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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.
Does your baby want to breastfeed all night long? If so, then you know how tiring this can be for both of you.
Agatha writes:
“I have a 15-month-old baby boy who still sleeps with us. He wakes three to four times a night and I’m still breastfeeding him and he sucks on me all night long. And as soon as I take him off, he starts to cry. He has been using me as a pacifier. Can you help me? I have to work in the morning and I feel absolutely tired. Please help!”
It sounds like Agatha has two requests: that her baby gets out of her bed and into his crib and that he stops nursing at night. Both are completely reasonable wishes and probably things her son is ready to do as well.
If he’s fifteen months old and nursing all night long, he’s really not getting a good, consolidated nighttime sleep. When he has to eat while he’s asleep, he’s going to be stuck in a really light state of sleep. Like mom, he’s probably not getting a full sleep cycle with lots of deep stage three sleep. The good news is that there is something we can do that will be beneficial for both of them.
The first step is establishing a solid bedtime routine for him, a routine that helps him get his mind around the idea that it’s bedtime. Everyone has a bedtime routine. Whether its five minutes or 20 minutes, we all do things before we go to bed that really helps stimulate our brain and body to let us know that we’re making that transition from day to night. The same needs to be established for Agatha’s baby as well.
A good example of a bedtime routine would be that you give him a bath, get his pajamas on, then perhaps he has a feed before bed. If you’re completely ready to wean him, then I’d suggest you not nurse him before bed. Transition him right to a sippy cup, maybe with warm milk, formula or even breast milk in the cup. That’s a good transition from the breast to a cup. And of course you want him to brush his teeth before he goes into the crib.
If you do decide to nurse as part of the bedtime routine, you cannot let him fall asleep while he’s nursing. What’s happening now is that he has a very, very strong nurse-sleep association. In his mind, that’s how you get to sleep. He may not even know that there are other ways to fall asleep. We really need to break that association and the faster you break it, the faster the baby will learn a new way. As soon as you notice heavy blinking or that sleepy, faraway look in his eyes, talk to him, give him a few pokes or tickle him. Do whatever you need to do to keep him awake during the feed.
You also could break up the routine after the feed with the extra step of a story or a song before bedtime. That would help to break up the association of nursing and sleeping.
The baby then goes into the crib awake and you’ll stay in the room with him until he falls asleep. I’d suggest the “stay-in-the-room” method that’s outlined in my book. From the toddler section of the book, and at 15 months old he really is a toddler, you’d stay by the crib in a chair for three nights. Give him some gentle, careful touches while repeating your key phrase, and coaxing him to lie down by rubbing the mattress.
You’re going to wait him out until he falls asleep in his crib. There’s no time limit during these nights, so take turns or switch nights with your partner as needed. Do whatever it takes to make it easier on you, except for getting him out of the crib.
For bedtimes four, five and six, move your chair to the middle of the room. You can walk over a few times, give him some touches and say your key phrase, but then go back to your chair. By the seventh night, you should be all the way to the door or out of the room.
Basically, we’re retraining his sleep skills. Up until now, he’s relied on nursing as his only sleep skill. Now he’ll develop skills that he can do independently and that are not related to nursing. Offer him a little teddy or small blanket if that makes you and him feel more comfortable, but remember that he might incorporate those into his new skills and you’ll need to do that same thing for every single night waking.
You really can’t bring him into your bed at any point during the night. Doing that will teach him that he gets to come to your bed at some point during the night and he could wake up every hour wondering if it’s time to come to your bed or not. Do not bring him to your bed.
You really have to hang in there until morning and handle every night waking in the same way. Stay in your chair in the room until he’s asleep, while he stays in his crib.
Stay with this plan until it works, and it will work. Remember that this is a skill and people don’t master new skills in one or two days. Give your baby some time. He is going to be saying “goodbye” to one thing and “hello” to some new things and that’s going to take some time and maybe a lot of your patience. Soon, in a few days even, you’ll both be sleeping 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!
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148 responses so far ↓
1 Gail Bass // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:22 am
I purchased your program but I still can’t get my son to sleep more than 10 hours at night. No matter what time he goes to bed, he’ll only sleep 10 to 10 1/2 hours.
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Reply by Anonymous:
October 13th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
If you get 10 hrs of uninterupted sleep. I think you are doing pretty good. My son is 14 months and has never slept more than 6 hrs. So I wouldn’t complain.
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Reply by Jennifer Preiato:
October 13th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Me too! I have an 11 month old…he goes to bed at 7:30 or 8 and gets up like clockwork at 5:45am (sleeps straight). I try desperately to get him back to sleep but nothing works. He then takes one nap of about 2 hours or so. Shouldnt he be sleeping at least 11 hours?? Or do some babies not need it?
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Reply by Sabrina:
October 13th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Babies really only need 12 to 14 hours of sleep at this age. It seems he gets 10 hours at night and an extra 2 during the day so he is right on target, 12 hours total.
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Reply by Megs:
October 15th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Oh my God!! 10 hours of sleep! I would kill for that! My boy will only sleep for up to a couple of hours at a time if I’m lucky - ALL NIGHT! I WISH he would sleep 10 hours. Be grateful. I can’t believe you want MORE!
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Reply by Anonymous:
October 19th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
OMG! What are you complaining about?
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2 G // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:41 am
My son is 9.5 months and still is waking up every 2 hours sometimes even every hour. I have done everything in your book except remove the soother and he still wakes up. So many of my friends have used your method but kept the soother and it worked, so why doesn’t it work with my son. I really don’t think that he is waking up b/c of the soother, he wakes up with it in his mouth and without it.
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3 dani // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:42 am
just wondering what can we do help my son sleep ong at nap time ever since he started to cut his teeth at 3months he is 4 and half now he will not take a nap and if he does is it only 5-10 min if we r lucky
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Reply by Sabrina:
October 13th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Babies can’t sleep through pain. Have you tried giving him a little tylenol so he can rest?
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Reply by dani:
October 15th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
yes i have but he is still fussying. i also just wondering if it is ok to let him fussy untill he goes to sleep at night. and what can i do to help him. because i find that as soon as he makes a sounnd i am up there to deal with him.
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Reply by angeline:
October 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I’ve tried the Orajel Swab for my 5 month old, and that seemed to numb the pain right away. And try to wait out at least 5 minutes or until he cries really strong. Then hold him for a minutes or so and then put him back down. That usually works for my baby.
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4 Grace Cook // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:44 am
Can you give me some helpful hints on what to do when my twin granddaughters start climbing out of their cribs. They are 25 months old.
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Reply by Cynthia:
October 13th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
As a mother of five and always very active toddlers, I recommend the sleep tent. It goes over the crib and zips up keeping them in safe. We made a game out of setting up our “tent” and my 2 year old has no issues with it. Some kids are more active then others and climb just because they can! For us it was as safety issue and a mother needs sleep issue. When she would get out of the crib she did always find me and we would find her getting food out of the fridge at 3 am! Good luck!
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5 Janine // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:48 am
My 10-month old daughter (8-months corrected age) is sleeping well in her crib. She slept in a basinette with us in our room until two months ago when we made the switch. She goes to sleep easily with a minimum of crying (maybe a few minutes), and sleeps a total of 12 hours, but she wakes up 3-4 times per night. She cries and wants to be fed. Should we be feeding her each time or not? We want her to sleep through the night or at least only get up for one feeding. How can we do that?
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Reply by Ellie:
October 13th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Is she eating and drinking enough throughout the day?
My son did just that. He slept for 12 hours but woke up several times to eat. But I took a close look at what he was eating throughout the day and made sure he had enough. At least 4 proper solid meals a day and bottles after the meals to fill him up and he was sleeping much better.
When I was absolutely sure he wasn’t hungry I offered him water from a cup when he woke up.
It took less than a week and now he’s sleeping through the night. He’s 9½ months old.
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6 Kira // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:51 am
Why are you waging a war against women who choose to bedshare and breastfeed? Maybe you should take off your blinders and wake up to what the rest of the world is doing. Check out Mongolia:
http://drmomma.blogspot.com/2009/07/breastfeeding-in-land-of-genghis-khan.html
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Reply by Shachar:
October 13th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Kira,
why are you accusing Dana for “waging war” against bed-sharing/breast-feeding? that is so not true! clearly Dana’s concern is that in some cases of bed-sharing neither the mother or child get much uninterrupted sleep.
even the author of the article you posted says:
“Probably the most valuable thing about raising my son in Mongolia was that I realized that there are a million different ways to do things, and that I could choose any of them.”
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Reply by Anonymous:
October 16th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
This site is for those who want help with sleep issues and are ready to try a different approach. Preach your story elsewhere. Dana makes no illusions about where she is coming from. There’s no hidden agenda.
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7 Ginny // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:02 pm
At 22 months old Emma still NEEDS a nap but she has started to refuse to nap. She will fall asleep in the car but then she only gets a short sleep and is really out of control when she wakes up. She is getting her 2 year molars (some are through and some are not) so I am not sure if that is what is causing her nap problems or not. Please help.
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Reply by Britt:
October 13th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Colt is 3 months old. He sleeps in his crib at night, but he will not sleep in it during the day. We have to hold him while he sleeps. If you lay him down he wakes up. Any suggestions?
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Reply by Cara:
October 13th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
My son Bevan is also 3 months old and used to do just that, sleep in his cot at night but wont have a bar of it during the day. I found that if I tidied up his room or folded his clothes in his room, he would fall asleep watching me, I made sure not to give him any eye contact while I am busying myself, hope this helps.
