Peaceful Nights » 12 - 18 Months

Q: I have a beautiful 18-month-old daughter who surprises me everyday with new words and actions, she is keeping me on my toes but she is a terrible sleeper. She has never been a good sleeper from day one but now its getting out of hand. My husband and I have tried everything eventually I think we just needed some sleep that we started putting her in our bed but I fell pregnant again and she is such a terrible restless sleeper that now we've put a mattress on the floor for her in our bedroom to sleep, but she still wakes most nights crying looking for us. I have ordered a proper bed for her as she...

Q: I have twin boys – 26 months of age. In March they started to go to crèche for 2 days a week in the mornings and 1 day a week full day. Now they are at crèche full time for 5 days a week – since mid- August. At home they usually had a 2 – 3 hour afternoon nap and went to bed at 19:00 and slept through to 07:00. At crèche they sleep for 1 ½ hours to 2 hours, but the Stefan has now started to wake up at 6:00 or even 5:30 in the morning. This is very disrupting and I know he still wants to sleep – his brother still sleeps to about 07:00. How much sleep should they have at this stage in a 24...

Q: I have just read the Q&A on the toddler constantly waking at night and toddler waking at night, these both describe my almost 18 month old daughter to a tee. We have tried the controlled crying by Dr Greene but with no success, she cried for 5 ½ hours the first night and for 8 hours the second night, and only stopped crying because I went to get her as I couldn’t take it anymore. This has now also created the problem of her being terrified of her cot and screaming whenever we take her near it. We have been slowly coaxing her back into it and now over 1 month later she is slowly getting there...

Q: Please help! My son is 16 months old and perfectly healthy. He goes to sleep at about 08:00 with me lying next to him while he drinks his bottle (approximately 150ml) and I then put him in his cot (awake) with some soft toys to fall asleep. The problem is that he wakes up frequently (sometimes every hour) for either a bottle or his dummy. How do I wean him from the bottle at night before I start controlled crying? Please also advise when your toddler workshop will take place.  A: Oh dear, it sounds as though you are having a tough time with your little one. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to...