Sleep Problems Still at 18 Months

Have you considered that this is just a habit now? She is conditioned to wake up in the middle of the night. Perhaps the only way for her to finally get peaceful rest is for her habit to be broken.

Talk to your ped about ways to do this. He may tell you to try the Ferber method which involves her crying. I would only do this if the doctor tells you to.

Since she has asthma, you need to work with the doctor about this. With the reflux, perhaps she needs to have her head elevated. See what the doctor says about that too.

Good luck,
Dawn

In your situation I would consider co-sleeping for a while. It's so much easier to respond to their needs quickly if they are in the same room with you. If it's difficult for you to sleep in the same bed, try moving her crib into your bedroom. Waking up and seeing you right there might be enough to allow her to put herself back to sleep on her own with time. It sounds like you guys have had a hell of a year and a half, keeping her close at night will NOT cause more sleep issues, children sleep well when they feel safe. And it won't last forever, if you are willing to do anything, this is what I suggest. I don't regret a minute of co-sleeping with my kids, especially when they were sick or scared. They are 10-18 years old now and I even kind of miss it :)

Totally normal. Kids wake at night. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, other than she's awake and doesn't want to be alone. It's completely normal for them to want Mommy or Daddy to help them go back to sleep.

We always wanted our kids to know we were there for them - night or day - so we always respond.

Go to her. You will be teaching her that you are there for her. It will help her to feel safe, even in the middle of the night, and the more comfortable she is the less she will need you.

Give it some time. She won't need you in the middle of the night forever.

J., I have to agree with those who posted that this is normal.

We're told that there are kids who "sleep through the night by five months and are perfect sleepers from then on" and a ton of other fibs. Children's sleep patterns change and change again. And a child with issues like asthma and reflux has never really known solid sleep. I have to tell you -- and you won't want to hear this -- that even when her issues get resolved and all her teeth are finally in, her sleeping patterns will still change. My child is eleven and her patterns change during the year, the season, etc.

I know this is not very comforting. I know you're searching hard for reasons for her wakefulness--because concrete reasons are things we can "fix"-- but there are not always reasons. Just keep going to her. I do not believe at all in "cry it out" methods; they only teach a child that "when I cry, the adults I trust do not come" and that breeds insecurity; it does not "teach" the child anything positive.

She truly will not be doing this forever though it seems like forever to you right now because YOU are sleep-deprived. But continuing to seek concrete medical or physical reasons (ear infection? teething?) may only frustrate you. If she is tugging at her ear, touching it, etc., then yes, go to the doctor. If other teeth are coming in, yes, teething could be one part of it. Nightmares are another possibility (she is not too young for them). But you may just be driving yourself crazy trying to find a reason and a solution when the only reason may be that she is 18 months old and needs you. Do continue to do what your doctor said and go to her.

I can honestly tell you that tons of kids never sleep all the way through the night until they are 2 or 3 years old. They are growing the whole time and they get hungry during the night. They just don't need as much sleep as they did before but bedtimes don't change, they have an odd biorhythm and they just wake up after so many sleep cycles. It's a never ending list as to why they wake up but they all do, or at least many many many of them do.

I'll be honest, it sounds normal to me. Kids go through stages of not waking, and then periods where they wake. It's very common for kids under 3 to wake up at night, for a variety of reasons: dreams, wanting mommy to cover them with a blanket, etc.

In fact, I find that during major developmental periods, they just wake. Lots of dreams, etc. My 4.5 year old sleeps great now, but she didn't until she was 3. My almost 3 year old gets up to go pee about 4 nights a week, and has for almost a year.

it's exhausting, but I actually don't remember (at this point) an extended time of both sleeping through the night. It was awful when my son was a baby because my daughter was 2 having terrible nightmares, so they would both wake me up every night!

I figure I will sleep when they are grown.