# 18 Month Old Not Sleeping Through Night!!!



## tinkerbell69 (Mar 27, 2011)

My 18 month old son for the past 3-4 weeks has not slept through the night. I don't just mean waking up once a night, because that would be okay! But, he goes to bed at 8pm, wakes up at 11:30pm, then at 2am, then 3am, then 4am, then I give up and let him play at 5-6am. I have tried bathing him before bed which seems to only wake him up, I tried warming his bottle up for a better nights sleep, I tried an extra blanket figuring he may be cold, I tried keeping him up until 9pm, and putting him to bed at 7pm. It feels like I've tried anything and Im at lost cause because its been going on for 3-4 weeks and I have two other children, who are 2 and 4, and I need to get up with them at 7am, and sometimes my son affects their sleep too! Im so tired, so exhausted from every night being up mostly all night... Please HELP!!!!


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## cynthia mosher (Aug 20, 1999)

Hi tinkerbell69 and welcome to MDC!

I moved your post here so that you can get some help from parents posting here about Nighttime Parenting who have dealt with the same issues. Hope you get some helpful advice 

Also, check out our Resources Wiki.


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## Ginger Bean (Mar 10, 2011)

EDIT: nevermind. You're getting better answers in your other thread.


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## ginaperez (Mar 20, 2011)

hi, i feel your problem! now that my 4 year old finally sleeps good- my 3 year old is horrible. she goes to bed at 8pm- wakes up at midnight, again at 2 again at 3, 4 5 and so on until 7:30 when shes up for the day. everynight, over and over again. i have a 5 month old baby who is also up all night so i to do not sleep. ever. i have tried lots of things like different bedtime, different routine, NOTHING seems to work. she is not a napper either. i dont know howshe has so much energy ALL day when she never sleeps????? anyways, i cant help much because i have not found a solution to this problem yet- and its been years not weeks...

just wanted you to know that you arent alone.

but you will survive!


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## aletina (Feb 23, 2011)

Hi Tinkerbell, when my little one was 12 months - (I know quite a bit younger) I did the following: I contacted Jo Ryan at www.babybliss.com.au and had a 30 minute phone consult which I followed up with 4 weeks email support. It was invaluable! She is in Australia, but basically this was the technique. I was no longer co-sleeping and she was in her own bed. I also wanted to do this gently, with minimal crying!!

Christina would go to sleep at 7pm but then wake for a breastfeed at around 11pm, 3.00am and again at 5.30am at which time she would be ready to start the day. I was literally going out of my mind, I was so tired!!! ( I have an elder son to also tend to). I never let her fall asleep at the breast, put her back into bed awake, so I couldn't work out why she would wake as she was able to fall asleep on her own.

This was Jo's advice for me - Firstly, at 10 months there was no need for night time feeding as she was eating well and was a good healthy weight, so that had to stop.

When she awoke, I was to lay her on her side facing me and then place my left hand on her top shoulder and my right hand on the curve or underside of her bottom (sort of the padded part of the nappy). I then jiggled her rythmically back & forth towards the top of the cot bedhead - NOT side to side. This movement continues until she is calm, then becomes a gentle pat, followed by a gently circular rub on her back. This continues until she is definitely asleep, which is often preceeded by a deep breathe or sigh. I was not to leave the room until she was fully asleep.

The first night I did this, I picked her up to settle her as she was crying when she realised there was no boob coming her way. When I put her back in the cot she fired up again, so I calmed her in my arms again. I recall finding it really hard to get her in position to 'jiggle' as she was resisting. I just persisted and once the movement began she did calm down and stop crying. I sat on a chair with my hands through the cot rungs. It took over 2 hours that first night until she actually fell asleep.

The second and third night were also very long but by the 4th night, when she woke she didn't expect the boob, let me jiggle her and fell asleep much more quickly. That week was extremely exhausting and I remember thinking if I had just fed her I'd at least be sleeping myself.

