone is in the same boat.

Hey, we've got a club

Anyone got advice for us?

Help Anyone??????

i've read somewhere that if you wake them around the time that they normally wake and give them what they need (drink, comfort etc) and then letthem go back to sleep it breaks the cycle

try it it might work

tinkerbellie - yeah, i've heard that too. problem is, there's no time that DS normally wakes - it's completely random!

Good Morning (through baggy eyes!!)
Well another sleepless night, how was yours Cornflakegirl?
Thx Tinkerbell for your reply have tried this but to no avail and like cornflakegirls lo my DD is another random baby waker! I think now aswell she is expecting someone to come to her so she throws her bear and dummy out of the cot to ensure we come running as she screams the house down.

DS slept through last night - although that may have been the Medised (he has a cold - honest!)

Am not being smug though, because I very much doubt that he'll sleep through tonight!

Hi girls

Well I too am in exactly the same boat (ds 17 months old though) and has been doing this for a while. Wants a drink of water, bit of reassurance and then back off to sleep! But can sometimes be 6,7 8 times a night!!

But I may have had a breakthrough this week. hopefully...

DS, like yours cornflake, is a good sleeper in many ways and naps great in the day. And he too seems to need it. But I decided from yesterday to restrict the daytime nap to 1 hour max, before 1pm (don't ask me why - I just decided they would be the new terms and I would test it out...!)

Anyway, he has been quite tired in the afternoons (although easy to distract and play a new game when he's looking fed up), and by bath time he is looking absolutely shattered! But... he's slept great and only woke once last night and once the night before!! For me this is an absolute miracle.

Could this help you??

Just thought, I must add that due to the broken nights sleep - I used to let DS sleep for as long as he wanted during the day (sometimes up to 2.5 hours ) as he seemed to need it and that way I could get some rest at the same time.

Could this be what DH is doing?? It's harder work keeping them entertained all day without much rest but much IMO will be manageable (and much better for everyone) if night time sleep is unbroken...

Unfortunately, I have found that the only thing that regulated my dd's sleep is school! She has woken routinely through the night since she was born, regardless of us trying every known method of addressing the problem. We would tire her out, give her milky drinks, restrict naps etc. all to no avail. It was only when she started school in September that she miraculously started sleeping more soundly (she still wakes occasionally).

mylittlestar - DH definitely does that some days

i've been wondering for a while if he's ready to cut down his daytime sleep - but i can't work it out. for example, last sunday i put him down for a nap at about 9.30, so i could get him up at 10.15 and we could go to church. but the little monkey sang for 20 minutes, fell asleep just before 10 - and when i went in to get him up at 10.25 utterly refused to wake up! okay, so i didn't shout in his ear or anything, but i did open the blinds and pull his feet out of his grobag - he opened his eyes briefly and went straight back to sleep. he didn't wake up till 10.45 - we were v late for church!

anyway, the point of that story was - i can't tell if that meant he didn't want the nap, or that he did want it and he's just a pickle

since ds slept well last night, maybe i'll suggest dh cuts his sleep back a bit today...

crystalpony - i'd like to say that i'm not ignoring your post - but i am! that's not what i want to hear!

What happens if you dont go in to DS when he wakes in the night? I found that if I managed to ignore him (very hard), he would go back to sleep. He does sometimes wake at night, but we never go in unless he really sounds very distressed. Otherwise he gets used to one of us going in to him. Did find offering water was just as bad (for my DS) as milk. Well worth waking us up for in his opinion .

Agree with the water thing - ds seems almost addicted to his night time water and I'm sure he was waking up partly because he liked having those bottles so much!

As for being able to tell if they need the naps or not - I have no idea!! My ds will pretty much nap at any time, just a drink of water, his blankie, and a comfy place to lie down and even if it takes 20 mins, he will drift off to sleep in the end.

Maybe if they don't go to sleep within 5 or 10 mins then they don't really need it?! (Just a guess but isn't there something with adults like if you don't fall asleep in 20 mins you're supposed to get up, have a milky drink, read, or whatever, and then try again cause it means you're not tired enough.....)

[grasping at straws springs to mind!! ]

I would try it out though - maybe if he's up at 7am - one sleep just before lunch, say 11am til 12, and then do everything you can to keep him awake until bedtime... worth a try for a few days just to see...

will suggest to dh we try not going in... although he is very hard to ignore when he's crying "mummeeeeeee" in a voice of utter desolation...

Sounds like my ds at that age. I never gave into him with drinks and stuff either but this 3 times a night carried on way until he was 3 years im afraid. Put 10 years on me.

How was last night cornflakegirl ??

Better I hope...

pretty good - he slept till 6.15, and then DH resettled him and he slept till 7.00. we did try leaving him to see if he'd go back off, but after 2 mins of distraught cries we couldn't take any more!

DH cut back his sleep by about 30 mins in the day, and he didn't seem knackered - don't know if that helped the sleep or not - hopefully he'll try it again today so we can see...

How about you Tryn2hrd?