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16 month old - sudden split nights

5 replies

GiftWrappedSuburbanDreams · 05/08/2026 12:33

My 16 month old was an absolute dream sleeper from about 8 months on. Slept from around 7:30-7:00 most nights. From around 13 months, he started getting his canines and molars, so that disrupted it a fair bit.

The teeth are through now, but we're having a real issue with split nights. He'll have a few nights where he sleeps through. Followed by some split nights where he's awake around 2-4hrs. 😓 It's been happening around 3 weeks now.

His schedule is:

wake 7
nap 12:20-1:50
Bed 7:15 ish.

He isnt awake playing, he's yawning and wants to sleep, but cant seem to drift back off. He initially falls asleep with one of us sitting next to him. But can put himself back to sleep usually. Apart from when he wakes and has a split night.

He's trying to walk and is babbling more sounds along with learning new words. So I'm not sure if this is a player?
He goes down for his nap and bedtime at around the same time, so he's definitely ready for sleep at those points.

Please help 😩

OP posts:
LevelOneAgain · 05/08/2026 16:48

When my LO had split nights someone here suggested reducing the daytime nap. Worked a treat for us so might help you too. Just shave off 15 minutes at a time if you're nervous he'll crash too early for bed

GiftWrappedSuburbanDreams · 05/08/2026 19:33

Thank you for your reply! @LevelOneAgain
I have thought about it and will try if it continues much longer. The thing is, he is tired, not playful during the night, so does that still apply?
Sometimes he doesn't even nap for that whole duration, today he only slept 1h15m before waking. So I'm unsure if it's the nap. 🤔

OP posts:
Peonies12 · 05/08/2026 20:51

I’d try capping nap to 1 hour. Sleep needs reduce all the time. Or if you prefer longer nap, later bedtime. If he’s struggling to get back to sleep, he needs more sleep pressure at bedtime

Chica1990 · Yesterday 16:25

The only way I've been able to knock split nights is reducing the sleep 😩

GiftWrappedSuburbanDreams · Yesterday 20:14

Thank you for getting back to me! We've started capping his nap around 1h15m. He's slept through the last 2 nights, but he's been doing intermittent split nights alongside sleeping through for weeks. So we'll see how it goes moving forward! 🙏🏼

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