OMG anyone else dealing with 18 month sleep regression? - please help!!!

[Cattia]

I didn't even know there WAS a sleep regression at 18 months but this is hellish! George has slept through since 8 months old. For the past week, he has been waking in the night a.d screaming HYSTERICALLY! As soon as one of us goes in to his room, he stops. He clearly isn't in pain, doesn't need milk, doesn't need changing, he just wants us to stay with him. We have ended up with one of us sleeping on his floor the past three nights as he is so hysterical when we leave.
He is awake for anything from half an hour to two hours, and his mind seems really active. He runs through all his new words, chats, laughs, throws his toys out the cot and generally shows so signs of tiredness!
He has been teething a bit and also has been learning a lot of new words, he has become a lot more clingy and demanding in the day too so I am wondering if it's a developmental thing? I don't know whether to try letting him cry it out, which I hate as he gets so distressed, or whether to jus hope it improves, but we really can't camp on his floor every night, we both have to work and it's killing us! He has also been harder to settle in the evening. Sorry for the long post, I am just hoping someone else can relate!

 

[seoj]

I have no great advise... I bet though he is just going through a such a big development stage that it's difficult to self soothe or calm down without help and/or comfort. Especially when he wakes at night- his little brain is probably having an issue shutting down. I know this happens when they are babies- so why not as toddlers?

Sorry no advise- I just know when our LO goes through these moments where she is needier at night before bed, we have to remind ourselves that it will pass in time. Whether that is a day or two or a week or two... they do pass and she is right back to her normal easy peasy bedtime routine. Best of luck!

 

[polaris]

That sounds like a nightmare! Thomas has gone through lots of patches of night wakings but thankfully he hasn't usually demanded our attention, he would just wake up and chat away to himself for an hour and eventually go back to sleep. I think it is a developmental thing in relation to their minds being so active and learning so many new things at that age. I don't know what the answer is though - maybe just ride it out and hope it passes quickly? And keep interaction to the bare minimum if you do go in to him so that it doesn't become too reinforcing for him to wake. So if you do end up having to stay with him, maybe just lying down beside the bed/cot and pretending to go to sleep yourself?

 

[moomoo]

Yes! DD did although not during the night but settling her for a sleep or nap was a nightmare. She's come out the other side saying 2/3 new words a day and a few more sentences.

She's also decided that she's "scared" of things and her newest thing is "share!" if someone is playing with a toy she's after

Oh and she's done 2 wees on the potty this week too x

 

[tina3747]

We have this at the moment, didn't realise there was an 18 month sleep regression

He's been fab going to bed from a yr old, before that it was hell every single night. Up until a few weeks ago you'd ask him if he wanted to go to bed and off he'd toddle up the stairs no problem.
It's not been bothering me too much him waking in the night, its more he won't go to bed without screaming the house down. I was wondering if it was the fireworks as it was around that time we started having problems. I'm now having a battle with DH as he thinks we should leave him to cry and hell eventually go to sleep. Ill leave him 10 mins max but it doesn't do any good and I'm not comfortable going longer than that.
I'm just so gutted its all gone pear shaped!

 

[Lina]

Yes, he gets hysterical a few hours after having gone quietly to sleep. I bring him into bed with us but he sits up and starts chatting, pointing and tutting. After which I take him back to bed, he cries for a few minutes and is back to sleep. It's been like this for the last month.

 

[mistyscott]

Don't know if ours is early, but yes, sleep has gone to pot recently I made a thread about it too!
No advice; I'm just reading no cry sleep solution for ideas!

 

[mrsdean2009]

We had this and all I can say is it does pass and it will get better, even thou it doesn't feel like it when you've been awake for 3hrs in the night!

Has your LO been through other sleep regressions? I read somewhere that you should continue to act in the same was you did in previous regressions. My solution was to co-sleep until she was back asleep and put her back down. If or when this didn't work I would take her back to her cot and sit on her floor and ignore her until she would lay down and go to sleep. It was an incredibly hard time and I really do sympathise, but it is a phase and it will pass.

