18 month sleep regression?

dns05 · October 2013

DD usually sleeps 11-12 hours per night and naps two hours a day, but over the last three weeks she's been sleeping horribly. She's been waking up several times a night crying. Sometimes when I go into her room, it appears she's still sort of asleep. I don't know if she's even aware I'm in there. Other times, she's sitting up crying, but it doesn't take much to lay her back down and fall back asleep. I just can't figure out what she's going through. She's been teething a little (not her molars), but it's never disrupted her sleep like this before. Is this just a normal thing for this age? Anyone else go through it? How long did it take to pass? DH and I are absolutely exhausted all of the time.

TheArmadillo · October 2013

It is pretty normal, from what I've heard. My pediatrician said that separation anxiety begins to peak around then, so often they just want to know that you are nearby.

With my son, we had a couple of really rough weeks and then did a modified sleep retraining that got him back to sleeping through the night.

ELF4321 · October 2013

DD is approaching 18 months and we've had a really rough time with sleep for the past week. She's been waking up in the middle of the night, fights going back to sleep, keeps herself awake so long that she gets hungry, and then usually needs milk and a snack to get back to sleep. She has been night-weaned since 7 months, so this is really new. It's been 2 to 3 hours of awake time in the MOTN all week. She isn't sick or anything, so I'm pretty sure it's separation anxiety. I hope it's a short phase. We're both pretty exhausted and miserable.

DLo13 · October 2013

TheArmadillo said:

It is pretty normal, from what I've heard. My pediatrician said that separation anxiety begins to peak around then, so often they just want to know that you are nearby.

With my son, we had a couple of really rough weeks and then did a modified sleep retraining that got him back to sleeping through the night.

This! I had read that as quickly as it starts, is as quickly as it will stop.....if that makes any sense! But it did just go back to normal one night - nothing gradual, no warning - just back to STTN. I thought teething could also be contributing but I don't really think so b/c she is still teething, and even worse now, and she's not waking up. I think its separation anxiety mixed with some developmental milestones. Good luck!

ktpaladino · October 2013

My 18 month old was sleeping through the night, sometimes up once, after we did the big transition to his big boy bed at the end of August and I was thrilled it went so smoothly! Well, for the past week and a half, he's been waking 3 times a night on average and some nights it takes me hours to get him back to sleep. I'd say I've been up a total of 4 hours with him most nights. It's been awful! His molars and canines are totally through, so that's not the problem. I'm really at a loss. We tried to start some sleep training back up and he did not respond to it the way he did when he was in his crib. It's is much harder when he pops right up and is out of bed before I even make it out of the room. So anyways, yes, it's been happening in our household too and I share your frustration! Hopefully we can get this figured out soon!

Starbear06 · October 2013

I think DS has been going through some sort of separation anxiety at night. Lately, he will cry as soon as we walk out of his room. He used to STTN but will now wake up MOTN and stay awake and cry if we are not in the room with him. I know he is teething as well as a bit congested so I'm just riding it out to see if he will go back to STTN after he feels better. I'm hoping its just a phase and hear that it's quite common at this age.

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