18 month sleep regression support thread

[munzle]

Oh dear, someone please help me come up with a plan  DS is 19 mo and the last 4 weeks have been getting steadily worse. We now have EWs, nap refusal and he's really hard to settle at night. I know he must be OT but my usual techniques just aren't working. Last night I tried a 5.45pm BT after an hour's nap in the car (Woke at 12.30pm). It took him 50 minutes to fall asleep and we got a 5am EW this morning. Tried for nap at 11.30am, but he's still not asleep now at 1.40  I can occasionally APOP with rocking, but he's getting too heavy.

Routine used to be:

W 6.30-7
Nap 12.30 - 2.30
BT 7.30pm.

Now we're all over the place. I need to have a plan to stick to for a few days as at the moment I'm changing things every day for him. Doesn't help that next week term starts which means pre-school run until 12.15pm.

[tigerlilly905]

Argh, 18 month monster seem to be peaking his ugly head here... anyone else going through this ATM? My little guy has gone from sleeping 11-12 hr nights and the past few months his nap has been anywhere from 3-3.5 hrs.. This past week when he will only sleep 10-11 hrs if we're lucky and 1.5-2hrs for nap. We are getting b/t and nap refusal. All of his molars/canines have cut... I just ordered a Gro Clock. He's miserable and testing us at every corner. Please please please tell me this too shall pass...

[munzle]

we're all over the place too. haven't got any suggestions but it is hard. We haven't got nap refusal, but he is taking a long time to fall asleep, however long he's been awake. We're also getting EWs. not too bad, but 6am, which makes it hard for him to make it to his nap, which has to be at 12.30 because of DD. Sure there's some OT there now too, but not really sure how to progress 

[tigerlilly905]

Well, I think it's all coming down to upping A times for us Our previous routine looked very similar to yours, wake up around 7, nap around 12/1230, bt around 730/8... b/c we were getting nap refusal, I decided to go with it and up his A time today. So we did 6hrs for his morning A time today instead of the usual 5/5.5hrs... he went down perfectly and did a great nap of 2hrs 20 mins. I couldn't complain with that. He went to bed by 7:50pm with no issues. We'll see what the night brings and what time he wakes in the morning, but I think this whole 18 mth regression might come down to A time increase? Tomorrow I will aim for 6hrs-6.5 hrs for his morning A and see what that gives us for nap.

((hugs)) hun! xox

[munzle]

That could be it, except DS wakes up crying, which makes me think he hasn't had enough sleep. I can't really go with a late BT as I tutor students in the evening and need them asleep, so I guess I probably need to experiment with capping the nap. But atm we've got teething/cold which makes everything so much more difficult. However, we did get rid of the dummy cold turkey 3 days ago and that has gone amazingly well.

[ccaawc]

Our nites are getting worse here.
DD is 19.5 months and has been a short sleeper. She has been doing 9.5-10 hrs nite and 2 hrs+ nap since she finished her 2-1 transition and we had a few months of good nite sleep.

For the past 2-3 weeks, we had NW almost everynite, mostly are short and I can just leave her to settle herself in a few mins. But it is so frequent that I wonder if there is some tweaking of the routine so the NW can stop?

I was getting 1hr 15min - 2 hrs nap recently whereas it was always 2hrs-2.5hrs before and if she short napped in the car for 30mins, she won't go down for another nap unless I APOP ( and it pushes BT to 10!!!).

our day looks like this:
WU 6-6:30
nap start anytime between 11:15-12:15 for 1hr 15min to 2hrs 15min max
BT 8-8:30

I tried putting her down early as I suspect her NW is due to OT, she doesn't sleep any longer than 10 hrs, so it's like 7ish to 5ish, 8ish to 6ish and if I put her down nearer to 9, she is definitely OT and wakes 5ish.

Another problem is, she seems ready for her nap and BT mayb 30mins to an hr before it actually happens but if I put her down then, she would short nap for 1hr15 or wake up 5am. She was doing so well on a stable routine just weeks ago. I don't know what is happening. She has all her canines and 4 molars and I don't see her chewing her fingers anymore so I don't think it;s teething.

 

[jakobsmommy]

havent been on here for ages!

Jakobs still chewing fingers although everything has broken through well.

since we came back off a holiday he began doing a 11.5 hr night and wanting 3 hrs in the day. did this for 2 weeks then was dropping every other days nap.  if i wake him earlier he cries for ages?

his speech is improving by the minute after quite a slow start and he is really active. 

he seems to need about 1.5 hr nap around 6.5 hours after waking but wants to take more

[mommy2angel]

my DD went through this for almost 2 months, it started the very day she turned 18 months!

