He Was Sleeping So Well...

Almost all toddlers go thru this. Parenting doesn't stop at night. He is very young and it's part of our job as a parent to offer comfort and security and reassurance. It won't create a dependent child or bad habits. For no known reason my 28 month old had me up *6* times the other night. I finally slept in her room with her and she settled right down for the rest of the night. That's all she wanted/needed. Me, some reassurance, whatever.

And if you are going to do CIO you have to follow the method (I shudder even typing that because CIO will never be done in my house). You don't leave them to cry all alone. That teaches them nothing about sleep, getting back to sleep or self-soothing. And what a horrible thing to allow-they throw up or poop because they have been crying so long!? That's not the kind of night i want for me or my kids.

Sometimes toddlers just need their parents in the middle of the night. Just reality. Don't you ever have nights where you don't sleep well? Have gas, belly ache, wake up thirsty, toss and turn? Same with them. Except they don't know what the heck is going on and they turn to the one thing (crying) that will get them the person they depend on most-mom and dad.

When mine are having an off night I go in, assess what's going on-bed not wet, no fever, etc and then offer "mommy's here. shhhhh. time for nite nite" and get them settled again.

It will pass.

My son is a little younger and actually went through a similar thing a week and a half ago. I did the bab mommy thing and brought him to bed with us. The things we checked were; is he cold? (got fleece jammies our house is cold and we dont have the heat on yet), is he super wet?, is he thirsty?, is he going through a growth spurt? It only lasted a week in my house and we are back on our normal sleep all night schedule. My advise let me cry for 15-20 mins and see if he gets himself back to sleep, if not go in his room and rock him but dont leave his room, put him back down, you might have to repeat this but it should work. You will be super tired as I was but this to shall pass.

Here are some sleeping tips that might help you get him into a different routine or at least sleeping a bit longer/better:

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/sleep?utm_campaign=t...

I love your title. It's like I wrote it myself. I will be paying close attention to the advise you get. That said, my suggestions are teething or ear infection. We sort of forget about the side teeth and molars after the front guys come in but those hurts just as bad. That's what I'm going though right now.
And, if it's not teething, I say ear infection. Supposedly, children can have virtually pain free ear infections until they lie down. Thus, making night time a nightmare.
Since he won't stop crying until you hold him, I'd go with one of those two. He sounds uncomfortable. There are those homeopathic ear drops or teething tabs that relieve the pain. Both work great and you can find them at the drugstore. Generally, the change in weather will cause my girls to get congested and tada! ear infection. Good luck.

Around 18 months, the molars come in. This can be much more uncomfortable than previous teeth. I noticed with my daughter that her sleep was choppy too when she was this age... I figured that her gums were hurting just enough that it would wake her up whenever her REM cycle completed and got close to consciousness.

Does he showcany other signs of teething? You can try your arsenal of night-time teething remedies (teething tablets, ice teethers, ambasol gel, infant tylonal) and see if that helps get him to sleep quicker. (I agree that CIO will only anger and aggrevate him more, particularly if he doesn't feel well. If it is his molars, it should only last 2-3 weeks....

Hope you get some sleep!

I would say molars. Try some Motrin before bed tonight. At night the pain seems so much worse to them.

As another person said it could be an ear infection but if he is napping fine it's probably not.
Unfortunately I think that it is something you just have to take in stride. He will get back to sleeping well. If you go in and comfort and rock him it isn't going to ruin his previous longer sleep habits. He will go through SO many different phases of sleeping. I know it is so frustrating when you think you have things down and then your little angel throws you a curve ball. I know you don't want to think of it this way (especially when you are crabby and tired in the middle of the night) but enjoy the quiet, cuddling and rocking you get with him.
I hope this passes quickly for you!