What's going on with my 19 month old?

[4isstillnighttime]

I'm hoping you guys will tell me this is a phase and he will grow out of it.....up until a month ago he did 11 hours at night and a good 1.5 hour nap. Good as gold.

Gradually this has now turned into:

EW....WU time in our house is 6....was up at quarter to 5 this morning
Lots of NW with hysterical screaming - previously would settle just with me in the room or holding my hand. Now needs patting, back rubs, etc.
Waking up after 45 mins of a nap screaming - I've just resettled him and only by picking him out of the cot and holding him.

His ideal day is WU 6, nap 12:30-2, BT 7. He sleeps in a sleeping bag and has various toys in bed but no special comforter. Goes to sleep either on his own or sometimes with me sitting in the doorway.

His top canines have just cut through but meds aren't making any difference. He is a bit snotty but no worse than usual for winter (grim). His speech is coming on amazing quickly at the moment.

What do I do? I don't mind sleeping in his room if I can get him back to that. I have tried bringing him into our bed but it doesn't really help. The other morning I gave him some milk at about 5 and he went back down for an hour....but that seems like a slippery slope.

Aaarrrrggghhh please help!!!

[creations]

Hi there.  Sorry you didn't get any replies yet.
Sounds like typical 18 month regression to me

I'm hoping you guys will tell me this is a phase and he will grow out of it....

So - yes it is a phase and he will grow out of it

The 18 month regression is hard for many. The usual advice is to hang on to your routine and ride it out, offer additional comfort and resettle when necessary, not to worry too much about bad habits (although personally I would not be offering milk at 5am) but I found with mine, and often have seen on threads, that they end up needing a later nap and a shorter night after they come out of the 18 month regression, so you could try that and see if it helps - but bare in mind pretty much nothing looks like it helps through this regression.

I think the regression is a combo of developmental leap, language leap, lower sleep needs, the half birthday disequilibrium, awful teething and with all that a good dose of SA.
From what I remember things settled down again and then there was another big language leap at 21months which disturbed sleep for about a week.

The good thing about having an independent sleeper is that they often go back to self soothing as soon as they can and will little encouragement. So if you do end up sleeping in his room on the bad nights I wouldn't worry too much about it.

hope this helps

[4isstillnighttime]

Thanks! It's good to hear other babies do it (actually this board is full of EW toddlers now I look). I'll ride it out!

Little horror. It's a good thing he's so cute!

[creations]

yes it helps when they are cute

[mulvia]

Hello! Just found this post and am interested in knowing how is it going for you. We're pretty much going through the (hopefully) final strands of the same mess with my DS, just like yours - used to go to sleep on his own, self-resettle if awake during the night and was finally taking longer nap. Suddenly started lots of NW (still haven't overcome those), shorter nap and needing us in the room to go to sleep or resettle. Tried WI/WO but made him hysterical, so we went with some sort of GW. Now he relaxes more quickly but still won't go to sleep if we're not there. Did you decide to sleep in his room, and how is it working out?

[4isstillnighttime]

It's getting better I think (fingers madly crossed!!). He will sometimes self settle, or will settle with me in the Forrest with my back to him. He has slept through a couple of nights and the others he often just cries out and goes back to sleep. I still end up in there a lot, but we are surviving. And he wakes up early, but then comes into bed with me for a nice cuddle and we are both reasonably happy with that. I think he doesn't get as much cuddle time as he would like in the day (3rd child!!) and so he gets in some good hugs in the morning in case I'm too busy the rest of the day!!!

[mulvia]

That sounds much better, great to hear! After about 2 months we had our first whole night sleep last night, yay! I think you're spot on - DS is our first, but the second is on the way and I think he's trying to get reassurance before he's no longer 'the baby'...especially after our failed attempt to WI/WO. Hopefully it's downhill from here (at least for this 'crisis'  )..good luck to you a well!