Support for Mum's of LO's 16-19months with sleep issues

[andibig]

Becky
i know how you feel.Sasha woke 4 TIMES last night .pretty much from 12-4am.woke up for the day at 6am.i'm shattered.how can LO surviv on soooo little sleep.
mind you to be fair to her shes cutting 2nd year molars and also getting used to sleeping in a bed.
Andrea

[aidenmc]

Wow, the 2-year molars already? I was hoping we would get a break before those. I think I may check the bacl of his mouth when he wakes. That might explain last night (although he still has one of his incisors to come in, the one I thought was giving him trouble).

I have thought about the crib to bed switch. It sure would be nice on my back but I would rather not deal with Aiden climbing out at this point!

I hope Sasha at least gave you a good nap today!

Becky

[andibig]

becky
take it from me.keep them in the cot as long as possible!!!!!!we only transitioned Sasha to the bed as she was trying to get out of her cot (and she has a sleep sac!!!!!!!!!!).
2nd year molars

[TDR'smom]

Tyler is now 20 months, but hope I can still post here since I know most of you!!

Does anyone know what would cause Tyler to go to sleep with no problem, but to wake up around 3AM and play in his bed/bedroom for over an hour?  He is not crying or fussing, we just hear him up there having a party.  My friends tell me it could be teething, but then wouldn't he be crying and upset?  He's been doing this off and on for about a week now. 

[andibig]

Judy
didn't he do that last time and you had to cut his nap down???if he is not calling for you i wouldn't worry.
does he seem tired during the day at all??

[TDR'smom]

Andrea, Your memory is scary.      You are right, we went through this a few weeks back.  And he was waking early.  I don't think I ended up cutting his nap, as I HATE waking him.  I think it just worked its way out.  I would let him sleep 2-3 hours for his nap like normal and I dealt with 10 1/2 hour nights. 

However, now he sleeps only 2 hours, sometimes a little less.  I'm going to try and not stress it as I'm sure it will pass.  I was just curious if anyone else was going through this.   

[kirsty_167]

HI.............if Jakob wakes and plays for an hour instead of screaming the house down....i will throw a party!!!!!!!

Id be guessing he has had enough sleep and plays until he is tired again. Perhaps look at the nap length.Just a thought.

All the best
Kirstyx

[annas mum]

Another fun night here last night, up at 11.30pm and then up for an hour screaming from 4.00am til 5.00am until as I last resort I fed him to sleep and then sat in the chair for the next 2 hours as I didn't dare move  . To be fair on him he had had his MMR and pnemococcal vaccines the previous day poor lad .
Unfortunately he has only slept for an hour today at nursery and despite getting him down early at about 6.45pm he was up again an hour later needing settling  - yikes
  looks like another quality night coming on   

Sending you all ~~~~~~~~~~sleepy vibes~~~~~~~

Clare

Mum to Anna 3yrs and Nathan 17 months

[mommy2connor]

Hello fellow sleepless, frustrated mommies!

I am so happy to know that I'm not alone. My DS is 19 months and also having major sleep issues (takes forever to fall asleep, sleeps less than 10 hours at night, wakes pre-6am, fights naps EVERY day). So similar to all your experiences. Just reading your posts has helped so much to keep my horrid anxiety at bay (sadly, a remnant of my post-partum depression that seems to surface whenever I'm super-stressed).

I've read every sleep book under the sun, hired a sleep consultant (cost us $295CDN!!!) and done everything "right" (no props, teach to self-soothe, avoid overtiredness, etc. etc.) So why is DS's sleep still so terrible?!!

DH has been my knight in shining armour and always has good advice to comfort me. Solutions, no, but comfort, yes. He told me that these little creatures are living things, not robots. We can try all we want to "program" them, but it may never work. The best thing is to just try your best, enjoy the successes, but let the rest go. I know it's hard to follow that advice - I'm finding it hard myself (was up for three hours last night trying to breathe through several powerful anxiety attacks due to obsessing about "fixing" ds's sleep!) But I think we all need to cheer each other on in these hard times.

It's sad, but some days I wish DS would "hurry up and grow up" so I can reason with him and tell him he has to stay in bed until a certain time. But I love him so much just the way he is when he's happy and being his funny little self that I feel terrible for ever thinking that.

Anyway, enough about me, I thought I'd share a couple of tips that have kind of helped us.

1. Get a white noise machine. Even if your house is quiet, the soothing, repetitive sound could still help to soothe your toddler and get them to sleep deeper. It might even help you sleep if you hear it through the monitor!

2. If he won't nap, immediately resort to the emergency plan, which is motion sleep. If DS doesn't fall asleep after 1 hr, I quickly put a jacket on him, pop him in the stroller, give him his blankie, cover the stroller w/a dark sheet and away we go for a jiggly walk. He will usually be asleep after 10 minutes, then I rush back home, stick him in our entryway, turn on the noise machine (which I brought down with me when I popped him in the stroller), and leave him for a good, motionless nap (usually 1.5 to 2 hrs). I'm convinced that the noise machine is the only thing keeping him asleep in the stroller as it is very noisy in our entryway due to busy road outside.

