13 mo ds nw - where to start?

[Bonzo23]

Hey there,

My lo has never been a great sleeper but for the last month has been sleeping through more often than not.  Then 5 days ago he wakes up wailing his head off at 10 pm and is awake for 3 hours.  He does it again at 4 am for about an hour.  He's then absolutely shattered all of the next day.  And this has happened every night since.  The exact time he wakes changes but there's one somewhere between 10 and 11 pm and one between 3 and 5 am.

He started nursery 6 weeks ago, initially settling brilliantly but has started having meltdowns with dh drops him off.  He does 3 days a week and is there from 8:30 to 5:15.  In the last couple of weeks he's started sleeping for a full 90 minutes after lunch at nursery - they've never managed to get him to sleep before lunch.  When he's home with me he will sleep for 2 to 3 hours after lunch.  If I let him have a morning nap - even just for 20 minutes he will not sleep in the afternoon at all. 

He's become very clingy in the last couple of weeks.  And very dramatic - throws himself to the floor and sobs if you take anything away from him.  He's normally such a happy little soul.  Being so tired doesn't help.

So when he wakes, we go into him as soon as he sounds like he really needs us - he does a lot of yelling out in his sleep.  We start off just reassuring him in his cot but if he get's really distressed I'll pick him up and sit with him in the rocking chair until he calms down.  Once he's calm we leave him - still awake - and he's quiet for 10 to 15 minutes and then it starts up again.  The noise is horrific - like a bomb siren.

I think we need to start giving him calpol (paracetomol) at bedtime in case it's his teeth - he's doing a lot of gurning.  I also think I need to stop giving him such lovely cuddles in the middle of the night - question is how best to wean him off?  We've never slept in his room - and I don't think he'll go to sleep with me stood next to his cot.  Should be try wi/wo?  Or is that too harsh with the sep anxiety?  Not sure what to do.  Can't take this broken sleep much longer and can't bear to have him so tired and so upset all the time.

Sorry for rambling on - please can I have some advice?

TIA

[munzle]

my first thought was teeth - my dd was clingy/grumpy/not sleeping well for a good few weeks before we caught sight of the dreaded molars coming through. Her MMR also affected her quite badly, though I think that's at 14 months?

[Bonzo23]

He had his MMR 8 days ago - I hadn't thought of that.  Oh I do hope it's that!  Thank you!  Calpol will help with that too won't it? 

[munzle]

yea - I suppose calpol will help. I'm afraid to say that it was a good 4 weeks before she got over MMR, and other friends had similar experiences. Hope it's not that long for you!

[Bonzo23]

Thanks Munzle.  Yikes!  4 weeks???!  We gave him calpol last night and he slept through from 7 until 7:45 - yippee!  I'm not going to kid myself that he'll do that every night but he's so tired it's great that he's had a good night's sleep finally.  He's a different boy today - so much happier.

Feel so stupid now - I was just so convinced it was separation anxiety.  But obviously he's not nearly so clingy and upset when he's had a bit of sleep!

Oh well, beautiful day here, and little man's asleep so all is good with the world!  Thanks again!

[munzle]

Wow! 7.45 - what a nice lie-in! I agree: when my dd has a good night's sleep she's like a different girl. She gets so grumpy when tired - a bit like Mum! Don't feel stupid - we've all been there. DD is also asleep, but I've got marking to do  (I'm a teacher). Obviously I'm concentrating on that, rather than wasting time by surfing the internet