Hi,
I can't seem to fathom my 16mth old. He often cries out in the night - usually around 4.30am but can be at other times. He'll only do it once in the night and will often settle himself without me going in. I always leave him a few minutes to give him a chance to settle himself and he often does. If he wakes in the night then he usually sleeps until 7.00'ish which is great. If he doesn't wake in the night he will usually cry out between 5.30-6.00am. Sometimes he can get back to sleep himself but often he can't. When he wakes early he's pretty miserable and cries in his cot. If he sleeps until after 7.00am he's pretty happy in his cot. The later he sleeps, the happier he is when he wakes.
He's always in bed at 7.30pm and he has one nap from 11.00'ish-2.00'ish. I always wake him at 2.00 if he's still asleep. This has been going on since the end of August. Before that he would sleep until 7.15am pretty consistently with no crying at 5.30am. I took him down to one nap as I thought that might be the issue but it's made little difference. He's been teething a bit and has had a cold but it's such a regular pattern that I'm confused. I don't want to keep dosing him with Calpol because it's quite likely a routine issue.
The other thing is that he's got an older brother and they often get quite excited at bedtime. I'm wondering if that's disturbing his sleep?
Thank you so much. Any thoughts welcome.