16month old sleeping problems

Meep33 · 22-10-2006, 20:10

Hi , New to this forum, but wondered if anyone had any advice on bed times for a 16mth old. He used to go down no problem at 7.30 but now is batting his bottle away and rarely goes down without us leaving him crying at 8pm. Is tis too early? He is usually awake at 6 and then we give in at 6.30 and take a bottle in, getting worried he's not sleeoing enough,as he rarely sleeps more than an hour in the day and even that is a struggle.
Any suggestions welcolme.....

charlie9865 · 22-10-2006, 22:16

Hi any child needs 12 hr seeep my son goes bed at 7 pm and wakes at 7 am.
I had this trouble with my son he has only slept through night for last year and half.
My son was on 5, 9 oz bttles a night and just wouldnt sleep he drove me mad i tried increasing solids and everything.
My solution came when i got rid of the bottle,swapped it for a beaker when he was 2 and half .
He screamed solid for 2 nights but onced he realised milk and bottles was gone and that beaker and water was all that was on offer he stopped crying.
And started to sleep through.
I think your bed time is fine try giving him last bottle before bed,give him a warm bath and a bttle while you read him a story then put him to bed.
It will be hard ,but stick at it consistancy is the key.
You could also try cuttng out his nap and trying to play with him wen he is tired i did this too and my sons bed tim at age of 2 was half 6 because he was so exhausted he couldn't stay awake for any ammount of play by then.

hope it all pans out soon charlie

Meep33 · 23-10-2006, 07:44

Thanks Charlie
Kind of what I though 12hrs ish....had a nightmare last night awake 10 till 2.30 , not so bad on my days off but as Im working 4days a week its really getting me exhausted. Think I'll have to persevere with the leaving him in his cot...at least he cant climb out yet but it is really hard to listen to him . Anyway thanks again for the advice.

NatalieSheff · 23-10-2006, 15:11

have to admit i still give my baby a dreamfeed at 11pm or he up at 4am. Mine is 14months ish and down at 8.30 til 7.30-8am
Not sure if this is normal or not but it suits us, i know some people put theirs down at 6.30 but then my hub wouldnt spend much time with him-they say ur baby should fit round you not the other way round
Have you tried lavender in bath? LUSH do a nice baby bath bomb

cosywolf · 24-10-2006, 10:42

I personally think 7.30 is a good bedtime. Mine is 18 months old next week and has been going to bed at 7.30 for months now. He wakes up at 6.30 most mornings, but I insist on naps in the day, too.

Do you have a good, consistent bedtime routine? Ours consists of - upstairs at 7pm, bathtime, then one of us sits down with him in the dark in his room and offers him milk (in a bottle), no chat (but a bit of singing if it's Dad). I then give him a quick count of a hundred just being quiet and cuddled, and it's into bed. These days he demands to be put in bed sooner than that (I know, lucky us, lol!) I say 'good night, I love you,' and I leave. No messing, no looking back. It's taken a while, but he is secure in the routine and generally accepts it absolutely.
It did take some weeks of him crying when put in his cot, but we got into the habit of going outside and chatting if the sound got to be too much for us. It was definitely worth it in the end.

I am going to change it a little now he is a bit older. He doesn't have bottles at any other time, and I would like to cut them out entirely. So it will be bath, milk and a story, a short cuddle in the dark, then straight into bed.

The whole sleeping thing is a nightmare - you have my full sympathy - best of luck!

cayton · 26-10-2006, 16:43

controlled crying i would say its hard but benificial