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8 Lisa // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I have read the books.. and comments.. and my 13mth old..has a bedtime routine, bath, bottle, read a book, then bed around 7:30! she goes down no problem, she sleeps with a stuffed animal. But every other night she gets up cring.. I go in pick her up… rub her back.. lay her back down and she drifts off again, but sometimes around 2:30 or 5am…she is up crying hysterical and sometimes for her bottle…. we try soothing her, changing her wet diaper.. she used to sleep straight through the night since she was 3mths… but since 11mths.. she is up atleast once a night… some nights in between not a peep from her… its weird! and no matter what she is up at 7am!!! what am I doing wrong?? to get her to sleep all through or is this normal?
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9 Lindsey // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:14 pm
My baby girl is 8 months old & still wakes up 1-2 times a night! When she wakes up she wants to nurse & then is back asleep in 10-15 minutes! I am wondering how I can get her to sleep throught the night! She is also teething right now (getting her top 2 teeth) but even before this she would wake up! Any suggestions? Thanks
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10 Marie // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Dominic is five months old and isn’t even getting 12 hours sleep a day. He was sleeping fine at night falling asleep after feeding while being burped. He would wake 2 or 3 times for a feed and go right back to sleep by sucking his thumb. We then started to work on him falling asleep on his own at bedtime. We tired several methods and nothing seemed to work. However trying the latest method of letting him cry it out has set us back. Now he usually sleeps in 20 to 45 mins. His best sleeps are in the car when we go places. It doesn’t matter if it’s a nap or through the night he will wake up screaming. Now even in our bed he sleeps restlessly. Can I reverse this? I wish I never tried letting him cry.
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Reply by angeline:
October 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I have a 5 and a half month old who used to wake up several times a night to nurse. It was purely out of habit I knew because she would suck for maybe 5 min. and then fall back to sleep. It was too tiring for me, so I just kept her in my bed through the night. I then asked my husband to comfort her back to sleep whenever she’d wake up. He did that a few nights and the baby began to sleep much longer. She’d fall asleep around 9:30pm and wake up at 5:30am to feed. That’s the longest she’s ever gone! I’m hoping that she’ll sleep longer from this point on.
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Reply by angeline:
October 17th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Oh, I forgot to mention that we let her cry it out for the naptimes, and she normally sleeps after crying for 5-15 min. Sometimes, when we time it right, she only cries for 1-2 min. or not even cry at all. She started doing that 2 weeks after we began her sleep training. I normally don’t, and can’t, let her cry too much. I’d pick her up, soothe her for a minute, make sure her diaper’s not dirty, and then try putting her back down. And she’s “learned” to sleep longer and longer during naptimes. At bedtime, I just nurse her in bed until she falls asleep. When she’s deeply asleep, we move her to her bed. I didn’t believe in letting a baby cry to sleep, but a gentler approach and firm determination from the parents will really help your baby sleep well.
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11 Megan Swartout // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I have a 26 month old that had no problem going to bed. All of the sudden one night he decides he doesn’t want to sleep there anymore. For the last 2 weeks we have been struggling to get him back into his crib. But, instead he is ending up in between my husband and I in the bed. What can I do, and how do I get him back to his old sleep habits?
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12 Erika // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I have a 2yr old who must come into our room every time she wakes in the night. Last night it was 12pm then 4pm and getting her back down at that time it took 2 or 3 times of putting her back in her bed so about 30mins. Then she got up again at 6:20am and then i gave in and put her where my husband sleeps and she slept until 7:30am. If she sleeps in our room but not in our bed she will sleep great. I am at a loss!
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Reply by Emily Booth:
October 13th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
2 is a tough time: they’re becoming much more aware of the world around them and consequently of its perils. Being near their parents is a natural way to soothe anxiety and let them sleep peacefully. If there’s space in your room, why not let her sleep there until she’s ready to move back to her own space?
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13 colleen // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:26 pm
my daughter who is 2 would want me and my husband to lay in bed with her. one night i decided to stop and she cried but ya know what she slept almost through the night, becuse she was not looking for us when she would wake up. Now dont get me wrong there are some nights that she needs to be reassured but come on she is a kid. give at least 5 days for any change in your childs life.
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14 Laura // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:28 pm
do you think that the “stay in the room” bedtime routine would work with a 16 month old who is in a toddler bed because he climbed out of his crib and a 3 year old? I have a hard time putting them to bed together and a hard keeping them asleep throughout the night…what are your thoughts??
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Reply by Tandrea:
October 15th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Hi. I have a simlar issue. My eldest, Ayden, will be 4 tomorrow and the next youngest, Damon, is 2 1/2. I also have a 4 month old, Rhiannon. Rhiannon is sleeping just fine through the night, except when her brothers wake her. I have a really hard time getting the boys to sleep together and when one of them gets up at night he wakes the other. I’m exhausted. I’ve had some success getting them to sleep initially by laying Ayden in my room and Damon in his bed in their room. Ayden will pretty much fall asleep anywhere once he’s calmed and settled, but Damon pretty much refuses to sleep anywhere but his own bed. I then move Ayden back into his room after he falls asleep, and he does stay asleep during the move. A few hours later though one or the other of them usually wakes the other and it starts all over again. I’m concerned that if I don’t get this worked out before the baby is older, I’ll end up with all three running around at night. ANY advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
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15 Mariah // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I have a 13 month old girl who sleeps in her crib, but wakes approx 3- 4 times a night. Every time she wakes, I enter the room, lay her back down, and shush her to sleep while lightly touching her arm. I wish she would not wake up so many times, so I can rest. I have tried to let her just cry, but it never seems to work. She can cry for over an hour and I just give up and go in to shush her. I have a solid bedtime routine, but she keeps waking up.Please help me.
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16 Shannon Stringer // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:36 pm
My 12 month old will sleep 12 hours through the night for a week and then a couple of nights wake up once or twice and won’t go down until he gets held with a bottle. What’s going on? Every once in a while he will cry out for a couple of minutes and go back to sleep so we always wait it out for at least 5 minutes. Thank you for your consideration. Shannon
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Reply by Lia Brown:
October 15th, 2009 at 12:54 am
My 20 month old son just started doing the same thing. He used to sleep through the night with no problems and now hes been waking up at least once in the middle of the night. the only way he goes back to sleep is if i give him milk and hold him. Lia
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17 Jenni // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I’ve tried to stay in the room in a chair next to my daughter’s (1 yr old) crib, but she just looks at me and giggles, like it’s a game to her. Even if I don’t smile or encourage her in that way, she’ll get up, laugh, and just look at me. When I motion for her to lay down and pat her back, she’s immediately up again. If I leave the room, she usually goes to sleep (crying herself to sleep) within 15 minutes. But she now has a bad attitude toward sleep, and I want to make it a good thing, without the crying. I will keep trying staying in the room for a few more days, but can you give me suggestions to letting her know it’s not a game or fun time? I have never let her do anything but sleep in her crib, so I’m not sure what to do.
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Reply by Emily Booth:
October 13th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
They are such social little beings and they love you intensely and want to interact with you. She wants your approval, your love and she’s trying to entertain you to make you smile. She doesn’t know that society says “good children go straight to sleep”. Try gently tidying up while singing softly so she can see you’re busy but there. Take washing through to fold up or any other useful pastime that can be done in a dim light so that you don’t resent the time it takes to let her know you’re around but that it’s boring time now and she may as well sleep.
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Reply by Holly:
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I just started this with my 17 mth old. But I used to lay down next to our older son when he was a baby. that way they think that you are taking a nap with them.
So I put our 17 mth old into his crib, which is right next to our bed (aiming the other direction). I reach my hand into his crib while I’m laying down, and say “night night” maybe a few times, softly. and then I close my eyes and pretent to sleep, while praying peace over him…even though he’s complaining.
but I’ve noticed it seems to help.
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18 andrea // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I’ve just gotten Xavier ,who is 18 months to sleep through the night. But I’m planning to be out of town with him next month for 5 nights. I won’t be able to bring a travel bed. So I’m afraid the vacation will break his routine (6:30-7:30 bedtime as well as sleeping in his crib alone) and I’ll have to start from scratch again with the sleep training.
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19 Bill // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Dana,
I am Averies grampa, she is 27 months old.I take her to the park three days a week and she loves it usually. Today when I went to pick her up to go she just didn’t seem to be her happy self. I asked her mom what time she got up and she said about six then I asked her what time she went to bed and her answer was around 8:30 ish.
As we were driving to a park she started crying for her mother, so when we got to the park I asked her do you want to play or go home and she said home so I took her home. She started to fall asleep on the way home in the car seat. I took her out and held her and rubbed her back and she seemed to be sleeping. When I went in the house her mom took off her shoes and socks and I told her she is just exhausted and is still a baby and is trying to figure out how to deal with this. Then the mom asked if she was tired and wanted to go for a nap and she said yes, after that I thought she would put her to bed, but, she let her get wound up by running around at that point I had to leave before I said something I would regret. After her power sleep she is raring to go again.
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20 Danyell // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:50 pm
My son is 13mths old and I can’t get him out of the bed with us. I have tried so many ways. Also he still wakes up every 2 hrs most he sleeps is 3 and he wants a bottle. He wakes up screaming and that’s with him in the bed with us. What can I do to help him sleep better?
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Reply by Megs:
October 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I’m having the exact same problem, but my son is 8 months old.
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21 Taloyre // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I have a 16month old baby boy….our routine for bedtime is bath, read put him in his crib and pray…I turn the lights off and walk out of the room 10min later he is asleep….anywhere from midnight to 2 he awakes and wants to get into bed with us….how do I break this habbit?
