NW'ing in 17mth old-riding out illness or something else???

[beckles]

Ds is 17mths and things have been going pretty well for the past 4-5mths, but we have come accross a wee bump in the road.

2 weeks ago J was sick with a chest infection but coped really well and slept well through the most of it.  Then last week he started waking between 1030-1130 at night and i just can't settle him back down.  All he wants is cuddles and screams blue murder when I put him back to bed. So it is resulting in it taking about 1-2hrs to get him back to sleep. It is starting to wear me out too.

It is always about the same time, and from what I can establish there is nothing that is happening that is causing him to wake up (ie: DH and I are both already in bed so not like we are making noise to wake him).  I don't think he is too hot or cold, he seems a nice temp.  Have tried giving him pain meds, and I can't say that they are making any difference.

I don't think it is SA as he has no problems going to bed initally and falls asleep unadided at both bed and nap time.

The only thing that helps him settle is a dilute bottle and a nappy change.  Although hold this out for the last ditch effort.

So is it casue he is actaully hungry and catching up for not eating over the 2 weeks he was sick (is pretty much 99% better now)??

Could it be bad dreams?? Or is he still too young for this??

Or OT from being sick??  Although he is mostly better now and doesn't seem OT during the day?? Or UT for some strange reason??

Have tried WI/WO and it doesn't do anything cause he is so upset, and if i try PD he just grabs onto my arms and clings to me, so cuddling him is the only thing i can do to calm him down.

He has done this everynight bar 1 for the past 8days, and i am just very weary about making a rod for own back and ending up with AP and prop issues. 

Our day routine incase it may be that goes...

7-7.30am wake
12.30-1pm nap (anywhere from 1.25hr-2hrs)
7pm bed.
10.30-11.30 NW'ings

He is at daycare 3 days a week, and generally sleeps well there-well better than when at home.

Is there soemthing going on or do you think we are still just riding out the illness??

TIA
B

[beckles]

Forgot to say aswell that it could be teeth but not 100% convinced on this, more so cause the pain meds don't help settle him.  I can't see anything obvious in his mouth but then he isn't the most co-operative when it comes to opening his mouth so it is really anyones guess.

[*Becky*]

Hi,
ok let's see if we can work out what is going on. I guess we can discount teeth if meds do not help at all.
I think the routine looks fine tbh and my gut feeling is that this is not hunger as I think that would manifest in a wake up more like 4/5am. Even with getting over illness I doubt he is hungry at that time of night.
Just out of interest what is he eating during the day? 3 good meals?
I really would cut that bottle out however bad it gets. It will make things tougher in the long run and unless he is barely eating at all he really does not need it. These things can very quickly become habitual tbh.
Sometimes these things do happen after illness and I think it is quite important how you handle it. if he is 100% well then i would use WIWO and give it a good go for those NWings. If you do think he is not quite right then rubbing his back and/or being with him may be necessary.
The only other thing is that he could be a little OT. On the days when he does a 1.25 nap have you tried an earlier bedtime? In the last week have there been more shorter or longer naps would you say?
Lots of questions for you. Let me know what you think
Becky xx

[beckles]

Thanks for your help becky.

His eating during the day has gone completely haywire-hence why I possibly thought hunger.

He is eating a very good breakfast when he gets up, but  can’t say he is any mass hurry for it. That is at 7.30ish  He has about 120mls of formula (haven’t changed him to cows milk yet) at about 930ish with morning tea, that is usually fruit.

Then lunch at 1130ish, which he used to really well at but recently it is a battle to get him interested in it. He might have half a sandwich and some fruit or yoghurt.

Then afternoon tea about 2.30-3ish which is usually some baking, fruit or biscuit.

Then dinner about 5-5.30ish. The last few days he has had early dinners as he has been starving at about 4.30 so I just give it to him early. He certainly isn’t eating as much for dinner as he used to, but then part of that is him being fussy. He then has a bottle just before bed.

He has definitely gone from eating good solid meals, to being a bit of a grazer and has become very selective in what he eats-another battle in the wings that I am waiting to fight!!

It could well be OT too, although he has woken on the nights where he did long naps too, for instance last night he woke after having a 2.25hr nap and only 4hrs A time till bed. I have noticed that he does seem to get grizzly for about 20min at about 1030 and then he snaps out of it.   He did resettle last night without a bottle and not much intervention from me- So at least that is a step in the right direction.

On the short nap days I have tried an earlier bedtime but it still takes him half an hour to go to sleep, whereas if we stick to 7pm he goes straight to sleep, and it hasn’t made a difference on the NW’ing. But guess that is still possibly OT.

So to answer your question (sorry I am waffling) over the last week I would say in general his naps have been longer than usual. More 1.5-2hrs instead of 1-1.5hrs.

I dunno, just when you think you have it sorted they throw something at you!!

[beckles]

Well we have had 2 more days of good naps, 1hr45 and 2hrs, early to bed both nights and still NWíngs. 

WI/Wo for the first night that I gave up after 45min casue he was getting more hysterical but held out on the bottle.

Then last night he woke about 1am, he would cry but it was more of grizzly cry rather than "mum I need you" cry at first then he got really upset so gave him pamol, cuddle and he settled back down till 730 (loved the sleep in).

Still not convinced he is 100% as he isn't eating well, didn't even want breakfast this morning, so have made a DR's appointment for monday and will take him back although don't think they will do anything.

I just want my happy boy back

[*Becky*]

yes de the right thing to do about going to the doctor.
one thing that jumps out at me is that you may find you need to decrease the amount of milk he is getting (once he is 100% well)
It does seem quite a bit and at this age the thinking is to give smaller drinks, rather than meals of milk iykwim. He may be filling up on milk in the am and that could be a reason for the lack of appetite. Just a thought.
keep us posted x

[beckles]

Typical, the day you take them to the Dr they are happy as larry!! Dr said he is fine adn his ears and throat have cleared up.  And to be honest he has actually seemed a lot happier and more himself the last 2 days.

In saying that, he has still woken at night!!!

Saturday he had a short nap 1hr15 and then slept through with no NW'ing.

Sunday he had 2 naps-30min in the car about 10am, and then 1.5 in the afternoon.  He then woke at 1am (but settled quickly with a small rub on the back, and not getting him out of bed) and had an EW'ing at 6 (not that early for some people but I have got used to the 7-7.30 wake ups so it was a bit of a shock)

Monday, he had a nice 2hr nap and then woke at 11pm, but resettled himself after about 5min of grizzling.

so maybe we are on the mend?? Who knows. We will see what happens today!!

Knowing us we will just get through this, then he will come down with the chicken pox as they have started going round daycare.

As for the milk, I still give him so much casue he doesn't eat cheese, so yoghurt is his only other source of calcium.  But yesterday I tried only giving him half his milk at morning tea in a sippy cup and he did eat a much better lunch.  Someone also suggested making lunch his main meal of the day, so we dont' have the dinner time battles at night, so might give that one a go too.

Thanks for your advice Becky

[*Becky*]

you're welcome