Frequent night wakings

[Jmwchocolate]

Can anyone help?!
My son is 19 months old and sleeps very lightly, typically waking after every two sleep cycles, so about every 1 hr 20 mins. Maybe sensory overload? He can self soothe, which involves vigorous rocking and a sort of droning noise. Sometimes goes straight back to sleep but there have been occasions where he can be awake for three hours before going back to sleep. He has white noise on permanently.
Crucially, he doesn't cry, so the whole"crying it out" issue isn't an issue! I don't go in to his room unless he's distressed (the pitch of his droning changes when he starts to get frustrated by being awake). I try not to lift him up, but he calms down if I stroke his hair.  I know he's tired because he gets grumpy if we try to get him up.
He only has one daytime nap (approx 1 hr20) and always awake by 3pm - I have to wake him from this, everyday, so again, I know he's tired.
He has plenty of exercise (possibly too much?!) in a bid to exhaust him.
No tv after 6pm, regular bedtime routine, in bed by 7.15pm, but often takes an hour to go quiet (after much droning and body rocking!)
He has never been a good sleeper and only gone through the night a handful of times since birth.
I am not only exhausted, but keen to resolve this for Theo's sake as I'm conscious that he needs to get into good sleep habits for his future. Any tips you may have would be gratefully received. Thank you xx

[ginger428]

Welcome to BW! We'd love to support you through this tough time.

We do not support CIO here, but I think you were just illustrating the point that he self-soothes and doesn't cry. Does he cry for other things?

What is his daily routine and your bedtime routine? Example:

WU (wakeup) 7:00
Breakfast 7:30
Snack 10:00
Lunch 12:00
Nap 1:00
Snack 3:30
Dinner 6:00
Bedtime 8:00 (start at 7:15, bath, pjs, teeth, story, bed)

It will help us get the bigger picture and see what may be going on. Thanks!

[Jmwchocolate]

So, our routine, on an ideal day, after a good sleep, he's usually awake about 6.30am, but we don't get him up until 7 (unless he's unhappy of course, but he's usually just chatting).
Breakfast at 7.30-7.45
Snack (10-10.30 but not everyday, depends how big breakfast is!)
Lunch at 12.30
Nap at 1.30, I wake him at 3
Supper at 5.
Books or bath at 6 for peaceful wind down.
PJs at 6.15
Books, bottle at 7 (downstairs), upstairs and into bed by 7.15.

Anything you can do or suggest would be much appreciated.

Thank you xx

[Jmwchocolate]

P.s. I meant to add, he does cry for other things, and very occasionally cries at night if he's I'll, but I've always successfully settled him in the cot with hair stroking.

[ginger428]

Hi! So sorry to have not responded sooner!!  I had forgotten to come back to check on the routine!

How are you??

So the main thing I see is that he may need a shorter awake/activity time before his morning nap if he is actually up at 6:30, and a longer one to bedtime routine begins. Was naptime earlier before, around 1:00 perhaps or is he put down around 1:00pm? Does he show any signs of tiredness earlier than 1:30?

I'm curious as to how much average night time sleep he gets, so for instance... if he fell asleep at 8:00, woke at 10:30 for an hr, woke at 6:30, then he had 8 hrs ONS (Overnight sleep).

If he is usually falling asleep at 8:00, he may be undertired and as I mentioned, need a little more time before bed.

I don't want to try too many things at once, but what about making nap time earlier and ending it around 2:30? What do you think?