Night Waking at 20 months

[vbisa]

I just don't know what to do - my 20 month old son is still waking at night.  It is totally irratic - some nights he sleeps straight through, some nights he wakes and a simple pat and shush and he goes back to sleep and some nights he just cries and cries.  I have kept really detailed records of what happens at the day and night and can't seem to find any reason why this happens.

His day schedule is very consistent and he naps perfectly.  He goes to sleep easily and eats well, he hasn't been ill in months and is generally a very good natured boy.

I guess I am at the point where I am considering crying it out, but I fear I won't be able to do this as I would get upset.

Any advice is welcome.

[macsmum]

sorry not much help, but bumping so a mod will see it

Emma

[imsmum]

What is his schedule like?  How long has he been on one nap?  What is his wind down routine?  Although you have a regular schedule, does he fall asleep and wake up at the smae time or does this vary?  And when does he last eat before bed?

Sorry don't mean to pepper you with questions but just trying to brainstorm a bit. My 27th month old still will wake at night about once per week and it's not always from the same thing.  Sometimes she is too hot, other times she tosses off her blankets and is cold, sometimes she naps too late and falls asleep too late so she wakes in the night, and some nights I think she is hungry! I also think my dd sleeps deeper when she has had lots of physical activity during the day but sometimes that's not possible when we are just out in the car running errands etc. 

[mari]

Firstly, thanks Emma, I did log on earlier, but only briefly and would have missed this one.

When he has the night wakings, are they consistent for a few nights, or just one offs here and there.  Can you try to tell me what the picture has been say for the last fortnight, ie how many night slept through, how many nights crying, how many nights easy to settle back.
Also, when he is crying and crying, what do you do, how long does it go on for and what gets him back to sleep eventually?

[Diegos Mama]

Is it full out crying or fussy/whining crying?  I went through this too, with my now two and a half year old.  I finally realized I was going in too soon and starting hanging back some and listening closely to his cries.  If he wasn't full blown crying -- but more fussy crying I left him be and listened closely for a change in his cries.  Sometimes he'd put his thumb in and go back to sleep.  This brings us to question number one...

-- does your son have a lovey to comfort him when he wakes?

Also, my son just cut his two year molars and that caused some wakings.

-- any chance on teething?

And lastly, I recently transitioned him to a twin bed.  This cut the nightwakings out completely.     It might be a little early for you, depends on your child for that.

As for CIO, if you mean just stop going to him regardless of how much or how hard he's crying, we really advocate against that.   There could be separation issues happening here and a 20 month old can't verbally communicate well yet.  We encourage our parents to always preserve the bond of trust between child and parent, and strongly feel that leaving a baby to cry without assessing and meeting his needs hinders that trust.  This is not to be mistaken for what I mentioned above:  hanging back and assessing what's happening and what type of cry it is.  This is similar to assessing the mantra cry in a baby.

HTH.