Hi ladies!
I have a 15 month old son who has--up till now-- been a wonderful sleeper! He could fall asleep on his own and was able to comfort himself back to sleep within seconds when he would wake up. In the past week, it seems as if he is trying to get himself on a 1 nap a day schedule instead of his regular 2. His normal schedule is this: Bed 10PM, awake 9AM, nap 11-1, nap 4-6. (I know the times sound a bit unconventional, but it was consistent and it worked great for all of us.) This week it has been Bed at 10- awake at 1:30 AM till about 6 AM- sleep again until 8-9, then nap 11-2:30 or so, skipping the second nap. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, his eyes are wide awake, but he is so tired...rubbing his eyes, yawning...he will sit oun our laps for hours eyes wide awake-- and as soon as we put him in his crib, he screams and screams!
We've never had to let him "cry it out" or anything like that, b/c he was jut a good sleeper. Our thoughts are just that maybe at 1:30 AM his little body wakes him up telling him his usual 2nd nap is over, even though it is actually still bed time. We've tried letting him cry (at least for a short period of time) and letting him sleep in our bed (which he thinks is only just a playground.) He had been teething in the past couple of weeks, but that doesn't seem to be the issue this week.
Has anyone experienced anything like this? Or can you offer any advice on how to handle this? I am not sure my DH and I can go through too many more nights of 2-3 hours of sleep and continue to function-- not to mention what it is doing to our precious boy! He needs way more sleep than he is currently getting.
I would try to change his nap schedule to just one/day. Maybe, in his growth, he's just not needing as much sleep?
At 15 months old, I would stick to the one nap, as he is TRYING to transition himself to. When he wakes in the night, I would give him a couple books maybe, a favorite toy that is safe (nothing to choke on or wrap around himself of course) and tell him it's time to sleep, time for night night, whatever you tell him. He can hold the toys or whatever as he wishes for a distraction or to hold him over until he wants to sleep again, but I wouldn't stay there for hours in the night. Cuddle and play time is for daytime and night time is for much needed rest for your bodies. I'd say mommy/daddy is going back to sleep because it's dark out and time for sleep. And then leave the room. He may cry for a while, but everyone not getting sleep is just not healthy and he's gotta learn that it's time for restful sleep at night. Best wishes to you!!
My daughter was doing this too. I remembered something that had helped in the past and decided what the heck, it can't get worse. That was to put her in bigger diapers than her size would indicate. She was drinking more and got uncomfortable at night with a full diaper. This may not be your son's problem, but sometimes the issue can be something other than your first thought. Good luck, hopefully you'll be back to your (new) routine shortly.
I have a few thoughts: he goes to bed really late and I know you said it works for you but I have never heard of a 15 month old going to bed at 10. All my girlfriends kids and my own go to bed at around 7. Also he is trying to go to one nap which is okay. This is about the time they make the transition. I would go with it unless you want to totally stress yourself out. It is a long transition so it won't happen over night. My son started at 13 months and our days are still a bit inconsistent at 15 months. Lastly does he have his 1 year molars yet? My son's just came through and our last month looked crazy with not going down for naps well, night wakings, etc. They finally cut through this past week and things are back to normal. You may want to consider the idea of giving him a more "conventional" sleep schedule. Maybe with the summer, parks, walking, the heat, maybe 10 is just too late and he is overtired. Good luck with this. I am sure you are exhausted.
He may not need that second nap anymore. Both of my boys went from 2 naps to 1 around your son's age. Whatever you do, don't let him sleep in your bed anymore because it's just going to get harder and harder for him to go back in his own bed. We let our kids sleep with us when they didn't want to sleep in their own beds, and it's has bit us hard!!! Make sure he's not drinking anything with sugar in it too close to bed time. Almost everything has hidden sugar in it.
My 15-month-old daughter is teething something fierce right now and everything is off! Some nights it's taken us a good couple of hours to get her down to sleep and she'll wake earlier than normal too. I've also noticed she is weaning down to one nap as well. I would actually try giving her some infant's Tylenol about an hour before bedtime and then soothe him down before tucking him in. He may still cry when you put him down but he may sleep better. We've found that there's a difference in the cry that will tell us whether or not our daughter is actually going to cry it out or just stand at the side of the crib screaming until we come get her. I loathe having to let her cry it out, but sometimes, when we've done everything we can to help her, that's what it comes down to.
Good luck!
I wholeheartedly agree with Cheryl's advice. By staying with him you are only encouraging him to continue the behavior. He needs to know that bedtime is bedtime, not for playing. The screaming can tear at your heart, but within 2-3 days he will learn.
I pretty much agree with everyone else. Just one more thought:
Have you read "Healthy Sleep Habitats Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth. I found it very helpful. I am reading it for a second time to refresh my memory for my newborn and am finding it very helpful with our 2 year old who has always been a great sleeper but who has been fighting bedtime and having night waking.
Sleep is really important to developing brains, I know you say the late bedtime works. I do actually know a family whose 15mo old had a very late bedtime to (she worked and was responsible for bedtime because the SAHD went out) but it was more like 9:00. Sometimes a little change, like moving bedtime up a half hour to an hour, makes a huge difference. It did for my son.
Good luck.
