My 20 month old son has recently began waking about 2-3 times a night and not going back down quietly. We thought it might be teething but it has been a steady problem for over 2 weeks. He usually stirs at 11 pm, 1 am and then at 3 or 4 am and stays up for at least an hour or more when he wakes the last time. We have tried to leave him in the crib to "cry it out" numerous times and it does not seem to work. If he doesn't wake at 3 or 4 am then he is up for the day at 430/5 am :( We are considering losing his nap but feel the day is too much for him and even those days that he doesn't nap he may even wake anyways.
I am currently pregnant and due with my third in 5 weeks and am trying to nip this in the bud ASAP!!! Any suggestions would be helpful!
Tired Mama
Maybe it's not a matter of losing the nap, but maybe shortening it or making sure he gets up by a certain time in the afternoon. We discovered that we needed them up by 3:30 at the latest to get them to sleep through the night, and as they age, we reduced their nap to and hour and then to every other day. Also consider when you are putting him to sleep... and adjust a little later. Have you tried music or a noise machine?
I think he needs more sleep, not less. I would recommend not only not losing the nap, but laying him down earlier in the day before he's very overtired. It sounds counterintuitive, but a child who is sleep deprived or goes down at night after his optimal window will wake earlier and often not sleep through.
I would also make sure something isn't going on in his room. A door opening and closing because of a draft, or blankets coming off and him getting cold. Lastly, I would make sure he doesn't have an ear infection or something medical going on.
Both of my kids were done with naps around 2.5 so he is still a little early to be done with them. Have you considered changing the time of his nap. The later in the day he naps the more likely he will have a hard time going to sleep and staying asleep. Also have you had him checked for an ear infection, He may not be teething but there might be another issue.
My baby is 15 months old and has NEVER slepted all night. She wakes up so often I am so tired sometimes she sleeps with me (after many attempts to sleep in her own bed). I keep waiting for it to get beter. She is my 3rd so it is hard to have her cry too long as I don't want the other kids to wake up. Her naps are short--1 to 1.5 hours A DAY! Especially at daycare. Sometimes at home she takes 2 short naps. I hope to learn any tips from your responses!
have you tried putting a few toys in his bed with him. my son (22months) has some things and when he wakes up he plays and laughs for a little while and then falls back asleep. also does he have a night light. we got my son the tykelight. we use rechargeable batteries because if it stays on it wears down quickly, but it doesnt get hot so they can sleep with it. my son knows how to turn it on and off and he has definitely been sleeping better since he got it.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobi-Tyke-Light-Jr.-Night-Light...
E.,
At 20 months your baby needs 15.5-16 hours of sleep. that should be about 12 hours at night and one 3 hour nap or two 2 hr naps. So definitely keep the nap if not add another one. a good time for the first time is two hours after they get up in the morning and then two hours after they wake up again. I have a 16 month old and we do 10-12 and 2-4. then he goes to sleep at 7:30 and wakes up at 8:00.
He may sleep better at night when you make sure he is getting enough day time sleep too.
He needs to learn how to go from an active sleep to a relaxed sleep and repeat the cycle all night long. This cycle is repeated every thirty to forty five min. It sounds like he sometimes puts himself back to sleep and others he is waking up at the end of the cycle. By going in to help him you are reinforcing that he needs you to get back to sleep. And he may start waking even more often. Where you do not have another baby worry about disturbing,(and you can explain to your three year old that he needs to be big and brave and try to go back to sleep if the baby wakes him up) I highly recommend that you let him "cry it out" (CIO). It doesn't have to be "cold turkey", but the sooner you do it the better. One way is to wait 10 min and let him wake up completely before you go in his room. Go ahead and pick him up and check on him the first time, calm him down and then lay him back down and leave. after that you know that nothing is wrong and he is just basically going to throw a fit so you will come back in and help him go to sleep. Then it is up to you weather you let him CIO completely "Cold turkey" or you go in at intervals and reassure him. I personally have realized that for me, it is better to just leave them alone. It aggravates my babies even more for me to go in there and not pick them up or pick them up and then put them down again. It is faster if you do it "cold Turkey" (about two or three days) but you will still get the same results with the "interval training" (about a week or so) as long as you are consistent and set up some rules for you and your hubby to follow.
A crib is a very safe place to cry, so even if he does wake up for the day at 4:30 you do not need to go get him. you could just put a few soft toys in at night and he can play, cry or go back to sleep. Then when it is time to get up (about 12 hrs after bed time) you go in and say "time to get up!" and start you day:)
Good luck and may sleep be with you..
E.
My daughter went through something like this when she would roll out from under her blankets- we ended up putting her in two sleepers to help her get through the cold nights. Who knows, just a suggestion.
