Sleep Re-training at 22 Months

I have had my sons cry it out more than once. Usually after illnesses during which I let them sleep in my bed. After which I had to get them back into their beds.
Your child is now old enough to understand you (even if he can't talk much). Tell him you are very tired from all his waking up & you need your sleep. Tell him that tonight he will NOT be allowed in your bed, no matter how much he cries. Tell him you will check on him once if he cries. You will make sure that he is ok, then you will leave & go back to bed. (You must follow through on this point. I wouldn't even stay to rub his back or rock him. Do remind him you need to sleep). The 2 times I've done this its worked beautifully. Very little crying. (My youngest is just turning 24 months now).
Good luck, I hope you find something that works for you.

I'm sure this won't be any help to you at all, but my daughter started the same thing at exactly his age. It has been going on for 2 months now (she will be 2 on friday). Every night we put her to sleep in her bed (she had already been in a twin bed for about 7 1/2 weeks when the sleep issues started) using the same routine we have used since she was a newborn. She will usually cry for a few minutes and then climb out of bed and sleep on the floor. (Doc said this is totally normal for toddlers, asserting their independence and decision making). When my husband and I go to bed 2-3 hours later I go in and move her back into her bed. Then every night between 2-4am she wakes up screaming or yelling "no" occasionally yelling more words. This has lead us to believe that she is having nightmares and doesn't quite know how to deal with them. I can't stand to have her scream and yell, and I'm 8 months pregnant and feel like I can't get enough sleep anyway, so we usually just bring her into bed with us. Neither my husband or I mind having her sleep with us, thankfully she doesn't wiggle to much all the time so we are still able to get sleep.

I know this doesn't help you at all, but I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone and to tell you what we are doing. We both figure she won't be little for long and there will only be a short amount of time that she takes so much comfort in us that she wants us around all the time. :)

We've had to re-train several times. There are always things to throw it off...sick, travel, nightmares, etc...

In every case, we start with tucking him back in and sitting there for a minute or two, and then the problem just grows.
We've re-trained my son several times from 17mos on. We just went through it again at Christmas time, and he's 2.5 now. Every single time we do it, it always comes down to having to CIO. Everything else we do just prolongs a habit. And CIO at this age is horrible, now that he's actully screaming "I want mommy!", but we've had to do it every time. I am 100% against him sleeping in our bed. That's not a habit I'm willing to start.

If you're moving him out of his crib, it'll just get worse, so be prepared for that. (That was one of the times we've had to do it. We now lock him in his room.) The new freedom will result in him coming into your room over and over again. So you'll want a game plan for how you are going to keep him in bed.

Bottom line, it IS just a phase, and the duration of it is all about how you choose to deal with it. For us, going the comfort and soothing route only backfired. He liked having us come in and lay down with him. And eventually it was 4x/night. That was our breaking point.

He needs to eat way more during the day-all day long, not just before bed. It will take his body a few days to register the increased calories, but then he will sleep through the night again. Up until my son was 2 1/2, if anyone slacked on giving him healthy snacks and food constantly, he would wake during the night or hours earlier in the morning. I learned that trick from a mother of 12, and it worked with all of mine. Keep juice and fruit earlier in the day-no sugar late in the day, and give him some carbs before bed...toast or something.
We've always done CIO, but no one cried for long because A) It got them nowhere and B) They were stuffed, content, and fast asleep.

My daughter is 19 months and we have been dealing with the same issue since November, altough she never slept through the night since she was 9 months. Didn't last very long and we made the same mistake with allowing her to come to our bed. I feel your pain and know how you feel. It has been very hard for us and I just posted the same question..........my daughter is also teething really bad so I am not sure if that may be it! I hope all works out for you....

You are not alone! Everyone's got their on take on this, so I won't tell you what to do, I'll just tell you what I did.

My son never slept through the night for the first 2 1/2 years (seriously, I slept through the night about 10 times in 2 1/2 years) before I laid down the law. He always went to sleep great (We had a routine, I put him down sleepy, but not asleep.) But he always woke up in the middle of the night (usually looking for his pacifier) at least once and usually 2-3 times.
I finally told him one night as I was putting him to bed, "Night time is for sleeping. Mama is not coming back in here until morning. You have everything you need and I will see you in the morning." I left his night light on, put a container with a dozen (!) pacifiers in the crib, and left. He slept until 3 am, woke up, called for me, escalated to a full screaming fit that went on for 3 hours. He screamed at the top of his lungs for 3 hours, fell asleep for 20 minutes, and then woke up screaming again. I was so tired that I literally learned to sleep through the screaming that night. At 7 am I went in and got him, said "It's morning and time for everyone to get up!" The next night, I said before bed, "Night time is for sleeping. Mama is not coming back in here until morning. You have everything you need and I will see you in the morning." He slept through the night. He's slept through ever since (except when he is sick-- that's different.) I only wish I had done it a year earlier. The whole trick is you CAN. NOT. CAVE. For me, I wish I had made the investment of one really awful night (or 2 or 3, it can take that long, depending on how stubborn your kid is) a lot earlier so we all could have slept better in the long run. It helped me to remember that his crying for a night or two was an investment in getting us all (including him) good sleep, which is so important for mental and physical health. Good luck!

HUGS! This trick has worked for several family members and friends - the child is allowed to come into their room, but they must sleep on the 'special' bed (usually just a comforter and pillow on the floor). After 2 or 3 nights on a hard floor, they don't bother anymore. Good luck!