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Hi! I’m Dana Obleman, creator of The Sleep Sense Program. If you’d rather read than watch, I’ve transcribed the text of this video below.
This week’s question comes from Kara:
“I’ve been using the Sleep Sense method for a while now with my 6-month-old and everything is going well. He is awake for two hours and then sleeps for one hour at each nap. His bedtime is 7:30. My question is regarding the holidays. What should I do about the busy days at both Thanksgiving and Christmas? I’m not sure he will be able to sleep in his car seat and I am not sure how to handle this situation.”
That is a great question. With the holiday’s approaching, I thought this was a good subject to talk a little bit about before everyone goes on Christmas holidays, which can be a busy time. There might be people you need to see and maybe people who haven’t met the baby yet and lots of aunts, uncles, family, and friends so what should you do?
With travel, my first piece of advice to parents is, don’t over schedule. You know a few days of him missing his nap or taking 10 minutes in the car from here to there and going to bed later than normal can lead to an overly tired baby. When babies are overly tired, they can sometimes forget and what they normally forget is how to sleep well.
You might find after a few days of being overly tired he is crying hard and long at bedtime out of the blue or not going down for his nap; acting up in general, which is usually caused by being overly tired.
As best you can if it’s just a day or two of one missed nap or if bedtime is bit later than normal, then that is okay. I mean, life still needs to happen and you still need to attend family events and visit. However, as much as you can, honor your baby’s schedule.
If I traveled with my kids, I always made sure there was a place for them to nap when it was naptime. I also made sure there was a place for bedtime as well. We took our pack-n-play with us just about everywhere. I would do a bit of the bedtime routine and put my son down in a quiet room somewhere and the more we did it, the better he was.
He would occasionally test the waters in new locations with a little bit of protest to see if my rules were still the same. My rules were always the same so he knew quickly that it did not really matter if we were in grandma’s house or in a hotel; the rules were still the same and I still expected him to sleep and sleep well.
If it is a major change such as, jet lag and your baby is having a difficult time adjusting to the new environment, you can spend a couple of days in the room.
We went to Costa Rica for a month when my daughter was two and the time change and difference to her daytime schedule caused her to have a hard time with her nap. When we got there she was upset and this is a baby you know who slept well just about from the day she came home.
This was unusual for her and I knew it was caused by the anxiety of traveling. I just spent a day or two standing beside her crib until she fell asleep. Then gradually she got used to the environment. I would exit the room at naptime and she got used to it.
It is okay to bend your rules a little because it could be anxiety causing the problem. Staying in the room for a day or two can ease your child into this a little bit but be careful that it does not go too far. You do not want to pull the baby into bed with you, feed, sleep, or rock him/her to sleep. You do not want to go back down roads you have already journeyed through successfully.
Be careful that you don’t backslide. Sometimes you just need to explain to people, she’ll be awake from 2 until 7 or from 4 until 7, that’s visiting hours. Most people understand when you explain that naptime is from these hours and visiting time is after the fact so keep those things in mind.
If everything fell apart, let’s say you went back to bed sharing or you started nursing again; don’t make it the end of the world. Once you get home, you just start all over again. You just get right on page one of Sleep Sense Program and start again knowing that because your baby already has the knowledge of how to sleep well and independently, it’s just a reminder. It’s not going to be as hard as it was the first time and it usually only takes a day or two before your baby is back on track and realizes, “Okay, we’re home now. Things are back to normal and this is how I do it.”
Keep that in mind when traveling through the holidays. Keep things as close to home as you can and honor your baby’s need for sleep. Thanks for your question and sleep well!
To learn more about The Sleep Sense Program, click here — or you can click here to order now!
To ask a question about your child’s sleep, just leave it in the ‘Comments’ section below! I’ll choose one and create a new video answer each week!
hi Dana
my little baby is 1 year old.the problem is she doesnt go sleep before 3 or 4 oclock at night
and after that when i put her in her cot she wakes up crying after 1 hour then she need feed and when i try to calm her down she still cry its very tiring i cant go sleep through all night .she doesnt take that much nap in the morning so sleeping in the morning is not the reason can u tell me something about it and she doesnt follow any routine aswell.
