13mth old started waking during the night!

Hi

My beautiful darling son Aaron has started to wake up every night which is driving us mad!!
He has been sleeping through the night since 10wks, I would put him down at 6.30 and he would not wake up until 6.30 the next morning which was fantastic. Even after a few changes...moving house, daylight saving, going on holiday I still managed to get him back into his routine.
We went on holiday in Feb with friends for 4nights and my husband changed shifts at work the day after we got back(from 5pm-3am to 5am-3pm) and Aaron has never been the same. He has changed into quite a demanding little boy, cries lots if you dont do what he wants and wakes up nearly every night. He gets lots of attention, lots of love, taken to the park and lots more. I make all my own food for him so it cant be because of additives, its all fresh veg and fruit!
I have tried leaving him to cry, giving him water, putting him in our bed, putting him in the travel cot, sitting by his bed and patting him, stroking his head and lots more. He will go back to bed in the end and goes back to sleep but how I can get him back into his normal routine I just dont know. Nothing is making him see he should not be up at the hour he is which is normaly about 2am.
He really puts it on and you would think something really bad was happening to him but when you get to him there is no tears, stops making the crying noise and gives you a big smile. When you pick him up he wants to play and starts chattering away and gives you kisses!!!
Has anyone else gone through or going through this??? We are going to give him one more week then we might have to call Nagala or somewhere like it to see what the problem is and where were going wrong!

Any advice or help would be fantastic!!

Thanks
Sus

Hi Sus,

I don't have much advice but i have read the Toddler taming book the guide to your child from one to four by Dr Christopher Green - your local library should have it i think? It gives you heaps of info and tips on everything etc.

I have done most of them in the book and it does work. I must say though you do need to be a strong person to do some of the things as it is heartbreaking and you do need a good support person as well.

Controlled crying worked wonders for me and my 13.5 mth old girl now knows that her tanties and no tear performance is not going to get her anywhere. It was the toughest thing i had to go through to be honest but it worked. If you persist and stick to it. Alot of people will disagree with me but for me it did work but it is everyones personal decision of how to deal with situations in there household.

I first did the controlled crying when she was 8mths old as she started then and it took me three nights and has only come back once about two weeks ago so i did controlled crying again and she got the message again after just one night.

I highly recommend the toddler taming book it has been good for me to read and refer too!

Make sure you let us know how you go with it all.

HTH

Jen

We will try anything at the moment!! Last night we left him to cry for about 20mins and he just kept getting louder and louder and sounded sooooo upset so in the end we gave in and went to him as soon as he saw me he stopped making a noise, there was no tears and straight away he was smiling and putting his arms up to be picked up. He was sitting in the travel cot(moved him from his bed) playing with Pooh! Its really frustrating knowing he is playing with us!
Thanks for the name of the book, I will go to the lib when hubby gets home and see if they have it.
Sus

just a question of curiosity, did daddy ever go in to his room upon arriving home from his shift even if it was to give him a kiss or just check on him before going to bed kids are really tuned into this stuff even if they appear to be asleep when you do it, maybe he is missing that contact now that it isnt happening

I will ask him when he gets home...never thought of that! He probably would have just to put the covers back on him or to move him down the bed. We do that now before we go to bed...pull to covers over him and nearly always move him back to where he was when we put him down!

Sus

hi sus

we had exactly the same problem with Archie when he was 10 months old and we were at our wits end thinking that we were doing the wrong thing. He kept waking up and wanting to play all night. we just kept up with going in when he cried and soothing him then leaving him in his bed and walking out til he started getting really upset again, basically we were doing the same thing we had always done but this time it wasn't working. After 2 weeks of this and trying everything else we could think of, i rang Karitane nad the lady told us we were doing all the right things and we should just persevere for another week. 2 days later he finally started sleeping normally again.

i don't really have any great suggestions, just letting you know that we went through the same thing and eventually things returned to normal, its just one of those developmental stages they go through that knocks them out of whack for a while.

Just keep reminding yourself that you are doing all the right things. Maybe ring a parent helpline, they certainly gave me confidence and piece of mind.

Goodluck and im sure things settle down for you all soon