18 Month Old Son and Sudden Crib and Sleep Rebellion

Whenever my 21 month old starts acting up with the sleep routine all of the sudden (a lot of what you've described is exactly what he does) it turns out he has an ear infection. He never shows any of the tell-tale signs (no ear pulling, no fever, no cold, nothing), but I'll take him in and he'll have a raging infection!

My doctor says that with ear infections laying down is painful and the only way we can get our little one to sleep until the meds kick in is having him lay on us or if we hold him in our recliner - so his head is elevated...it may be worth checking out!

Has your son had any other symptoms, like a low grade fever? Ear infections can have kids screaming when laid down, or after a short time sleeping.

If that is ruled out, then I would go with moving him to a bed. What we did for our daughter was just put a twin mattress on the floor (skipped the toddler bed) and once she was used to that (not rolling out), assembled the rest of the bed.

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You said he is teething, his molars... and this typically hurts more.
When a baby or child is not feeling well... they often get more clingy.
Also at this age, they go through growth-spurts and/or more hunger, developmental changes, and still have separation-anxiety too. So, he has a LOT going on at the same time. This will indeed affect their sleep. Its not an easy thing for the child, either. And so they want you.

Or, you could try putting the mattress on the floor.

Have you tried teething remedies? Like Hyland's Teething Tabs, or letting him knaw on a dampened frozen wash cloth etc.?

My son, whenever he was teething, was really uncomfortable and in pain. He'd wake so much... but it was a phase.

Teething and the actual eruption of a tooth/teeth can take longer than 5 days.

Does he take naps? He could ALSO be just over-tired, in conjunction with the other things going on in him. Over-tired kids, do not sleep well and they wake more and have a hard time falling asleep.

All the best,
Susan