11 month old - awake fully everynight at 1am for 2 hours

[Element4056]

My just turned 11 month old has never been great at sleeping through the night. He's breastfed and regularly wakes up every hour, my husband can either cuddle him back to sleep or I feed him back to sleep. I cosleep with him and find he still wakes all throughout the night.

We put him to bed at 8pm depending on how his naps have gone throughout the day. He's really good with daytime naps and will do about 2.5 hours in the day split across 2 naps.

For the last few months he has been awake fully at around around 1am/1.30am/2am and he's completely awake for upto 2 hours. Sometimes 3! This was manageable when it was a few times a month but recently he's waking up every night at 1am Or 1.30am and is fully awake for minimum of 2 hours wanting to play. My husband and I are both struggling with this. I've developed really bad headaches as he's then awake at half 6 or 7am ready for the day.
When he's awake I don't engage in play/chat/anything to keep him awake, I simple feed him and eventually after 2 hours, sometimes 3 hours, he then goes back to sleep.
Please can anyone help? We are struggling so badly with his nightly awake times. I don't mind when he wakes up every hour for a feed or cuddle as I can usually get him back to sleep quickly, but these awake windows in the middle of the night I am struggling with.

All 3 of mine did this. It was a phase, it lasted for a couple of months and then just as quickly it ended.

It was awful whilst it lasted and especially with my first I remember being dead on my feet at work, but it did end!

Thanks @PotteringAlong thats reassuring to know! He's never managed more than a 3 hour stretch ever in the night which I don't mind- it's these 2-3 hour nightly awake windows where he's rearing to go that I'm struggling with. When he's awake in the night he just wants to get out of bed and downstairs to play! I keep the room dark and quiet but it doesn't stop him chattering and laughing away to himself for a few hours.
I've got a really bad headache for a few days now and I'm absolutely dreading tonight

All three of mine have done this. They've all been rubbish sleepers but this sleep regression around 1 year old and then another around 18months old nearly finished me off. It will pass.... Eventually. 😂🙊 My older two both started sleeping better from 3/3.5 years old.

In my experience there was nothing I could do to prevent it or change it. It was just something they all did. I know some sleep train and have success but it wasn't something I was comfortable doing.

I have to add- I ended up just bringing them down and I'd put a box set of something trashy/ vacuous on (like drag race etc) and they'd eventually give up and go to sleep. I found it far less frustrating coming downstairs and just accepting that they were awake than quietly seething in bed trying to force them back to sleep. I know that doesn't really work for most people though.

Sleep deprivation is the absolute pits. I hope it passes quickly for you. X

Aaah thank you @Teaandcakeordeath83. I guess I have to ride this out! Right now it just feels so relentless. Last night he woke up at 12am and didn't go back to sleep until 3am . My husband kept him from 12 to half 1 and I then took over for the remainder. We are both shattered!

I agree with @Teaandcakeordeath83 - I couldn’t change it or prevent it. I also didn’t sleep train them out of it. We just rode it out every time!

We had this and it wasn’t pleasant but it passed eventually. Google “split nights” - I seem to remember it had something to do with nap schedules, baby thinks the first part of the night’s sleep is just a nap. It’s also linked to developing speech and movement, they’re either just walking or just about to, and babbling a lot more, and it’s like their brain can’t settle.

Take care of yourself, it’s rough.

It sounds like he is having a split night. Google it. I think you fix it by waking him up on time (I.e. don't let him sleep in until 9 or 10 if he has been awake for 3 hours at night. Wake him at 7am) and also probably need to make the 2nd nap a bit shorter. There is only so much he can sleep in a day. If he is sleeping 5 hours in the day and then you expect him to sleep 12 hours at night, that's 17hours of sleep per day. I think that's unrealistic at this age. I think it's normally around 14-15 hours per days at this stage. Again, Google it. His daytime nap are probably interfering with his night time sleep.