Hi Dana – Thanks for this opportunity. Our son, Kona, is 22 months and has become used to myself or my husband laying down with him to fall asleep since he’s out of his crib and since his baby brother was born 12 weeks ago. He has not slept through in 12 weeks and we’ve tried a new routine to eliminate the milk just before bed and to read to him in his bed. We need to teach him to self-soothe and fall asleep without us being in the bed with him and we would like your advice on how best to do that. Tonight was the first attempt where I read to him, kissed him goodnight, turned off the lamp and left the nightlight on and walked out of the room. He cried and walked out of his room approx. 7 times before I agreed to lay with him for a few minutes which ended up being until he fell asleep. I don’t believe in letting him cry it out and would like to know how to keep him in his big bed without coming out of his room. Many thanks.
I have a 2 1/2 year old that continues to night wake. I have moved back her sleep time 9:00pm. (and she does take one afternoon nap). but my biggest issue is still night waking. It starts from 2 hours after she sleeps to (11 pm) and ends about 4-5 am. and it is numerous times…she wakes up crying and wants to get into our bed. I also have a 41/2 month old that is being treated for reflux so she wakes up atleast twice a night. Any suggestions on me sleeping in my child’s room or bringing her bed into my room?
OK, my biggest problem with my 2year old is that she wont go to bed without a fight when I put her to bed. She will cry and carry on for hours and make me sit on her bed, where she continues to cry. When her dad puts her to bed she gets into bed and covers herself up and goes to sleep, no problems.
I problem i that Daddy is a Shift worker and I very rarely home to put her to bed.
I desperately need help, I dread night fall.
Please Please help.
Dear Dana,
My husband and I wonder what are your thoughts/ advice regarding the following scenario:
Our child (she is 11 months old) sleeps with us at night in our own bed. We believe in this approach and feel comfortable having her with us until she is ready of her own to move to her room.
She is waking up 2-6 times per night. Is it possible to have our child continue to sleep with us AND sleep an entire night without waking up several times?
Almost every time she wakes up, breastfeeding is the only thing that will soothe her back to sleep. If not, she begins to be quite vocal and agitated.
Thank you in advance for your input.
Kind regards,
Cindy
We are on night 4 of the “stay in the room method” with our 2 year old, and each night is getting worse. Tonight was the first time he got out of bed so I tried closing the door, he thought it was a great game! I stayed out for a few minutes and when I went in he was sitting on the floor reading books. He has been waking the past 3 nights and staying awake 1-3 hrs, which he didn’t do before. I am thinking of switching to the “Leave and check” method but I know he’ll think that’s a great game as well. I tried this one about a month ago (as suggested by another book I read) and I gave up after putting him back in bed over 70 times! I’m frustrated, exhausted and so is my 2 year old – I need some help!!
I’ve been using the plan but may not be using it exactly as I should. My son is 6 weeks old and since he was a week old he will sleep 4-5 hours at night. I lay him down when his eyes start to close and is very drowsy. However, I can’t get the amount of time he sleeps to increase. I know you mention this time is about right for a six week old, but shouldn’t the time get longer rather than stay the same?
My 19 mth old has started to cry on and off 3- 5 times everynight. He goes to sleep with no problem and then couple of hours later will start whining & crying. In the morning he will wake up like nothing has happened. We have started to ignore him and try to sleep through this, of course not getting a good night sleep.
please help!!!
My 3 1/2 year old daughter is waking up 1 to 4 times throughout the night. She wants to be tucked into bed but when i walk away from her she jumps out of bed and runs after me crying. my husband is so frustrated that if i dont go to her my night will turn into a screaming match between my husband and my daughter. I am not sure what to do any more. If i stay in her room she will try to talk to me and ask tons of questions. She tells me that she can’t close her eyes. We set up a bed time routine with a bath, pajamas, desert, play a game, brush teeth, read a story and in bed by 8pm. Last night i was up from 1am to 3am. I can’t keep doing this. Please help me. Any advice would be great thanks.
bailey is 18months and is always waking at 3 then 5 in the morning. i leave him to cry but he still does not give in- I leave him for about 15 mins then end up giving him a bottle at 5 more often than not, this is becoming very tiring and can see no end to this.He goes to bed about 8 to 8.30
Dear Dana,
My question is in regards to daytime naps. Are you sure it is necessary to put a baby in a crib for her naptime? I explain why I am asking this. I have read quite a number of books about baby’s sleep, and if there is one thing common in them then that is putting baby to nap in different places and situations- one day a carseat, another day stroller…Don’t you think that putting baby to sleep and nap in her crib only will create another very stron sleep association that is no different from nursing to sleep, or rocking or taking a walk with a baby in her stroller?
