18 month old night waking zzzzzzzz....

[cluxy]

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for me please...

My 18 month old keeps waking in the night - he goes to bed fine, at about 7ish and some nights he does sleep all the way through (although he does wake up by 6, bit too early for my liking but hey ho) - but more often than not, he's waking in the night. This has been going on for months and months and months and I'm now at my wits end. This morning I have been up since 3am, yesterday it was 4.30am - and if it was on my days off I wouldn't mind, but having to drag my tired self into work is just too much now.

Sometimes he starts off just chatting, and I just leave him to it, but eventually it turns into crying, and then I end up going in to try and calm him down. Usually I just stroke him and shush him, but then he just starts up again when I leave the room - I try leaving him to settle down again, and then end up back at square one. If he gets really worked up I pick him up, give him a little cuddle, then put him back in bed, and it just goes on and on for hours. I've even tried bringing him into bed with me when I can't take it anymore, and then he just wants to play and chat! I know that if he cries in the night, I'm going to be up for about 2 hours minimum.

I think it's just habit more than anything else - he's not hungry/cold/hot/teething/over tired/ under tired - but I don't know how to break it and my patience is seriously wearing thin, not helped by being the only one at home to deal with it while my husband is working nights.

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Right, off to have a snooze under my desk now..... (if only)

[cluxy]

Just wondering if anyone had any advice at all please? We're a month down the line and still having bad nights...
Thanks!

[lizzywig]

Can you pin point a time when it starring and work out why? My DD has on the whole been a good sleep but about 3 weeks ago she got the d&v bug. Ever since she's taken longer to settle at night, wanted milk during the night and stays up for an hour at least. The last couple of days she's been waking at 5am. I too am dragging my sorry behind into work feeling like i could curl up into a ball!!

As i type i am sat in the rocking chair next to DD's cot. Ive just started the gentle retreat. After ever occasion of poorlyness she's had sleep problems and each time we've fixed it with the gentle retreat. You have to do it for naps, bedtime and night wakings. For us it usually takes about 10 days.

We started at 7:10pm tonight and she's just gone to sleep. I can't say if it'll work this time or if it'll work for you but it's worth a try!

[WorkShirker]

I could have written the OP - but as this time it's DS2 I am trying to be a bit stronger/crueller/whatever. Having had 6 weeks of awful teething, now all 4 first molars are through and I know there's nothing wrong with him, again we got into the habit of giving him a cuddle/calpol and going in and out for 2 hours + or eventually having him in bed with us. Now he's better I think he just thinks that's a nice way to spend the night!

I can't cope with co-sleeping as he just pulls my hair and kicks DH. DS2 is in his own cot fine at naps and bedtime, and sometimes sleeps through, but more often than not it's a long slow torture. Also I worry that DS1, at 3.8, isn't getting enough sleep as he gets woken up by his brother but can't make it up as he doesn't have a nap any more.

So I am keeping a sleep diary, to try and work out if there are any triggers as to when we have good/bad night, so far it looks like being outside a lot and getting lots of exercise helps a little.

I tried CC but it didn't seem to work, so now I am afraid I have just bought some ear plugs and am letting him cry. I may check on him once, to make sure he hasn't got a leaking nappy, but that is it.

3 nights in now, and the 1st was awful, but last night he was just chatting to himself, not actually crying, which feels like progress. Yes, it's horrible listening to him cry, but I feel it will be worth it for our whole family. Will report back!

[cluxy]

Sorry I've been so tired I even forgot to check back on my post! Well at least I know I'm not the only one eh? I have to say it has got slightly better the last week (although I'm sure I have jinxed myself and will no doubt get woken up in a couple of hours now!).

Last week I only had 2 nights of sleeping through out of 7, and we had to go out on Friday and Saturday night, so my mum very kindly had my DS for a 2 night sleepover, even though I warned her she might be kept awake. He apparently slept through both nights, and then he did again on Sunday night when he came home, was up again for a couple of hours on Monday night, then so far has slept through the last few, although he has still been waking just after 5 or if I'm really lucky, 6am!

My mum said maybe he needed a couple of nights out to break the habit - so if you've got any willing family members who might help out it could be worth a shot!

Good luck!