Toddler Growth Spurts

Hello E.,
My daughter (who's name is also E.) is 20 months old. Her sleep and eating has been CRAZY lately. She was sleeping great, then started waking up an hour early, then started taking longer naps, then shorter naps. Then she was eating us out of house and home, then wouldn't touch anything. Madness! She has a stuffy/runny/gross nose right now, but most of this happened weeks before. She did grown a week before her 20 month bday, but it is still crazy here.
I hope this makes you feel less alone =O)
Also, Love gives great advice, she helped me get my daughter to start sleeping through the night.

Hi E.,
What is his sleep schedule? I HIGHLY recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth for info on sleep needs and schedules. Your son could be going through a growth spurt, getting a cold or allergies, or he could be sleeping outside his circadian rhythms which could leave him less rested. On days where he seems a little more tired, I would put him down for naps when he seems tired (but not too tired) and move his bedtime earlier. My daughter seems to sleep and eat more right before she grows, too.
Sincerely,
L.

Is he getting more teeth (i.e. - molars)? Sometimes kids will put themselves down when the big, important, painful teeth are coming in. Just a thought. But, he could be having another growth spurt too. I hope this helps.

I agree with the other Mom...start looking for sales on pants. My 13 year old son will eat like a horse (mostly proteins) for a couple of days then sleep uninterruped for 12 to 14 hours, wake up and everything's back to normal (except that now his pants are too short). He's been doing this since he was a toddler. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your son's appetite and sleep patterns should return to normal in a couple of days. Best of luck to you. :)

E.,

My kids are also going through this cycle, all of them are tired eariler than normal (partly due to daylight savings), and eating us out of house and home, I am having a hard time keeping enough fresh fruits and veggies stocked for what seems like endless hours of snacking, but they eat all thier meals when served them so I can't complain! My 4 month old is also going into a another growth spurt, we are back to 2-3 middle of the night feedings when she will usually sleep a good solid 12 hours at night, her last growth spurt lasted about 2 weeks and we are on week one of this round.. *L* I am a huge believer in let the kids do what they need, weather it be sleeping in later or eating extra helpings of dinner or at snack time, just provide him with healthy things to snack and before you know it he'll be a few inches taller, but back to his old self! Good Luck
X.

My son is 6 1/2 and still goes through changes in sleep and eating patterns like this, so I suspect it's a normal growth spurt and nothing to worry about. Also, don't forget about daylight savings time. Even though your son can't tell time, it still impacts him.

I'd start looking for sales n pants.