Sleeping Restless 18 Month Old

Hi L.
If your son is truly restless tell the MD,if by the nurse's estimation then tell MD what she is telling you. tell the MD. What you describe sounds normal to me, but perhaps mine were restless sleepers. Once they could roll over they were never where I left them. Perhaps because he's obviously a sick baby you watch him closely and notice everything in a heightened way. I have heard of people taking videos of a child they considered having a problem so that MD could see. You have great eyes and a great source of info in the nurse. Use that to full advantage. Have you got his bed on an incline? As MD about it.
Our younger son slept with us for medical reasons for a while. Not easy after they learn all the things they can do, if they awaken. Mine was in his own twin bed for about a year by then. Yes he could climb out when he was 5 months old. His older brother never climbed out.
God bless you and may He grant you peace in the days ahead.
K. SAHM married 38 years, adult children: 37,33, and twin girls 18.

First what if any meds is he taken and side effects? Also, what is he dog up to 2 hours before bed time? Sometimes kids are playing video games or watching TV before bed and it can cause alot of restlessness at bedtime and during the night. Try to have calm quiet time an hour to 2 hours before he goes to bed and see what happens. Also check with doctor about any meds he's on.

I am a mother of 3 children, ages 4, 2 1/2 and 14 months. I've done extensive research on sleep issues and here is what my opinion is... please remember, this is only my opinion. Hope it helps!

Your son is likely used to falling asleep with a bottle and rocking (you mentioned that you do this every night to get him to go to bed). So, when he wakes up, he needs that routine again to get him to settle down and go back to sleep. One expert explained it like this: "as an adult, we fall asleep with our head on our pillow". If we were to lose our pillow for some reason during the night and we were to wake up, we'd find our pillow and put it back under our head to go back to sleep. We'd find it very difficult, probably impossible, to go back to sleep without it." This is the same thing for your son. He probably needs the bottle and rocking to fall back asleep easily, because that is what he is used to. Try giving him a bottle an hour before you put him to bed and if you must rock him (I LOVE rocking my kids too!), make sure you put him down to bed before he actually falls asleep. He needs to learn to fall asleep on his own while just laying in his crib/ your bed. Then when he wakes at night, he will be able to fall back asleep easily. Finally, it's important to know that sleep patterns in children are very different than sleep patterns of adults. Children will wake every 30 to 60 minutes throughout the night... that is just their pattern. It's not a big deal if they can easily fall back asleep. Richard Ferber's book on sleeping has some great insight to sleep patterns in children. I'm not saying his methods of "letting your child cry it out" are good/ bad, but the book really helped me to understand my children's sleep patterns.

Both my kids slept like that. They moved all around their beds. My son is now in a regular twin bed. He doesn't move around as much. But he still tosses and turns all night long. My daughter is still in a crib, and it's random as to where in her crib she sleeps. I think that this is totally normal. As long as he is rested I wouldn't worry.

My son is the same way... the start of the night is very calm for him, but then he flips all over the place. It goes in cycles, likely the same as his sleep cycle. As his neurological system matures, his sleep will settle.

If you find that he is not rested an needs a nap very soon after waking, talk with the doctor. Otherwise, most children do not stay in one place while they sleep until they reach preschool age!

White noise, get a fan in his room. The drone of the motor will help. Since a fan will obscure the monitor sound, you will have to crank it and get used to a "static" sound, works wonders. If you don't have a fan, and if you have a TV in your bedroom, when he is with you put it on a static channel (the black and white no picture)and crank up that sound. hope it helps.

I agree with Dianna, if he is rested and isn't waking up at night I wouldn't worry about it. I am a very deep sleeper, but I never stay in one place. My 22 month old son is the same way, he gets himself into the craziest positions! He will be backwards in bed, feet through the rails in the crib, up on his knees, on his back with his feet straight up against the side of the crib. But he never wakes up unless he isn't feeling well, or something truly out of the ordinary. And He wakes up every morning talking to himself and bright eyed.
Having him in your bed may be tougher because it wakes you up. When we travel and we have Johnny in the pack n play in our room my husband and I always complain of awful sleep--and he isn't even in our bed!! He is just moving around in the corner and we are on eggshells. is it possible to keep a travel crib in your room so he can be near you but not in your bed on the nights he is not with the nurse?