Night Waking at 19 Months

wow, mine is 20 months and doing the same thing. Now he just talks to himself but he was (about 2-3 months ago) crying ect. I would put him down and he'd go into the kitchen, open the pantry and pull out crackers or some snack. He was eating great during the day too so I just assumed he was growing. This went on for days and I have another child so I wanted my sleep (maybe selfish?) but I started putting 1-2 books that he loved in his bed with him. He has a fish thing on the crib to provide light so he'd just look/'read' his books for a while then go back to sleep. Then after a couple of weeks it stopped. Now he wakes up and just talks to himself. He doesn't have his books anymore and the fish thing needs new batteries so it has been great to teach him to self soothe himself back to sleep. Anyway, good luck and remember that it will pass!

This is a great site!
I liked all the ideas.
quuiet time before bedtime with a cup of children's sleepy tea or the tylenol before bed
explanation of what bed time is all about (sleep all night for fun the next day)
no talking when he wakens I used to pat or rub the back for a few min with a gentle jiggling of the body.
Ignore if you can
Patience LOTS OF IT

My son started something similar at about the same age, the only difference is that I have to go stand by the kitchen sink when I hold him, and he will get up and scream and point until I do it. I have 7 kids so it's not like this is a new thing to me, just the fact that the kitchen sink seems to be his comfort zone, it does get better and seems to be a phase that all little ones go through, patience and consitancy are key, I can't ever figure out if it is nightmares or not, teething could be possible even the ears. My son is 22 months old know and I find that if he was overtired or outdoors to much that it can make it even worse. Outside of CIO (which I don't believe in) I am not sure that there is any one thing that can solve it. Good Luck!!!!!!

My son went through the same thing about this age -- and he could climb out of his crib by then so he'd just end up in my room trying to climb in bed with me (a no-no in our house). Turned out to be teething and a growth spurt in his case. The thing that worked best for me was to just take him back to his room and put him back to bed without talking to him. If I talked to him it would just reinforce that nightime was a time for interaction. I had to stay in his room with him a few nights (him in the crib, me mostly asleep in the rocking chair) to make sure he'd stay put once back in his room. And I agree with the previous poster -- it's terrible 3's not 2.

Ignore him if you can at first. He will change sleep patterns a million times. More then likely it is teething, try giving tylenol before bedtime. If you go in his room every time it will become a habit and he will continue to do it. Just let him fuss it out for at least 10 minutes. If he seems to be in pain, give him a dose of teething tablets or tylenol and lay him back down and leave the room. Growth spurts and teething will cause disruption in normal sleep habits.

Just so you know, the 'terrible twos' aren't so terrible. The threes can be though. You really want to look at his sleeping schedule. Does he get a good nap every day at the same time? What time is he going to bed? a half an hour earlier or later can make a huge difference to children. Also if you've been consistently explaining things to your little one you should be able to sit him down before bed and explain to him that he is to stay in his bed and if he wakes during the night to stay laying down and keep his eyes closed until he falls back to sleep.