17 Month Old Night Sleep and Naps

He has a lot going on.
1) he is almost 18 months old. On the cusp of an age change and 18 months is a growth-spurt time.
2) he has been sick
3) he is teething

So ALL of these factors, DOES tweak a baby's sleep ability.
Even adults have a hard time sleeping when they are sick.

This is a temporary phase. Not permanent.

Kids this age, need about about 11+ hours of sleep. Plus naps.

IF you keep him up later... this is not the solution.
Because, being over-tired actually makes it HARDER for a baby or child, to sleep and fall asleep. And they wake more.
Keep his bedtime, the same. Don't vary it too much, or this will backfire.

Again, he has a lot of things going on.
And developmental changes too.
ALL of this, tweaks sleep.
It is developmental phases and due to his cold and teething.
If we adults had all of that, we'd have a hard time sleeping, too.

Do NOT skip his naps. Again, if you skip naps, this will only make him sleep deprived and he will have lack of sleep.

When he wakes at 4:00am... then he would need an EARLIER nap time.
Don't make him stay awake... and skip a nap until the afternoon.
And if he takes a morning nap and not an afternoon nap... then put him to bed at the same time at night.
The thing is, the more you fluctuate and vary his sleep/nap times, the worse it will get.

And go by his cues, per tiredness.

Also try give him teething remedies.
Teething wakes babies.
Plus he has a stuffy nose.
So try and remedy that.

My son at that age, napped twice a day, for 2-3 hours each. AND went to bed at night, about 7:30pm.
We tried to keep it the same, everyday. Because, otherwise it screws up their sleep.

Next: sleep is never a static thing in babies/kids. It does get tweaked, per developmental and cognitive changes. Sleep patterns, changes. Per a kids' age etc. and growing pains. But it is mostly a phase.

I suggest you make him stay in his bed until an appropriate wake-up time (if he's going to sleep at 7, 6 would be an appropriate time). I would go in and give him a drink once then let him cio until it's time for the whole family to get up. With my first we got up with him whenever he got up and would go downstairs to let him play or watch cartoons at 4 a.m.. it got old, really quick. He was horribly tired and grumpy all day (and so were dad and I). My daughter is now 13 months and is going through the same phase where she wants to get up and hang out in the wee morning hours and I just go in and nurse her once during the night (because she is genuinely thirsty/hungry at least once during a 12 hour period. My son gets a sippy cup of water at nighttime too), then put her back down until at least 7. She cries and carries on a major fuss but I just turn down the monitor and check in on her every few minutes to see if she's fallen asleep or not. She always wakes up refreshed and happy in the morning and goes down for 2 great naps a day. I honestly think getting them up and giving them lots of attention when they should be sleeping only perpetuates the cycle and creates and even bigger problem. Just let him know that it is night time and sleep time---not time to play or interact with Mommy and that everyone else in the house is still sleeping. Best of luck!

If I'm remembering right, my daughter was switched to one nap a day before 14 months. She would nap in the early afternoon (starting at 12:30 or 1:00).

We have gone through the same thing with our 14 month old on and off. I think the first poster is right on. Don't let him get out of bed until an appropriate hour- either 6am or when it gets light out. I read somewhere that when it gets light out is a better marker for young ones since it is something they can udnerstand- still dark-in bed. light out- i can get up. Rather than 6am which means nothing to them.....

Even if my son cries I do not go to him, other than a quick check, if it is too early. Otherwise I have found that 5am becomes a 4am wakeup and then 3:45... as you described. Usually he cries himself back to sleep within 5min- if I go to him it only succeeds in waking him further. Lately though he has started getting up aroun 5:30 (he had been doing 6:45) again, but I think now he knows no one is coming to play. Instead of crying he literally talks to himself, and his stuffed bug, until around 6:30. I turn the monitor down and don't get him until the rest of us are waking. These days, his morning nap is closer to 8:45 than 9:30 since he gets tired earlier.

The teething and the stuffy nose could definitely be throwing him off too- so work through those as well. He might be waking becasue of teething pain, but that doesn't mean he is ready to start his day. It seems like every time the sleep pattern gets better, something comes up and throws it off again... welcome to the world of motherhood:)