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Reply by leanne:
October 13th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
i havea 14 month old little girl who wakes2 to 3 times a night untill i bring her into bed with me then she sleeps through whilst shes in bed with me but i dnt want to make this a habit it seems to be the same time every night she wakes tried to rock her and put her back in her cot but she still wakes up when i put her down how do i break the habit.
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22 Grandma // Oct 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Queenie is now 18 mos and still does not sleep during the night, they have tried everything, and now she even thanks them and greets them when they come in and says “Hi, Thankyou” Plus baby #2 is due a day before Queenie turns 2.I know they are exhausted but they are coping with it and I love them for it.
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23 Sharonda // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I have a 10 month old who still wakes up about every 4 hours to nurse. I work full time and I also have a two year old. I am exhausted! how can I get my baby to stop waking and wanting to be nursed without a lot of crying?
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24 Patti Rice // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:06 pm
My comment is about my one year old son who use to be a “good” crib sleeper but now that he is so much more independent he doesn’t want to go back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night. He will only go back to sleep if we hold/rock him and that is not a habit I’d like to start. He was going down at 8-8:30pm and sleeping straight through until 6-6:30am. It’s all messed up now and i’m not sure what to do. We start out by laying him back down and shushing him but he’ll stand right back up and wail until we pick him up. Help!
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25 taryn richard // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:21 pm
My son is 26 months and has slept through the WHOLE night about 10 times in his life. He has no problem falling asleep the problem is STAYING asleep! I am at my wits end. My husband and I have tried EVERYTHING. Even on the rare occasions I climb into bed with my son so I can sleep too, he still wakes up and calls out for me to make sure I’m there. I have followed a bedtime “routine” since he was small. I have tried earlier AND later bedtimes. We even went so far as to enroll him in pre-school to work off energy. I just don’t get it. Do you think he just has a sleeping disorder?
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Reply by Kate:
October 13th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
My son is exactly the same please let me know if u receive any good advice.
Thanks so much
Kate
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Reply by Minoti:
November 17th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Hmmmm try this - let him do as many mischievous things during the day as he likes, provided he is safe and doesn’t break your vintage China! Also praise him regularly. What kind of friends he has? Make him meet other kids who like him and let him play along/ elder kids who know sharing. This will boost his confidence. TV can also contribute to nightmares. I tried this with my daughter and helped a lot.
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26 Amy // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:26 pm
What if he just cries and screams (and he WILL)?? What to do then? My munchkin would cry for an hour - he is used to being rocked to sleep and he would be extremely persistent. He will not be able to hear me or my “key phrase” over his screams and if I touch him, he will wrap his arms around my hand and try desperately to climb on me to get out…
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27 Nazia // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I have a 13 month daughter who I have been training for the last one and a half month to sleep in her own crib. Fortunately, she sleeps through the night. the only concern I have is that when I initially put her down in her crib she still cries for 5-10 minutes. Is this normal for her to still be crying and how long should I expect this to go on until she no longer cries in her crib?
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28 Medea // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:40 pm
is it ok to let your child cry through the night to train them to sleep? What is a good she to start that?
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29 Crystal // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I have a 2 year old who wakes up everyday around 5am. She has been doing this for about a year now. Currently she goes to bed in her crib on her own at 8pm. I have tried modifying her bedtime, but it doesn’t matter. Even when we have something special going on and she goes to bed past 8pm, she still gets up at 5am. She sleeps throughout the night without waking. When she wakes at 5am I let her talk for a while before going in, but she is up and not falling back to sleep. She is and has always been a good napper. She usually naps from about 12:00-3:00. I was thinking she was napping too long and that’s why she was waking so early in morning. So I shortened her nap, but it didn’t help. Is there anything else I can try, or am I just blessed with an early-riser?
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30 Miriam // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:48 pm
My strong-willed daughter is 8 months old. We put her to bed at 7:00/7:15pm. For the last four months she has been waking at 12am and again at 4. Then she’s up for good at 7am. We follow your method every night, but there must be something we’re missing. She falls asleep great on her own! Our night routine starts at 6:30pm. I bathe her, nurse her, read her two short books, put her in her bed completely awake, shut the lights off, and leave the room. she’s asleep within 10 minutes. During the night wakings, her tummy is growling, so I have to nurse her. Again, she is 100% awake when I put her down (sometimes she is babbling nonstop!). I leave the room, and she goes to sleep until 4. Then same routine. I am exhausted! I have started going to bed after 12am so I only am up once for half an hour instead of twice during the night. I have such a difficult time falling back to sleep myself after these wakings. Also, with school and work, I am beginning to be so worn out, I am unable to function. A little advice, please? Thank you in advance!
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Reply by Dina Afifi:
October 14th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Well Miriam
I think the problem might be you nursing her. Children at that age are not supposed to be nursed at night. If you can discard this practice that might be helpful.
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Reply by Sasha:
October 19th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I am having the same problem, my son is 8 months and is waking up around 3-4am every morning! I give him a bottle and goes back to sleep with no problems. but there is got to be a way to skip that feeding. we are on day one of water feedings and we were up for 2 hours last night and then Zayne took a 3 hour morning nap which threw off the whole day! Not sure if I should just give in and give the bottle so we all can sleep or keep giving the water till he skips the 3 am feeding!! Help!
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31 Diane // Oct 13, 2009 at 1:52 pm
We have a 3 year old daughter who still sleeps with us. Not only does she still sleep with us, she is totally 200% dependent on me. If I leave the room, she’ll stop what she’s doing to come see what I’m doing. I can’t even go to the bathroom or take a shower because she wants to be in the bathroom with me. And if she actually does stay in the living room and play while I do one of these things, she’ll often tell me not to close the door. If she wakes up at night and I’m not in the bed, she cries for me…her daddy can’t even calm her down. As soon as she sees me, she gets calm. And she is a cuddler so she’ll wake up in the middle of the night and hold my hand and then go right back to sleep. I need help on how to teach her to be more independent and to sleep in her own bed. I also need to admit that I’m enabling all this. As much as I want her to sleep in her own bed…my husband and I are going to miss her when she does. Please help!! Thank you.
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32 Kate // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Hello there I have a 7 1/2 month old son James who has never sleped through the night.
He goes off to sleep lively at 7pm then wakes to a feed around 10 or 11pm then all of a sudden will wake up around 2am and that’s it, he will b awake for usually 3 to 4 hours thinking it’s party time. We have everything dark in the room, we don’t make eye contact nothing but he just will not go back to sleep. Alot of the time he’s not crying just shouting, trying to crawl demanding attention. We are at our wits end.just don’t know what to do.
He doesn’t even sleep too much I’m the day maybe up to an hour at 9am then again at 1pm.
Please help I am going back to work shortly and if this continues just don’t know how I’m going to cope.
Many thanks
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33 Jillian // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:07 pm
My 14 month old daughter has started waking up in the middle of the night. She crys and I go in and get her, but she will not fall back to sleep for sometimes 2 hours! I don’t know why she has decided to wake up in the night - it’s very exhausting.
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34 DENISE // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:11 pm
MY BOY IS JUST ABOUT 6 MONTHS OLD. HE SLEEPS IN IS OWN CRIB AND ROOM SINCE BIRTH BUT WE ARE EXPIERENCING HIM WAKING 7 TIMES A NIGHT FROM 9 TO 7AM. I CANNOT KEEP HIM AWAKE PAST 9PM NO MATTER WHAT AND WHEN HE WAKES AT NIGHT HE’S IS NOT REALLY AWAKE JUST EITHER TALKING OR CHEWING ON HIS PACIFIER OR WE NEED TO REPOSITION HIM IN HIS CRIB. HE ISN’T HUNGRY, I’VE TRIED FEEDING HIM, NOR IS HE REALLY WET. WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP HIM SLEEP MORE SOUNDLY??? MUSIC DOENS’T HELP UNLESS WE DON’T HAVE IT LOUD ENOUGH BUT THEN WE DON’T SLEEP. SOMETIMES HE WILL FALL BACK TO SLEEP WHEN WE LET HIM CHATTER AWAY AND SOMETIMES IT TURNS INTO A CRY AND THEN WE GO IN AND GIVE HIM THE PACIFIER OR MOVE HIM AROUND SOME. NOT SURE WHAT WILL HELP OR IF THIS IS JUST A PHASE AND IT’LL PASS LATER. MAYBE HE IS TEETHING AND IT’S BOTHERING HIM. PLEASE PASS ON SOME ADVICE. THANKS!!!
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35 Julie // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Hi Dana,
I hope you can help me. I have a 15 month old who USED to be able to soothe himself to sleep and wake up at 6 every morning. We would do the bedtime routine and then I would tell him “I love you, sweet dreams and I will see you in the morning” as he is awake and put him in his crib. He would stay awake for about 15 min and then fall asleep on his own. Well recently he was sick and I slept with him on his bedroom floor when he would wake up during the night. Well now that he is all better, and maybe due to teething, he will NOT sleep by himself. We have done the “cry it out” method when he was younger and it worked but that was before he knew how to throw his lovey out of the crib and now he cries so hard he throws up. When he does finally fall asleep, he will wake up every couple hours and it starts all over. I know every baby is different but I know by 15 months of age, they should be sleeping through the night. Now every time he hears “good night” as I’m putting him in the crib, he starts to cry. Please help!
