My boy has started to wake in the night

[Jellybabysbaby]

 

Hi

I have 20 month old twins and one of my twins Steven, has been waking in the night for some time now and i am at my wits end with him.

I have tried the controlled crying route, the pick me up and put down routine, night lights - everything i can think of, he even has a drink with him in his cot which is usually empty in the morning

Ive cut and pasted the questions from an earlier email which will give some background i hope!

What’s nap routine? he usually has a nap at around lunchtime, i did try and drop his nap to see if that would help him sleep better but he still wakes in the night no matter whether he sleeps in the daytime or not

How long are naps? He usually sleeps anything up to an hour

What's bedtime routine? Time? his routine is the usual, tea, playtime, bath, book and then bed for 7pm, he goes later than his sister to enable her to go to sleep without being distrurbed by him as sometimes he doesnt want to go to bed

Do you bottle or breastfed?? he is no longer bottle fed as they are both on solids

How many wakes per night? usually once but sometimes twice, he can wake from anytime after 1am

What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? he just gets upset, and can be up for as long as 2 hours - he is fully awake and coherant, not like he is having a night fright

When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? hmm not sure what a mantra cry is but he calls for you, and if you dont go in to him, he gets louder and louder. When i go to him he is usually sat up and then he will start talking to you, usually pointing and saying teddy or something similar

What have you tried to settle?? i usually go into his room i normally dont talk to him just go in to him and lay him down, stroke his head and then leave

Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? no development issues that i know of, he has a glue ear but was checked last week as i thought this may have been the problem for the waking i.e. was he in pain but the doctor gave him the all clear

Do they have a prop? If so what is it? he has a doggy he takes to bed but nothing that he is really attached to

Do they have a lovie? no

I really hope you will be able to help me as this has gone on for so long now, i cant remember the last full nights sleep i had. Steven's twin sister is fantastic at going to sleep, she goes up at about 6:30pm and sleeps through up until 9am sometimes - more often than not i have to wake her in a morning

[Gigismom]

do you think that he is just not tired at bedtime?  have you tried pushing his bedtime a bit later like to 7:30 and see what happens?

[Jellybabysbaby]

He goes to bed no problem, so i know he's tired as hes on the go all day, it just gets to 1am / 2am and hes then screaming for england

[mariela]

My son Erick a while ago, started to do something similar. He woke up for no apparent reason in the middle of the night. The same as you I tried to find out a reason for it, but couldn't´t. I did the same you are doing, went in his room (DIDN¨T talk), make sure he knows it is time to be asleep and not awake. Lay him down strike his hair, and if you tell him something tell him, baby it´s late it´s bed time, go to sleep, mommy is here. leave the room for a while, come back and do the same until he falls a sleep.
It worked for me, it was really tiring at first but as time passed they were less the times I had to go in.

I hope it works!!!

[Gigismom]

well i have no pearls of wisdom for you because my dd has started randomly waking in the night as well...sometimes for up to 4 hours!  i do the same method as mariela suggested...just go in and sit with her, no talking, etc.  i hope it works!

[imsmum]

My only thought is that he may be overtired at bedtime which is why he is waking.  I noted that he's not taking a very long nap, so couple with the night wakings he may need to get down earlier rather than later.  With my 20 month old I find that most of her night wakings are from being overtired.  You may want to try a slightly earlier naptime too to see if that helps to lengthen the nap so he doesn't get overtired by bedtime.

[Jellybabysbaby]

Thanks for your comments

I put him down a little earlier last night only by about 20 minutes and he only woke once, gave a little shout for "mummy" and then went back off again. I know he can sleep through occasionally, just hope this is the start of things to come

[imsmum]

Good news!  I'd stick with the earlier bedtime--maybe even move it 10 minutes earlier, just to avoid that shout turning into a full blown wakeup!  Once her strts sleeping through consistently you may be able to move the bedtime back a bit, you have to gauge that one a bit depending on napping and the overall kind of day that he's had.   

[Jellybabysbaby]

Last night was a complete nightmare - he went up no problem and slept for an hour or so then woke and wouldnt go back down for about an hour - all was quiet at then he woke at 2am and shouted for about half an hour. Hes also been a nightmare today, hitting his sister and making her cry, im at my wits end with him at the moment

[ryan's mum]

it could be the short naptime , have you tried to lengthen his nap time ? Ryan at this age took a 2 hr nap and still went to bed at 7.00/7.30 pm . it could be that he is overtired .Ryan still has a 1.5hr nap now , we don't let him sleep any longer than 2 hrs as it makes bedtime later.

p.s  i love what you have written in your signature , after reading this post i would choose your daughter

[Jellybabysbaby]

I would love for him to sleep longer in the day time but he just doesnt sleep any longer than an hour, and even if i leave him for a little longer he'll just be sitting up and talking to his toys till i go and get him.