18 month old suddenly won't stay asleep!

[MrsRonBurgundy]

Hi all
Does anyone have any advice or wisdom for me? I'd take a cheering joke to be honest...
My DS is 18 months old and has suddenly lost ability to self settle in night. Up until 2 weeks ago he was sleeping through somewhat reliably. Would occasionally wake if he lost his dummy out if we gave him one he'd be back off instantly. It's all change now though!
He still goes to sleep like a dream - bottle and put into cot awake (he usually points at it wanting to be put down), he usually waves his arms and babbles for ten but then goes to sleep happy as Larry.
The first four hours are usually decent solid sleep but come 11pm he's started waking every single hour and all he wants is a cuddle.
His daytime routine is usually up at 6.30, nap at 1230 for around 2 hours, dinner at 4.30, bath at 6.30 and bed for 7. He's not resisting daytime nap at all, sometimes takes himself to stairs ready for it so I don't think it's about being ready to drop a nap?
Can anybody help me please, at wits end! How should I solve?

Hopeful bump for the evening crowd!

Could it be teething? Even though he isn’t showing signs of pain it could be bothering him?

I thought maybe it could be teething so I have given him calpol a few times to see if it helped but it hasn't really!
I think that his last back teeth are just coming through so if it is teething hopefully it'll be done soon 😩

Name change fail - previous name from when he was teething badly 🤣

Same boat, OP. It's the dreaded 18month sleep regression. Horrey for us.

It's a toughy apparently but it's a phase.

@Adogwithabone lucky us!! How are you dealing with it? DS just seems to want a cuddle, should I just give him a cuddle straight away or try to get him to self settle first?
Doesn't it seem cruel to have gotten used to fairly decent sleep and then be hurtled back to the newborn sleep pattern 😂

@MrsRonBurgundy my almost 17 month old is the same, although he's always been pretty bad at sleeping, the past week or so he is incredibly difficult at night times. I'm up and down like a yo-yo to the point I lay in bed in my dressing gown as I am getting up and putting it on that often! He wakes so many times during the night and seems to want nothing but just to see me, sometimes has a bit of a paddy and throws his dummies about because he's not happy about being awake (not my fault!). Your day sounds very similar to ours too with times. I feel like a walking zombie!

In the same boat with my 18 month old- Kinda relieved to hear it's not just mine! Super tough tho as PP say having gotten used to getting sleep again and now he's up throughout the night but I keep thinking I'll miss these cuddles some day and get my sleep back (when I'm awake and sane, at night when I'm tired I'm less understanding!)

Sleep regression?

My DS had napped perfectly and slept all night, every night like a dream, since he was 6 months old. He got to about 17/ 18 months and started waking up at 4.30am everyday and taking just 40min naps, every day for about 6/7 weeks. He was on his knees with tiredness - he fell asleep on the way to nursery at one point, at 7am.... then one day he just completely reverted back to normal. We couldn't believe it.

He wasn't ill, we're fairly confident he wasn't teething.

He also started talking literally the day he came out of it. So I don't know whether his brain had some shit to work out 🤷‍♀️

It was horrific, but it did end. I promise!

@Gertruude @MummyToABoyy it's so reassuring to know it's not just us. I hope you guys get a good night tonight and come out if it soon!

@sar302 thanks for the reassurance! I don't suppose you can remember how long it lasted for ?? My DS is on the brink of talking, his babbling is really increasing and he's started repeated words much more so I'm am praying it's the same.

@TeethingBabyHelp It was almost exactly 6 weeks - I know because it's still marked in my calendar 🙈
Bang on the start of week 6, we actually had a telephone consultation with a sleep consultant, because we were at such a loss. We never got a chance to implement the stuff she suggested however, because the next night he just slept. And then the night after, slept. He had a couple of days of mammoth 3hr naps and then was just fine. I couldn't believe it. Fairly sure the sleep consultant thought I was lying... definitely the easiest money she ever made.

If you look on line (or maybe don't, because it drove me crazy 😂), there's so much out there about the 18 month sleep regression, and I can only believe that's that what it was. Especially as he basically woke up talking.

Really wishing you all the good luck - lack of sleep is a killer!!