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36 Jo Utting // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:34 pm
My almost 5 month old baby boy doesn’t sleep during the day. He seems to be very tired (I notice all the signs early - rubbing of eyes and face, yawning, fussing) but when I put him down he screams and screams. On some occasions making himself sick. As the day goes on the grumpier he becomes. Can you please help….. Thanks Jo
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Reply by Emily Booth:
October 13th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Have you anywhere you could go to try out different slings? While he’s in this phase and you just need to find a way to get him to sleep, putting him in a sling and then walking around until he drops off can be a life saver. You can choose then whether to gently lift him and the sling into a crib or carry on with your day only slightly encumbered by a small sleeping body next to yours.
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37 Luba // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:34 pm
My son is 11 months and he wakes up SO much at night… his crib is in our room, so he just stands in his crib and cries, or nags, and i have to either give him a paci, bottle, or juice/water for him to fall back asleep, if non of that works, i have to pick him up and he’ll lay on my shoulder and i’ll massage his back. This has been going on for a few months now.. and if i don’t pick him up, he cries, i mean CRIES, big fat tears roll down his cheeks… i’ve tried letting him “cry” it out.. but it doesn’t seem to work for him..
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38 Aradna // Oct 13, 2009 at 2:47 pm
My daughter was waking up atleast 3 times in the night till she was a year and half old. I first took out all 3 middle of the night feeds…it was tough for the first week. But I showed her the empty milk cans before she went to bed letting her know that milk was finished and would be available only in the morning. When she would wake up in the night crying for milk I would talk to her, rock her. Initially she would cry and scream but then after a week she understood that there will be no milk in the middle of the night. I already had her bedtime routine of bath and reading. I did a couple of additional things after weaning her away from the middle of the night bottles. I bought her a soft toy - bunny rabbit. And told her that would be her sleeping buddy. She loved it - it replaced me in the bed. I also bought her some other toys like Thomas and Wonder Pets that she loves. Before putting her in bed I would ask her to get them to sleep and say good night. After that I would put her in bed and let her sleep on her own - without me being there. At first she would ask for me, I would go back and tell her that I was in the next room doing some work and putting some more people to bed. I would leave the door of her room slightly ajar with a soft light outside so she knew I was around. This helped the whole transition and made so much more smoother.
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39 Pratibha Anand // Oct 13, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hi Danna,
I have a 18-month-old baby boy who still sleeps with us. He wakes three to four times a night and I need to breastfeed him to make him sleep and he sucks on me all night long. And as soon as I take him off, he starts to cry.One day I did’t give him breast he cried for an hour.How long I can let him cry.
I am not breastfeeding him in day time,only in the night when he wakes up I am giving because I don’t have any other option to make him sleep.Please give me some solution.
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40 Sabrina // Oct 13, 2009 at 3:19 pm
My son is 32 months old. He slept throught the night starting at 13 months when I first ordered the sleep program. At 27 months it ended. We figured out he was getting his arms caught in the crib railing and waking up that way. He would crawl out of his crib crying and come and get in bed with us. This lasted about 2 weeks. We got him a twin bed thinking that this would fix the problem but it didn’t. He goes to bed fine but is still waking up at 2am and getting in bed with me and my husband. I have tried stopping him and letting him fall back asleep in his bed but he gets right back up again within an hour of falling back asleep. I haven’t had a full nights rest in months. Can you please help?
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41 tammy // Oct 13, 2009 at 3:23 pm
My daughter will be 3 in february. She was a very good sleeper up until we moved her into her “big girls” bed at age 2 (bc of new baby)
I finally was getting her to go to sleep on her own, but she was waking up around 2am and we were fighting her back to bed usually for 2 hours. This made for a very tired toddler and mommy. She now sporatically sleeps straight thru the night but more often then not ends up in my bed with me in the middle of the night and I am to tired to fight with her, especially since I now have a 3 month old as well. (who btw sleeps in his own bed like a big boy lol) Now for the last week she is refusing to sleep in her own bed at all. Telling us she is scared to be in her room! Im at my wits end……advise?
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42 silvia figueroa // Oct 13, 2009 at 4:01 pm
hello, my 18 month old son has been sleeping in another room by a month now. but he just started crying a lot and very often at night. Then I go to check what is going on and he does not want me to touch him, but he still cries. I think sometimes he is having a tantrum because he wants to go back to my room. How can I stop him from crying at night because he is fine, and I can not sleep. Thanks. Is this common?
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43 Kari // Oct 13, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Our daughter Olivia is 24 mths and has been sleeping in a toddler bed for about 2 months now. She figured out how to get out of her crib at about 15 mths and so now we have moved her into her “big girl” bed. She did really well for the first week or so, and now she wakes up every few hours all night long. She comes in our room and gets me, we cuddle, she falls asleep, I take her back to bed. When I have tried to just put her back to bed, she screams so loud she wakes up everyone in the house (I know she has me trained). I have tried to lay beside her bed on the floor and she won’t go for that either. How do I break her of this horrible habit?
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44 Dhebbie Holmes // Oct 13, 2009 at 5:01 pm
My daughter Charlotte has recently started waking 1-1.5 hours after being put to bed crying. Once re-settled she then sleeps through. Any ideas how to resolve this problem. She previously slept through 7-7.
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45 Simran Deol // Oct 13, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I have a 9 month old son who used to sleep through from 9pm to 6am at which point I would give him a bottle and he would go back to sleep until 9am. Heaven! Now he is waking up almost every hour and the only thing that will make him go back to sleep is when he takes a few sips of milk from his bottle. He co-sleeps with me and my husband and always has. HELP! I need some sleep
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46 Danielle // Oct 13, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I have a 14 1/2 month old who used to be a fabulous sleeper. She has reflux and suffers from chronic teething and these issues have completely disrupted her sleeping. Periodically she does sleep through the night for varying stretches (5-7 days) but ultimately she goes back to frequent night wakings and the only way we get a good nights sleep is to bring her into bed with us. I am wondering if she has a history of good sleeping and can and has slept through the night in her crib do I need to do sleep training or wait out whatever it is that is bothering her (ie: teething, reflux–she is being treated for this)?
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47 francesca // Oct 13, 2009 at 5:39 pm
my 22 week old daughter does not nap in the day for long its hard for me to get her to have naps i think thats why she struggles at bed time she just gets really upset and screams on and off untill she is asleep but she would stay nursing on me but when i know she has finished i take her off burp her on my shoulder she is fast asleep untill i put her down in her cot but if i take her out she still screams please help!
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48 Arielle // Oct 13, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Arwynn is almost 8 months and has a bad cold/flu for the past few weeks. She has had trouble breathing which interferes with drinking her bottle and seems to have affected her sleep patterns. She used to go down around 7:45, wake for a bottle around midnight and then sleep through until morning. Since she has been sick she has been waking up many times each night. Sometimes she drinks well and I can put her down no problem. Other times she is not able to drink due to congestion and just falls asleep again, mouth open, on me and I am able to put her down easily. I have a matress wedge for her crib to help elevate her a bit but she doesn’t usually stay in that position. Anyway, she is getting better every day and I want to train her to sleep through the night. She knows how to go to sleep on her own at bedtime and is happy doing that with her stuffed lamb. However, for night wakenings she has never gone back to sleep on her own. I am really tired and would love an uninterupted night. What should I do next?!
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49 Dim // Oct 13, 2009 at 6:30 pm
My son is 22 months and dosen’t sleep through the night he is always crying and wants me to pick him up and hold him until he falls asleep but he wakes up about 5 to 6 times every night. Some times i take him in to our bed so he can fall asleep What can i do i need help?
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50 uzma // Oct 13, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Hi Dana,
my son zayan is not proper sleep in daytime &night time. he had earinfication last week.he has problem night time now same problem day time too. he has 7month &two week.please help me.before he had ear infication he got a proper sleeper.
Thanks
Uzma
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51 Debbie // Oct 13, 2009 at 6:33 pm
My grandson is 6 weeks old and we want to establish good effective sleeping habits but what exactly is the proper way to put a 6 week old to sleep at night? He only sleeps 2 hrs at a time.
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52 Tania // Oct 13, 2009 at 7:58 pm
When do babies develop attachments? My 3 and a half month old appears to be quite clingy.
We follow the wakes, feed, play sleep pattern which works in the mornings however, by the afternoon he seems very unsettled…wind is not the issue…(no signs and burps very well)as he feeds and plays then falls asleep for 5 minutes but won’t self settle, going in to settle makes him more hysterical and he won’t settle for any other family member…what can I do to minimise his attachment to me?
i have three other children (9,8 and 5)who come home from school needing time with me and it is all becoming a bit much from 4-7 with baths, dinner etc and a screaming unsettled baby…
Any advice welcome!
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53 Amanda Pasley // Oct 13, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Hi Dana,
I have a 4month old girl and she is really a great sleeper at night time - she wakes perhaps twice during the night and will feed (I’m breastfeeding and I feed her in a darkened room with no talking to her) and then when she’s finished I pop her straight back into her cot in her own room and she’s semi-awake and will turn her head a few times from side to side and then settle down back to sleep again. No dummy, no rocking nothing needed which is great.
The problem is her day time naps - I do look for signs she is tired i.e. looking away, rubbing eyes and yawning and then if she’s hungry I will give her a feed and put her into her cot of if she’s not hungry will put her into her cot - but always awake but she then starts kicking her legs around and waving her hands away and starts to moan and cry. I do try and soothe her and pat her and hum a song to her and stroke her face and sometimes soothe with a dummy. But sometimes she cried so much I have to pick her up and rock her a bit until her eyes get heavy and then put her back in. Sometimes she will then take her dummy and start rubbing both hands over her eyes and then drops off to sleep but I have to stay nearby as if the dummy falls out she starts crying and we have to start all over again. Sometimes it can take over an hour to settle her for a nap and then she sleeps for about an hour and is awake again. How can I get her daytime naps to be better so she goes off on her own as it’s really time consuming? Thanks for your help.
