18-month-old still wakes twice at night — what routine helped your family — looking for recent parent experiences

Nupur Chatterjee

Bedtime is fairly consistent, but we still get two wake-ups most nights. Daytime nap is around two hours. I know every child is different, but I would love to hear what parents changed that actually improved sleep rather than just generic advice. I am trying to decide this week, so practical details would help more than general pros and cons.

20 comments

  • oe5792

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

    • Nupur Chatterjee

      Can I ask roughly what age/class your child was when you tried this? Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

  • th1163

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. The biggest surprise was that the practical routine mattered more than the option that looked best on paper. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.

    • Preethi Kumar

      Thanks for saying this. Online advice often makes normal family life sound much more organised than it really is. The daycare and home using the same language helped us. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

  • Amit Bansal

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

  • ed3892

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. The biggest surprise was that the practical routine mattered more than the option that looked best on paper. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.

  • kx9616

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. We are in Chennai and this came up for us last year. The daycare and home using the same language helped us. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

  • Manoj Kumar

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. We are in Madurai and this came up for us last year. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

  • mo9823

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

  • uv2689

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. Our child reacted better once we explained the change in advance instead of announcing it on the day. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

  • Koushik D

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. The biggest surprise was that the practical routine mattered more than the option that looked best on paper. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

    • ct7788

      We tried something similar once, but probably gave up too early. How long did you continue before judging it? The daycare and home using the same language helped us. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

  • lo1910

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

  • gf9442

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

  • gv4082

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. We changed our approach after about a month because the first plan was too hard to sustain. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

    • wk8144

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Gurugram, so local logistics may be a little different.

  • lb7419

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. Our child reacted better once we explained the change in advance instead of announcing it on the day. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

  • Asha Thomas

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. We are in Thrissur and this came up for us last year.

    • Siddharth Kapoor

      Could you share what you would do differently if you were starting again? Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

    • lo1910

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Nagpur, so local logistics may be a little different.

    • Asha Thomas

      Replying to @lo1910

      This is helpful for us too. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

    • Jatin Mehra

      This is useful, thank you. The practical detail is exactly what I was looking for. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Delhi, so local logistics may be a little different.

    • Koushik D

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. The daycare and home using the same language helped us. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

    • Jatin Mehra

      That is reassuring. We are trying to avoid making this a bigger issue than it needs to be. The daycare and home using the same language helped us. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

    • Asha Thomas

      Replying to @jatin_mehra

      Makes sense. We can try that for a couple of weeks. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

    • wz2730

      We tried something similar once, but probably gave up too early. How long did you continue before judging it? It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We are in Bengaluru, so local logistics may be a little different.

    • fu9374

      Did your child take time to adjust, or was the improvement fairly quick? Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

    • Bharath S

      This is close to what my spouse is suggesting too. I may have been overcomplicating it. The daycare and home using the same language helped us. We are in Mysuru, so local logistics may be a little different.

  • Ramesh Iyer

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. Our child reacted better once we explained the change in advance instead of announcing it on the day. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.

  • hk4799

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

    • oz2539

      I agree with this. Once we reduced the number of moving parts, everyone became calmer. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

    • Koushik D

      Replying to @oz2539

      Exactly the kind of detail I needed. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.

  • mt3306

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

    • hk4799

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

  • Shalini Gupta

    What worked for another child may not fit yours, so I would use the replies here as ideas to test rather than a rulebook. We changed our approach after about a month because the first plan was too hard to sustain. The daycare and home using the same language helped us. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.

    • Nupur Chatterjee

      This is useful, thank you. The practical detail is exactly what I was looking for. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Kolkata, so local logistics may be a little different.

  • Deepthi K

    A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

    edited

    • Sravani Reddy

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

    • Preethi Kumar

      This helps. I am going to add this to the questions for our next visit/meeting. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

    • gv4082

      Did your child take time to adjust, or was the improvement fairly quick? The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.

    • mo9823

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

    • Deepthi K

      Replying to @mo9823

      Makes sense. We can try that for a couple of weeks. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We are in Bengaluru, so local logistics may be a little different.

    • ho5838

      Did your child take time to adjust, or was the improvement fairly quick? We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.

    • Deepthi K

      Replying to @ho5838

      Makes sense. We can try that for a couple of weeks. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.

    • mt3306

      Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We are in Kolkata, so local logistics may be a little different.

    • xu3517

      I agree with this. Once we reduced the number of moving parts, everyone became calmer. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Delhi, so local logistics may be a little different.

  • pa6745

    Consistency between the adults mattered more than the exact method for us. When one person gave in and another held the boundary, the whole thing took twice as long. Our child reacted better once we explained the change in advance instead of announcing it on the day. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.

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