For those w/babes up for HOURS at night

[Jend1002]

My DS was doing ok (by our definition) with sleep for one glorious week. But now his 12:00 am wake-up lasts for at least 2 1/2 hours! WHY oh WHY?? He typically just fusses and talks but doesn't necessarily want to be held but also doesn't want me or DH to leave - leaving=screaming! (He sleeps in a crib in his own room). He's kind of crabby too. As a note - he has all of his teeth. YAY!

Has anyone found a way to gently eliminate the long night time party session? I have seen many posts here about kiddos doing this - just wondering if it is a wait it out kind of thing or if anyone has successfully shortened this exhausting night time session? And I should add that if this was the only wake-up, I think I could deal, but it definitely is not. His nap and bedtimes are normal - no changes there.

[Louisep]

Subbing! Our sons sound like twins. Last night the party was 2.5 hours also. I've been trying to ride it out but would like to know from those who have btdt when it ended.

My son still wakes 2-3 times a night and I consider that good (used to be 6-10 times) but when he stays awake like this it's back to zombie, grumpy mama land.

[octobermom]

Is he going though a growth spurt? I coroom and partly cosleep with our newborn most nights shes actually sleeps really well but for a few days sehs did the all night and up for hours thing it incidently corolated with her 2 week growth spurt lasted a few days then she went back to her oldways..

Deanna

[crabbyowl]

I just went through this about a month ago, so I feel your pain!

It may have been a coincidence, but about two weeks into it ()I tried not having her nap during the day. She did get pretty crabby around bedtime, but the longest she was up that night was 30 minutes, which is pretty typical. It might be worth a try.

[Jend1002]

A growth spurt is a definite possibility. He also had been sick so was waking a bunch prior so perhaps a habit of sorts?

Crabbyowl - sorry about being 2 weeks into it before you got a break. UGH. I honestly think it would go way beyond being crabby at bedtime if he didn't get a nap. I seriously think he could still use 2 naps but he goes to daycare and they only do one nap at his age so we stick with that routine too. I bet if I did take away that nap, he'd finally fall asleep on his own in the middle of the day

[leigh09]

my two oldest children have also done this (my third is still a younger baby) and outgrown it. one thing i had read was that some kids do this because they would like to play, and it may help to re-emphasize that nighttime is boring and for sleeping.

one thought i would have is maybe just lay a sleeping bag on the floor beside his crib and sleep there. he won't be alone, he can see you there, but there is no lights on, no talking, and you are being boring yet reassuring with your presence. and you may get some more rest yourself.

[InMediasRes]

18 months is a common growth spurt and also a common time to increase night waking because of impending language explosion. In my son's case, it lasted about 2 months. Around 21 mo he really started to sleep a lot better, and by 2 he was doing great.

[bobandjess99]

honestly, when i hear about an early waking for an extended priod of time, it usually means bedtime needs to be pushed back a little. Basically, the kid sleeps for those first few hours, and wakes up, treating it as a "late nap" as opposed to "the beginning of nightime", and then after being up playing for a few hours, then the child is "ready for bed". so, depending on what the daytime nap and bedtime schedul is like, i would try to maybe take away a later nap so the baby is more tired by bedtime, or else push bedtime back an hour or so....as he moves from 1 to 2, the total number of hours he neds to sleep reduces by about 1-1.5, so if he is still sleeping the same during the day for naps, that extra "wake" time is going to come out of the middle of the night!

[Super~Single~Mama]

What types of activity are you doing during the day? When my son is up at night, it means he's not getting enough active running around time during the day. So, we do lots of stuff to wear him out - take him to the park, when we do laundry he walks around the apartment building (with me, he's very well supervised, but I don't carry him in the building anymore), on rainy days we go to the library and run around the childrens section (again, very well supervised).

If he's getting super worn out during the day and is still up for hours at night I have no clue.

[EricaE]

Could you set up a mat and blanket on the floor in his room so you could at least lay down and get some rest while your son is awake? Don't engage him with play or talk or anything, just go in and lay down? Just an idea...

[Aries1985]

This has been happening to us frequently with our 21 month old. It's horrible. She can be up for 5 hours or more at night. There's no rhyme or reason. We can play hard at the park, stay busy, etc... and she just can't sleep. We've tried pushing bedtime back and that doesn't help either.