Sleep help please - not a fan of going to bed at 1am

Hi all, there's probably a thread for this somewhere but I don't have time to search for it right now - feel free to link me up though ;)

Isaac (18.5 months) is breast fed to sleep for his nap and for the night, the last week or so he has been fighting the day sleep until he is utterly exhausted and ends up going to sleep anywhere between 2:30 and 4pm. Not exactly ideal, but i was going with it. BUT the last 3 nights he has been REFUSING to sleep at night time too.

We have a solid routine that has been in place for over a year - brush teeth, book breastfeed to sleep. Now he will go through the routine but when it comes to actually sleeping he's fighting it big time. He just want's to get up and play :wall: He's perfectly happy, wide awake and ready to go.... until 1am. He then wakes at 6 to start the day :o

:help: lol

My thoughts are:
- it's just a stage and I have to ride it out (please let it be a short one!!)

- he has decided he doesn't want to be fed to sleep anymore.

What else can I do to get him to sleep?

If I put him in his cot he screams, so can't pat him or anything else that might help him sleep in there (I tried tonight and he screamed for 5 mins until I picked him up again. He did let me feed him until he was *almost* asleep then rock him to sleep after that though?)
He wont let me rock him - just wants to be sitting up and looking around
He laughs when I try to massage him (:dunno: maybe it tickles?? lol)

- or as DF has suggested he may be ready to drop his day sleep. But he gets soo tired by 4 pm with no sleep he is a danger to himself - clumsy, very sooky and grumpy.


Any suggestions?

I am in no way interested in CC or letting him CIO.
I can't take many more of these late nighters. *yawn*

ohhh noo worse thing ever is the night sleeps..
no advise hunni but huge huge huge hugs!!
hope you get some good answers ( you know you will)

:) Thanks hun. I know I'm soo tired lol

Try and run him off his little legs during the afternoon!
If you have to, find a "dancey" cd and get both of you dancing to it, or invite another toddler around and let them wear each other out.
That may help.

Hi Sweets,
One thing I've learnt in the past (I worked in child care for 10 years in the under 12 months room, toddler room, and 3-4's rooms, and did heaps of sleep in-services etc) is sleep promotes sleep...one of the reasons he may be fighting sleep is because his little body has gone past the point of tired, into (for want of a better word..) Hyper.

Oftentimes children will become hyper and wide awake when they are actually tired. Their body wakes them up once they get a little over tired because its to only way it can see to cope...it seems counter intuitive...

Your DH may be right, but I hope not, little ones really need their sleep...and so do their wonderful Mummies!

What time do you start trying to put him down for his sleep during the day? (you're welcome to pm me if you like!)

What about lying down with him? Telling him it's time for sleep, mummy's going to sleep see? That worked for our DD for a while...

At around 20mths or so, we started setting some ground rules with DD... One of them was that when me or Dh puts DD into bed and says "time for sleeping", she has to stay in bed and stay quiet. I don't tell her she has to go to sleep as such, but the rule is stay in bed and stay quiet.

Your DS might be a bit young though...?

knm - he's pretty active, but I'll give it a go thanks :)

Baby wrangler - That's what I keep telling DF re sleep, this time seems different though. When he's overtired he still rubs his eyes/ ears/ pulls his hair, is very clumsy, and of course swings from one extreme to the other in a matter of seconds. but he hasn't been doing that, it's like the milk is enough to revitalise him.
I start trying to get him down around 10:30/11 am and he has a quick feed and is off again. If I push it I am met with major tanties and screaming fits. :rolleyes: I know he's tired, he knows he's tired, but he just will not settle. Then I spend the next 4 or 5 hours trying him every 30 mins or so to get him to sleep until he's finally so stuffed he can't fight me anymore.

OP - he wont feed lying down during the day, he does lots of little things to keep himself awake - kicking his legs, talking (babble + random words he knows), poking me in the eyes/ ears, hitting me, pinching my nipples (OW!) or just gets up and runs away. Most of these he does when I sit and feed him too but not as much. lol When he's mostly asleep (ie if he wakes in the middle of the night and I bring him into bed with us) lying with him works really well, it's just getting him to that point in the first place.
He's not quite cognitively ready for the "time for sleeping", I tell him but he doesn't seem to get it, ITMS?

Thanks ladies :D

FWIW - lately my DS (also 18mths) has been fighting going to sleep at night - he's been going to be anywhere between 7 and 8pm with LOTS of help.
However, he's not been wanting to feed to sleep to start with - feeds for a bit then wants to get up and run around & play some more. I've (&DH) have ended up having to put him in his cot for 5 min or so and put up with the crying/screeching and then get him up to feed him to sleep properly - will feed to sleep properly - not interested in running off halfway through the feed. I don't like having to do it this way but it seems to be the way he wants to go lately :rolleyes:

For awhile there he would go to sleep without feeding to sleep for DH at night but not every night so I was starting to think he might be starting to sleep without the feed to sleep but lately we've gone back to total feed to sleep at night.

DS goes to bed easier if he's had a longer sleep (or total sleep) is more than 1 1/2 - 2 hrs during the day. Mind you if he goes to bed near 7pm we're up around 6 (even earlier - 5:15 the other day) so I'm starting to think I need to push back bedtime to around 8 or later

Leckert - that's exactly what he did Monday night. Maybe it is an age thing??

Last night was much better, he didn't have an arvo sleep... Well he did but it wos only about 10 mins then he was fine for most of the afternoon and went to sleep quite easily at night.

Gosh I hope he's not cutting out his nap :o I don't think I'm ready for that lol

for ages there he was getting away with just 45 min sleep a day and he was going to bed fine around 8pm.

Soo not coping with this tonight, someone send me some calm vibes please. :wall:

:hug:

Thanks CM :) I read him a loong slightly boring story and tried again, He's just gone to sleep. How long for is the question...

I have only just got my DS to bed now, and he is also 18 months! He has been a nightmare for the past few weeks.. very much the same as what you have described. So big hugs, I need one too! I was in tears tonight, so incredibily frustrating.

DS wakes between 6am -7am, usually is ready for bed for a nap about 10am-11am and his day sleep is usually between 2 and 3 hours. But come bed time at night he wont have a bar of it! I have the TV off and we have the dinner, bath, bottle, book and bed routine (well trying as much as we can.. doesnt always work out).

I have just tried taking the sides of the cot, but now he thinks it is a game to get in and out of bed and run back as soon as I see him up. I have ignored him, and just put him back to bed but he finds it hilarous (as he is sooo overtired by this point). He would be happy to just run around, or lie on the couch or floor and watch tele (which is what happens when DF tries to put him to bed! grrr). He was happy to be in bed with me till he was asleep but now I cant even do that..

I am just not sure what else to do!

:hug: When I find the miracle cure I'll let you know!

thanks, and same here!!!