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54 Kristen Cooke // Oct 13, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I have 5 month old twin boys. They are waking about every two to three hours through the night. One sleeps in one room with me and the other in another room with their father because after months of sleepless nights because they would wake each other the entire night we had to seperate them. I don’t know what to do they both wake up to drink a bottle each of these times, I cannot get them back to sleep without swaddling them and feeding them. I’m desperate to get them to sleep longer stretches, they don’t nap during the day well either, only two one hour naps. HELP!!!! if I let them cry they just cry until they throw up they get themselves so upset, plus it wakes the other one up in the other room, any suggestions?
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55 elizabeth jones // Oct 13, 2009 at 8:28 pm
well every since my baby was born everyone has held him to sleep. Now I am stuck with putting him in my bed every night. he crys all night if hes in his crib or dont have me to sleep with. hes 18 months old and I dont want to continue this problem any longer. of course it is hard to control if everyone else keeps butting in. Can you help me? Ive read books and tried just about everything I can and cant take much more of this issue. I am just at a lose and hope you can help or suggest something!!!!!!!
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56 Christina Wong // Oct 13, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Matthew is now 10.5 months, and I started your strategies from 2 months old. He was sleeping beautifully until we started sending him to daycare. He has been ill almost every other day with some sort of minor illness.
On 30 Sept, we had to rush him to the emergency as he experience seizure from a nasty fever reaching 39.8 Celsuis. We spent 2 painful days at the hospital as he was suspected case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Heaps of test was done on him, and he was truly traumatised.
He is well again and we are now home recovering. However, as you can imagine the hospital ordeal was a bit frightening, he started screaming for mommy’s attention now.
From sleeping through the night (average 10-11 hours every night), he now screams and cries about every 2 hours throughout the night.
I told myself to be easy on him, that perhaps the hospital ordeal has really impacted the poor baby and he needed time to recover. But, he is getting from bad to worse. As you can imagine, he is also screaming and crying in the daytime!
Any advise would be greatly appreciated
One very tired and confused mommy
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57 Lisa Tanner // Oct 13, 2009 at 8:57 pm
My son is 19 weeks old. He was sleeping through from 8 weeks in his own room. He wasnt a big day sleeper once he started sleeping through and would wake everytime i put him to bed and would not fall asleep if i let him self settle. He has been waking through the night for the past 6 or so weeks he will go to sleep at about 7pm wake at 8pm-9pm, wake 10:30pm or 12:30am feed, 2:30am feed, 5:00am feed, 6:00am feed and then nap some times at 9am, 1pm, or 4-5pm. For the past week I have been putting him in our bed at about 2:30am to feed him and get some sleep myself as when I feed him he falls asleep and then wakes when im getting back in to bed. Im just so tired that I get him in bed with me and feed him to sleep. Sometimes he will stay awake all day unless we go for a drive in the car or if he goes in his jolly jumper for 30mins or we go for a walk with the pram. I could really do with more than 2 hrs sleep at a time!!! I am breast feeding him as he wont take the bottle at all, and tips on that would be much apreciated aswell!!! I could do with a day or night out with the girls. (Have several types of bottles and sipper cups, tried expressing and formular) Im worried that the reason he is waking up is because he is not drinking enough but the doctors have said he looks healthy and not to worry but I do. I have your book save our sleep the only thing I have trouble with is getting him to self settle as he mostly always falls asleep at the breast (unless hes not tired) and because im so tired I use this to my advantage. Would really apricate some help!!! Thanks
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58 Nicole // Oct 13, 2009 at 9:45 pm
My son has been sleeping through the night since 7 weeks. Now at 15 months, he wakes up between 2-3 in the morning consistently and I don’t know why. At his first birthday his two front teeth were coming in at the same time and he woke several times a night. THe only thing that comforted him was bringing him into the bed. Then he would go right back to sleep. He doesn’t appear to have any teeth coming in. He isn’t wet, or requesting a bottle. If I leave him to cry, all he wants is to come to our bed. If I go in as soon as I hear him, he generally goes back to sleep within a few minutes. Do you have any suggestions as to why he may be waking and what to do when he does?
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59 jacee // Oct 13, 2009 at 9:47 pm
My kids share a room and my daughter has school so she needs her sleep. so when conner wakes up in the middle of the night and starts crying what should we do? we have been bringing him to our bed cause we have no choice because she wakes up. he is now 14 months and he started sleeping through the night when he was 4months old and we were always able to put him in his crib wide awake. once he turned one and the bottle was gone we have had nothing but problems. He wont go to sleep on his own anymore and if he does he is usually awake within an hour screaming. what should we do about this? i feel like he has us and he knows it!!!!
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60 Luciana // Oct 13, 2009 at 9:57 pm
My baby is seven months old. She goes to bed at 7:30 every time with bed time routine. Around 4 am she wakes up cruing every single night. She realizes that she does not hat the passcifier and I have to put it back. I wish she would sleep the whole nigth straigth.
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61 Tanya // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Rylee is 7 1/2 months and wakes up 40 minutes from when I put her down after her last feed at night. She wakes up screaming and the only way I can get her back to sleep is to feed her. I have tried settling, dummy, rocking, nursing and nothing works. She will then sleep for up to 2 hours and do the same. Sometimes she wakes up to five times in the night. She doesn’t sleep for long during the day either. Please help!!!!!
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62 Leah // Oct 13, 2009 at 11:57 pm
I have 7month of twins who have never slept thru the whole night. they wake up wanting a feed every 3-4 hrs drink for 5 mins and go back to sleep I try my hardest to put them back to sleep but they refuse if I leave them to grizzle they wake up the other twin up. please does anyone have any tips on how to make them sleep the whole night. HELP I am in desperate need of help.
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63 TRACY // Oct 14, 2009 at 12:37 am
My Son Caiden Is Almost A 1 Year Old. He Will Not Sleep All Night, He Wakes Up At Least 2 Times To Eat. I Lay Him Back Down In His Crib With His Bottle and He Drinks Most Of It and Goes Back To Sleep. Should He Be Eating Like That Through The Night? It Seems Like He Eats All The Time During The Day, He Also Will Not Take Long Naps During The Day, I Lay Him In His Playpin or Crib After I Get Him To Sleep and He Will Sleep Maybe 30mins, If I Hold Him He Will Sleep For 1 or 2 Hours, I Have Tried Just Lettin Him Cry It Out or Stayin By The Playpin or Crib but If I Don’t Get Him While He Cries He Will Gag His Self Until He Throws Up. What Can I Do To Stop That and Get Him To Sleep and Nap Well So He Is Not So Cranky All The Time?! Thanks!!
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64 Jaelyn // Oct 14, 2009 at 12:47 am
Clancey is 9 months old. He still sleeps in bed with me because he still wants to nurse all night. During the day he only nurses before his naps. I don’t nurse him to sleep. He has a bedtime ritual. and a set bedtime. is he still not sleeping through the night because he is generally hungry, or because I let him sleep in my bed half way through the night? please help. I’m so tired, and really irritable.
thank you
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65 Lena // Oct 14, 2009 at 12:48 am
My daughter is 10 mths and she is still having trouble getting to sleep on her own at night. She starts crying and throws a fit. It is a constant battle to put her to sleep. I’ve tried everything to singing, soothing music, patting her back, teddy bear, bottle, pacifier, sleep schedule, etc. Then after she finally goes to sleep, she wakes up around 4 and sometimes keeps me up for an hour. I am a single mother and I’m getting no sleep. What can I do?
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66 becki // Oct 14, 2009 at 2:20 am
lara is nearly ten months now and keeps waking up everynight at about 1.30 i have tried feeding her this settles her in my arms but if i try to put back in her cot she wakes, she only sleeps after that if she is held and even then she lets out crys every hour
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67 anju // Oct 14, 2009 at 3:11 am
HI,
my son Rohan who is 11mnths old sleep in his crib in his room. he has been sleeping in his room since 4 weeks. before that he used to sleep in his crib in our room and in the night he used to sleep in our bed. i’ve been doing “camping out” for 3 weeks now. its easy to sttle him to sleep.in the night he goes to sleep at 7.30 pm. from 11.30 pm onwards he wakes up every hour and from 2 am to 3-4 am he wakes up every 15-20 mnts. he sits up in his cot and cry. i’ve to go into the room and settle him and place him back to sleep. please advise what to do to help Rohan sleep thru’ the night
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68 Stacey Holland // Oct 14, 2009 at 5:03 am
Hi my son’s name is Finley. He is 2 and 8 months. He is in a bed and has been for over a year now but since i got pregnant i have given in to him during the night and got into to bed with him. This has been going on for four months and i don’t know how to break the routine. also he is getting worse every night at going to bed. it can take me 4 hours for him to get to sleep. he goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 but as i said can take hours to get to sleep. i have to sit on a chair where he can see me or he screams. He never gets out of bed just calls out for excuse after excuse. I’m wondering if it is time to cut out his day sleep, but i think he still needs it because if i am out he will fall asleep in the car. i try not to let him sleep past 230 but this still doesn’t help. I don’t know what to anymore. My husband says he has me wrapped around his little finger. Please help!!! Thankyou
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69 laura // Oct 14, 2009 at 5:17 am
hi i have a 6 month old girl, she is in her own room and sleeping really well, but since i went back to work and she with babysitter during the day she is waking about 3-4 times a night, not crying but chatting to her self and kicking about when she is lying down, i would go in give her her dummy and she would usually fall asleep, but never crys during any of these times, but she could wake again in 20 mins, does any one else have this problem as when i have got used to a good nights sleep its harder to up several time a night with her.
thank you. bed time is usually 7 pm to 7 am
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70 De-Leigh // Oct 14, 2009 at 6:24 am
i have a 15 month old son named Jarvis and no matter what i do i cannot get him to sleep in his cot.he is sleeping in my bed every single night and had a dummy.the only way i can get him to sleep is by cuddling him until he falls asleep.he also has to be touching my skin to fall asleep.i think it is a comfort thing for him.i am getting really tired from doing this every night.i am finding that i am not gettign enough sleep myself and getting frustrated at him.please help me.
