Why is he STILL not sleeping?

[ellie]

At 14m surely he "should" be able to sleep for longer stretches by now??
I dont understand...
He eats fairly well, he gets loads of mental stimulation through the day, walks for miles so should be tired out! And more cuddles and love than he can cope with! Im in full time worj so i guess his week is pretty busy with going to different places for childcare, but thats the setup for the time being and he does seem to enjoy it...
He goes to bed well mostly, but still has never slept for more than 5 hours. Last few nights hes been awake and upset every 1_2 hrs... Im knackered ... Even on a good night hes awake 2_3 times. Have i got an insomniac on my hands??
Theres no way we can leave him or try cc as he gets hysterical very quickly.
Sorry i dont get on here much these days but i"d appreciate any advice please

 

[suzanne108]

I have exactly the same problem

I honestly think it is just a habit and I'm hoping she will figure out that sleep is good eventually!

 

[isil]

you must be so tired! I think it's habit too. i was lucky (in a way!) that my son's habits changed. He woke up every 30mins/hr from 6 to 12 months but then from 12 months to 22 months it was maybe twice a night (still nackering though!)

I think, unfortunately it's something that you either have to wait out or do something actively to change it. With my son, it seemed to help to wake him up completely and then resettle him from the start. I didn't want to do CIO or CC either. It's like he learnt not to bother waking up at all, it's hard to explain! the drowsy half awake bit was what used to upset him.

 

[AnnaHughes]

I can't really offer too much advice sorry, but i have been through exactly the same.

Reuben has always been a RUBBISH sleeper, and even now sleeps through once a month? It has only been in the last 2 months he seems to wake less in the night. Ours started with teething at 9 months old, and we decided that rather than make a big issue out of waking loads of times in the night, that after he woke the first time, we would stick him in our bed. This didnt mean the waking did not stop - it just meant we could settle him quicker/all sleep a bit better.

In all honesty, i think it has just been time that has made reuben sleep better. He still wakes 1-3 times a night, almost every night though. (although now, he is in a toddler bed, we go into him, settle him to sleep then leave - he is too big and moves too much to share our bed!)

I know what you mean about CC - reuben makes himself sick in 0-5 minutes of being left - so not something we can even consider!

I think though, from perusing on here, it is not as unusual as you think for your toddler to be waking up - although not actually helpful in your situation, hopefully makes you feel a bit better that you are not alone!

 

[polaris]

Ellie I can't begin to imagine how tired you must be as I am guessing work is probably pretty demanding too. I've no advice really I'm afraid. It could maybe be just a matter of waiting it out as others have said. I have read that sometimes allergies/intolerances (e.g. milk intolerance) can be a reason for frequent night wakings. But it might just be habit with him at this stage. What do you do when he wakes at night and how does he eventually go back to sleep? I think I would try to eliminate night feeds at this stage, you don't have to do CC/CIO, just stop feeding him during the night and comfort him in whatever other way you can. I night weaned Thomas at almost 13 months and he very rarely wakes at night anymore unless he's ill/teething. I have to admit that night weaning was very hard and required a lot of determination but it was only really one very very long hard night and once he realized that he wasn't going to get a feed he slept through. I don't know if that's a road you would be willing to go down? It was a good decision for me, even though it is so much easier to soothe them with boobie it was much better for me to have him sleeping through. Now when he wakes at night he wouldn't even look for a feed and I can comfort him in other ways.