Sleep Trouble

lolson33

My daughter is 16 months old and up until recently went to sleep very easily at night.  We would read a story, listen to a song while being rocked, and then lay her down in her crib.  She would occasionally cry for a minute or two and then play quietly until she feel asleep, usually within half an hour.  Now we follow the same routine, but the second we try to leave the room she stands up and screams.  She continues to scream until we go back in there.  I have never been a fan of cry it out.  We do occasionally let her cry for up to 15 minutes before heading back into her room.  When I go back into her room I sit in the glider (without talking to her) and she lays back down, but doesn't go to sleep.  This evening it took her 2 hours before she finally fell asleep.  When she does finally fall asleep, she's asleep until the net morning.  I just don't understand what has changed.  We did take a vacation a few weekends ago during which time she was getting one of her lower molars, but she slept fine for a few nights after returning before things went downhill.  The other funny thing is that nap time used to be our problem sleep time, but now nap times are much easier while night time is not!  Any suggestions on how to handle this change?

Lisa

SharonB222

Both my kids went through something similar at 15 mos or so for a couple months. I don't know the reason but accept it for our family as a phase. What comes to mind for me is that separation anxiety peaks around 18 mo and molars are coming in. I can empathize but not advise (my kids wake frequently until age 2).

momofmanyinthemitten

The "18 mo sleep regression" was horrible for us. One day, they wouldn't go to bed, but, luckily, a few weeks later, they went back to their old routines. It will pass, just not quick enough for us parents

lolson33

@SharonB and @kielpinskim Thank you both for your thoughts. It's definitely been hard! Last night went much more smoothly with only a bot 5-10 minutes of crying before she stopped (although it took her another 10 minutes or so to lay down...she was probably asleep 30 minutes after initially laying her down (but we didn't have to go back in there. And, although we've been pretty good about it in the past, we're going to make sure she's getting up no later than730 in the morning and really focus on a consistent naptime (possibly even waking her up by 2) to ensure that she's tired come the evening. Hopefully she wasn't just teasing us with yesterday's success!

Kriztyn

Going through this NOW. LO is 14 months... goes down fine for first nap, fights 2nd nap (but is SO tired) and is a terror to put down for bed time. She used to be an awesome sleeper so this is very frustrating. Doesn't help that we just moved in with the inlaws when this started and we don't close on our new place until July20! We end up having her fall asleep in our bed, then transfer her into her crib. She still wakes up a couple times in the middle of the night though... so frustrating.. hope we get back to her old routine soon. Mama is tired!

Stephorse

We've been going through this too. Similar routine. Sometimes we do let him cry it out for about 5 minutes, then I go in and get him and read two more books then put him back down and he's usually out. What has been happening is he's been taking longer naps (just one nap a day for about 2-3 hours now) and sleeping less at night (used to sleep 10 hours, but now only 8 or 9) and is getting up 1-2 times a night. It's been happening for a week now and I hope it ends soon. I know for sure he's cutting a molar and is on the cusp of speaking more words consistently, so I'm hoping it'll resolve itself soon!

karamorgan82

My son is 16 months old and while he would cry for a minute or two after being put in his crib, he would quickly go to sleep. During the last few days, he screams bloody murder! I let him for a bit, but eventually go in, because he sounds like he's going to choke on his own tears. I hope this passes quickly. It's not fun!

ashleyorm

My 16 month old son just got a couple top teeth so that explains the bad sleeping the last little while. Hopefully we get a break before more come in. It seems since 7 months we have had more bad nights than good. Going to bed seems to be back to normal though, it is just staying asleep.

imrachellea

https://alphamom.com/parenting/toddler-parenting/when-your-toddler-stops-sleeping/

Read this. It won't help you sleep but it will make you feel better. My daughter will be 18 months next week and we've been dealing with this for about 3 weeks. DH and I are both teachers and it hit the fan RIGHT when we got off for the summer. She would nap 2.5-3 hours at daycare but WILL NOT NAP at home, screaming from her crib, eventually falls asleep on me on the couch. It's been rough. She would scream at bedtime but we did CIO at 6 months so we revisited this and it worked. As PP said, once asleep for the night she's out until her normal 6:30. Good news is that it does get better. Today she slept in her crib for a 1.75 hour nap for the first time in weeks and she has gone down without a peep the past 3 nights. Hang in there mama, it's HARD, but things will go back to normal