We tried EVERYTHING, and eventually put a gate on her bedroom door so at least she was in her room.

All I can say is bear with it - it WILL end. It took about 6-8 weeks for this phase to pass for my DD, but it does pass! She now sleeps 12 or 12.5 hours a night again. Bliss!

[aidenmc]

I'm joining in here although S is only 16mo. His sleep has gone down the tubes. I know a lot of the trigger has been recurrent illness (colds, ear infections, stomach bugs - thanks to daycare) and teething molars (they are still coming in).

Routine used to be:

WU 5:30 (yuck but would be happy with this now)
Nap 12:15/12:30 - usually 1.5hrs (although had big problems at daycare with short napping - a bit better now)
BT 6:30 give or take depending on nap.

We could count on 11 hours at night and sttn. If we got NW it was pretty easy for dh to go in and resettle.

Since his last bout of illness/teeth that started a few weeks ago things are all over the place. He is still napping about 1.5 hrs, but generally wakes at about 4:30-5 (daylight savings did this and I can't move it). But, the worst part right now is crying and screaming at bedtime, SA from me, and NWs. I started nursing him during the night when sick - I could go in and nurse for 5 minutes and put him down awake no problem. Not anymore. Also, at BT he just screams and screams if I do it. Last night I was out and dh did it no problem, no tears. Tonight he started crying the moment I handed him over and hasn't stopped (it's been about 35 minutes). I am so tired of this and can't quite figure out the problem.

Teeth: still working on molars, etc - some days he pulls at his teeth.
Fever of 101 yesterday not sure why.
Diarrhea today, but otherwise his mood has been better (we'd been having major crying and needing to be held all the time).
Prop - my habit of nursing (though initially not back to sleep) caught up with us.
SA - all these illnesses etc., or just that he's used to all the extra holding and comfort.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? DH is still doing BT and he's still crying and I just want to go in there.

[ZacsMumme]

Becky I'm just popping in because we too seem to have it some kind of sleep regression. Seriously I've never seen anything like it, and like you Z is only coming up 16 months...maybe its not 'really early' 18 mth sleep regression but it sure feels like what people talk about at 18 mths Z also has always hit his developmental leaps, nap droppingetc early so I do wonder

Our issues aren't with naps, Z will nap all day if I let him, but it's his nights, they are short, and he is clearly still tired...AtM I'm blaming teething, he has turned touchy again too when he is usually so spirited now! Have you tried WI\WO at BT, this worked for us, but now he just talks all evening in his cot

[aidenmc]

Hi Sara. I had forgotten this post. Funny, things got better then regressed again. We got onto this weird routine of super EW's (4-4:30) then longish nap starting at 1 then exhausted by dinner time and in bed by 6. A couple of new teeth are partly to blame but also that late nap. We've backed it up a bit and gotten a few later mornings - and he's making it to a slightly later BT now which is helping. Teeth really throw things off. Also, looking back at that time with teeth and illness, bad sleep and OT, then SA as a result. I found it helpful to turn all sleep over to DH for a while, and to wean him off me (still nursing and when I AP with that we end up with major prop adoption pretty quickly). We can both put him down easily now, and I am even able to go in and re-settle by tucking him back in occasionally as well (although I generally leave that up to dh  ).

Are you medicating for teeth? I find I often have to do both types of meds at once when they are bad.

[cath~]

Hi ladies,

I think we may have hit the '18 month sleep regression' now so joining in for some mutual support/advice.

We're getting EWs (after 10 hr night) and big reluctance/difficulty to go to sleep at BT and naptime - not seeming tired or when she does seem tired, acting like she's forgotten how to fall asleep (even with me with her).  But when she wakes from her nap (after 1hr15), she seems like she's still tired for about 30 mins or so until she's back in her stride.  Then it's non-stop 'til BT.

She's so much fun to be with when she's awake at the moment and I'm pretty sure it's not teeth (she has 1 canine to go and then the last four molars, but I don't think they're coming yet).

She's just going through/went through the 17 mo wonder week (http://thewonderweeks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=162) and it is so obvious that she's just had a huge leap in her development.  Imaginative play has reached a whole new level and she's much better at playing on her own and deciding/choosing/finding things to do when I'm busy.  She's also 'talking' much more.

I'm pretty certain our sleep issues are all caused by wonder week/developmental stuff but I'm not sure how to get through it and out the other end.  She's really not interested in sleep ATM.  Just wants to be awake!  Any suggestions??

