Is this normal at 13 months?

[Cakeandslippers]

My son is 13 months old. He wakes up around about every hour overnight. He used to do a 2-3 hour stint at the start of the night but he hasn't managed that for a while now. He wakes and will cry loudly for a long time in my husband's arms (between 20-60 minutes each time). He's more quiet if I feed him (breastfed) but it takes 45-60 minutes to settle him. I do end up bedsharing a lot even though I hate it but he's so restless and still wakes an awful lot.

Not looking for tips as we've tried everything and have spoken to a sleep consultant re naps, bedtime routine, sleep training etc, nothing seems to make a difference. I'm just wondering if this is normal as it seems extreme. The doctor didn't seem interested when I asked a couple of months ago. I dont think it's an allergy, my first had cmpa and so I trialled dairy free when he was small but it made no difference.

Not my experience, he sounds chronically over tired. You all must be exhausted.

Yes we are struggling tbh. Our lives revolve around it at the moment, I feel incredibly trapped and desperate.

He must be as emotionally strung out as you are. If there's nothing physically wrong then it does sound like you all need a re set and to try sleep training.

Has he always been like this or is it more recent?

When you cut out dairy did you cut out soya too?

Also have you ruled out apnea and other medical causes?

Sounds very tough

That sounds really tough. I was just beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel with sleep at 13 months, he finally started actually sleeping as he self weaned from BF and so stopped waking for comfort feeds as much. If all is well health wise, I agree with the other poster that it might be time for a reset but I know how hard that is when your so tired. The baby sleep solution (stay and support) book was recommended to me. Good luck OP,

Waking every hour is a red flag if it lasts for more than a few weeks. If you are on Instagram check out Isla grace sleep. She has a highlight about it and what to ask your doctor to check for. She’s proponent if alternatives to sleep training for context and will argue that this is absolutely NOT a case where sleep training is appropriate because it may mask an underlying health issue and/or be totally ineffective. Hope that ends up being helpful albeit alarming at first. I’m surprised your sleep consultant didn’t lock up on this. If it’s been a few days/ weeks may be ok though tiring, hopefully over quickly.

My daughter's sleep fell apart at a similar age (it wasn't great to start with). Is he working on something new (walking or talking?) can disrupt sleep. Can he get himself to sleep at the beginning of the night? I found that when we got that sorted the night wakings did get better

Thanks all, this isn't new at all. At 6 months he was waking every half an hour so it's improved a bit from then. The only change has really been that he'd started doing a 2-3 hour stint at first then waking hourly but that stint stopped about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Nothing new going on, he's been walking for 4 months already and has loads of words, no major changes.

I didn't fully cut out soya but he would only have had tiny traces tbh where it was a minor ingredient (eg crisps) and he has no other allergy symptoms so I'd be astounded if it was that. GP said not likely to be asleep aponea or anything like that as he doesn't stop breathing / gasp in his sleep that I can tell. My daughter wasn't quite as bad but close and they did recently suggest keeping an eye in future for adhd type issues but it's too young for him really so I'm hoping it does start to improve soon.