I started your programme yesterday but I am really not sure what to do with daytime naps since my daughter has been really good napping in her stroller on the balcony. and there is fresh air too- she gets 2 times 1,5 hours of fresh air every day while sleeping, I don’t think I could walk with her as much when she is awake.
My daughter is 8 months old.
I hope you choose my question and thank you for answering.
Hello,
I have a 10 1/2 month old son and he gets up 1 to 2 times a night. (12am to 2am to 3am-6am) He goes to bed at 8pm and naps for 2 – 3 hours during the day. Also it seems like he is teething all the time he has 9 teeth already. He has acid reflux as well so it is hard to make sure his tummy if full when I have to feed him little meals more often! I have to go to work soon and I need him to sleep through the night. Please help!
My daughter is 2 months old and from day 1 she was a pretty good sleeper, but over the past week or two she has started to not sleep during the day and cries everytime i try to put her down. She also is starting to do it at night time. Its really starting to take its toll and is driving my husband and i insane cause we have no idea what we have donew for it to change so dramatically. Please Help
Hi
Our Daughter is 2 1/2yrs old and has never slept through. She goes to bed at pretty much the same time every night, 7.30pm. She is more than happy to go to bed, giving everyone a kiss and cuddle, and only on very rare occasions has a bottle to fall asleep. She will then wake up any time after 10.30 wanting milk. She can do this once a night or as many times as 4……We initially gave into this habit due to the fact that we can barely get her to eat any dinner and she was starving – you could hear her tummy grumbling. Now obviously it has turned into a habit. We have tried NOT giving her the bottle many many times but it always results in a full night of tears and everyone being awake. She will then not settle until one of us sleeps in her room with her (I refuse to let her sleep in our bed).
Help!!!! we are at our witts end and really don’t know what approach to take
emma is stay not sleepping in her bed so will get up at 4:00 or may be at 5:00 so wont can i do to stop that because i have to go out on monday morrowing at about 3:30am or at about 4:00am ok so if i am stay at home i will have to put her in with my mum that is emma’s nanna ok and i will have to put her in with your nanna at about 2:30am or at about 3:30am just befor i go so wont can i do?
Hi
I have a month old son. I try to put him down to sleep he won’t sleep. I hold him and falls asleep in my arms, just when i put him down on his crib. He opens his eyes and won’t sleep and cries. I think he got used to my arms. How can he go to sleep without my help. Help please. I don’t know what to do.
I have a good sleeper on Weisbluth’s plan (like Sleepsense) but now I wonder if I am missing something. For a while now I notice that my daughter, in bed at 7pm, stays awake approx.30min-1.5 hours (just playing) Sleeps till just before 7am and takes a 2-3 hour nap. I usually have to wake her from that nap and she can me cranky when she wakes up. Nap time is usually about 1230-1300. She goes down between 12 and 1 pm.
What am I doing wrong???
Hi, my baby is 8 months old and started sleeping through the night at 4 months. He is now 8 months old and is waking up every 3-4 hours. I do not rock him to sleep and allow him to fall asleep on his own. What do I do when he wakes up through the night? Do I let him “cry it out?”
My grandson is 9 months old and lives at 10,500+ feet in the mountains. He had to have oxygen in the first couple of months, but was able to get off the oxygen when his blood levels tested higher for oxygen.
He slept fairly well (he sleeps in his parents’ room) for the first several months; however, lately he has been waking several times a night.
He has had a couple of ear infections, but even with those, he still sleeps better at our elevation of 6,000 feet.
My daughter feels certain it has something to do with the high altitude at which they live.
The only thing I can seem to find online is that babies need more hydration at higher altitudes…they do not give him extra water. He was breastfed until just recently and is now on formula. They gradually transitioned him to formula and he doesn’t seem to have problems there. Could hydration be a factor? Is there something else about the altitude that could be affecting his sleep?
