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13 month old awake for hours during the night - am I doing anything wrong?

9 replies

Plonker85 · 05/08/2017 13:51

Our 13 month old used to sleep through from 6-9 months. Then it went to pot.
He has hours of awake time during the night, can start around 11 on a bad night. 3 on a good night. He squeals, cries, chats, moans.
The squeals chats and mosns we ignore. On the cries, we've been doing controlled crying. We've been doing this since around 10 months.
Can someone help? Here's his schedule:

Wakes anytime from 6am
630am-7 milk
830 breakfast
930-1030 nap ( but only if we are at home. If we are out or at nursery then he doesn't nap at this time). He settles quickly after a few mins of shouting/ crying. He's not patted, fed to sleep or anything. Just tucked in and left with a comforter.
1130/12 lunch
1230-230 nap. Again mostly settles easily with his comforter.
230 milk
330-4 tea
530-6 snack
630 bedtime of bath/wash, milk, stories. Tucked into cot with comforter. Does resist bedtime but generally asleep within 20 mins or so. Sometimes requires a settle of tummy rub and shhh noises.
After that it can be an 11pm wake up - squeals, cries, chats, - this can go on for 3 hours. If he cries we go in at intervals to shhh him back to sleep. He does usually stop crying but then resorts to squeals, babbles etc. He doesn't get back to sleep until around 2-3 hours usually.

Sometimes he wakes to do the above at 1am or 2 am or 3 am but he does regularly do this once a night.

Would someone be able to suggest something for us to try? We've been so consistent and not introduced any sleep props. He falls asleep at nap and bedtime on his own without us in the room.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
tissuesosoft · 05/08/2017 13:56

Could he be ready for drop a nap? DD did at that age (she's 17 months now) and just has one nap a day

mumtoboys3 · 05/08/2017 13:58

Wakefulness is just a phase and your little one will grow out of it. I am not a fan of controlled crying/self soothing, and never used it with any of mine Rest assured it will pass.

PotteringAlong · 05/08/2017 14:00

My eldest 2 both did this. They both grew out of it! Hang on in there.

Plonker85 · 05/08/2017 14:42

Thank you. But this has been going on for months! Seems longer than a phase.
Will try shortening morning nap to see if that helps.

OP posts:
mumtoboys3 · 05/08/2017 14:46

Try moving bedtime by half an hr and maybe cutting short the afternoon nap😊

LapinR0se · 05/08/2017 14:49

At 13 months the transition begins to one nap which is 2-2.5 hrs duration at lunchtime.
So the morning nap needs to go over the next 4-6 weeks. Start by reducing it to 45 mins then 30 then 15 then gone.
This should have a knock on effect on night wakings

PotteringAlong · 05/08/2017 17:25

It was about a 6mongh phase here. It passed Grin

Crumbs1 · 05/08/2017 17:26

Stop using a baby listening device and let them sort them self out.

BertramTheWalrus · 06/08/2017 12:25

I'd push his lunchtime nap back by an hour, his awake time between first and second nap is only two hours, he can easily manage three hours at that age. I would then push his bedtime back by at least an hour, if not more. Long spells of being awake at night simply mean that he is spending too much time in bed - he can't sleep as long as you are expecting him to sleep. He has got into a routine of being awake at night because he is not tired enough to sleep through.
I know this because I've been there, and no, he didn't grow out of it!

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