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71 Erica // Oct 14, 2009 at 7:00 am
My daughter is 13 months old. She has always “resisted sleep”. I have always been doubtful about controlled crying as I feel its a cruel choice. I also feel with her we’d be doing it for hours as she just resists being put down to sleep. In the day time she naps in her pram. We have always used a prop to get her to sleep (day or night), most the breast now bottle. We can get her off to sleep by feeding her a bottle in the chair, letting her fall to sleep in my arms, and then once asleep putting her in her cot. However she wakes approx 3 hours later and will not resettle in her cot. Through sheer exhaustion we bring her into our bed. This was working ok, but now she wriggles and moves and pulls my hair and wants to sleep on me. I tired controlled crying last night for about 10 mins. She was so hysterical I gave up. We are exhausted and I don’t have faith any more in any of my choices/plan of action to move forward. Please help us.
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72 Daisy // Oct 14, 2009 at 9:15 am
Our daughter is going to be 3 in February.
we adopted her at 16 months. The biggest issue was that she was terrified of the crib as she had been tied to it at the Chinese orphanage. So in the beginning she slept with us. She has been home for over a year now so we got rid of the crib and got her a bed. She likes that better and will go to sleep in it most nights, but she gets out and comes to our bed usually around midnight or 1 am. She then continues to wake up and cry in the middle of the night. However, I don’t think she is awake at all. If I touch her or try to sooth her it gets worse. Last night she woke up in the middle of the crying and kind of startled herself so I know for sure that her episodes are while she is asleep. How can I help if she in fact is asleep?
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73 Donna knapp // Oct 14, 2009 at 9:19 am
my 15 month old is not sleeping threw the night.she had colic when she was a baby until about seven months old.does she still have colic ?.i dont know what is wrong.we are still up in the night
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74 Jean // Oct 14, 2009 at 10:17 am
My daughter, Kasey, is about 2 and a half years old. We put her to sleep every night by brushing her teeth and reading. I would stand outside the door. She would call mommy and I would say “shhhh”. This will happen probably 2 to 3 times and she would fall asleep. Every night she would wake up once, twice, or more through out the night screaming mommy or daddy. We would have to go into her room tuck her in and wait till she falls back asleep to leave. How do I get her to sleep through the night without waking up in the middle of the night?
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75 Tania // Oct 14, 2009 at 11:59 am
Eva is now 12 weeks old. she has dropped the 10/11pm feed altogether, there is no waking her at all, but she is still waking up every night between 2 and 5am, then not feeding well at morning feed. Is it to early to give water through the night?
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76 rozna // Oct 14, 2009 at 12:02 pm
hi dana my daughter’s issue is that she is now going to be 8 months old she use to sleep for 10 hours a month ago but as she cut her first tooth her sleeping time got disturbed she takes good naps thrice a day for about 1 hour 30 mins.. i do the same thing to make her sleep at night which i used to do but still she is waking at night after every hour she doesnt go to sleep till i hold her or till i breast feed her i dont get sleeping time and suffering from mastitis too please help me out…
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77 Sam // Oct 14, 2009 at 1:50 pm
i have a two month old and i am getting told by all my friends to make her sleep longer i should fed her the baby rice cereal before bed. Im just not sure if her bodys actually ready for it yet wat should i do? i would love a full nights sleep again
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Reply by Tania:
October 15th, 2009 at 3:45 am
I get told this all the time also. I personally think its a bit early. Hang in there until the 4 month mark. It may seem like forever when you are getting no sleep, but will be better in the long run. My first baby never slept through the night until he was about 8 months old, i gave him cool boiled water for 2 nights and he stopped waking up for it, 2 months is a little early for this, though hang in there, its not forever.
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78 midori // Oct 14, 2009 at 2:51 pm
himy doughter Gill is 4 months she has problem sleeping,every night she wakes up every 2hours 12.30, 2.30, 4.30 and 6.oo in the morning she allaweys cries and she stop when I feed her than she continue sleeping after that at day she wants to sleep in inftant seats when i put her on a crib she wakes up immediatly can you help me
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79 Iva // Oct 14, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Hi Dana! My son Martin is 7 months old. He is very bad sleeper. He wakes up 4-5 times at night and takes 20 minutes naps during the day. He sleeps with the pacifier and when he wakes up he wants to nurse. Before he was waking up around four, now his teeth are coming and nothing can calm him down, even the pacifier doesn’t work at night. When he has to take naps during the day..and for how long. We have a good bedtime routine, his bed time is at 8. I breastfeed him at 7.Then a story. He has a lovey too. I am tired. I want him to have a good sleep too, he is so cranky all day. What should I do?
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80 Jen // Oct 14, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I had the same issue and I tried those methods. The 1st and 2nd day my little one eventually fell asleep quietly on his own. But by the 3rd day it got worst. He woke up in the middle of the night at 2am and wouldn’t go back to sleep. I quietly calmed him and whispered, but didn’t work. I look at the clock again and it was 5am. By then it was almost sunrise and I was extremely exhausted. I give in and let him suck on me so he quiets down and stops crying. Is there a further step when this happens or do I just let him keep crying?
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81 Tammy // Oct 14, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Hi there my 5 month old wakes up several times a night wanting to be fed to go back to sleep. I am soooooo tired of this. He is a big boy already 20 pounds. I refuse to feed every time so i will let him cry but when should i feed him. Every 6 hours or more or less? i would prefer not at tall but feel guilty after 6 or more hours. I have even resorted togiving gripie water during his scraming fits. PLEASE HELP.
Also he will only nap MAX 45 min during the day
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82 KaylaDawn // Oct 14, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Hi Dana, My question is Evangelina sleeps from 8-9 at night until 6-7 in the morning on the nights that my husband is with her while I’m at work but on the nights I’m home she always wakes up around 4 am. Why do you think that is?
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83 Sandra Hodgkinson // Oct 14, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Our 14month old has never been a great sleeper. In her first year we went to sleep school twice to learn techniques to settle her ( patting and modified control crying) and it worked for a while, but each time she gets sick ( it happens almost every 2-3 weeks, a cold or even tonsillitis) we comfort her in our arms, rock her or even lie her in bed with us for a bit, and then after the sickness the patterns are set and she doesn’t go back to sleeping through or settling reasonably at bedtime. We have had her waking at some stage in the night for the last weeks after her cold and not resettling for approx 3 hours- in order of desperation, we try pattingin the cot, I stay with her in the room till she is asleep-camping out( all stuff recommended to get her back to self settling), we rock her in our arms, take her into our bed, sleep with her in the single bed in her room, leave her to cry/complain for 20min periods to tire her out and finally after approx 3 hours she collapses- and so do we! any tips and clues on how toget back to sleeping through after sickness and how to calm down a ‘wired child’? She had always been very active & alert and finds it hard to settle down/ get to sleep. She is fully awake and jumping about/ crying/ sitting up in her cot in the nigt waking times. Day sleeps are better - 2×1-1.5 hours so I don’t think I am oversleeping her in the day.
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84 Claudia // Oct 14, 2009 at 9:50 pm
My son is 9 months.. He wakes up every 3 hours more or less and I’m still breastfeeding.. so after he falls asleep at night breastfeeding, I’ll put him on his crib..he wakes up and I take him back to my bed.. the problem is that he only falls asleep breastfeeding and I end up falling asleep with him..so he wakes up in my bed.. My husband works loooong hours so the least I want to do is for him to hear the baby crying at night.. what can I do??/ also my 3 year old daughter ends up in my bed.. at some point at night she walks to our bedroom… so the four of us end up in the same bed! i’ve tried to let my baby cry for some time (15 minutes) but he just won’t stop crying! Sometimes I think he might be cold becuse he doesn’t like blankets..
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85 Jackie Louie // Oct 14, 2009 at 10:22 pm
My son Chase is almost a month old. He takes 2-3 naps a day for 2-3 hours at a time. He usually gets fussy between 7-9pm and has a difficult time getting to sleep during those hours. He usually wakes twice a night for his normal feedings and sleeps 3 hours at a time as well. I wanted to know at what age can I start to sleep train him. I have been reading up on the “Crying it out” method but not sure which method I should implement once he is ready.
Thank you,
Jackie Louie
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86 Sarah // Oct 14, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Hi
I ghave a 14 month old daughter who has never slept well and wakes at least 3 times a night and is always very hyperactive and wanting to play from about 5. She has always been very grizzly and has had a lot of ear infections (waiting to get grommits). I am feeding her once in the night to get her back to sleep when she is very awake - usually around 2am. The rest I end up patting her or giving her a cuddle and rocking her as she will just scream and sit or stand in the cot screaming. do you have any advice?