Otherwise, he seems active and comfortable during the day, so it would appear he is getting enough oxygen.
The altitude issue is a hard one to find any information on that could help them out. Is there anyone out there that has experienced the same problem?
Linda
Lately my 8 month old son has been waking in the night and cannot find his “bedtime bear” (his number 4 from the eliminating sleep props chapter). So instead of getting up to give him a soother, we now have to go in to give him bedtime bear. Any suggestions on what we should do now? Replace bedtime bear with a bigger one (it is kinda small and now that he is bigger and moves around more?) or what? If replacing is our best bet, how do we go about that?? Thanks!!
My 19 month old son has no problem going for a nap/sleeping at his day care, she just puts him down in the play pen and leaves the room and he is out, for two hours and sometimes longer, but that is not the case at home. After his bed time routine he gets a story and I have to stay with him and nurse him till he is tired enough to roll over and go to sleep (right now he is nursing and sleep on a foam mattress on the floor as he won’t go to sleep in his toddler bed), the same is true for naps except he naps in our bed, and when he wakes during the night, (no more than once or twice thank goodness) What do I do?, I know he can sleep without me because he does it at daycare, and I know he can sleep without needing to be nursed to exhaustion, but why is not not doing it?
my daughter just turned a year old and she does not sleep thru the night. she will only sleep for 2or 3 hours and she is up crying. i usually change her diaper and give her a bottle and she goes back to bed. then she is up again 2or3 hours crying.its the same routine every night.it never changes.im at my breaking point.she has never slept thru an entire nite.whatdo i do?im exausted.please help.
My daughter does not sleep well either but I have read that if they get on a routine to eat through out the night they will continue to want those feedings. What was recommended was to try to cut them out little by little…by either trying to sooth her back to sleep without one of them or give her less and less each time. I would pick one feeding if they are consistent and if she is getting 5oz give her 4 one night then 3 and so on. Not sure if it will work but that is what I read. Also I would make sure she is getting enough during the day. If she is used to eating a certain amount of oz’s try to get those in during non-sleeping hours. Hope that helps.
I have been trying to put my baby to sleep in his crib, awake, and with a routine and he is doing very well but some nights I cannot get him to stay awake while nursing to put him to bed awake. How can I keep him awake and is it necessary?
Hi! My little girl is eleven weeks old and a really good sleeper at night, but I am having difficulty with day-time naps (they are non-existant). I feel exhausted due to my constant need to stimulate her but really feel that she needs naps during the day as well.
I live in Witbank, South Africa, and am unsure of how to get hold of your book. Please advise me – I need and want to inplement the program with my little one!
Marlize
I have a five month old who was sleeping through the night for one week until he got his first cold. After he got the cold he was waking up multiple times again and having a hard time falling back asleep. Since he was sick, I felt bad and went back to giving him one bottle in the night. He is also struggling with his naps now too. He was previously going to sleep with very little fussing and now he cries for about 15-20 minutes and then only sleeps for about 20-40 minutes. How should I handle this. Should we let him cry it out even though he is sick? His cold is almost gone and I’m wondering if we created a problem and need to start from scratch again.
My 5mo old son has had such a hard time staying asleep during the night. We put him down for bed around 8pm (w/o protest) each night after breastfeeding him. He usually will sleep from 8pm to around 1am and then demand a feeding. After being fed around 1am he will go back to sleep for about 5 hours. It just seems that he can’t stay asleep for any longer than 5-6hours. I have started to let him “cry it out” but this crying will last for 1 1/2 hours and it just wears him and me down!! His naps occur each day around 9:30-10am and he sleeps for about 1hour. His afternoon nap occurs around 1:30 or 2:00 for 1 hour. Occasionally he sleeps a 3rd time around 4pm for 45min or so. HELP!!!?! I am just ready for a longer stretch of sleep at night!
My 2 yr old son is waking up at 6 to 6.30 am, screaming. This has been going on for the last 4 months. He was sleeping till 8.30am. In the last 5 months i have had a baby who sleeps in the room next door. Is this normal? Or is this the terrible 2′s or attention? What do i do?
Hello!
