19 month toddler still waking 2-3 times through the night. Is this normal?

[Ella]

Hey there,

I have a 19 month old little boy who is happy and healthy other than an allergy to dairy. The problem is he is still waking 2-4 times a night and even though he goes to sleep in his bed ends up in ours everynight. I'm just wondering if this is normal for his age? We have baby number 2 coming in November, so if this is more of a habit thing I need to try and break it before then, not that I'm bothered if its normal. Would just be super nice to have a full nights sleep for a couple of weeks before we start the newborn routine all over again...

TIA for any advice or experience.

[MantaRay]

Ella, as tiring as it must be for you right now, I'm afraid it is normal! It is believed that 1 in 2 babies still wake in the night by age 2, and 1 in 3 by age 3. I have also found that even once babies are sleeping through, something will happen to change that. This year, our 5yo started school and started waking in the night again.

I wonder if it is an option for you to have your DS in bed with you from the start? Sometimes doing this can result in you getting more sleep. Obviously once the baby comes that will be more difficult, but if it helps your DS get through this time and you as well, then it might be helpful.

[Ginger]

totally normal.
i used to have a nap in the afternoons when ds1 had his nap when i was pg with ds2, just to get a little bit of extra sleep.

[Phteven]

Totally normal
I think what's not normal is the babies who sleep through.

My 4 year old still ends up in my bed a couple of times a week and my 5 year old can't start the day without crawling into my bed and waking me up.

My sister gets frustrated with her teen and tween because they sleep all morning - I have no idea why. I'd love it lol.

[nic]

My 23 month old is still waking 1-3 times a night. He did a brief period of sleeping through for a month, which was pure bliss, then we went away for a weekend, and he hasn't been the same since. He was a 2 hourly waker for the most part of his first 14 months of life though.
I wish I could offer some suggestions to help. We just tried everything we could think of. Massage, baths before bed, or earlier in the day, we bought a sleep sheep which did help a bit, downloaded a CD of Metallica baby tunes, played the ipod in his room, have the air con on have it off, Amby hammock, formula for bed time as opposed to breastfeeds, reading as many books as i could find to explain something or anything at all for that matter.
goodluck, hope your little one discovers the joys of sleeping through the night a bit longer, very soon

[onthefly]

My DS has gotten progressively better since about 19 months of age, but he still often wakes at night. And often several times.
We gave up trying to 'fix' it a long time ago - it's easier to just go with it.
Fingers crossed you get a break before the next one comes along