They come out the other side with so many new words and understanding just like previous regressions. It's no wonder it happens with so much going on in those little heads

 

[Cattia]

We had this and all I can say is it does pass and it will get better, even thou it doesn't feel like it when you've been awake for 3hrs in the night!

Has your LO been through other sleep regressions? I read somewhere that you should continue to act in the same was you did in previous regressions. My solution was to co-sleep until she was back asleep and put her back down. If or when this didn't work I would take her back to her cot and sit on her floor and ignore her until she would lay down and go to sleep. It was an incredibly hard time and I really do sympathise, but it is a phase and it will pass.

They come out the other side with so many new words and understanding just like previous regressions. It's no wonder it happens with so much going on in those little heads

Yes, co-sleeping won't work for us as he won't lie down, he just wants to get up and climb all over us, but we have a camp mattress and duvet on his floor so we just lie there and pretend to be asleep. It's reassuring to know that it will pass! He hasn't really been through the other sleep regressions but then on the other hand his sleep was pretty appalling until he was 8 months old so it would have been hard to spot a regression! He is learning about two or three new words a day now and putting sentences together so it could be that - let's hope so!

 

[DaisyBee]

We were in for a shock when Megan hit 18 months. She had been sleeping great and then boom out of nowhere she was awake for hours in the middle of the night. Nothing I did or didn't do helped at all. She didn't want anything and anything I tried didn't help her fall asleep any faster then if I just let her be. She wasn't crying though and wasn't wanting me. She just wasn't sleeping. She would talk and laugh in her crib for hours a night. And it lasted for a long time with her.

 

[Cattia]

We were in for a shock when Megan hit 18 months. She had been sleeping great and then boom out of nowhere she was awake for hours in the middle of the night. Nothing I did or didn't do helped at all. She didn't want anything and anything I tried didn't help her fall asleep any faster then if I just let her be. She wasn't crying though and wasn't wanting me. She just wasn't sleeping. She would talk and laugh in her crib for hours a night. And it lasted for a long time with her.

This sounds like George, talking and laughing in his cot, but unfortunately he wants us there with him! I am keeping count of his words,and I reckon about three weeks ago he had 30 words and now he has almost 60 and is talking in sentences, so there is clearly a massive development going on. It's like his brain can't keep up with itself! It's just so tiring - he screams blue murder when we leave him

 

[laila 44]

In my opinion, I would just let him be and not go in at all during the night. This phase will end a lot quicker if you make him cry it out unfortunately...it's not something I enjoy doing but have noticed it breaks any bad issue or habit fast. If my dd wakes at night I don't go in and she now resettles herself within minutes because she knows how to fall asleep without me. I gave her a doll that she sleeps with since 6 months old. Dd sleeps from 7pm to 8 am without a peep. If she wakes and cries its only because she has a fever... Look up sleep sense program. Its been out saving grace, every friend we know has done it too and all the kids sleep amazingly alllllll nigh long.

 

[DaisyBee]

We did cc with Megan at 13 months and she wasn't crying for us during this regression and for us it lasted for months. So I don't think its always about breaking a bad habit. I wasn't sleeping even though I stopped going in as I was hearing her and it was keeping me awake. It was exhausting! And she knows how to fall asleep by herself.

Megan was an early talker and by 18 months had over 300 words. Her mind just wouldn't stop. Every time she has had huge leaps with her language she has done similar.

