Overall—not just bedtime but overall—establish and stick to routines.

“The Sleep Lady’s Good Night, Sleep Tight” by Kim West, RN, is a great resource. Good luck!

Every baby is different too. Even twins may require different individual strategies.

I couldn't tolerate letting babies cry so never formally trained them, just followed their natural cues, provided soothing environment, read stories and sang lullabies. I'm a patient and nurturing person so it worked but I don't see it working for every parent.

Anonymous wrote:We have an 18mo son who has been a lousy sleeper for a while. We moved when he was 12mo and we have generally traveled and bounced around a lot and it has been tough on his sleep. We just got back from a trip overseas where he ended up sleeping in our bed with us from 2am-7am every night. We've been back for 2 weeks now and we are still struggling. We understood for a week with the time adjustment but now we are at a loss. He wakes up every night around 2-3 am and then doesn't really sleep the rest of the night. Wondering if anyone has any advice. I tried the "cry it out" last night but he ended up just crying forever so we had to go get him.

Note- we still do 2 naps a day but are transitioning to 1 nap/day. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Many pediatrician friends used her advice for their babies.

https://takingcarababies.com/

An 18 month old *who* won't sleep...

Given the changes in your son's routine and the recent travel, it's understandable that his sleep patterns have been disrupted. It might take some time for him to adjust back to his regular routine. When it comes to sleep training, every child is different, so it's important to find a method that works for your family. You could try gradually transitioning him to one nap a day to establish a more consistent sleep schedule. Additionally, creating a calming bedtime routine and ensuring his sleep environment is comfortable and conducive to sleep might help.

It's not the travel, OP. Some kids are just tougher sleepers. I lived and traveled overseas with my child during the baby/toddler years quite frequently and over very long distances. She has lived in hotels, loud apartments in foreign countries etc. and has always been a great sleeper. I actually think the chaos helped make her a better sleeper - she got used to tuning noises out very early on.

I would say do some kind of Ferber method where you gradually increase the amount of time out of the room.

Anonymous wrote:1)Two sets of blackout curtains (even put a towel under the door) - no light.
2) And a loud white noice machine.
3) Same bedtime EVERY night.
4) Same wake up time every night
5) A real morning activity AND a real afternoon activity (pref outside of the home)
6) Only go to the room twice (after that no more - let him/her/they cry)
7)Repeat the above every day.

Mostly this (although I think PP means same wake up every morning, yes, even on weekends!).

For #6, we went with the 5-10-20-40 minute (or alternately 5-10-15-20 depending on your stomach for the crying) routine. First time, you wait 5 minutes. Second, 10 minutes. We never had to go beyond the 20-minute one but we had friends who got up into the 40+ minute territory for a few nights. Now they're all teens and can sleep like forever (it seems!).

Hang in there. It is frustrating but if you can get in front of it now, you'll all be better off.

It’s a common sleep regression time, because they’re old enough to have object permanence and know how to cry to make you come in. The only thing that worked for us was cry it out, which is pretty brutal at that age — way different from sleep training an infant! But it works in 1-2 nights and then you should be home free. And yes, for sure drop the second nap. That will help a lot.

1)Two sets of blackout curtains (even put a towel under the door) - no light.
2) And a loud white noice machine.
3) Same bedtime EVERY night.
4) Same wake up time every night
5) A real morning activity AND a real afternoon activity (pref outside of the home)
6) Only go to the room twice (after that no more - let him/her/they cry)
7)Repeat the above every day.

Consistent schedule and commit to whatever program for at least 2 weeks before giving up.

If one parent is a softy, the other might have to tackle this solo to get CIO to work. My DH could not bear CIO, so I banished him to the basement for a week while I sorted the kids' sleep. Kids are now great sleepers.

Also, FWIW, some kids are just crummy sleepers. Even though the CIO at 18mos was successful with my DD, when we weaned her off the pacifier at 3, her sleep went off the rails again. So much so that we actually tried to get her back on the pacifier! At 5, after trying many, many different techniques, she finally started sleeping through the night reliable. Now she sleeps like a champ, but it was a long road to get there. So, don't beat yourself up if nothing seems to work, but just keep trying.

One nap, consistent schedule (try not to travel until you have a routine sorted), consider committing to either cry it out or cosleeping, whichever is easier for you

Switch to one nap asap.

What's your definition of "forever"? How long did he actually cry?

I would pick up the Sleep Easy Solution - I know it has advice for all ages.

We have an 18mo son who has been a lousy sleeper for a while. We moved when he was 12mo and we have generally traveled and bounced around a lot and it has been tough on his sleep. We just got back from a trip overseas where he ended up sleeping in our bed with us from 2am-7am every night. We've been back for 2 weeks now and we are still struggling. We understood for a week with the time adjustment but now we are at a loss. He wakes up every night around 2-3 am and then doesn't really sleep the rest of the night. Wondering if anyone has any advice. I tried the "cry it out" last night but he ended up just crying forever so we had to go get him.

Note- we still do 2 naps a day but are transitioning to 1 nap/day. Any advice would be very much appreciated.