Need help - 18 month old sleep struggles
Our newly turned 18-month-old stayed awake for 4 hours past bedtime last night and we’re not sure how to handle today, adjust the schedule going forward, or if this is just the 18-month sleep regression and there’s not much we can do.
1 nap schedule - windows roughly 5/6
Wakes 5:30 AM
Nap 10:15 AM - 12:30 PM
Bedtime 6:15ish
(Yes it’s early, he’s always been an early riser and so are we)
Lately bedtime has been taking longer, but last night he just would not fall asleep. He seemed tired, but would either cry, want to be rocked/fed repeatedly, or just stare awake. We tried taking a break during which he was high energy and happy. We tried again later, and even tried a car ride, but nothing worked until he finally crashed from exhaustion.
He only got about 7 hours overnight instead of his usual 10–11.
We don’t do sleep training/CIO and genuinely do not think it would work for his personality. He is extremely willful, high-energy, and escalates hard when pushed past his limit.
Now we’re unsure what to do with today’s nap. Let him sleep longer to catch up, or cap the nap to protect bedtime tonight? Is he under-tired? Overtired? Is this just a regression?