Before this Wonder week, her routine was:
wu 6pm
nap 12.30-1.45 (for 1hr15)
bt 7pm

If we let her nap longer we got EWs.  She is def low sleep needs (but took me months of EWs before I accepted this!)

L has always been really affected by wonder weeks.  It was sooo obvious when she was going through one cos she had such trouble settling for sleep during that week.  But this one is the worst (since she was a few months old) in terms of messing with her sleep.  Have any of your LOs been like that?

[ackee]

Hey I am glad to read this post if only to realise we are not alone in our struggle!!!

[cath~]

L is still have sleep troubles (I know it's only four days since I last posted but I'm impatient for improvements! )

The problems are:
- settling to sleep (with me, not DH or her nanny)
- NW(s)
- EW

She settles fine when DH or her nanny put her down but with me she really fights it and seems to want me there until she actually is asleep.  She gets very upset.  Proper screaming cries.  I am doing WIWO.  I PD if she is sitting/standing and, if she's still really upset (which she usually is atm ), I stay with her with a hand on her saying soothing stuff until she calms down.  Then I WO.  Then she starts crying again.  I give her a chance to settle on her own but cries escalate and I have to go back in... 

This whole process is taking AGES.  Took me over an hour to settle her like this last night.  Admittedly, she didn't seem in the least tired when I put her down at BT initially.  Although, I *know* that she would have settled for DH, even if she was UT (although we prob would have got EW or NW).  I suspect she is UT when I PD so am thinking will cap the nap down to 1hr and see if that helps...  But that sounds so low for a 17 mo!!  Although I have read of others on here who nap less/not at all at this age...

The other problems are NW (she's been STTN really well for several months now, not even getting NWs during teething/illness) and/or EW.  With the EW, she will usually go back to sleep if one of us stays wiht her.  But we have to stay with her until she is in deep sleep again (WIWO doesn't work after an EW cos she's just not that tired any more) and she only gets another 45 mins.

I think that since this latest WW she's just having so much more trouble settling and staying asleep. 

Anyone else going through/been through similar things?  How long did they last??? Do I just have to ride it out with WIWO?  Do you think a routine tweak (e.g. nap capping so she's not UT at BT) is needed/would help (I suspected a couple of months ago that she could have a shorter nap as her morning WU time was creeping earlier, but then she got sick with a virus in January and was sleeping loads)?  It's so hard to tell with L!!  She is 17 mo and I *still* don't understand her sleep needs!

Sorry for long rambling post ladies.

[lily528]

so we were 18 mos on feb 27th and it was like BAM!!!  sleep regression...our schedule WAS...

7-7:15 wu
12:30-2:30/3 Nap
7:30 BT

it was beautiful it was clockwork it was easy...then all of a sudden...we have nap fighting...we had some earlier wu's for a bit but knixed that kicking the BT just a bit later...that seemed to help that..but omg it's taking over an hour- hour and a half to get her to fall asleep for her nap...BT she has been taking longer than usual but not by much...these naps are awful..she just plays and bangs on the wall and chats away...a few times in the beginning I went in and she had poop....so i tried getting her on the potty before nap time but she'd pee and say she's done or just sit there and just play and play...so at first i thought the bm schedule was interfering with the sleep schedule..cause i'd change her put her back down and she'd go to sleep within a few mins or so..but now poop or no poop she is fooling around in there forever...today i decided i'd start at 12 and hope the eventual nod off would be earlier..cause lately her naps weren't starting til 1:30-1:45 and only lasting 45-90 mins.  I did EBT when on the lower end of the scale.  so my thinking was if i start earlier and she nods off earlier then maybe the nap will be longer like before...well we started with the potty...she peed nothing more...after playing around i decided off to bed we go..now it's only 12:10 rather than our usual in the crib time of 12:30

no luck..she just played and played...said pee pee so i tried again..more playing..and i think i was getting played as well...put her down said it's time to sleep and walked out..she began banging on the walls and playing i went in put her back down and said you stop that its time to sleep and walked out...after that she did not get up again...let out a few small sounds and went to sleep at 1:25...so what is that?....1 hr and 15 mins of trying to get this kid to sleep.  we'll see how long she naps..and I'm grateful she isn't refusing completely but wondering what the answer is here.  i've read all you can do is wait it out but there has to be something i can do...maybe the answer isn't start earlier but maybe start later?  if so by how much?  any thoughts?  anyone get through this?  any suggestions?

I am going away for 6 days next week...first time ever leaving my children and I'm at a loss as to what to tell my poor sister who will be dealilng with this if i don't figure something out soon