19 month old awake for 2-3 hrs every night

[User24689]

Hi all. My DS is a notoriously bad sleeper. As a quick background, he woke every hour from 4 months to about 12 months. He then began sleeping longer stretches and we were at the point where he would only wake 2-3hrs per night.

A couple of weeks ago, he started waking at 2, 3 or 4 and just being awake until dawn. It's currently 4.10 and I've been awake with him since 2. He usually falls back asleep around 5.30 and then sleeps til around 8. My 3yo wakes at 6.30!

I'm shattered. Could teething cause this? He has 3 molars coming in. But he doesn't seem to be in pain when he wakes.

He's still breastfed and I've attempted to wean him several times since he was 12 months, he just screams bloody murder and we are currently living in a small flat where he shares a room with his sister. During these awake times he just wants to go from one breast to the other, then thrash about on the bed trying to get comfortable, then sings a few songs (!) Then back on the boob etc etc

We've actually decided I'm going to go away for a weekend in a couple of weeks and that's how we're going to wean him. Sounds awful but I just need to stop and I'm not sure how else to do it. I'm terrified though that it won't help him sleep through and I'll just have lost my main tool for getting him back to sleep!

Sorry for this tired rambling. Any idea what to do about these awful periods of awake time at night?!

Hopeful bump for the morning crowd

I did just that with DS at 16 months. I went away on a hen weekend and left him with DH. He slept all night annoyingly.
When I came back I didn't breastfeed him again and it worked. However he wasn't overly demanding for it anyway.

What are naps like? DS used to wake for hours at a time but it seemed to help when I adjusted his naps.

Thanks! To be honest he isn't really that demanding for it (never asks for it in the day) but it's the only way he will go back to sleep in the night. On the odd occasion I have gone out for an evening and he has woken up, DH has managed to resettle him. But never when I've been in the house. Really hope we have the same luck with it as you!

Naps are all over the place. He will not go down for a nap unless I breastfeed him or he is in the buggy or car. I stopped feeding him in the day a few weeks ago so now it's only the buggy or car that will send him off. I find if he has more than an hour, or he sleeps past 1.30pm, he will not go down to sleep until 8.30 or 9pm.

I get his best sleep if I don't put him down for the nap at all and he copes ok on that so I feel like that means he needs to drop it? But that means his total sleep in 24 hrs is about 9 hrs. Which seems like not very much for a 19montj old!

He might not need it, my sisters twins dropped their nap around 14months. DS only has a half hour nap now and he doesn't always have it. I don't fight him to have a nap now, if he falls asleep great if not I don't worry.

Maybe try dropping it and see what happens?

Hi, I have no solutions for you I’m afraid as experience the same with my 21month old twins. My boy has always woken randomly for hours each night which we put down to teething ... but he now has all his teeth so we are at a loss as to why it happens. I’ve started a thread on here to see if anyone else is experiencing rubbish sleep still after 18months. I’ll see if it throws up any insight 🤷🏼‍♀️