18 month sleep regression or something else??

[popgoesperfection]

Looking for a bit of advice to help get my ds sleeping better.
Ds is 18 month and we follow a loose routine of:
Up between 6:30 - 7 am
Nap at 1:15 pm for up to 2 hour
Up to bed at 7:30 pm, read a book and have a cuddle, lay him in his bed, say night and leave.
Generally he goes off straight to sleep independently. However, through the night he wakes numerous times crying and whinging, I leave him for a few minutes to see if he'll settle himself, then go into him, lay him back down and leave. I do this every time, I never bring him out of his cot or speak to him until morning when it's time to get up. Yet he continues to do it every night and I'm starting to struggle with the constant wakings. Can any one offer some advice or anything that I could try?

Cross post!

@Sticklebricks444 Ashton and parsons teething powder is magic stuff. I didn't understand it before I tried it with DD but my word it's amazing.

She's 19 months by the way :)

Has lo gone down yet @Angliski ?
Doesn't sound like you had too bad of night last night @MKCH , everything crossed for another good one for you 🤞🏻
Last night he >whispers< slept through 🤫 (touches every piece of wood) 🙌🏻
Yeah @Sticklebricks444 I find the granules good and ibuprofen better than calpol too.

Hi all 👋🏼 Knee deep in the sleep regression and seriously struggling! Seems to have been going on for about four weeks now but we’ve had illness sandwiched within it so who knows! He’s not a great sleeper and I’ve always joked that my little one doesn’t have much to regress from…he proved me wrong! Constant wake ups, screaming bloody murder and will not settle. Must admit I relent and bring him into bed with me, which probably exacerbates the problem massively, but all other techniques fail and I’m at risk of actually dying through lack of sleep. Roll on the end of this utter hell!

Touch wood but we seem sorted against last night he even pointed to bed at 7.30 seemingly asking why am I still upright mummy? Sending hope to you all!

We had a massive meltdown on the flight over to Italy! Lesson learned about calpolling early

Hi all please may I join?
21mo DS who has never been a good sleeper. Was up hourly until about 16 months. Then we night weaned and he's been a dream since then. UNTIL NOW. Started a week ago after returning to nursery following a week off whilst it was closed. Won't nap. Won't settle himself at the beginning of the night. Up at 4am and won't go back to sleep. It's only been a week but I'm dead on my feet and my DH is not very good on little sleep so it's already putting a strain on us.
Any positive stories here? I need to know it'll get better!!!

Hi all, just found this thread whilst searching for a miracle cure! It's my nearly 16 month old we're having problems with and this is week 4 of it. Usually waking at around 11/11.30pm and is awake until at least 2am.

A few times this week I've ended up with her in our bed because I'm just so drained with it all. Its really affecting me mentally now I just want it to be over 😭

Please tell me this will get better?!

I'm still here knee deep!

Mind you she has suffered from Hand Foot & Mouth during this time, and now she has a temperature/cold/cough (plus Covid test yesterday so she's off nursery, fab...).

Night before last she slept with me all night, mainly so I could get some sleep.

Last night she went to sleep at 6pm (shattered), woke up at 8.30pm, then I spent 1.5 hours on a timer from 2 minutes up to 6 minutes in 30 second intervals trying to get her to sleep in her own bed... eventually worked! And then she was up at 3am but only briefly, and then woke up properly at 6.30am. Not ideal.

Hoping she'll have a good nap at lunchtime!

@MKCH oh gosh what a night! Poor you. How long would you say you've been in this regression for now?

@Bonnieweejeaniemccall oof poor you too!! I know what you mean about it affecting your well-being. I love my DS so so much and I wouldn't change a thing about him, but the sleep issues have put me off having another to be honest. I don't think our marriage would survive it. I fainted at a baby group when he was tiny (just before covid lockdown 1) because I'd literally had 2 to 3 hours broken sleep per 24 hours for about 3 months and it was making me ill.

@PintOfBovril I'd say maybe 4/5 weeks? I went through a phase of being really soft though and staying in the room with her or taking her out into the spare room with me or into bed with me and DP, and it's only the past 24 hours that I've thought 'no, bugger this! You're going to sleep... alone!' 😂

@PintOfBovril I feel for you so much - I’ve never fainted but some days you just don’t know how you’re going to function do you, it’s just awful. I have two, eldest was a shit sleeper and second even worse. I feel like I’ve tried it all!