I am the mother of 10 month old twins and am VERY fortunate to have them on the same sleep schedule. They usually take 2 naps during the day for about an hour each time and then sleep from 530 or 600pm to 630am straight through. I am wondering however, if there is a way for me to get them to sleep longer during the day so that they go to bed between 7 and 8 pm. I am about to go back to work and would love to be able to fix dinner at 530 so we can all eat together before we start their bed time routine. Is it a bad idea to try and push back their bed time since they are sleeping well? Thank you for your suggestions!
Hi my son is 6 weeks old and he will not go to sleep without me rocking and shushing him. How can I get him to fall asleep by himself?
I have a near 3 year old boy that goes down well at night, but wakes around 1.30/2am ish with a night terror. I calm him quite quickly, but he doesn’t seem to be able to get himsef back to sleep. I don’t get into bed with him, but usually stand outside the door or sleep on the couch outside his room to reassure him I’m nearby, but it often takes until 4.30/5am for him to fall back to sleep. In the mean time he calls out for me constantly and gets out of bed crying and looking for me if I don’t respond. If I do respond with a “shhh, I’m right here”, he happily plays and sings in bed for hours. How do I get him to learn to resettle himself? I’m a single Mum and exhausted. This has been going on for 6 months nearly every night. Please, so you have a strategy that might work? I’m desperate.
i just wanted to say that your letters helped me to understand what is the problem. big thanks! now i understand that i must let robert to decide when he wants to go to sleep. i cant say that he mst sleep because if he want to sllep he do it by him self. he needs just a little bit care some sweet smile and lulaby for godnight sleep without problems. it works. big thanks!
My 2 year old has recently stopped taking a nap in her crib. She sleeps well, from 7:30 until the morning. She now screams in her crib “i don’t like to sleep” and will scream for 1-11/2 hours. Needless to say, I quit putting her in her crib. She may fall asleep in the stroller or the car and we let her nap for about an hour and she will still go to bed okay. But now, she wakes up at 4 am and screams “i don’t like to sleep” and goes hysterical when we leave the room. Last night it took 1.5 hours to get her back to sleep. It doesn’t happen every night, but 2-3 times per week is enough to ruin everyone’s sleep. Did I mention I also have a 5 month old and a 9 year old?
Advice?
Thank you!
My daughter is 8 weeks old, delivered by c-section. She refuse to sleep in her crib or bassinette. She would scream like someone is torturing her if I would lay her in either or. She has been sleeping on my chest every night since birth. I’ve tried putting my shirt or pillow case near her in the crib or bassinette, but nothing work! She just want you to hold her all the time. I was told delivering her by c-section is the reason for her being this way. They say she wants to feel body heat! PlEeeeeease Help!
All babies want to feel body heat. I’ve not noticed much difference between csection and ordinary delivery babies! Is it possible she just feels the crib is too big and too cold? Have you tried warming the sheets before you put her down?
To be honest, co-sleeping is brilliant for small babies as long as you obey the rules on no duvets and no smoking, alcohol, drugs bed-sharing.
I know it might be against Dana’s philosophy (sorry Dana!) but you can’t spoil a baby of this age. I’ve co-slept with all of mine and I now have 2 in beds and 1 happy in her cot.
My 6 week old daughter will not sleep through the day. She naps when on the breast and bottle, i try to keep her awake with talking. I do the routine of feed play and rest through the day and put her in the same room and bassinet which she sleeps in at night and she still wont sleep, just cries until i pick her up. I try going in every 5 minutes and do the shooshing before i pick her up. We have no trouble at night where she has a bath then breast or bottle then straight to bed and she gets herself to sleep. Why not through the day i don’t know. Please help.
What tired cues are you looking for? What might you be missing? A baby of that age can’t go more than about an hour, maybe 90 mins without needing some kind of nap. So you might be letting her go too long and then she’s too tired to sleep.
My son malakai is 8 months old. I don’t
Understand why he just can’t go to sleep
He wakes up every morning at 5 am and screams
Intill I give him a bottle and then when he done
He screams more I know he is tired but won’t go to sleep
I fight to get him to go to sleep but just won’t intill he in
The car then he goes to sleep really early
Than the next morning gets up 5 I am stressed caused he
Needs to take a nap but just won’t he cries all day please help
Dear Jessica, Have you considered reflux? Speak to your GP about medication. Maybe Malakai is suffering terrible pain.
