18 Month Old Waking in the Night

It could be teething or even at this age nightmares can begin. My daughter sometime wakes up several times during the night and crying a bit and after 5 minutes, she goes back to sleep.

Does she sleep a long time during her naps in the day? This could cause her to have shorter sleep time at night. If so, try waking her from her nap 15 minutes earlier. Let her be more active during the day so she is exhuasted by the time bed time comes around.

My daugther is 15 months and also wakes up at night. Sometimes, she'll scream a few times like she's having a bad dream, other times she rubs her ears and the sides of her jaw, sings of teeth coming out. She is currently dealing with molars coming out, three of them all at once. So if your baby is waking up, look for whether he's rubbing his ears (kind of like a scratching motion) or his jaw, and you'll know it's the teeth. Otherwise, maybe it's a bad dream. However, it's odd that your boy stays up for 3 hours at night because my daugher goes right back to bed every time. Could he be napping too much during the day? My daughter naps from 3 to 5, then goes to sleep around 10 pm. Wear him out before bedtime, keep him up at least 5 hours after his nap and he should sleep more soundly. I hope so for your sake. Good luck.

D., sometimes it's hard to know what's wrong but it could be teething and try different things to rule out the reasons. I used to give my boys Teething Tablets which are homeopathic and natural and best for them than tylenol and only use tylenol for fevers and seeif that helps and it will soothe his gums and help him sleep for a while. Let us know what was up with that and I'm curious. You are a great mom for being concerned and wondering what you can do to help your child. Great job, Mom!!

Is she waking up crying or just wide awake? If she is in pain I would try Tylenol. If she is wide awake I would try to adjust her naps. At her age one nap a day should be fine and try to make it around 12 after lunch so she is not sleeping to late in the afternoon. Also it could be her ears, has she had a runny nose? I would try Tylenol first and see if it helps and go from there. Unfortunately it is all trial and error see what works and what doesn't. Good luck I hope you get some sleep soon!!

Hi D.,
My son is also 18 mths, is waking up A LOT these days, and only has five teeth, so we think it is teething. He doesn't stay awake for long and can be soothed, but he is kind of yelping so he really appears to be in pain. Last night we finally tested our theory and gave him motrin (tylenol doesn't seem to work at all for him for whatever reason) and he slept pretty soundly after that. If your son appears in distress and is uncomfortable-- chances are. Those teeth have to come in eventually, and it is usually the first few that are the most painful, or so I hear.