Mommy SOS: 18 Month Growth Spurt?
January 29th, 2010 by ariana
strap me in and feed me mommy!
Two nights ago Jasper woke up at 3:30am demanding milk.. and then proceeded to wake up every 30-60 minutes after that, either crying for milk or needing to be rocked back to sleep. I chalked it up to teething, or maybe the tail end of the second stomach virus he got recently. Unfortunately for us, last night was a repeat performance only worse – he started at midnight and woke up every two hours screaming for milk.. WTF??
I realized that he’s not drooling at all, so he can’t be actively cutting a tooth I started thinking that possibly this is some crazy growth spurt.. but why would he not be eating a ton more during the day (which he is most definitely not) instead of all night long?
Has anyone experienced anything like this at around the 18 month mark?? Please tell me I’m not alone in my sleep deprivation.. better yet, tell me it only lasted a few days because I can’t operate like this anymore, I thought the days of sleepless nights were looooong behind me!
Update: three days later and I take back everything I said about him not eating a ton more during the day! The day after this second sleepless night he’s about tripled his normal food consumption. So long as I keep feeding him copiously throughout the day the night wakings for food have subsided… it’s a welcome change to see Jasper hungry for food!
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Ari, Lola went through this. We finally started giving her a bottle of milk right before bed and putting some baby rice cereal mixed in with it. It seemed to sit a bit longer in her stomach that way. She still woke up one other time but I had prepared another bottle before I went to bed so as soon as she woke up I gave it to her (again with the cereal mixed in) and she slept through the rest of night.
Thanks sara, I’m relieved to hear that.. but how long did this go on for??
about a week I think. I dont really remember but it wasnt so bad after the 1st couple of days because each time she slept for a little bit longer
Could it also be some separation anxiety? I know my niece went through it again at 18 months- pretty bad.
Jennilynn, I don’t think so because I just heard from his dad (who he is with right now) that he is eating everything in sight today!! I also just realized that last night we were reading dr. Seuss’ ABCs and when it gets to the page that has a little sketch of donuts jasper started shouting “ohs, ohs, ohs” (cheerios) and insisted that he eat some before bed even though were were already at the end of bedtime. So I am more convinced than ever we just need to stuff him full of food so he makes it longer at night.
My experience tells me that when my kiddo does not want to sleep or eat, that he’s growing cognitively. When he wants to eat everything in sight and sleeps a lot, he’s growing physically. Jasper is doing a combination of those (eating a lot, not sleeping) so I don’t know what to tell you. But it’s bound to be shortlived, regardless.
Good luck!
JB, that’s a great rule of thumb! I think it’s got to be the physically part because I think he isn’t sleeping because he’s hungry.. which is definitely a foreign concept around here :)
I don’t know, since our daughter is only 16 months, but if there IS an 18-month-growth spurt, we’re going to have to stock up at Costco. I swear she has a hollow leg based on her voracious appetite!
Oh, Ariana….I’m scared. Every thing you post about, usually 2 or 3 weeks later Eddie is doing the same thing. One thing I love about your blog is that I get a little preview of what Eddie will be doing. I feel bad for ya, friend, but I hope we won’t follow you on this one! LOL :)
Ditto Maggie :)
I love getting to see what we’re in for, but I’m sorry you get to take the brunt of it.
Hey, if it IS a growth spurt though — it should be over in about a week… right?
I am on week 6 of my 11 month old doing that. I am about to go crazy. The dr’s has advised me not to feed her at night. I have ignored her advice. I need sleep. We are on the tail end of getting soy out of her system because she is supposidly allergic to it.
Good luck.
Same thing going on here but its getting better!! Jackson will be 19 months soon (dob 7/7/08) and I would say about 3 weeks ago he started fighting naps and waking up at least once a night and waking earlier. I did find on the askmoxie site something about sleep regression at 18 months and that made me feel better. I am giving him a bottle at night which helps. lets hope we get through this!!
Kate, thank you for reminding me to check askmoxie, been meaning to do that! I just updated my post, for us it was definitely growth spurt hunger related.. but he has been fighting going down for bed and naps all the sudden, so am not surprised to hear about the sleep regression either..
I haven’t commented before but it sounds to me like your little guy is having a wonder week. This sort of behavior often comes along with them.
http://www.livingcontrolsystems.com/wonder_weeks/content_ww.html
My daughter is 17 months and she still waking up 2 to 3 times at night i dont know what to do anymore… i let her cry and then after 5 minutes she gets down from her bed and walking to our bedroom… screaming,… and scared…. i need some advice… my husband and I need some sleep dont knwo what to do for her to just sleep thru the night :O(