I’m looking for some advice about my 14 month old little boy and his sleep first and foremost.
He slept through the night from about 4 months to 6 months and since then we have had nothing but trouble with his sleep - not going to bed, constantly waking in the night etc. We have paid a sleep consultant and tried numerous books but to no avail.
He is now waking only once or twice in the early hours so that’s not the issue.
The problem we currently have is that he goes to bed very very late indeed- we are talking 11.30pm/midnight before he will go to sleep. This has been going on for months. Either he just will not fall asleep naturally and doesn’t want to go to sleep until that time and is just awake, happy and playing OR he will fall asleep at a reasonable time like 7/8pm and sleep for an hour or so max but then wake up and again be really giddy and playful until 12. It’s almost like if he does fall asleep at a sensible time he thinks it’s a little nap.
I have tried bedtime routines, I have tried sleep cues, I have tried staying in his room and getting him back to sleep but the minute I place him back down in the cot he wakes up and gets very very hysterical. I have spent hours /weeks in his room doing this.
I have also tried letting him cry and going in at regular intervals to calm him without picking him up but again that does not work as he becomes more hysterical than I am comfortable with and it goes on for hours. Essentially I have tried various popular methods and strategies over several months with no success at all.
He has never had any kind of nap routine apart from falling asleep when we are out in the car etc. We seem to have improved his napping recently and he will either have one big sleep after lunch or a sleep in the morning and afternoon but it’s very hit and miss.
He’s always been a bit of a night owl and doesn’t often get up until after 8 or even as late as 930 (though he often doesn’t have a choice when I have work and he has nursery) but for the past week he’s started getting up at 645/715 so we got excited and thought this would shift everything - but no- he’s still up at midnight!
He’s definitely tired during the day, he’s always been a fantastic eater but no matter how hard I try recently I seem to have a knack for lining his meals up with when he’s so tired he won’t eat them and then falls asleep straight after.
It’s all a bit of a mess! I’m tired because I don’t have one minute of down time and I can’t get anything done with my evenings. I’ve definitely made mistakes along the way - not putting him in a routine, feeding him to sleep, not moving him to his room until 10 months etc but I’ve been trying to rectify this for months.
He’s a beautiful little boy, developing well, babbling loads, always happy and excited, not walking but crawling at great speed and fine on a walker/pulling himself up etc.
Has anyone been in the same boat? Any help would be grateful appreciated. Thanks!