Son Doesnt Sleep

It could be something as simple as missing his sleep cues. Babies this age usually got to bed between 7-8 pm. Anything later and you are dealing with an overtired baby. Sleep cues include zoning off, getting clumsy, irritable, fussy, yawning, rubbing eyes, less active, etc. When you notice these signs, get him to bed as soon as possible Keeping him up all day or late at night is one of the worst things you can do. Start off a bedtime routine at around 6:30 or so, set a bed time and stick to it. It won't happen overnight, but eventually, with a good routine and bedtime, baby will fall in line.
Also, like the other mother suggested- make sure he doesn't have an ear infection. My daughter sleeps poorly when she has one.

Our little guy did this about 12 months...and the thing that helped us was making sure he got enough sleep during the day. If they are too tired, they won't sleep. Starting getting him to sleep during the day as much as possible and then he should sleep at night more. Good luck!

To the doc you go. It could be an ear infection or something. Keeping them awake just makes them overtired and defeats the purpose. Something's going on if he is just sleeping 2 hours.

So frustrating, I know.

What do you mean by "calming tablets"??? Are you giving him some sort of supplement? Be careful with that stuff! I'm a nutritional consultant and I do a lot of work with kids with brain stimulation and behavioral issues. Even stuff labels "all natural" is often garbage, made in other countries, dosages untested, etc. etc. Don't do it!

If he's not sleeping until 5 and then getting up at 8, he's sleep-deprived. He needs a nap for sure at 18 months. Keeping him up beyond that can make him so overtired that he can't settle down.

There are calming routines you can do, but those involved really relaxing (you AND him!), and not the routine use of tylenol. White noise machines can help, CYO is okay but not for long periods of time. Do you have a standard routine - bath, story time, maybe some lullaby CDs, etc.? It has to be the same every night. You can vary who is putting him to bed at night (mom, dad, grandparents) but the routine has to be the same.

Don't keep him up too late. He's just overtired, for sure.

Sounds like you're changing his bedtime all over the place hoping something will help. But that doesn't really ever help - all it does is mess him up. Don't put him to bed real late - that just means less sleep for everyone.

One of the reasons that he is fighting going to sleep is because you are not consistent with him. You are frustrated and tired and just trying this and that. It won't work. Overtiredness can prevent a child from sleeping as well.

He needs one nap in the middle of the day, right after lunch. Don't let him sleep more than 2 hours. Make it every single day. Don't let him out of his room when it's time for the nap. If he wants to cry for 2 hours, let him. But from 12:30 - 2:30 is quiet time and he doesn't get to have you to play with. When he realizes he is stuck in his room, he will either play quietly or fall asleep because he is bored. If you get him up at 2:30 every day, he will finally get used to the new routine. Don't take him anywhere during this time. This is sleep schedule boot camp.

At night time, NO TV after dinner. NONE. TV stimulates a kid's brain. Bath time and brushing teeth and quietly reading books until 8:30. Then put him to bed. Do not let him come out of his room. You and your husband should start going to bed early. Do not go into his room. Period. If he screams, he screams. When you have spent TWO WEEKS making him stay in his room without going in to deal with him, he will finally understand that you are not going to continue entertaining him, and he will finally start to sleep. He'll wake up because he doesn't yet know how to self-soothe, but if you aren't going in and bailing him out, he will finally learn how to fall asleep.

I will tell you that with a child who sleeps as little as yours does, (if it really is as you are saying here, and not just what it seems to be when you're sleep deprived and about to lose your mind), that your son may have ADHD. When he is older, you'll know better. Right now, it is IMPERATIVE that you keep him on a strict schedule and stop running circles around him trying to find things that "work". NOTHING is going to work. You just have to bite the bullet and put the onus on HIM. It is his job to go to sleep. It is your job to have a safe room for him where he cannot get hurt, food in his stomach, a quiet bedtime atmosphere without a lot of stimulation (reading books, quiet music on a CD) and lots of DAYTIME love and attention. However, night time and naptime are his ALONE.

Be 100% consistent. Do not vary or it will undo any progress that you will make. This has been going on for a while. Don't expect this to change overnight. You must perservere. If you don't, you'll end up in the hospital due to exhaustion.

Good luck.
Dawn

Dawn had some excellent suggestions. I had 2 kids in 3 years and my husband was working 80 hour weeks so I had to be able to put baby no. 2 &/or 3 to bed with little or no fuss because there was no one home to watch the other one. My sister-in-law, who is a physician came to my rescue with a book entitled Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby by Marc Weissbluth. He is a pediatric sleep researcher. The book is an excellent resource because he explains why it is OK to let your child learn to fall asleep by self-soothing. Yes, this involves crying to sleep which I agree is very hard to handle. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the backing and reasoning of a professional. My oldest son took 3 nights before he learned to fall asleep, the other two only needed 2 nights each. They are happy, well adjusted young adults and I can tell you with confidence that letting your kids cry themselves to sleep will not harm them in the long run.
The book also tells you what to do after and during a vacation or when a child is ill. He explains sleep disorders (night terrors among others) and answers many other questions about kids sleep needs. He explains sleep needs through high school. It is a great book that I give to many of the new mothers that I meet. It is available through amazon and I have seen it at target.
Basically you child is sleep deprived- kids get hyper when they are over tired. He needs a regular schedule.
I can't say enough about how helpful the book is because you will use it as a resource over and over, every time you have a question about your ever changing child and his needs.

have you tried just putting him to bed at 7:00 every night, regardless of what is going on? he's only 18 months so if you have tried all the things you've listed, it's physically impossible you've stuck with any of them for any length of time. at our house, bedtime is bedtime. it means you go to bed, lights are turned off, and it's time to sleep. if he can't get to sleep right away, that's okay. it's still bedtime. consistency is key. if he knows that getting up, moving around, playing, calling for mama, gets him more play time - he'll keep doing it. follow the advice the ladies give. consistency is KEY. it has to be done every night, for several weeks. don't react, don't make a huge deal out of it if he doesn't go down right away. but bedtime is bedtime. naptime is naptime. hang in there mama. mamas missing out on sleep makes it even worse. you'll get through this. it won't hurt him to be in there awake for awhile.