My son is 19 months old, he HAD been sleeping through the night since he was 4 months old, now for the last 2 1/2 weeks his naps are getting shorter and shorter, (they WERE about 1 1/2 to 3 hours long) now I'm LUCKY to get 45 minutes. He has also been waking up after being put to bed, and REFUSES to go back to sleep for hours. When this first started he was in his crib, but once he wanted out bad enough he learned how to climb out of his crib, so his Dr. said we had to get a toddler bed, so now we have a "big boy bed" and once he wakes up he just comes out of his room. I have tried very hard, not to engage him, and simply put him back in his bed, at that point he grabs hold of me, and wraps his legs around me and REFUSES to lay back down. I have tried to rock him for hours, he passes out but again once I try to put him down he's up again. We have a ceiling fan with a light dimmer, we keep the lights down as low as they will go, we play Baby Einstein C.D.'s VERY low, simply as background noise. I've tried sitting in his room, and putting him back in his bed every time he gets up, but again we can do this for hours. He has a "blanky" and when he gets mad enough at me, he throws it out of bed, and then screams for me to get it, which I try very hard not to give in, but sometimes I just can't take the screaming anymore. The only soothers he has is we do tend to rock him to sleep. But until this point it has never been a problem... I know it's a no-no... BEFORE this our schedule was he would wake at about 6:30-7:00, we would eat breakfast, play, snack at 10:00, and nap by 11:00, he'd wake anywhere from 12:30 to 2:00, depending on if we had an extremely busy morning. Once he wakes from his nap, we eat lunch, play, have a snack by 3:00, play, dinner at 6:00, followed by tub time, then brush our teeth, read a story (the same one every nap and bedtime since he was 4 months old) as we read he has his ONLY bottle of warm milk, and I rock for a little bit more, then I put him down. He was a bottle fed baby, I TRIED to breast feed, but he COULD NOT latch on... Since he has been waking and not staying in his room, my husband and I end up laying on his floor until he falls asleep, and by this time we are just too tired to move ourselves that we end up sleeping there!!! Last night he woke up at 2:00 AM, and it took hours to get him to sleep, NO ROCKING AT ALL, and he was up by 7:30. His nap time was hell getting him down. I tried the baby gate at his door and he almost made it over, but we have tile in our hallway... should we try the baby proof doorknob?? And just hope he crawls back in his bed and goes back to sleep? I did go away for the first time 3 weeks ago for 2 days, and since coming home is when all this started... I am so beyond tired, and my patience is wearing thin. I'm lucky to sleep 3-4 hours a day. Is there anyone out there who can help me? Please tell me what we are doing wrong?
? I am DESPERATE!! Thank you anyone who takes the time to help, you are saving my life!
Oh and as for any milestones, he has really gotten the hang of his 2-3 word sentences... Thank you again!!!!!!!
-Carrie
