16 month old - NW & EW - time for change!

[Alexhas1]

Hi, my LB is 16 months and has basically not slept through since he was 11 months due to teething, then continued to habitually wake between 2/3am then wake for the day at 5/5.30am.

His canines are coming through but I don't think its that that's waking him. So I've decided that tonight is the night for change. No more dummy either as him and his sister have a constant battle over it (3 year old sister stealing it!)

I'd love to get on a 7-7 routine.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for how to sleep train, give up the dummy and get on a 7/7 routine please??

when he wakes he just stands at his cot until I go in. I try lying him back down and keep my hand on him until I think he is asleep but then I get to the door and he cries again. So I cuddle him
And put him back in the cot when I think he is settled but low and behold he cries again. Then I bring him in our bed as a final straw and he just wants to play and stand up, he's quite happy once he's in our bed. I can't take it much longer and DH works away and DD still wakes sometimes so I need to crack this once and for all!

Routine is a bit like this:

Wake approx 5.15
Breakfast 6.15
Short nap (30 mins) on way to take DD to nursery - 8-8.30
Snack 9.30/10
Lunch 11.30
Nap 1.30 - 2.30 but this is not consistent
Dinner 4.45
Bath 6pm
Bottle 6.30pm
Bed 6.40pm with paci

Thanks

[Alexhas1]

Anyone any advice?? 

[Truly Blessed]

Hello Honey, I'm sorry I marked this for a reply, but I've had my little boy off school sick this week, please forgive me for being so late. There's a lot going on there, bless you. I'm guessing there's OT at play. The problem with EW is that inevitably days end up too long, which at 13.5 hours is obviously the case right now.

I think Gradual Withdrawal may work best, which you would do at BT and for any naps at home. Do you know much about it, have you got any of the BW books  Here is a link for you:

Toddlers: Walk In/Walk Out vs. The Gradual Withdrawal Method (HOW TO CHOOSE)

I do think it is often good to go the whole hog and tackle everything at once, but it may be that getting rid of the dummy at the same time as ST means he gets more OT and it takes longer, so maybe that is something to consider, I am a little on the fence in this case, if his dummy is a really big sleep cue for him, like it was for my DS. I wonder if it may be better to ST and get him on a good routine, then tackle the dummy  Does he still have it in the day  Maybe give it only for sleeps if so, because then that become 'a treat' for him and could encourage sleep even more. Then it can be kept out of DD's way at other times.

It's definitely a good idea to stop all co sleeping though, and do all sleeps in his cot when possible, so he gets the idea quicker, an doesn't become confused.

Let me know your thoughts Sweetie, once again, sorry this took so long.

Vicki.x.

[anna*]

To be honest at this age I would probably go to one nap, unless you feel like he is nowhere near ready. Most seem to be on one nap by about 15-16 months, so it would seem sensible to get a one nap routine going, rather than improve a two nap routine and then need to change it up again, yk?

OK so there are a few things. When he is awake standing in his crib, don't go in to him unless he is properly crying. I don't know if I'm reading correctly but it sounds like he's not upset when you first go in.
Second, be prepared for lots of crying during sleep training, specially when weaning the paci. Toddlers are not known for their flexibility
Do try not to bring him into bed with you. It would be one thing if he was going back to sleep but you say it just wakes him up ready to play. Decide on what is a reasonable time for morning, and keep him in his crib until that time, in the dark. Once it hits 6am (or whenever), turn on the lights, throw open the curtains and say 'Good morning! It's morning time, now we can get out of bed!" (contrast with a tired/low/quiet voice saying "shhhhh, still sleepy time" when it is the middle of the night).
The trick with sleep training is to settle him in his crib. He wants to be in your arms, so if you settle him in your arms with a cuddle of course he is going to be mad when you put him back in his crib and then you are back to square one. He needs to get used to calming down and settling to sleep in the crib.

When you transition to a 1 nap routine you can expect him to be pretty overtired at first but his nap should soon start to lengthen out. I would give it a go and see what happens. Something like.

7am awake
12pm nap (if he wakes in less than an hour, try and settle him back to sleep, he should be pretty tired after a long morning A time).
6.30-7pm (depending on length of nap) asleep for the night.

Obviously if he wakes at 5am and doesn't go back to sleep, you'll need to bring his lunchtime nap a little earlier. I would try to avoid him sleeping on the nursery run - see what you can do to change things up so that he doesn't nod off. Maybe not having the paci will be all he needs to stay awake.

Does that help?