I thought we were good - I thought we were past waking up in the middle of the night. For about the last week or so he's been getting up at 1 and 2 a.m. Then he awakes at about 5 or 5:30 a.m. for the day. I'm freakin' exhausted. I work full time and starting a new job on Monday and I'm kinda anxious about him doing this next week when I HAVE to be there and be on time and will be struggling b/c of his crazy sleep schedule.
I can't think of anything in particular that's changed. One night he was soaked w/urine, but the other nights he was dry and just seemed like he wanted to be held or picked up. His sleeptimes have been 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. for many months. All the sudden it's changed. We haven't moved, I haven't noticed any developmental changes (except more babbling), however his upcoming terrible twos are starting to creep up on me - so maybe that's it. Anyway, you guys always know the answer so if you have any suggestions on how to alleviate this or what to do when he awakes (b/c it's WAY different now at this age than at 9 mos), I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks so much!
Sounds like separation anxiety. Many toddlers have it somewhere between 13-18 months or so. Often shows itself at night the worst. Look it up online.
It could be a lot of things. Growth spurt, molars coming in, etc. Most people (of any age) wake up at least once during the night but we've learned to roll over and fall back asleep quickly without ever realizing we were up. (Sleep is a process with several repeating stages (lightly asleep, deeply asleep, REM sleep, etc)). Kids have a harder time doing this. They tend to bounce out of a light sleep into full wakefulness, have trouble getting back to sleep and then they want their bedtime ritual all over again. My son would sometimes fall asleep during story time. Then he'd wake up at 2am and come toddling into our bedroom with his book wanting to hear the rest of the story. In some kids, the mechanism where we don't move much during sleep takes time to develop, and they sleep walk. They usually grow out of it sooner or later. At about 2 to 2 1/2, they can start having nightmares that wake them up, and you have to deal with quelling their fears of monsters (under the bed, in the closet,etc). You'll have nights when everyone gets all the way through without incident, but it takes a long time before they sleep all night every night on a regular basis (some into 1st or 2nd grade). On weekends when my son was a toddler, when it was nap time, me and Daddy would take a nap at the same time just to catch up on sleep we'd be missing through the week.
My son did the same thing about a month ago (he's 18 months now). We went in to check on him, gave him some teething tablets and motrin if it had been at least 8 hours since his last dose, gave him a kiss then laid him down and said "night night, i love you" and left. Then we didn't go in to get him until 6 no matter how early he woke up. It took one night--he cried for about 45 minutes the first night when he woke up at 1, then slept til 7. The second day he woke up at 5 and cried for 20 minutes then slept til 7 again. He too goes to bed at 7:00. It will suck for a few nights, but he'll get the point that it's time to sleep. A lot of it at this age is them trying to figure out how much they can control their environment (and their parents). The first night he did this he started cracking up and playing immediately when my husband went in and picked him up--what a little stinker, eh? :p Good luck with the new job and with getting some sleep!
does he have his two year molars yet? My youngest barely slept while these were coming in.
You are anxious about your new job, and he is likely feeding off of that. Maybe try less milk near bed time, and some oatmeal or something filling? Maybe the temp in his room is different with the weather? Maybe try 30 mins later or earlier for bed?
Good luck
Could it be teething? Are his ears OK?
Otherwise, you could try some white noise, soft music playing during the night......
Hang in there....moms, apparently, are amazing creatures that can run on 2 hours of sleep and coffee only for days at a time if they have to.
Can someone (hubby?) switch of night duty with you. At least if you know that tomorrow you'll get sleep, you can more easily deal with tonight, if you know what I mean....
Good luck!
Massive growth period. Language will take off after this wonder period. Hang in there.
But do be firm about how it is bedtime.
Is he starting to get his two year molars by any chance? We went through the same thing just a few months ago. My daughter had no fever or ear tugging. She was just a restless sleeper and seemed a little out of sorts, which I attributed to no sleep. Then my BIL came to visit and he just happens to be a dentist. He always checks the kids' teeth and he mentioned her molars where coming in. It all made sense and about two weeks later, she was back to normal.
I think its his age. My daughter is 18 months also and she is waking up during the night and her papers from checkup today said something about them waking up during the night.
