Hi Mamas!!
My 15 month old little boy has all of a sudden had a change in his sleeping habits. The last 3 nights have been horrible. He is waking up around 3 am crying. We had a time where I would rock him to sleep and then put him in his crib and he would sleep all night. When I found out I was pregnant with our new baby I had to change the routine so that I could go to sleep at a decent hour, it would take 2 hours just to get him to sleep. I started putting him in his crib, he would cry but after a few miinutes he would fall right into a deep sleep.This only took 2 days to get him to fall asleep without him crying. This is when he actually started sleeping through the night. Then 3 nights ago he woke up crying. I went in and he was thrashing about, I gently woke him and he went right back to sleep. Now all of a sudden he is fighting to go to sleep, and he wakes at 3 am crying. Once I get him back to sleep he then whines and crys during the rest of the night. It seems that he gets really upset if I leave his side. This morning was the worst yet. By 4 am he was hysterical. I tried letting him just cry it out and go in there every 10 min give him his pacy and covers then leave, that just made it worse. At 6 my husband got home and I gave up. I took him into my bed and he fell right back to sleep until almost 10. Help mamas I really need some sleep!!!
Thank you all for your responses!!! We went to my mom's house on saturday and he ran himself wild. That night when we got home he was already asleep and put him in his crib. He slept through the night. Last night we let him choose where he wanted to sleep and he chose to sleep in his crib and slept through night. Hopefully if we give him the choice he will continue to sleep through the night. Thank you all for your advice. I knew I could find answers here!!!
My guess is teething molars. They are painful. You can find teething tablets in the baby aisle that might help. Good luck.
It sounds like he might just need to be close to you....maybe with a little bed next to yours. It dosn't last forever and NO they won't be 17 and still there, regardless of what anyone says (I have never seen a scientific study stating any of this!) At 15 months one can't expect a child to be independent like an adult and reason like an adult. If he needs to be close to you for a while, then that could be the easiest way to get sleep. It was similar with my son...and we all get more sleep now this way.
Have you tried a night light in his room? Classical music? We recently went through some of this with one of our little guys (they are 18 months now) and we figured he may be afraid of the dark so we bought a night light and he's been fine. My sister bought a book online that she forwarded to me called Sleep Sense I've used some things from it, it's been a really good help to me. I'd be happy to forward it to you if I had your email...she said it was kind of pricey. It's called Sleep Sense by Dana Obleman. Let me know if you are interested. I hope you are able to get some sleep soon.
My guess would be he's in pain because of molars. That first set comes in around 18 months and is really painful for them. I, personally, let both my kids sleep with me, so that's what we do. I'd try Hylands Teething Tablets too. I also love The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantly. The other thought is he could be starting to get nightmares. I'm sure there is a gentle solution that will get him back to normal soon :).
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/books/0071381392.php
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp
http://www.sleepnet.com/infant3/messages/534.html
Sounds like you'll get sleep if you bring him into bed with you. This place has occasional sleep classes:
http://www.inspiredabq.com
And when they don't, there's a library full of sleep books. I suggest The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. That one worked for me! Good luck.
Does he have his molars yet? My son is 15 mos and recently had his come in, and he would wake up about that same time in the middle of the night just screaming and refused to go back to sleep. Try tylenol :) It gets better once the teeth come in, I promise.
I really feel for you and the lack of sleep! We got relief with a book called Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems. My opinion is that you should never settle for a situation where it takes 2 HOURS to get any child to sleep. (Of course, there are exceptions such as teething, sickness, etc.) It works better for us to spend our time doing other things we like, and then go into the bedtime routine of about 20-30 min -- bath, pjs, reading books. It's nice bonding time -- it doesn't drag on and on so it doesn't leave it open for negotiation and confrontation. You want your kids to be able to fall asleep on their own, whether it's just going to bed or in the middle of the night. (Our 2 yr old got so bad that he woke up every 2-3 hours - which was probably his REM sleep cycle -- and couldn't get back to sleep without us.) The book was a lifesaver. It also talked about how the whole household runs better when EVERYONE gets more/better sleep. So, don't feel guilty about working on a way to get your sleep! Good luck!