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87 ANNETTE // Oct 15, 2009 at 10:52 am
MELIA IS NOW 2 1/ 2 & IS STARTING TO REFUSE TO SLEEP IN HER OWN BED & ROOM ! SHE WAS DOING GREAT FOR THE PAST 6MNTHS SHE’S BEEN IN HER BIG GIRL BED, NOTHING HAS CHANGED, SAME NITE TIME ROUTINE, IT JUST STARTED ALL OF A SUDDEN ! PLEASE HELP, I’VE TRIED EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF & I NEED MY SLEEP WITH NO FEET KICKING ME AT NIGHT & A FLIP FLOPPING ALL OVER THE BED TODDLER!!!! THANK-U SOOOO MUCH FOR ANY ADVISE !!!
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88 Kimberley Galea // Oct 15, 2009 at 12:59 pm
my son is not getting as much sleep as he needs.He goes to bed around 8:30 or 9.I feed him 6-7oz of formula.30-60mins later he wakes up crying,I go and pat his back tell him everything is ok,i leave the room.10mins goes by same thing but this time I pick him uo,rock him for a short time and put him down then he sleeps anywhere till 11:30-1:30 and then he’s hungry.SO I feed him,put him back to sleep,then 4am comes and hes hungry again.After I feed him I out him back down but it seems like he can’t settle and get a good sleep after that.Also should I be feeding him all that much?I do give him rice cereal around dinner time to after his bottle.Also there are times to where he wakes up every 2 hours.He is almost 6 months and I am just going nuts!!!Please HELP
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89 Merryn Tuck // Oct 16, 2009 at 6:48 am
Hi Dana,
My 15 month old sleeps on a double bed mattress on the floor because he climbed out of the cot. He goes to sleep easily in bed, before 7 pm and I sit at the door, but he wakes about 3 times each night and wants me to cuddle him. He then wakes to start the day at 5.30 am. I’m exhausted. Please help.
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90 Sabrina // Oct 16, 2009 at 7:47 am
Hi Dana,
I’ve tried to get my 1yr old girl to sleep independently without my help, I would always offer her a transitional object (soft toy/blanket) but she doesn’t seem to really want anything to do them apart from wanting me to be next to her cot and holding her hand until she goes to sleep and she would always wake up 3-4 times a night and won’t settle herself to sleep until i’m there with her holding her hand. I’ve tried everything…using the CIO techniques (2 weeks) was a horrible experience for both of us…she vomits, sometime up to 3 times a night…she does this as soon as i walk out the door and cried for a very long time (approx 2-4 hours) it was too distress for us both.
So I tried co-sleeping for awhile because i thought that would help with her sleeping problem, she does sleep easily at night but still gets up several times a night. I used to breastfeed her every time she gets up due to her constant crying and i guess at the time it was an easier option. But currently i’ve managed to cut down to only 1 night feeding.
She always been a terrible sleeper…although she sleep well during the day but i really need to get her to learn to sleep through the night. She’s a happy and very vocal baby but i’ve notice that she’s getting more and more tired during the day and starting to get bags under her eyes. Please help.
Tired Mum,
Sabrina
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91 Kelly Highfill // Oct 16, 2009 at 10:19 am
My son will be 4 yrs old next month, our night time routine is put jammies on, brush teeth, kiss and hugs and either mommy or daddy go and read about 2-3 books, then we turn out the light and lay with him until he falls asleep. We have been doing this since 18 months old. This routine can last 1 hr, somewhere in the night between midnight and 3 am he will get up and come to our bed, like I said he’s been doing this since 18 months. I need to change this routine to make him not so dependant on us to fall asleep, and when he wakes to be able to put himself to sleep. We have tried changing this routine several times but he will cry and throw a fit/tantrum. Then it will take 2 hrs or longer to get him to bed and asleep. I also have an 18 month old that I don’t want to wake when he decides to throw his fits.
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92 Matilde // Oct 16, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Hi,
my son cries if he does not have his dummy to sleep and he wakes up if he drops it, should I let him cry or give it to him all the time?
Kind regards
Matilde
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93 carla // Oct 16, 2009 at 3:38 pm
my son since the day he was born hardly ever fell alseep before 11pm. he is now 8 years old. we can put him to bed at any time and he does not fall asleep before 11pm to 1am. he says that he wants to sleep but he just can’t. he lies there awake thinking, wondering…. any suggestions cuz he would really like to fall asleep sooner. the doctor does not think any medical problems are present.
thanks
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94 danielle barns // Oct 16, 2009 at 4:37 pm
my son is 27 months and still wakes up in the night for a bottle of juice he only recently started wanting juice in the night what should i do?
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95 Thao // Oct 16, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Hi,
My son is 7 months old and doesn’t sleep thru the night. He doesn’t have any trouble going to bed, but he wakes up 2-3 times a night. I breastfeed him around 8:30p.m. and we play a little; then he’s in his crib around 9:15p.m. with the mobile turns on. The problem I have is that he wakes up around 11p.m. and cries. I gave him a pacifier, and he falls back sleep. The second time he wakes up crying, I give him the pacifier (several times) but he spits it out (each time) crying… so I breastfeed him, and he drains out all my milk. I know he was hungry. The third time he wakes up crying I can put pacifier on him, and he goes back to sleep. How can I not feed him when I know he’s hungry? What can I do so he can sleep thru the night without feeling hungry and that I can sleep?
Thanks,
Thao
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96 Thao // Oct 16, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Hi,
I also want to let you know that my 7 months old son takes 2 naps during the day (1 to 1 and a half hour each) and that he only naps in his swing. I don’t know if this affect his sleep at night (my previous question).
Thanks,
Thao
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97 Jenni // Oct 16, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I have been doing the staying in the room technique with my 1 yr old daughter for 4 days now. Prior to this, her routine was read a book, brush her teeth, have a bottle, and then lay down (awake). I’d leave the room after kissing her and telling her I love her, and then she would cry for anywhere from 2-15 minutes. She would then sleep. Same with naps. I would put her down to sleep at about 7:30pm every night. She usually wakes up around 7am. Before, she would wake up once a night around 3am, cry for about 1/2 hr, and go back to sleep until 7am. Now, since starting the staying in the room technique, it takes over 1 1/2 hours, usually two hours for her just to fall asleep. She then wakes up at about midnight and stays awake for at least 1/2 hour (usually 1 hr and up to 3 hours) before falling asleep (I am now going into the room to sit near her). She then will wake up every hour after that until we finally get her up at 7am. None of us are getting any sleep, she is crabby, I’m crabby, and I’m doubting that this will work. It was much better before, letting her cry it out. I just didn’t want her to have a bad attitude toward sleep and wanted to eliminate her 3am waking period. I’m also 21 weeks pregnant and desperately need this to work so I can get rest. I’m completely spent and have no energy to take care of an energetic, usually happy 1 yr old girl. I want my life back. Please let me know if I should continue with the program or try something else. If you think it’ll work if I keep it up another 3 or 4 days, I’ll keep doing it, but right now I’m totally depleted.
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98 Cathy // Oct 17, 2009 at 12:50 am
My 9 month old wakes up every hour through the night. She wants me - nothing else will do to get her back to sleep. I hold her without rocking or lay her down and let her hold my arm to get her back to sleep - this used to work, but the last few nights she won’t rest until I’ve picked her up. I am not feeding her through the night but give her a feed before I put her down. She is Breastfed and on solids. She wakes up like clockwork at 1 hour intervals until the morning hours where she will sleep one 2-hour cycle, but that is all. Please help!
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99 Ruth // Oct 17, 2009 at 11:11 am
My son is only about to be 8 weeks old and he’s been having trouble sleeping. he’ll sleep up to 6 hours at night if I’m lucky, but usually only 1-2 hours. At nap-time he’ll go about 10 minutes if we’re lucky. What should I do?
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100 lisa hopkins // Oct 17, 2009 at 2:14 pm
My daughter is 13 months old and is sleeping in my bed. She wakes up anywhere from 3 to 10 times a night she sometimes wants a bottle or just wants to get closer to mommy. Night time is a nightmare. I have tried getting her in a crib many times but she cries until she makes herself throw up. I get her up change her and her blankets then lay her back down after the 4th time I give up. I have stayed in the room with her and everything. What do I do? We are ready to get some good sleep. Thank you
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101 Isabelle // Oct 17, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hi Dana,
I watched and read the topic posted on October 13th- “My 15month old is breastfeeding all night long”. I have a feeling my 3 month old is also using me as a pacifier to fall asleep, whether at night or during the day for naps. Is your recommendation the same for a 3 month old? If he starts crying in his crib, do I pick him up? I have a feeling he is too young for the approach you described for the 15 month old baby.
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102 angeline // Oct 17, 2009 at 4:37 pm
My family will be taking our 5 and a half month old Amie overseas next week. I’m expecting a rough transition of sleep as she’ll be going through jeg lag (14 hours of time difference). What are some gentle ways to help a baby go through jeg lag so that she can come around to sleeping normally?
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103 Heidi // Oct 17, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I have a 20 month old son who normally is a very good sleeper. He typically goes to sleep between 7:30pm & 8:00pm and sleeps till around 6:30am, plus he sleeps for approx. 2 hours in the afternoon. All well and good (his dad and I have always been so happy with his sleep schedule). The problem is for the past 10days to 2 weeks things have gotten really screwed up. He is now waking up around 5:30am and will only nap for less than 1 hour. He is exhausted - you can tell he is tired just by looking at him - he has bags under his eyes. We were worried it was teething that was waking him up so we have tried baby Tylenol and baby Advil. This did not change a thing. When do children naturally change their sleep patterns and no longer need a daytime nap? Any suggestions to get a really good sleeper back on track?