It basically took around 3 weeks from memory, she pretty much stopped waking and if she did it was a gentle back rub and she would fall back to sleep quickly. It was hard work but I have to say it felt great that this was achieved with absolutely minimal crying. Gentle persistence does pay off!!

She is now 26 months and continues to breastfeed once or twice a day and sleep through til 6.30am.

I hope this helps in any way.


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## MamieCole (Jun 1, 2007)

To the OP, does he have all of his teeth yet? Could he be getting molars?

If not, it could just be that he isn't able to sleep through the night yet.

I have a 4yo who started sleeping through the night around 2 years of age.

I have a 16 month old who wakes many times per night.

And that is all normal.  Not easy, but perfectly normal.

Sleeping through the night

Hang in there. It will eventually get better. And please don't think you have to resort to any sort of "sleep training." Your LO will start sleeping better on his own, barring any medical issues.


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## dancingkeys (Mar 22, 2011)

I felt exactly like this until I adopted co-sleeping. It was the best solution ever, even though I didn't want to do it. She still wakes (age 2), but it's brief and usually not annoying. Teething and sickness make it worse. Also chiropractic adjustments help. With frequent waking, she almost always needs an adjustment. I don't really believe in sleep training, but I know it works for some people. It really is normal. I feel for you though. I hope someone can give you a hand so you can take a nap once in awhile!


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## twegs (Feb 15, 2011)

My son will be two tomorrow and often doesn't sleep through the night. He might for a night or two, but then he'll wake for a couple nights. Kids at this age just don't always sleep all night, it's a lie!!! Sometimes he needs a drink of water or a little snuggle to get back to sleep. We have moved him to his own space because within a couple of weeks we will have a newborn to also tend to.

I agree though, it's normal and you do NOT need to "train" him. He will sleep through the night when he is ready.


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## aletina (Feb 23, 2011)

I hope no one thinks I 'trained' my daughter. Once we got over the night time expectation of a breastfeed, (which in her case at 12 months was no longer a necessity) she was able to sleep on her own.

At no time did I allow her to 'cry it out'. I do not endorse such torture.

Everytime she woke up I gently rubbed her back & stayed with her untill she was fast asleep. I did this everynight for almost 3 weeks. It was not 'training'- I believe it was providing her with the support, love and trust that I was with her when she awoke and that it was okay and safe for her to go to sleep and that she could do it without relying on my breast.

This resulted in a much happier household, her brother and mummy & daddy were all getting a good night's sleep and she was so much happier the next day. Sleep is exceptionally important in a young child's development!

Long term sleep deprivation affects the whole family - Tinkerbell also has 2 other children to consider!

Sometimes children don't sleep through in their 'own time' or 'when they are ready' - they may need some loving GUIDANCE not TRAINING.


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## moonfirefaery (Jul 21, 2006)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *aletina*
> 
> I hope no one thinks I 'trained' my daughter. Once we got over the night time expectation of a breastfeed, (which in her case at 12 months was no longer a necessity) she was able to sleep on her own.
> 
> ...


You don't need to justify anything.







It is okay to teach your children how to be independant!


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## CourtBChase (Sep 11, 2006)

This happened with my daughter around 18 months as well (she is 20 months old now). I have since learned that there is an 18 month sleep regression, and lots of kids sleep goes sort of wacky around this time. I am pregnant, and we had recently night weaned (and have since weaned entirely) but I was sleeping *very* poorly at the time, and I was concerned that she was maybe waking up because she sensed my awakeness? Anyway, we opted to move her into her own room, in a toddler bed, and that seemed to really help. It may have been a coincidence, but she went back to maybe needing me once a night to pat her back and give her a paci. I have noticed that a good daytime nap is vital. Against all logic, if she skips her daytime nap, she will go back to waking 1000x a night.

So I guess my advice would be- feel free to try something different, more food before bed, moving him into his own room if you are still co-sleeping, trying some of the tricks from the no-cry sleep solution (like slowly decreasing the amount of help you give him to go back to sleep, that sort of thing), but even if you opt to just put up with it for now, it will *probably* sort itself out in a few weeks to a few months.


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