Waking overnight

My 19 month old has never slept through the night, so you’re not alone

Are they waking for a reason or they're just in the habit of waking?

Has your toddler been waking through the night for a long time or just recently? That info is sort of the key to determining what is going on. At this age a toddler should comfortably sleep through the night, as in be getting enough calories through the day to not need food/water/milk through the night and be able to link sleep cycles independently (we all wake every 2hrs or so at night but that transition happens seamlessly).

Sleep regressions, night terrors, teething, illness, feeling too cold or hot can impact on sleep but these are generally temporary. If you've struggled with your toddler's sleep for more than a few weeks or months, there may be some bad sleep associations/habits formed that prevent your toddler from sleeping well.

thank you. He has always woken. I can count on one hand how many nights he has slept through since birth ☹️ but as he has grown we have gone from 4+ down to 1-2, but yes that’s what I thought, would have grown out of it by now? Maybe we have formed bad habits without realising.

I think it’s out of habit but don’t know how to change it.

16 months was the last wakeful patch with my girl Berghütte starting to sleep through the night. 1-2 wakes is actually good. Kids wake for a moment of reasons, needing comfort is one of them. For us, night weaning helped and my girl was sleeping through the night.

My 18mo has never slept through the night yet! I don't think anything is wrong, it's just how she is. She can easily wake up 4-8 times each night. Seek comfort (in the form of boob), then pretty quickly falls back asleep

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that it is super normal for toddlers to still be waking frequently. It's definitely gotten worse with her most recent leap, she's waking up more fully some nights and seeking actual food and water to snack on (lots of growing lately)

I found aspects of the possums method useful, as well as sticking to a regular wake up time. I also cosleep as that works for us, and just remind myself this is all temporary and such a short period of time. I hope you find something that works for you! Xx

@Karen how does your toddler fall asleep? I'm assuming you provide some hands on support and that your toddler doesn't fall asleep on their own? The way your toddler falls asleep will be the key to them sleeping through. All older babies and toddlers wake through the night but the difference between those that 'sleep through' and those that need constant re-settling through the night has to do with the older baby/toddler not having the skill to link sleep cycles independently and therefore calling out for parental assistance each time whereas those that can self-settle do the transition automatically. So luck has nothing to do with it. In your position I would explore options to empower your child to fall asleep with as minimal assistance on your part as possible. Some call it sleep training, I prefer to look at it as forming positive habits that will benefit everyone. 'Sleep training' doesn't need to involve abandoning your child/crying. There are plenty of gentle, no-cry methods out there.

They may just need a little more time? My little one woke 2 hourly until around 12 months, then started to have longer and longer stretches. At 18 months I weaned him off BM (replaced with cuddles when/if he woke) and also moved him to his own room (double flood bed). I think by that point the main thing waking him in the night was rolling into the side of his cot, so I noticed a huge drop in wakes from that point (0-1 per night down from a couple). Different kids have different needs/schedules for these things, but time/age is definitely a big factor