My little 6 month old was sleeping through the night 70% of the time. From 9.30pm to 7.30am without waking. When she turned 6 months (2 weeks ago) she started waking anywhere between 5-10 times. Not sure if its teething or her tummy getting use to different foods. I was just about to transfer her to her own room, but now I feel am back at square one. My bubby suffers from constipation, colic and silent reflux. Any tips to help us all get better rest?
Our 10 month old daughter has never been a good sleeper day or night and when she was about a month old we resorted to giving her a soother because we were worried about her lack of sleep. Now, she can fall asleep in the car or the stroller without a soother but night time in the cot she absolutely needs it. How can we wean her off this ‘prop’? She also has a little comfort blanket at night which is important to her.
Ok my daughter Jylian is almost 2 years old, she has been doing really good until we switched her from a crib to a twin bed. She did good for probly the first week, now she only sleeps in her bed durring nap time. I have tried to keep putting her back to bed when she gets up, and I do it over and over again and she still will not sleep in her bed. I have tried and her dad has also tried, Finally we just get tired and go to bed and yes she will come to bed with us. I even went out and bought a tv and dvd player to see if she would watch a movie and go to bed, no she gets bored with the movies and gets out of bed. I dont know what to do anymore, Please Help!!
I have to say that unless there is a safety issue with climbing out, I’d put her back in the crib. I don’t move mine until they are nearly 3 (I have 2 in beds and 1 still in a cot) and then I don’t have problems with them understanding that once there they have to stay there.
My 7 1/2 month old now goes to sleep very well on her own at bed time and generally for her morning nap as well. She is rather inconsistent with her afternoon napping… it can be anywhere from 30mins-2hrs and sometimes she downright refuses it!
But lately, when I put her down for her afternoon nap (at about 1pm), she talk and “plays” in her crib for a long time- sometimes over an hour without falling asleep. She then starts to complain/cry that she wants to be taken out of the crib. But she never even fell asleep. Should I leave her there to finally sleep or take her out of her crib and “call it a day”?
She looks exhausted as she is put into her bed, and I know she needs the sleep – but it seems cruel to leave her crying after she has just spent over an hour awake in her crib.
I am not sure how to handle this situation. Any Advice??
I have yet to purchase the Sleep Sense Program and am strongly considering it, even though our budget is tight. I need help with getting my 10 month old baby to sleep better, but don’t know how to go about it since she sleeps in our bedroom. We only have 2 bedrooms in our tiny house and my 2 1/2 yr old is in the other bedroom where she sleeps great in her crib. I don’t feel ready to move the baby into her bedroom because the baby wakes several times each night and I don’t want to disturb my toddler. I’m not quite sure how to go about helping her sleep better when we have to share a room… I always resort to the easiest (lazy?) thing, and I always pick her up and nurse her back to sleep. I realize those things don’t help, but I can’t bear it when she wakes up and cries for me – and can see me – as her packnplay is only a few feet from my bed. Would the Sleep Sense Program help with babies who sleep in the same room? Please help..
I have a 5 1/2 year old son. We worry that our son isn’t getting enough sleep which is causing some behavioral issues @ school. We start the bedtime process @ 7:45 and he’s asleep by 8:15/8:30. He will sleep for a few hours then wake up. More times than not, we will find him asleep in-between my husband and I. He will wake up 1 to 2 times a night. We’ve had sleep study done on him and all results were negative for sleep apnea. Just wondering if you’ve come across this before. This has been going on for at least 2 years.
My son is now 8 months old and wakes up quite often through out the night. I know he needs to learn to fall asleep on his own but I don’t know what to do other than letting him CIO. The problem with him CIO is that he is either really spoiled or just stubborn and would probably go all night if we let him. After 30 min he never calms down and just gets more worked up. So at the present time the only way to get him to fall asleep is to rock him. And when he wakes up in the night, I put him on the breast b/c I know he won’t calm down if we let him CIO.
The weird thing is that during his naps throughout the day, I can just put him down wide awake and he falls asleep on his own. Why is the night time so different? What can I do besides letting him CIO??