I'm sending all of you big hugs. It's so hard some days being a momma, and it's nice to know there is a world of you out there going through the same trials.

Chrissy

[JoC]

Hi Chrissy,
 my ds is 18 months now, not posted for a while, just been reading, still up early, gone from 5.30 ish to 4-4.30 now, and some nights even earlier (last night 1.15). Tried wi/wo for two weeks and got him up at 6 even tho he had been awake since 4 ish, no results, he just screamed all that time (he goes mental when i go in to him). so after 2 weeks of 4-4.30 wake ups and full time work i had had enough and resorted to giving him a bottle again.
Should i try this again? Can he be THAT hungry at 4.30??? He eats well in the day.
Will white noise work on a child who has never had it before?
God, i thought all of this would be over by now, i can never see it ending.
I hate it that i am almost wishing he would get older quicker, cos he is just so adorable and funny and great fun at the moment, but i am dying to have a "normal" life again i.e. NOT have people at work comment on how shattered i look ALL the time!
I wish someone would say "Hey, love your skirt" rather than "Gosh, you look awful, Theo still not sleeping then?"

Jo

[kirsty_167]

Big hugs JO.......im right there with you on this one!!!

I always get asked  "So is Jakob sleeping through the night yet!!!"
Not "how are you?"  "You look nice" etc etc

I have a hard enough time working fulltime and being up in the night without being reminded how tired i look..............

We have had better nights in the last 4 weeks but he still wakes.Last night we tapped on his wall outside his room and he went back to sleep...go figure!!!! He wil not allow us near him so we tried to let him now we were there.He was fine with that!!! The hard nights are when we go in and he screams even louder and longer.......they are long nights!!!

I tooo find myself thinking ahead of time when he may sleep all night everynight........i dont wish his years away but just wish i had more energy to enjoy all the moments now and not just through half open eyes!!

Take care
Kirsty

[ablack]

Could someone please help or have any advice.  I've posted on a couple of other places in the past couple of months and just thought i would here.
I saw where TDR'smom was talking of the same issue--- My daughter is nearly 17 months old.  We have been dealing with the NW's since mid to late December.  She doesn't cry which is great, but, she wakes and plays for hours.  It use to not be every night and only a few times a week.  Now it is every night and for long periods of time.  This week, I'm talking 4-5 hours a night.  What?!  I'm tired and I feel like I have done everything to adjust her schedule and nothing seems to matter.  I've tried earlier bedtime, later bedtimes, you name it.  Her dr. recommended something to help her sleep just for a week (she also has a stuffy nose so it would help with that, too).  Well, it was definitely not first choice but after all we've been through (husband is out of town- I'm 6 weeks pregnant)  I was willing to do anything.  The first night i tried it, she slept nearly 12 hours.  Last night which was the second night, she was up for 2 and a half hours.  I understand that waking up and playing isn't nearly as difficult as screaming children in the middle of the night.  Occasionally, it does turn into crying.  It's affecting her naps, taking an hour or sometimes longer to settle to sleep, and she is definitely tired on the days she is up for a long time-- as i am.
Her dr. said i shouldn't expect more than 10 hrs. of nighttime sleep.  I don't know if this is a scheduling problem or has just become a habit for her body. 
What should I be expecting for sleep - night and day?

[aidenmc]

Interesting to hear that your doctor says not to expect more than 10 hrs. My ds often gets 'only' 10, occasionally 10.5. I have tried to get him to sleep longer but to no avail. During the day he will nap 1.5 hrs, sometimes more or less. He is 20 months but has been doing this for ages. It is hard when you hear of other toddlers sleeping 12 or more at night. Maybe if you post your routine some of the experts around here can help adjust things.

[mommy2connor]

Hi Jo,

Sorry - I haven`t checked in for a while! In response to your post:

Will white noise work on a child who has never had it before?

We didn't start using the white noise machine with DS until recently, when he was 18 months old. So they can definitely get used to it. You just need to start at a low volume and turn it up a little each day for 5 to 7 days. I can't say for sure that it helps every LO, but Connor's naps are now 2 hours+ (instead of 1.5 hours or less). He also seems to stir less at night. Another plus is I don't worry as much about the noises I make or the traffic outside as the machine blocks most of it out.

God, i thought all of this would be over by now, i can never see it ending.
I hate it that i am almost wishing he would get older quicker, cos he is just so adorable and funny and great fun at the moment, but i am dying to have a "normal" life again

I feel your frustration. I think the same thoughts too, especially when DS's sleep is bad. It's easy to forget the good stuff when you're so tired all the time. I know it sounds bad, but I take comfort knowing that millions of other moms are going through the same thing - makes me realize that my DS's normal and so am I! Hang in there!

Chrissy

[JoC]

Thanks Chrissy,
Will definately try the white noise, I think it is good for as you said drowning other noises, especially early morning traffic (we live on a busyish road) and the central heating at 5.
I know what you mean, i do feel better knowing its not just me (or him!).
Thanks for your help ans support.

Jo x