Why is my son waking up in the middle of the night again?

Question

He's 17 months old and he's had a normal sleeping routine long enough that I've gotten used to it. Now, out of nowhere, for the past 2 weeks he's waking up several times a night and is usually up by 5:30am. This is killing me and I don't know how much more I can take or what's even causing this. I've thought about the theory of him getting molars, he already has 16 teeth. I just don't know. I'm so confused/exhausted/drained. Help!

Answer 1

I've had the same experience, my son is 22 months. Tis still unsolved. Could be that he is going through a growth spurt and is hungry.  

Answer 2

It maybe that he's growing older and requires more solid to stay full. Kids don't always ask for solids , they're perfectly content with a bottle but then they get up because bottles don't keep them full. Just give him less fluids and more solids. My 21 month old sleeps through the night when he's here with us but whenever he stays over at his grandma's...he wakes up several times a night for milk because she doesn't feed him enough solids during the day.

Answer 3

Is he still having a daytime nap?  Is he sleeping too long for this nap?  You could try stopping this daytime nap and see if that helps at all.  Is he going to bed at the same time?  Have there been any changes recently eg moving house, travel, visitors anything different?  Quite often these sort of things will upset a child.  Teeth, as you mention, could be coming through and that could also be the answer.  Between the age of 1 - 2 there are so many developmental changes that your child is experiencing - walking, talking, becoming more independent sometimes these things are enough to disrupt your child's night time sleeping routine.  What is he doing when he wakes up - is he distressed or calm and happy talking to himself?  There are so many things to consider.  My 15 month old will never sleep the same hours each night, even though he goes to bed at the same time each night (7pm) he can wake the next morning anytime between 5.15 and 7.45am.  I have just tried to go with the flow and realise that eventually his sleeping will become more regulated.  The other thing I do is just try to go to bed a bit earlier whenever possible.  When i was having trouble with my son sleeping (pretty much from birth through until he was 9 months old) I went to a sleep clinic and sought other professional advice.  One of the most useful things I did was to keep a record over a few weeks of his behaviour over the course of the day.  I would include when he got up, when he was breastfed/ate meals, when he had naps and for how long.  This gave me a better idea of what exactly was going on and I began to look for patterns that might be affecting his sleep.  The other thing I have to try and remember is that my son is still having 2 naps per day.  He goes to bed at 7 - if he wakes at 5 or 6 am he is having 10 -11 hours of sleep, its not surprising that he wants to get up.  Other things to consider include light coming into the room, noises that are waking him.  

Answer 4

My son is 18 months old and this is happening to me too.  For a few weeks I thought it was because he was cutting his eye teeth.  If I gave him a little tylenol and rocked him he went back to sleep and slept the rest of the night.  If not he would wake up at least two more times.  Once they came in he had gotten used to getting up so he kept on and I had to let him cry it out for a few nights.  This worked and now it's starting again.  I have no clue why.  I do know that babies begin to dream and this can scare them.  My friends all say that it's just a phase and will not last long.  I'm with you though.  As of now I had to get up a 4am with him this morning and he has just gone back down now at 8am.  

Answer 5

i'm having the same trouble with my 23 month old it's killing me too. maybe it's just a phase that all kids go through. i cant figure it out myself sorry i couldnt be of help but rest assured you are not alone lol

Answer 6

I don't know this answer I wish I did, but I will be looking in to more answers to know why.

I just thought you should know that you are not alone in this.  My daughter is the same for the past 2 weeks.

Answer 7

my son is 15 months and wakes up twice a night. now i could understand if i still breastfed him why he would wake up but i am just stumped my son gets enough solids during the day plus he gets a light snack before bed so he is full and he gets a night time drink as well (its just water). he has stopped taking his naps all together during the day so that would make him extra sleepy when bed time came which is usually 730 or 8 pm. he usually wakes up at 11 pm then again at 4 am (but thats cuz daddy gets home and is as loud as he can be). its killing me cuz i am pregnanct with my third kid and i dont get any sleep at all my two kids like to kick and roll all over me and that just keeps me up. So the dream theory makes allot of sense to me cuz my son he randomly giggles or smiles in his sleep and he also cries or whines in his sleep so i hope he gets used to the dreams cuz i am one exhausted momma to be