14 month old always wakes every night between 1-3am!!

[tgm1974]

My 14 month old son will take an hours nap in the morning and most of the time anything from 20-40 mins in the afternoon. With these sleeps Im lucky if he is in bed before 8.30pm and lately it seems to be 9pm onwards. I have a routine with him that we go upstairs to finish his bottle in my darkened bedroom and then he will usually fall asleep within the next 30 mins!! I think this "falling asleep in my room" has made a rod for my own back as he wont let me put him down in his cot awake or half asleep - I get the arched back and crying. Once he is asleep in my room then he is put into his cot once I know he is in a deep sleep. There never seems to be a night where he sleeps through. The odd one I can probably count. When he was 10 months old we had his sleep pattern to a brilliant routine and he slept through til 7am ... then he became ill with a 10 week cough/cold/flu ... he has never been the same since. When he does wake through the night he will go straight back to sleep once he is cuddled up with you. I used to have him in bed with me but if this happens now I have a little "den" bed in his room so not to take him out of his environment. Can anyone help with suggestions to get him to fall asleep himself in his room - or even stop this waking though the night. Its very hard to try the "cry" routine with myself and my partner working ......... HELP!!

[tigwig]

There isn't really an easy way if you want results soon!
He needs to learn how to fall asleep on his own all over again. I would have thought at 14mths he does still need a day time sleep but not late in the afternoon. Get into a new routine with him and stick with it every day. He needs a bedtime routine with bath, bottle/cup of milk and quiet time then putting down in his own room. He will scream at first but if you are firm and persist I bet after a day or two he will stop.
If you really can't bare to leave him crying, every time he cries cuddle him and reassure him but always put him back down when he stops. This will require a lot of time and effort but he will realise that bed time is for sleeping.
In the night when he wakes you will have to do the same thing. Don't bring him into your room.
Another idea as well could be to swap the bottle to a cup. He doesn't really need to suck from a bottle now and it may help wean him from falling asleep with you and make him feel more grown up.
Good luck!

[sunflower68]

Have you read 'Toddler Taming' by Christopher Green, I can remember it being really good when my 2 were tiny 9 or so years ago; there was some rope trick that he invented (was legal!) to get the tot to go to sleep and I remember using dressing gown belt around door handle or something. Seemed to work I think, good luck though as these sleepless times soon fly by and you are left wondering where the years are going!