 

[Roffey82]

I'm not sure whether my son is going through this or whether him being poorly has ruined his sleep but I've been awake for over 2 hours tonight and he doesn't look like he's going to go back to sleep anytime soon. He's massively overtired as he's bein waking in the night and not being able to fall back asleep himself for weeks. My DH and myself are exhausted from the lack of sleep and the continually questioning of what we are doing wrong. DS used to sleep 7-7 really well and could self soothe but when he comes into his light sleep which is usually 11pm, 2am and 5am he just wakes himself up and then sits up so then he cries as he wants to be asleep. I've tried going in straight away, leaving him, offering water and then milk if he's been awake ages but nothing works and all he wants to do is talk to me. He has had a nasty cough and cold for over a mnth and still has runny nose and can't shift the phlegm off his chest so I'm worried that he's reliant on us going in and giving him medicine but he doesn't need it now and the doctor checked him over last week. It's either all habit and I've got to teach him all over again or sleep regression but either way it's bloody hardwork always going 1 step forward and 4 back
The thing with my DS is he's useless when he's overtired he goes hyper and takes even longer to calm down so I know he hasn't bad enough sleep for weeks now.
I seem to be babbling now but not sure how to go forward. I've had a little cry tonight too as DH has been away for 2 nights and feeling poo that I seem to be doing rubbish without him. My sister is a single parent and I don't know how she does this alone I'm rubbish at making decisions so lying here trying to work out what to do without DH is quite difficult as we normally whisper it through
I really hope this passes soon

 

[MizzDeeDee]

I didn't even know there WAS a sleep regression at 18 months but this is hellish! George has slept through since 8 months old. For the past week, he has been waking in the night a.d screaming HYSTERICALLY! As soon as one of us goes in to his room, he stops. He clearly isn't in pain, doesn't need milk, doesn't need changing, he just wants us to stay with him. We have ended up with one of us sleeping on his floor the past three nights as he is so hysterical when we leave.
He is awake for anything from half an hour to two hours, and his mind seems really active. He runs through all his new words, chats, laughs, throws his toys out the cot and generally shows so signs of tiredness!
He has been teething a bit and also has been learning a lot of new words, he has become a lot more clingy and demanding in the day too so I am wondering if it's a developmental thing? I don't know whether to try letting him cry it out, which I hate as he gets so distressed, or whether to jus hope it improves, but we really can't camp on his floor every night, we both have to work and it's killing us! He has also been harder to settle in the evening. Sorry for the long post, I am just hoping someone else can relate!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this! I actually came in here to post about this because I'm literally at my wit's end!

This child will NOT sleep! She's ALWAYS been a poor sleeper, but this.. this is horrible. She will not sleep anymore then 4 hours at a time...EVER! I literally feel like I have a newborn again. I had NO idea there was an 18 month regression. She is a little early (she'll be 18 months on the 1st) but this just HAS to be what it is. I literally started tearing up when I saw this as the first post in here. I'm sorry some of you are going through this too, but I am happy I'm not alone.

I have never been as thankful for BnB as I am this morning!

 

[supertabby]

Isobel went through this a few weeks ago, she had a 24 hour tummy bug at the end of it so we put it down to that - thinking she must've been feeling ill all the time. But now sounds like it could've been a regression and co-incidental illness....

It probably lasted 2 weeks in our case. Her language has been developing very rapidly recently too so this could be part of it.

 

[Roffey82]

How's everyones nights going?
He slept through last night and I woke to hear him reciting his numbers 1-10 missing a few which was very cute but the night before he woke at 3am and didn't drift off again until after 5am I just went in have him a drink said sleepy time and left him to it he wasn't upset just chatting away to himself

 

[Cattia]

We had a sleep through last night too, first one for a while!! He is coming out with so many new words each day now, I am sure it's developmental. I am out for a few drinks this evening so betting he will wake up again tonight

 

[XJessicaX]

Yes, its a speech development regression. My LO had it about 17 months, woke up at night for about 4 days chatting and spouting every word she had learnt. It stopped abruptly though and now she wakes at a reasonable time in the morning and talks to her teddies!

 

[prettykitty]

Is there a "clingy 15 month I just dont want to sleep unless its in your bed" regression? We seem to be going through that at the moment, and I cant believe how many people are going through the same thing! I must admit though our DD has become so much more "chatty" in the last week or so, but not the case in the night - then she just cries, but she is dreaming a lot more (Ive seen her) so I know her brain is working a lot of overtime when she is asleep. So maybe its that she is dreaming lots.