18 month sleep regression is UTTER HELL

[IsThisTheKrustyKrab]

Hi all.

DD is almost 17 months and, up until a couple of weeks ago, was a great sleeper. Now she is awful. Worse than when she was a newborn. She wakes up multiple times a night and it takes an age to get her back to sleep. Thursday night was the worst night we've EVER had with her. She slept 8-10pm but then woke every half an hour until 3am. She would fall asleep but then force herself awake by rubbing her eyes, thrashing around ect, then would cry because she was knackered!

Funnily enough she slept through Friday night, but last night was another bad night. She slept 8-11:30, then didnt go back to sleep until 2:30, then woke again at 3:30, then again at 5!

We try everything to get her back to sleep. Stripping her down in case she is too hot, offering her milk and water, rocking, singing, playing lullabies, giving Nurofen in case it's her teeth.. Nothing works. Last night she perked up after the Nurofen and then went from crying to running around playing at 3am! 🙄 We even resorted to controlled crying last night but she got so hysterical after just two minutes that it took even longer to calm her down.

I'm starting to dread bedtime now and end up in tears most nights/mornings. I then ger frustrated with her which makes me feel even worse. My partner is very helpful but he is exhausted too! She seems perfectly happy in the day! It's just like she doesn't need sleep anymore!

Any tips? I am so exhausted 😂

I should say, she does nap in the day, usually around 1.5-2 hours but she's started fighting that too.

Anyone?

Sounds like she is playing you and has discovered her new nighttime power of pushing parents buttons. Can you try becoming the most boring Mummy ever after bedtime. So you dont turn the lights on, you dont talk, you just say its time to sleep and then sit in the corner not doing anything. It might take a couple of nights, but you will teach her that if its dark, you sleep and she doesnt need to have FOMO 😁

When she wakes in the night, does she always wake up upset? To be honest, even when I could hear DS moving around in his cot so knew he was awake, I'd leave him to it unless he got upset (I would then go in straight away), and he would more often than not fall back to sleep by himself.

Our DD is 15 months and is similar. Some nights she will sleep through but others will wake every half an hour for a drink of juice or her dummy. We've had her sleeping in jamas, a vest, just a nappy, window open, window closed, fan on... it's just hit and miss with her. She does go straight back off when she's woke up but sometimes she's stood up so for ease she ends up in with us - not ideal I know but we both work full time and I'm 26 weeks with DD2 so sleep is needed!

Sorry I have no magic suggestions but just letting you know we are in the same boat as you and hoping that she will realise how lovely sleep is before she turns into a teenager!

@SeaToSki thank you, I'll try this!

@Choochoose yes, she always wakes up almost hysterically crying. If she was just awake I'd be happy to leave her, but no it's a full on wail

Oh no, bless her (and you). Hopefully it passes soon

she always wakes up almost hysterically crying. If she was just awake I'd be happy to leave her, but no it's a full on wail sad

She may have been awake for a while then gets annoyed No one is responding then wails...

My 18 month old either sleeps through (maybe 4 times a month) or Wales 3-5 times a night for quick hug or wakes once for 3ish hours! But sadly he’s always been like this!

It could be to do with how she falls asleep in the first place, which then hinders her ability to resettle on her own.

When it's bedtime and you've done the usual bed time routine And put her on the cot for the first time, what happens from then until she's asleep?

Totally normal.

We went through a phase like this.

All returned back to normal after a month or so

@OverTheRainbow88 I doubt it. We have a monitor and we live in a flat so her room is literally a few steps away. So it would be exceedingly difficult for us not to hear her if she was awake. She literally goes from being asleep (or staying so still she doesn't make any noise ) to hysterical crying.

@FATEdestiny she will usually chat away for a bit or she may whine a little (not crying though) and then she falls asleep. Wakes up a couple of hours later crying.

We've just been through this with DS2 (19mo at the time). Just started happening completely out of the blue. It has got better - I stay in the room with him in silence now until he goes to sleep. Same when he was waking in the night at first too.

It will pass I promise. X

Wakes up a couple of hours later crying.

What happens then, when she wakes up crying until she's (eventually) back to sleep?

@SeaToSki

Sounds like she is playing you and has discovered her new nighttime power of pushing parents buttons. Can you try becoming the most boring Mummy ever after bedtime. So you dont turn the lights on, you dont talk, you just say its time to sleep and then sit in the corner not doing anything. It might take a couple of nights, but you will teach her that if its dark, you sleep and she doesnt need to have FOMO 😁

DS is 21 months and we've been doing this for about 6 weeks. Unfortunately it can take over an hour but it does work. Take a book! If he wakes in the night we give him a drink, check his nappy and then sit quietly again. He used to just be dropped off awake in his cot but he suddenly started screaming and thrashing when we tried to leave.

When it's not horrendously hot we will try gradual retreat but we're all sleeping badly and I haven't the mental energy!

Just found this thread by searching as I'm having a hellish time with my DS age 18 months since the last week or so. He's up constantly through the night after being a good sleeper and it takes forever to get him back to sleep.

How is your DD now OP?