1 Year Old Doesn't Stay Asleep

My first thoughts are to put him back in his crib, and consider how many naps he takes a day, and at what time. My 17 month old tosses and turns all night, but is still in a crib so it's fine. He's also starting to cut his eye teeth, and has lately been waking up crying a few times a night. As an example here's our "schedule". Elijah wakes up around 7-7:30, is ready (on his own) for a nap by 10:30 or 11. He usually sits in his crib and plays till he falls asleep and wakes up anytime between 12 and 2. Yes, sometimes he takes a very long nap. He only has that one nap, even though he starts getting tired around 6. Then by 8 he'll come to me and knod and I know he's ready for bed. He set this schedule himself, I just watch for the signs. So maybe your son is having too many naps during the day. Also sometimes not enough sleep during the day can cause restless nights. Is he warm enough at night? Is he too warm? Is he teething? This can all be reasons he won't sleep well. I hope I've said something that will help. Good luck.

Sounds like you have a lot of great advice here. All I would add (and don't bite my head off) is if you are a breadwinner mommy and daddy is a stay at home ... what is the daily schedule? Is the little one active enough during the day? Does the child miss mommy? Dads can do a great job, don't get me wrong, but, this is a young one and I wonder if there is enough activity during the day; enough nurture and enough (like someone else suggested) routine at bedtime. I know once it's a habit to sleep with mom and dad, it's hard to break. But, you can do a lot to figure out the problem. Spray some of your perfume or dad's cologne on the child's pillow, for example. Playing a tape of mom or dad reading (or just conversing) will make a child fall asleep (I know this! - and I was stunned) many years ago - ha! Try lying with the child in the child's bed and then reduce the time there by five minutes each night. There's lots of things to try.

Just stick with an exact bedtime and keep him up during the day, so he is tired at night. Stay with him by his bedside, play some music for him,or read a book, and wait till he falls asleep. He will catch on eventually, I know it's hard to get them into a schedule, once they are used to something else. Whatever you do, don't let him sleep with you guys, I hear alot of horror stories. They never want to leave your bed after, and it ends up causing marriage problems, and such.
My son always went to bed around 7pm and got up early, usually about 6 or 7 in the morning. He would take a nap about 1pm and sleep for about an hour, if he was still sleeping, I would wake him, so he didn't get too much, so he would be tired for a good night sleep. Play alot during the day. I never had any trouble with him sleeping throught the night.

Hi K., I know how fustrating this is. My daughter was the same way for many years. She never wanted to go to bed, hated her crib and couldn't stay asleep through the night. For my daughter it took until she was about 5 before she would stay in her own bed and not get me up. All I can suggest is stick with what ever routine you feel comfortable with and just don't give up. One think I did do when she was a little older was put a TV in the room with her. I know alot of people thought it was a bad idea but it helped keep her in bed long enough to fall asleep and the noise helped put her back to sleep when she woke in the middle of the night.

Does your son possibly have asthma and/or allergies also? My daughter had a similar problem when we switched her to a toddler bed ...only to learn months later she has asthma and that's why she wasn't sleeping through the night...We knew she had allergies, but allergies often times go with asthma. At the time she had showed no signs of asthma such as coughing or wheezing...but then months later the signs did show..and sometimes they wheeze,and you can't always hear it,unless you have a stethoscope and know how to listen to their lungs(which fortunately for me I have this because of my previous job)...Hopefully this might help you out, just another prospective to look into:)

Non-sleeping toddlers will definitely take a toll on the family. I'd get your little guy back in a crib. From all of the research I've seen, keeping kids in a crib until closer to 3 is a good idea. I guess little ones (younger than 2 1/2-3) don't understand that there's an invisible barrier around beds that they aren't supposed to cross.

What about nutrition? Is he eating high caffiene or sugary sweets throughout the day? Maybe cutting those back might help.

I don't know what your bedtime routine is, but being consistent every night helps out (bath time, books, lights out). When your little guy wakes up in the middle of the night and cries, go in there and say, "It's bedtime darling," and lie him down. The next time go in and say, "It's bedtime" and lie him down. The third time (and beyond) just lie him down and don't say anything. This could take days for him to actually grasp that there will be no more waking up in the middle of the night and no more mom and dad's bed. This is what has worked for us. Sweet dreams...I hope :)

I have twin 4 year olds and one of them was never a great sleeper and is still not. He still wakes up and comes into our bed in the middle of the night. I put him back into his own bed, never letting him get used to my bed. The problem I had is that having two kids with the same routine, one a great sleeper the other not. I really do not think it has to do with routine rather I think its the child. Your child is probably like mine, a child who is not a sound sleeper. One good thing is that it does get easier. Now I just say "Noah, you need to go back to your own bed". And he does most of the time. Once in a while I need to carry him back into his own bed. But, it nothing like it used to be.

When you find out, let me know - We have the same problems with my 3yo!
S. B