15 month old has never slept a full night!

[Djr31]

I’m posting this as a desperate last resort because I’m at my wits end! My LO is 15 months old and I’ve not had a full nights sleep since he was born. I also work full time and am 7 months pregnant.
His bedtime routine is as follows:
6pm last bottle (9oz whole milk)
6.10pm bath time
6.30pm creams and jamas on followed by stories (2-3 short books)
6.45pm goes in cot, awake, in sleep bag with dummies
By 7pm he is asleep after I’ve turned out light, left room and closed door.
This routine is consistent approx 6 out of 7 nights a week (usually we skip Saturdays as we’ll be at family’s until 8/9pm) and has been pretty much the same since he was about two months old.
I can count on my fingers the number of times that he’s then slept until 6am the next day. His first 5 hours are pretty solid - he might wake once or twice and cry because he can’t find his dummy but once you give it to him again he’ll go straight back asleep. However from 4am onwards it’s just a waiting game. He can wake at any time from 4 and will not settle again. He’s not happy when he wakes, he’s crying and fussing and clearly still tired but just won’t settle. I try to hold off giving him his morning bottle until 6am.
He goes to nursery 3 days and is with my mum for 2. He eats very well, 3 meals a day plus snacks and naps about 1.5hrs generally from 11.45 to 1.15.
I just can’t understand what this early rising is about. It’s not just a phase as he’s never not done it, I just used to think as he got older he’d sleep longer but nothing seems to have changed. All my NCT mums say they now have to wake their babies around 7am and they’re consistently sleeping through.
My partner works nights so it is ALWAYS me who is up with him in the night and up with him from 4/5am in the morning. I’ve not had a single lie in since he was born.
The new baby will be here in less than 2 months and I’m seriously starting to get concerned about how I’m going to cope. I don’t know how I’ve functioned so far through this pregnancy.
Any any any help / advice / recommendations much appreciated!!

You have my deepest sympathies.. v v hard, particularly pregnant and working full time! Neither of mine slept a full night consistently until age 3 or 4
Hope it improves soon x

Just to be clear, he sleeps through from 6/7 to 4? Our dd used to do this but we'd give her a bottle when she woke at 4/5 and she would be happy to go back to sleep. She was also doing this until she turned 2 I believe. I'm not saying it will work but it's worth a try surely?

Mine only started sleeping through at 4/5 years old - sorry!!

Perhaps he needs more day time sleep? You could try that?

Def cut out the late night once a week - this could be throwing out his routine.

But probably it’s most likely this is just his sleep pattern- some babies are better sleeper than others.

Go to bed as early as you can to get enough sleep for you. When baby is here you need to try and get it in same sleeping pattern and all go to bed at 6/8pm

Could you also try waking him at 3 and giving a bottle? It sometimes works well to disrupt their waking pattern and then they sleep again.
Hes probably hungry when he wakes and has a wet nappy - feed him and change him straight away

Just to cheer you up, my second was a terrible sleeper until 16 months when it stopped just like that. Here’s hoping!

You mention creams - does he have eczema?

Does he have any other health issues such as digestion problems, an excess of mucus, and either constipation or diarrhoea?

I know it sounds like a stretch but I'm wondering about a dairy intolerance. If he's having any tummy problems/pain, itchy skin or he's bunged up or snotty it could be disturbing his sleep.

Mine didn't start sleeping through until he was 4. Sorry, it happens sometimes.

I mean this nicely but if he's sleeping 9 hours at a time (even maybe with a quick dummy wake) then he's already doing a whole load better then 99% of babies and toddlers I know personally, including mine. There's a distinct possibility your nct group could be slightly fabricating things to fit in with what they think is the norm. I get the early wake ups are hellish, must be especially so when pregnant. Maybe try making all bedtime stuff an hour or so later?

At that age all 3 of mine were still waking every 2 hours then up at 5. None of mine actually slept through until about 3. Still waiting for the youngest (2.5 yo). He sleeps much worse than yours!

Sorry but my daughter didn't sleep through until she was 3.5. After her brother was born so I started again. He's 4 now and I can finally say that I reliably get a full night. It actually sounds like you aren't doing too badly!

I count 'sleeping through' as when they started waking up anytime from 4. There was a period with both where I was just up at 4:30 watching recorded CBeebies and nursing a coffee.

Best thing is to try and go with the flow and remember that this too will pass!

Sounds very similar to my 13 month old. I'm back to giving a bottle during the night when he won't settle again with his dummy. Probably giving a bottle during the night approx 5 nights out of 7. He does seem to be hungry as he drains a full bottle and then that usually settles him again and he sleeps until 7 or 8.

I think they're just all different. My first slept through from a few months old and I've done nothing different with the two of them. I'd try a bottle and see what happens.

Maybe try giving him his bottle later maybe 7:30? And give him a bit of toast or something at 6pm

21 months and we've had 4 full nights. Goes to sleep at 7, sometimes she'll have a bowl of porridge sometimes not. Always a bottle. Wakes up at 10ish then anywhere between 2&4 until 6ish. Over xmas going to try cut down the milk during the night but no idea how it will go

I'd guess they're just hungry or thirsty at that time.

Mine still wanted a night feed until she was 19 months. Then she slept through.

When is his dinner? Seems quite a while before bed, so perhaps give some porridge or something before the bottle. (DD 19mo has dinner at 6.30 and bedtime is 7.45).

What do you do when he wakes? Do you get him up or try and settle him in his cot?

Another thing you could try is stopping bottles altogether and moving to cups. He may be associating the bottle with comfort / soothing. If he is decently full with dinner / milk etc right before he goes to bed, he shouldn’t need food / milk until breakfast time really.

Also, that doesn’t seem like much sleep if he is up for the day from 4 am, and only having 1.5 hours napping. He may be overtired which can contribute to early waking.

I would either extend the daytime nap, if you can (I would actually put him down a bit later, say after lunch at 1230, and aim for a 1230-230 nap). If he is super tired by this point you may just need to do lots of entertaining / distraction to try and keep him going.

It may also just be one of those things that changes over time, and eventually he ends up laying in until 8am!

Ds was still on 2 bottles a night at 14 month when I night weaned him. Still had a dream feed as we went to bed though.

You could also think about making the bed time later. Ds goes down at 8 and that means he woke later in the morning.

Dummies, have you got glow in the dark ones? I put several in the cot and ds learnt to find his own.

My dd didn't sleep through the night till she was 5 or 6! and even at 8 we still have the odd restless night.
Some children just don't need as much sleep as they are "supposed" to have'

I think my 16 month old DS is an anomaly but I reduced his nap to 1 hour and he started sleeping through, he then started waking again so he now only has 1/2hour to 3/4hour and he now sleeps through most nights unless he's teething.

Mine never slept that many hours, ever! The most they would sleep was about 9-10 hours we did 8pm bedtime with books so lights out about 8.30. Dd1 slept through to 6, dd2 was 6 before she slept through (yes 6)

I had two like that. One only moved back the early wakings once he started school. The other started sleeping all night (she was up once or twice during the night every night) when she reached about 4.5. Nothing we tried made any difference, time was the only thing that worked. Sorry, you have my sympathies!