Can I ask about toddler sleep?

[numberthirtytwoWindsorGardens]

All of my friends' babies seem to have gone on a linear improvement curve with their sleep. Their sleep was rubbish at newborns, but then improved around 6 months/9 months/1 year/with weaning, and since then they sleep through, every night, unless ill.

DS hasn't been like that at all. He was a good sleeper when he was a newborn, slept through from 12 weeks, went through a hideous non sleeping phase from about 6-11 months, but since then has been really unpredictable. Sometimes he sleeps straight through, sometimes he's up four times a night asking for water, sometimes I have to sleep on the floor with him because otherwise he's inconsolable.

Is this normal? I'm a bit worried that I'm doing it wrong and his sleep will always be a bit rubbish and unpredictable! (Triggered by his waking every hour last night and refusing to go back to sleep from about 3am ...)

Any advice or experience welcomed!

Does he nap? We dropped ours and that has helped. Not perfect, some nights still up around 1am. Just bought a gro clock to see if that helps.

Yes, he sleeps from 1pm - usually for about an hour and a half at nursery, but up to three hours when he's home at the weekend, by which time he's obviously shattered. He's only 20 months; do they really drop naps that early?

Hopeful post bedtime bump!

I think varied sleep is quite normal; my DD slept through from 9-12 months then started getting up at 5am for a few weeks, this stopped and then from the age of 20ish months to about 2.5 years she would sometimes sleep through, sometimes be up for an hour or 2 in the night for no reason, sometimes get up at 5am. Since she’s turned 3 she’s slept through fairly consistently. I noticed that when there’s things going on like house moves, me changing jobs, a new sibling it effected her sleep

Thinking about it she probably has slept consistently since dropping her nap but she wasn’t ready for that until she turned 3 and even on days she hadn’t napped before then it didn’t necessarily mean she’d sleep. My friends with younger children all have up and down sleep too.

Could've written this. LO is 20 months and every night is unpredictable. She naps at 1pm for 1.5 hours at nursery, 2hrs at home. Some nights sleeps through, others is up multiple times, last night she was up from 4.30.
I think its too early to drop the nap, my 1st was 2 and 4months when she did and that was months before friends babies the same age.
Following with interest and here solidarity in exhaustion!

Thank you both so much! I'm sorry you're suffering too, but a little relieved that it's not just that I'm the worst parent in the world!

Wishing you all a good night tonight ... 😴

Normal here!

My eldest has cycles of sleep, the general trend is improvement but goes back and forth. My youngest is much more predictable, it's just different personalities I think.

Normal for us too! Although rarely sleeps through at all (21 months). Usually up at least once or twice a night, the worst nights are when she's up for hours on end (why does this happen?!?) I've given up wondering what I'm doing wrong (because it's not anything we're doing - they will all get there in their own time) and just go to bed with my fingers crossed every night : )