@MKCH that's exactly where I'm at now too. I can't be soft anymore cos it's actually killing me!

@Tessie87 another mum of two shit sleepers here too! My first didn't sleep through the night til he was 5 and is the reason I have 6. 5 year age gap! This one started off good but now she's not a sleeper either! I obviously make them faulty 😂😂

I am reaching end of tether point 😩😩😩

She went to sleep at about 8pm (finally), slept until maybe 1am, woke up, I settled her back to sleep, woke up 2am, 2.20am, and now.

She goes back to sleep when I'm in the room but then if she wakes up / opens her eyes and finds I'm not here she screams/cries for me until I come in the room, at which point she immediately lies down again and closes her eyes.

I don't want to take her into my room, I don't want to set up camp in here, I just want her to go to sleep and stay asleep...

Aaaarrgghhhh

@MKCH that's almost exactly what DS did last night. In the end DH did set up camp and stayed in there. He got a bit of sleep but said DS was fretting a lot and making lots of whimpers regularly so he had to keep reassuring him he was there. I wonder if it's related to a huge language leap... He woke up this morning and sang us a song which he has never done before.
I love seeing his development but WHY DOES IT HAVE TO HAPPEN AT NIGHT??!??

Welcome @Tessie87 @Bonnieweejeaniemccall and @PintOfBovril !! No advice to offer but just nice to know we are all in the same situation. It's such a struggle to get through the day some days isn't it!?
I also have 2, ds1 was a shit sleeper but ds2 is topping older ones sleep (or lack of) when he was a baby.
@PintOfBovril that's sweet!! Bless him!!

@Bonnieweejeaniemccall I defo make faulty sleepers too…which is irritating as I bloody love sleep. I miss it so much!
@popgoesperfection yes, such a struggle! Just when you think things can’t possibly get any worse, they do! 😬

I thought we had cracked it as had a few nights of him sleeping through till about 6 then in bed with me for an hour! Sadly it didn't last long 😫 currently sat at the table with a coffee watching them both play....I neeeeeed sleep!!!

@popgoesperfection ah it's always the way... They tease you with a taste of nice sleep then whip it away before you can enjoy it.
DS is very sweet, thank goodness.
Does anyone else here carry a fair amount of sleep resentment around with them? I have a close friend who will often refer to an 'unsettled night' by which she means it took her child half an hour of silent wiggling around in the cot to fall asleep. I have to bite my tongue reallllllllly hard.

@Bonnieweejeaniemccall it WILL get better. How are you doing today?

We seem over the hump. Not always easy to get down to bed but when we do, pretty solid overnight. We did have one night with an hourly wake up. In the end I got up at 6 and we played for 3 hours then everyone went back to bed for two hours

@angliski had a bit better sleep last night she was only up once and for like 15 minutes instead of her usual 3 hours. Great u say..... Except my eldest projectile vomited up my stairs and walls. Honestly couldn't write my life just now!

@PintOfBovril YES! I know it's unfair but I can't help it!

Oh Bonnie! The grind, the drudge, it’s exhausting. Big reassuring squeeze. I only have the one, so can’t imagine the juggle. @Bonnieweejeaniemccall

@PintOfBovril absolutely yes to the sleep resentment. I try so hard not to let my shit experiences affect things, but when people casually mention that their child sleeps well, I feel this knot of resentment. I think that comes from just being absolutely shattered though doesn’t it, outwardly I try to look pleased for them but inside I just think, why us?!
I do think sometimes people who have never experienced poor sleep with their little ones really don’t have a clue how hard it is to parent when you’re exhausted. Parenthood is hard enough without throwing sleep deprivation into the mix.
Sorry for the negativity today, another really bad night and close to breaking point. So so tired and just want things to get better 😩

So am I @Tessie87. Didn't get to sleep until 3.30am this morning so I've just been crying for the last half hour but I need to pull it together before my eldest gets up. Me and OH are at each others throats aswell which isn't helping.

@Bonnieweejeaniemccall I hope you’ve had a good day, and maybe managed to catch up with a nap with it being the weekend? It does massively put strain on your relationship doesn’t it, you’re both knackered and you feel like you’re barely surviving some days. I really hope tonight is better for you (and for us) and that you get a block at least. Like you I have two and with the eldest not napping now there’s no time in the day to rest. So bloody hard