Need Help from Someone Who's Gotten Through the 18 Month Sleep Regression!

I'm going through this now with my 18 month old son. For him, it's more with naps than with bedtime. Just yesterday, I had to hold him in my arms and walk around to put him to sleep for his nap, the way I used to put him down when he was an infant. He also wakes up after 30 minutes of nap unless I'm there lying next to him so that's what I do when I can.

Your son might also be having trouble because he's now afraid of the dark. When my daughter went through sleep regression at 17 months, it was the dark that caused it -- a dim lamp in her room solved the problem.

Right around the toddler years is when their imaginations kick in and it doesn't stop at night.
They get fearful of monsters in the closet or under the bed, or start having nightmares.
Our son had a hard time with this right up into his 3's.
I almost think it's a left over instinct from early human evolution.
Unattended young in the wild are prey.
Those who stick close to their parents survive.

So what do we do to get any sleep?
It was tough in our house till our son got smart.
If he woke us up in the night, we always took him back to his room - there was lots of crying and everyone was tired.
Then he figured if he didn't wake us up, he could get his way - so he'd just come to our room and tuck himself in at the foot of our bed without waking us up.
He'd fall asleep right away, we didn't get our sleep interrupted, and we'd find him in our bed in the morning hanging onto my foot.
We all started getting a lot more sleep when he did this!
What a lot of people do is to put a sleeping bag next to their bed.
If child wakes up in the night and wants to be near parents, he/she can come to the sleeping bag and sleep there the rest of the night hopefully without waking Mom or Dad up.
They do out grow it sooner or later and eventually they stay all night in their own bed again.

I did just bring them into my bed. We all got to sleep more that way. They are now 7 and 10 and haven't slept in our bed in years. But you don't have to go that route.

Why do you leave the room while he's still awake? Have you tried staying until he's asleep again? A friend of mine would pat her son's back until he fell asleep and then leave the room. You have to wait until you're sure he's a sleep, but that might be a more successful route to take.

How much and when is he napping during the day? If my son slept for more than 2 hours in the afternoon or slept for even 10 minutes after a certain time he was either up until all hours of the night, or he would wake up at an unearthly hour of the night. Maybe try playing with his nap times a little bit. Maybe adjust his bedtime by a 1/2 hour. I know how hard it is to sacrifice that "me" time at the end of the day, but I'd rather start up later at night than be woken up in the middle of the night. Be sure he isn't hungry or thirsty before bed. Is his bedroom getting too hot or too cold at night? Both of my kids will wake up and can't fall back asleep if they get too hot or too cold. Maybe try a fan blowing in the room (not on him) or closing the air conditioning vent part way. Maybe try a white noise machine. That might lull him back to sleep. With both of my kids I went against what all the "experts" say and just brought my kids into bed with us. They fell asleep faster while cuddling with someone and we got our sleep. Not ideal, but we did what we had to do. Good luck!

When one of mine went through a sleep regression, it often corresponded with a major growth spurt. Bottom line - he was hungry all the time. I didn't give him food in the middle of the night, but I found that giving extra bedtime snack - something really filling and high in nutrition - helped him get through the night more easily. I would just keep giving him food until his tummy was totally full before bed.

Separate from food, the same kid also had a major issue with sleep at one point because when he woke in the night, one of his stuffed animals looked scary. It took a long time to figure out, because he couldn't verbalize what was wrong. That giraffe had been in his room since birth. It never bothered him before, and it didn't bother him when I put him down the first time each night. But when he woke in the middle of the night, it was apparently scary and he wouldn't go back to sleep. I only figured it out by accident by taking it out of his room one day, and that day, he had no problem settling himself right back to sleep.

(the other one of mine didn't have sleep regressions because he just didn't sleep in the first place, but that's a totally different topic)

Make sure he's been fed before bed. He should be having a huge growth spurt about now. If he's hungry he's not going to sleep well. If he's not hungry then put him down a bit later. You need to count his nap and his nighttime hours in his needed sleep. So many think all those hours they need are all the hours of the nighttime. That nap time isn't part of it.

He hasn't learned to put himself back to sleep. He is depending on you to do it for him. It's important for a child to learn to self-soothe. You will be doing him a big favor by helping him learn to do it.

Put a chair in the middle of the room. When he wakes, go in and put him back in the bed and then go sit in the chair. Don't talk, don't look at him. Don't let him get out of the bed. If he tries to climb on you, walk him back to the bed and then go back and sit in the chair. Do it 30 times if you have to. He'll get tired of it and he'll give up and lay in the bed. Let him cry if he wants to. You are still in the room.

After a few nights when he starts laying down and staying in the bed without getting out, and when he stops crying, move the chair closer to the door. Do that a little bit more every night until the chair is in the doorway. He will still know you are there.

After things go better, only put him in the bed and then walk out. If he comes back to you, walk him back to the bed, over and over. Hopefully it won't come to that. Hopefully he will stop waking. That's the goal.

You have to change the cycle. This is the way to do it. You have to be 100% consistent. Don't sit on the bed with him. Don't pat him on the back. Don't talk or engage with him. Don't move around. It is worth the work.