My 18 Mo Keeps Waking up in the Middle of the Night

find a way to be able to lay down with him in his room (if you really prefer him to sleep in his room). and then get up to leave the room after he falls to sleep.

with all three of our boys I have laid down with them to help them get to sleep and then get up when they have fallen asleep. not every time, but sometimes

our boys are 13, 6 and 18 mths old.

oh, I just thought of this site:
http://www.freewebs.com/sidecarcrib/ maybe if you need to try this, it may also help you all to get a good night's sleep. this is how we have our crib and bed set up. it's not my site...but we have used this set up for our 2 youngest children. now the 6 year old is in his own room...and has been since about age 2 or 2 1/2. I can't remember when we moved him to his own room. he shares a room with his older brother.

It sounds like you have him in his own room. I had the crib in my room with both of mine (older one is in a bed in his own room since 2.5 years, 1 year old is still in our room). Because we were in the same room waking up at night was a bit easier to manage. I have found that when teething a small bottle ( just 2-3 oz.'s) with tylenol helps my daughter go back to sleep. My daughter also likes her pacimal which is a stuffed animal with a removable pacifier sewn to it's head even though she doesn't use the paci much. She also has an aquarium toy with dim lights and soft music in her crib.

How long has this been a problem? We have the same with our son. We have no idea why he gets up in the middle of the night (he's 3 but has had this problem since he was an infant). When he comes in bed with us, he loves to be right next to one of us - body heat is my assumption. I'm guessing he's waking up because he's cold, and now it's become a problem.

Have you taken him to the pediatrician to rule out an ear infection or something else that might be waking him up in the first place?

Good luck!

Does he have a pillow yet? That really helped my son at his age. Also, does he have a lovie? He could be getting some teeth, try giving a little bit of advil or tylenol before bed and see if that works. Also, make sure he gets a snack before bed. My son likes a hot pretzel or some applesauce with baby cereal.
Also, use a fan in his room and make sure its the right temperature. Around 65 degrees is best. Also, consistency is the key. I nurse my son to sleep and then put him down in his crib, turn on his music, and then keep my hand on his chest. Then I leave once he is asleep. He sleeps great!! I also attend to him when he gets up like if he is sick or has a bad dream. Do not ignore your baby and this too will pass. Maybe your son is not tired enough?

We all go through varied levels of sleep throughout the night. At this age, if they are in a light sleep and hear something, they wake up. My son (also 18 months) went through a period of time about two months ago when he woke up around 4 am looking for one of us. If we didn't answer him, he'd call for the cats!

He needs to learn how to soothe himself b/c you can't continue to wake up with him. I would suggest playing soft music in his room at night as "background" noise or some other white noise. Depending on where you live there may actually be something waking him up!

At 18 months old, you are assuming that he doesn't like to be alone, but the odds are pretty good he didn't actually tell you this. Of course he would rather snug in with you, but that won't help him (or you) in the long run!

Use the CIO method (the actual Ferber method) and be consistent. Put a lovie in with him, it will eventually work. Please don't sneak out after he's asleep- he'll get very upset when he wakes up and you're not there! Keep your bedtime routine the same and use the Ferber method (it's not about letting him cry until he passes out).

My son still wakes up at some point during the early morning hours, but will turn on his "fish" and find his cuddly monkey and hang-out until he falls back asleep. This was a pretty long process, but he sleeps a solid 11 hours now!

Good luck-

Hi G.,
I have a 19 month old boy who only recently started sleeping through the night. We were going through the exact same thing you are describing. He would fall asleep but awake many times during the night. We too would "give in" in the hope to get some sleep and bring him in our bed. We had tried the CIO in the past and had the same experience. We finally decided to go all the way with CIO and although it was terribly painful, it worked after 2 nights. He now sleeps 12 hours straight and we are all sleeping soundly. I know it is hard I never believed in it but it is really successful. Good luck!
J.