Q&A: How can I help my 14-month-old son sleep through the night?

The issue boils down to what are called "sleep associations," the people or objects that young children use as comfort, and to trigger sleep. As children awaken during the night (and all do to some degree) they seek that familiar person or object to help them drift back off again. Your son is using you and his dad as his sleep association, and the key goal should be to get him to "learn" to use a different object instead.

So, after that nice pre-bedtime ritual you have set up, put him in his crib, sleepy but not asleep, with a comforting object, and train him to make that last step into full sleep without you. When he awakens and cries out for you, reassure him with a brief presence (but as little contact as possible), then leave. You can follow the Ferber Plan, (outlined in a book called How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber) where parents wait progressively longer intervals before going in, eventually training their children to fall asleep by themselves.

This all probably sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but usually for no more than a week or two. The key to making it work is absolute consistency from night to night, as well as between both parents.

Lastly, though you are right about the average toddler sleeping a 12-hour night, sleep requirements vary greatly among children (and adults), so if your son isn't acting tired during his day and you are putting him to sleep when you sense he needs it, then his amount of sleep may be right for him.