My 17 Mo. Old Quit Sleeping Through the Night...

K. B,

I too am a SAHM and I have three children ages 6, 4, and 2. My middle child, a girl, did the exact same thing, at almost the same age. It terrified me at first because she would wake me up screaming like she was terrified and wake up in the morning with no memories of any bad dreams. I asked her pediatrician about it and she told me that it sounded like night terrors. So when she would wake up screaming like that, I got to her as fast as I could. Then I would pick her up, start rocking her, and sing her Amazing Grace, in very soothing tones. Sometimes it would take only a minute or two, and sometimes five minutes or more for her to calm down. But she would calm down and sleep the rest of the night through. For me, it was easier to rock her and sing to her than to just give her her bottle and go back to bed. It paid off because she eventually grew out of it and for the most part, sleeps through the night now. Good luck and remember that it doesn't last forever.

I would try to give him his milk in a sippy cup and once he sees this is too much trouble then i think he will get the idea! My doctor told me that it takes 14 days to break a habbit so if you can tuff it out for 14 days im sure yall will be much happier

try just patting his back until he falls back asleep, because, it will be hard to break him of his bottle if you start that now. this phase should pass by and if he knows you're only coming in his room once and not bringing anything, he'll get over it faster and it won't become a habit. good luck.

Possibly an ear infection?

Toddlers start dreaming at about your son's age...maybe it's a bad dream? My daughter went through that for about 3 weeks. I just rocked her in the rocking chair and sang to her and she fell right back to sleep.

Hope it helps!

L.

Hi K.,
Been there and done that. I swear we never got a full night sleep again till our son turned 4. Then we had baby #2!!

Anyway, at that age it is typically teething, separation anxiety or night terrors. You may see if his gums are swollen. If so try baby ambesol. Rub it on his gums in the middle of the night and pat or him to sleep.

It could be separate anxiety or night terrors a.k.a. bad deams. You may want to just comfort him by patting, petting or rocking him till he goes back to sleep. If you have to sleep...snuggle with him! (I know the experts say not to, but I work full time and sometimes that is how I got my babies back to sleep so I could sleep!)

Our experience was first was teething, then it was night terrors, then potty training. It seems like there is always a reason to wake up in the middle of the night. So much that even after we got past all that, our son would sometimes wake up, walk in our room and just stare at me. I guess he was just used to waking up!! Good news... they do grow out of it!!!

Personally, I liked to snuggle with my kids when they are toddlers. Give him comfort that he knows your always there for him. Beleive me... he'll grow out of it!!

Lots-o-Luck!,
CJ

If ya'll don't see anything wrong and he is just waking up crying then I would try giving him a water bottle at night when he wakes up. He will get his drink for the night and it won't mess up his teeth. I wouldn't give him a milk bottle or juice cause then he will get used to that and it could be hard to break in the future and can also give him cavities. I wouldn't let him get up and start playing or he will get energized and have a hard time going back to sleep. You could also try to read him a story and see if that will calm him down. Just don't turn on all the lights when you read him the story, try to get a little lamp and read by that light. Good Luck!!

My daughter did the exact same thing at 18 months. We took her to the Dr. and he said that it is very common around 18 months for kids to start having "night terrors". He said it's not a really bad dream like what would wake us adults up but they're dreaming things that are bad to them, like a toy getting taken away, etc.....He told us that we have to wake her all the way up and make sure she's awake after she has one. It took about 3 months but she eventually outgrew them. We gave her a bottle then too to soothe her. We didnt really want to do that but we needed sleep! Now she's back sleeping through the night well except for the fact that she's learned to open doors and so she sometimes appears in our room at 2 or 3 AM to pet the cat that sleeps with us. It'll get better!

I had the same experience with my youngest son when he was around a year old. He would wake up screaming and a "ba ba" was the only thing that would calm him down. I happened to mention it to my pediatrician during a routine visit and he told me that my son could be experiencing "night terrors". Sounded scary even to me! My doctor asked if anything had changed in his routine, if his bed had been moved, if I was trying to wean him from the bottle... He said that the night terrors are very frightening to a little person and that they don't know of any other way to comfort themselves except with what is familiar - for my son, that was his bottle. You might want to talk to your doctor about this and see what he/she has to say. Hope this helps!

I haven't read the other responses yet, but could he cutting a tooth toward the back? Those molars can hurt. :o(

Hope he starts sleeping better soon.

Hi K.
I know the Feeling my son started doing the same thing. But all me and My husband do is walk in his room lay him back in his bed give him his pacifier and tell him it is time to go night night not time to get up and he goes back to sleep. We don't give him bottle, or a sippy cup. You just have to be strong and stick with it. Alot of times if there teeth are bothering them they do this. Hope I helped you out.