I was very worried about this when my child was 6 months. She would wake every hour at night and need her pacifier b/c she had spit it out. I was VERY tired and tried CIO. She cried for 4 hours (in between sleeping) and then slept through the night. The second night was crying for 30 minutes and then slept all night. She slept through the night ever since! We did 2 things at once, getting rid of the night feeding and the sleep prop (pacifier) on the same nights. I’ve read that children use different parts of the brain during the day and at night, so that explains the naptime sleeping vs. nighttime sleeping. My child still gets the paci during naps, but never at night now. I can’t tell you how hard it was to hear her crying, but it was well worth the sleep that followed. Good luck!
Hi Dana,
I am still having a difficult time getting my two and a half year old to go to bed at nights. She is a pickey eater who still gets up at least twice for the night for a bottle. She is very energetic HELP !!!!!!!
I am having a similar problem with my 6 month old girl. She needs us to fall asleep. If I put her in her crib awake she just rolls around a cries. We have tried the CIO and it has worked a few times but we are not being consistent. She gets herself all the way in the corner and gets stuck. Then if I just move her she cries so loud and is beat red. I can’t leave her like that so I pick her up and bounce her to sleep. I have read so many testimonies that it just took a few nights and then the kids slept through the night, but when she cries like that everything inside of me tells me to pick her up. I don’t know what to do. I feel like I owe it to her to teach her how to fall asleep on her own but I am having such a hard time.
Hi,
I have an 8 month old son who used to sleep through the night and in the last month he has been waking 2 or 3 times and more recently he has started waking up around midnight and is hyper and excited for up to two hours. Why is this and how do we make it stop? We don’t even go in to see him he just plays away and then 2 hours later goes back to sleep on his own. The problem is he is very loud squealing with glee and talking away. Please help me get back some sleep!
My grandson, who just turned two, now climbs out of his bed at his home, and out of his pack-n-play at our house when he visits. So my daughter no longer puts him to bed or naps in his crib, and now he sleeps on a temporary blow-up mattress on the floor until they can get a twin bed. At our house he sleeps on the futon in his room in our house. My question is this: is there a trick to getting him to stay in his bed now when he is put to bed? He will lie down on the mattress or futon for his Mom or Dad, but he won’t stay there. I am worried he won’t get the same amount of sleep he always has … he has always been a good sleeper.
My 7 month old doesn’t like to sleep. He will moan sometimes if we are holding him. Sometimes he goes to sleep if he has a bottle. But most of the time he will just cry even if we are holding him or if he is laying down in his crib. We have tried standing by him, patting on the back/tummy, music, book. He still just cries very hard. Should we just stick with one plan and try it for awhile before we move on? It’s really hard to get him to sleep and have him fuss, because he shares a room with my 2 year old.
My daughter, Kira, has always had a very regular routine and bedtime and has gone to sleep without any problems, generally sleeping through until morning. Kira has just turned two and everything has changed. She refuses to go down to sleep by herself, getting very anxious and hysterical whenever I leave her in the room by herself and refusing to lie down. She works herself up into an inconsolable state, screaming non stop and struggling to breath, even vomiting if she gets too distressed. She has a very strong temperament and leaving her to cry herself to sleep doesn’t work – It only makes her more stressed. She seemed content to lie in my bed, on the couch, even her bedroom floor as long as it wasn’t in her cot. So we converted her cot into a junior bed, but this hasn’t helped at all. She will now only go to sleep if my husband or I lay down with her on her new bed or on the couch, then once she falls asleep we sneak off. She then wakes 2-3 times every night now, hysterical and panicking until I go back into her room and lie down with her. I have never heard a baby or child cry so dramatically before, it sounds like she is being tortured! I feel like all the hard work we put into her regular routine and good sleeping habits has been undone and I have no idea how to get her to sleep by herself again without me by her side every night!!! Help!!
When baby gets sick, Holly has a chest infection and when she wakes up she cannot get back to sleep, perhaps due to mucus build up so she gets very distressed until almost exhausted when she can sleep in her cot again. She arches her back and goes to one side like she is trying to sleep in my arms but just cant, tried patting and rocking and bringing in to our bed but none work, only after much time she will fall back to sleep in her cot again. I want to make it easy for her but its so hard when this happens.