18 month old son not sleeping through night!!! Mommy is tired!!!

[tinkerbell69]

Okay, my son is 18 months old as of the 21st. He hasnt been sleeping through the night for about 3-4 weeks. I dont mean just once a night because I would be able to still get sleep. I mean, I put him to bed at 8pm, he wakes up at 11:30pm, then at 2am, then 3am, then 4am.. then I finally give up trying to get him back to sleep and let him play at 5-6am! I have tried alot of things like a bath time routine which only keeps him awake, then I tried lessening or putting on more clothes at night, making sure he has a radio in his room in case of outside noises... Pretty much anything I could think of! The reason why I am at lost cause with this is because I have two older daughters who are 2 and 4, my 4 year old attends school, and on the mornings of school shes sooooo tired because she gets up everytime she hears her brother cry! His sleep pattern is not only affecting me, but the other two children. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[D_McG]

What does he want when he wakes up?

[tinkerbell69]

He used to wake up only at 5am for a bottle & he would lay back down, now he is up at all hours of the night, and I give him a bottle of water or milk and he goes back to bed...

[D_McG]

I would wean him off the milk at night and put a bottle of water in his crib. Sounds like maybe he's in the habit of drinking a lot at night? That can cause disruption.

[tinkerbell69]

Yeah, he does drink alot and then his diaper gets full... I didnt want to cuddle him to sleep because then he would get used to that.. And if I put him in his room alone, he gets upset. My son isnt in a crib, hes in a toddler bed.What do I do??

[D_McG]

I would go in (or have your DH go in) and settle him to sleep, without milk and see how it goes. I wouldn't worry about the cuddling thing. Probably when he stops drinking so much at night he'll sleep better anyway and it'll be a non issue. As toddler my kids (who were nursing) stopped sleeping well when they were drinking (nursing) all night.

[tinkerbell69]

Thank you, I will definatly try that! Thank you for your advice. I had a feeling it was that, because he would drink his bottle, and wake up soaked the next hour. Then Id change him, and give him a bottle. It would be a vicious cycle. Should I be giving him a bottle of water to go to sleep with when he goes to bed the first time? He does have a nap during the day for about 1-2hrs, not sure if he should be at this point. My daughters did, and my 2 year old still takes a nap and shes still fine during the night sleeping, so Im not sure. My son is totally different from my girls, so I feel lost sometimes.

[D_McG]

My kids (2 and 4) have water next to their beds to drink if they need overnight. I don't really encourage them to drink it though. It's just as a backup. I'd just give it to him if you think it would help with a bit of nighttime independence. I figure it depend on the kid.

[LittleBirdy]

There is a sleep regression at 18 months, I hear...

http://www.askmoxie.org/2006/04/qa_18month_slee.html

[Mommy0fThree]

My daughter is 18 months chronologically, 15 months adjusted, and refusing to sleep as well.  Her screaming wakes the neighbors so CIO is not an option for us.  We also have a 4 year old and a 5 month old.  We've tried everything short of duct tape, and I'm afraid this is a ride it out situation.  Giving my girl a big meal right before bed seems to help, try oatmeal. My oldest never did this, so like you I'm tired and confused.  Try to grab a power nap whenever you can, my husband and I call it tag team sleeping, and according to everything I'm reading it'll get better around 20-22 months (I really really hope they are right).  Hope things get better soon :)

[tinkerbell69]

Well my son has exema, and is also cutting teeth all the rest of the teeth he needs including his back ones. So last night I put him in for a warm bath, washed him up, put diaper cream all over his body *his exema* and gave him a little dose of advil for the pain in his mouth. I had to cuddle him and rock him to sleep, but when i laid him back in his own bed he woke back up and refused to take his bottle. I walked away to regain my patience and came back to find him crying on the floor in his room *he has a toddler bed* so i went in quietly, gave him his bottle and walked back out. He slept a whole 7 hours last night, it was great!!

[moonfirefaery]

I would go ahead and snuggle him to sleep. He doesn't need milk that often; it is probably being close to you and the suckling sensation soothing him back to sleep. Have you tried cosleeping? He may sleep better close to you, and then you could get some sleep too. It is normal for their sleep habits to change; my 3 year-old still wakes up at night sometimes. Just do what you can to keep him in "sleep mode" even if it means lullabies until you both fall asleep.

[blackannis]

Ooh, just saw you mentioned the eczema issue--that definitely affected my son's sleeping for a while too. You mentioned using diaper cream on the eczema; can you get CeraVe on Ontario? In the US we can find it at Walgreen's (and that's the only place I've seen it); it's what was recommended last winter by my son's pediatric dermatologist, and it works wonders. We were living in Rochester, NY at the time, so in a similar climate to you all in Ontario, and the CeraVe managed to essentially heal his really horrible oozing winter eczema with only minimal additions of prescription stuff. Getting the itching down may really help, though.

On a side note--you may want to check with your ped on Advil; I'm pretty sure I've heard there are issues with children and ibuprofen . . .