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104 Nancy Dehais // Oct 18, 2009 at 1:03 am
Hi,
Thanks you for the advice. We will try our best to make my sixteen months old son sleeps in his bed. One question we have is that my son needs to touch my face and he also likes to be held in arms while he falls sleep. My son usually awakes one time during the night (around 4 AM or 6 AM) to get his milk and follows his of face touching and rocking routine. How can I make him to stop touching my face while he is falling sleep?? Drinking milk is fine, but How can I make him get back to sleep without rocking him and without touching my face? I have tried stuff animals and blanckies without success. He just simply gets back on my face.
Thanks in advance for your help and support.
Nancy
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105 ako // Oct 18, 2009 at 6:09 am
My daughter is 21months.She is sleeping throught the night from 6.30pm to 6- 6.30 am.
but last couple of days she is waking up earlier and earlier,,,, one day 5.30 next day 5.40 and today 5.15. I didn’t pick up her until 6, I was hoping her to go back to sleep, but she didn’t. so she was so tired whole morning, cranck and crying,,, What shall I do when she wake up so early in the morning,,,
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106 Karen Bos // Oct 18, 2009 at 8:35 am
Ok so here is my problem. I have a 17 month old little girl. She wakes up at 9am in the morning, takes one nap at around lunch for 2 hours or so, and then she wont go to bed until atleast 11 oclock at night.. She is draining me and I don’t get any down time for myself. Please help??
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107 Fernanda // Oct 18, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Please Dana help me:
My son is 9 months, he never been a good slleper but at the last month he always go to bed around 7pm but wake up every hour to two hours, at 11pm he has a bottle and when is 1 he wake up I go there settle he back to sleep but I don’t take him out of the cot but when is around 3 or 4 am he wake up a cries cries cries until a grabb him and bring to my bed, Im so tired and when come to 3 or 4 am I can’t handdle anymore so I bring to my bed. I try leave him there but he cries so much, stand on the cot. What should I do so he doesn’t wake up anymore and have hes last bottle at 11pm and sleep thru. A month ago he was sleeping from 11am till 5:30 and then coming to my bed to have a bottle and wake up for the day.
Plase Dana I need a good good tip!!!!!!!!!!URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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108 Stacey Paul // Oct 18, 2009 at 11:55 pm
I’ve just moved my 18 month old daughter to a big bed. How do I get her to stay in her bed? She continually gets out and as a last resort I stay with her with my hand on her back till she falls asleep. (When she was in the cot she was able to go to sleep by herself).
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109 Gema // Oct 19, 2009 at 1:27 pm
My son is 8 weeks old and i am triyng to get him into a routine in the evening like bath at seven, feeding at 7.30 and then bed but because he does not wake up at the same time everyday, he does not have the first feeding at the same time everyday. He is having 5 feeds per day. What could i do to get him into a routine so he would go to bed around 8 or so?
Please help
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110 Hanna .D. // Oct 19, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Hello Dana and thank you for the video.I am a mother of 1 year old sweet little girl that is nursing and sleeping in bed with me and this video speaks to me and my husband directly .We wish to try it and succed ,however I am having thoughts such as before going to sleep my little girl Michelle and I have a special communication she makes unic sound that she’s asking to breast feed and snuggle ,when wanting to sleep,she also seems so happy to fall a sleep like that after our cheerful book readng making sound lauging,I’m worried that puting her in the cribe in her own room will break that special communication and fun,I know she will sceam /cry out loud in her cribe wanting me to pick her up and also she’ll miss the warmth as well .I hope I can handle this . .I must get good night sleep and her as well as you say.By the way I read that goat milk is close to mother milk ,maybe I can use that instead of nursing ?
Please wish us luck and I’d love to read your answer to that.
Thank you
Hannah.D
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111 Sasha // Oct 19, 2009 at 4:06 pm
My son Zayne Alexander, is now 8 months old. He has an established routine for bed …eats in highchair for dinner, bath, and 15 min of down time. goes to sleep around 8pm. He takes a bottle while I rock him to sleep and will turn his head when he is done eating and lay in my arms to finish falling asleep. However, I dont let him fall completly asleep to put him in his crib. Then every night he wakes up like clock work wanting to eat about 4 oz’s of bottle then falls back to sleep till 7. How can we get him to skip the 3am feeding??? Right now we are on day one of giving water instead of milk. however it took 2 hours to get him back to sleep. It seems easier to give the milk….should i just keep trying the water method???
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112 RACI // Oct 19, 2009 at 5:54 pm
The only thing is that it is not his really his Night sleeping that I was trying to get answers on. I put him to bed around 8pm and he usually sleeps until around 6 - 6:30am, sometimes (maybe once or twice a week) he will wake for a feeding around 4am. Although your answers were very helpful and I plan on trying the routine of a nice warm bath at the same time every night. I want to understand why he is so FUSSY during the DAY, he barely lets us put him down and when he does it is only for a few (very few) minutes and he gets so fussy until one of us picks him up and walks with him because he does not like to let us sit either. But when it comes to SLEEP either at night or during the day he fights it so much and so hard it scares me. I am sure that I am supposed to let him cry a little, but when we put him down and it does not matter where bouncy chair, swing, floor……..he cries so hard that he is completely out of his little breath and it is sooooooooooo scary to me that I don’t want to leave him down to make it worse. So I cradle him in my arms and begin the ritual of pacing all around the house while I gently pat his back until he falls asleep. Is there anything you could suggest for this situation that will help???
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113 Yisselle // Oct 19, 2009 at 6:27 pm
My son is 4 1/2 months and is sleeping 11-12 hours and wakes one time (sometimes two) during this period to drink milk. The problem is that this time is 2:00 am to 1:30 pm. I can wake him at 8:00 am and he still goes to sleep between 1:00 am to 2:00 am. Somebody help me.
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114 Grace // Oct 19, 2009 at 7:08 pm
My 8 month old used to be a peaceful sleeper and had been sleeping through the night since she was 3 month old. However, since she turned 6 month old, she has been waking up a lot at night to nurse. Some days she even wakes up every hour in the evenings and nights. I’ve been advised by the doctor to start her on solids asap in order for her to get enough food as they see frequent night feeding as a sigh of her being hungry and needing more for the growth. But she refuses to take any solids except a few spoons at a time. And she seems to leave all the feeds till after 6pm. I’ve been battling with her for 2 month and completely exhausted. Please help. Many thanks Grace
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115 Ann // Oct 19, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I have a 2 1/5 year old little girl…Her routine is she likes for me to pat her belly for her to go to sleep and it will usually take 20-45 min. for her to go to sleep and she will not let you leave before she goes to sleep…lately she has been waking up during the night crying out for mommy and I would go pat her belly and get her to go back to sleep//sometimes taking an hour to get her to go back to sleep. We need to get into a routine where she will go to her bed and we say good night and she will go to sleep…Am I asking too much? How do we as her parents lay her down, say goodnight and we leave (without her kicking and screaming for mommy)? In desperate need of help!!
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116 Ferlicia // Oct 20, 2009 at 2:13 am
Hi Dana,
My almost 9 months baby does not nap well in the daytime. Her usual naptimes are between 10-11am (before her lunch) and 3-4pm (after her afternoon bottle). She usually naps for 30 min and she will start to toss and turn and wake up crying. I have to pat her back to sleep, or rock her for 5 - 10 min or sometimes more, before she goes back to sleep. Sometimes, she sleeps for another hour or wakes up again within the next 30 min and she does not want to sleep no more. She has a baby cousin who is in the house in ther afternoon and she is easily awaken by his screams (he screams a lot).
Her nighttime sleep has been improving and sometimes she sleeps for 10 hours without waking up.
How I can help her to nap better in the daytime? Also, when putting her in the crib awake, does that mean you can still rock and pat her and then put her down while she is still drowsy? Or does it mean putting her in the crib when she is awake and ‘active’?
Thank you for your help!
Ferlicia
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117 Jolene // Oct 20, 2009 at 2:13 pm
My daughter is a breastfed 6 month old, she goes to sleep well at night following an effective routine. However she wakes up for 2 or 3 feeds a night. I have nursed her in the side lying position since birth because that was the only way she could get a good latch, now she only likes to be fed that way. She goes to sleep at 9pm and wakes the first time between 12 and 2. I get her from her crib, feed her, she falls asleep while I feed her and then I put her back in her crib, a few hrs later she wakes for another feed. She isn’t growing well so I have been feeding her as much as I can. She has on occasion slept for 8hrs so I’m wondering if she is waking because she is actually hungry and I should keep up with the night feeds until she’s a year or growing better or if she could have a strictly in the middle of the night association with needing to nurse to fall back asleep. Your response is greatly appreciated.
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Reply by Anonymous:
November 16th, 2009 at 7:48 am
try patting her to sleep if your instincts tell you that she is not hungry….if you feed her everytime she moves..she’ll never be able to sleep on her own…that’s what i’m doing right now. my 20 month old daughter wakes up 2/3 times at night and she wants to feed for 5 mins each time. at times i feed her 6/7 times at night. her teeth….are sharp for sure and i have to make a lot of effort to take her off me and she’s slept…oh its a pain
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118 Simone // Nov 3, 2009 at 1:14 pm
My 2 and half year old son has been ill quite a lot since birth. (chest problems, asthma, colds) To keep an eye on him and comfort him we started letting him in our bed about 4 months ago and now, despite putting him back in his bed in the night he wakes up and comes back in ours and gets really upset if we say no. We have a lodger too so we dont want him to scream too much! Help! Thank you
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