toddler sleep traing need some feedback on his behaviour

[charlinatasha]

Hi all, im new here found this site whilst looking for answers to my sons current behaviour.
He is 17 mths old and until last mon was breast fed to sleep and co-sleeping and waking 3-10 times a night.

we started sleep training, and ive also ceased breast feeding as he was only doing it for sleep/comfort.
He is currently now in a toddler bed in his own room. hes sleeps are getting much easier now and only waking 1-2 times a night with 4-5 hr intervals. great for me.

however since this training began he has gone from an overtired yet happy bubbly excitable child to a cranky, tired, violent, child with many meltdowns.

he has never sttn.

just wondering as these meltdowns seem to be telling me he is tired, and he seems to want to sleep within 2 hrs of waking up both in  the morn and after a nap. shld i allow him to catch up sleep, or shld i stick to 2 naps a day.
i just want my happy boy back

[anna*]

Hi there, welcome to the boards

The behaviour could be a coincidence, a lot of behaviour challenges start to arise around the 17-18 month time.

He is super young to be in a toddler bed, any reason you didn't move him to a crib? At 17 months I would definitely stick to one nap, maybe 4.5hrs after waking, and let him nap as long as he likes.

[creations]

Could be 18 month regression. Many have greater sleep disturbance around that time and as a result of OT the behaviour is more demanding.  Mine start the 18 month regression at 16 months. I think most people advise to stick with your regular routine whatever that is until the phase passes. We did come out the other side on the same routine but needed to change not long after.  I think I would be tempted to jump in his bed with him to get him a good nap but in his own bed yk?  It goes against the sleep training but I always go the most gentle way I can think of with lots of help when needed.

[Khalam's Mama]

I would go to one nap and ride it out, the two is likely making it worse at that age.

[charlinatasha]

Thanks for the responses.
firstly he is in a toddler bed as he can climb out of a cot and its safer.
secondly his sleep issues are due to benign sleep myoclonia.
thirdly due to this sleep myoclonia one nap isnt possible due to his naps only being 20-40 mins.
I also think you guys might be right about the 18 mth behaviour regression as his self settling has improved greatly, but his behaviour is still easy meltdown and physically hurting me.
i still wonder if he is still tired tho as he seems to want to go to sleep alot. when he has a meltdown i say bedtime he goes and hops into bed, and is generally asleep within 10-20 min.
anyhow thankyou all again for your helpful responses

[creations]

Am I right in thinking myoclonia is a form of nerve twitching?  I thought sleep myoclonia generally didn't disturb the sleep, that the twitching was evident but the person slept through?  I don't know much about it though.  Is it increased if there is light/sound?  Just wondering if you have managed to totally black out his bedroom and perhaps play white noise to drown out any other day time noises?

Personally if my LO was only sleeping 20 mins at a time I would give several naps across the day whilst I worked on trying to increase the length and quality of sleep.  Is he already OT before the first nap? It sounds as though he is if he is so willing to hop into bed. 20 mins can indicate inability to transition to deep sleep, perhaps this is when the twitching occurs?  Can you help sooth him through at the 20 min mark with shush/pat or whatever your soothing method is?

[Khalam's Mama]

If he is waking at 20 mins he is probably still tired, what happens if you try to resettle him?