112 responses so far ↓

• 1 Lynsey // Jan 26, 2009 at 12:29 pm

  My son Jamie is 8 months old he goes to bed between 8-9 but wakes a lot during the night, usually once he gets his dummy he goes back over but not all the time? Its very tiring getting up nearly every hour.

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• 2 D. van Engelen // Jan 26, 2009 at 12:52 pm

  Hi Dana,
  I’m hoping you could help me try and change how my 5 month old daughter Helena sleeps in the evening, since she thinks it’s nap time instead of sleepy time.

  We normally put her down by 830 to sleep by 9 which has worked well except that she has been waking by 11pm thinking that it was a nap. She then stays up til 1am until she gets tired again and goes to sleep for the evening, and wakes between 715-730am. This is clearly not enough sleep for her, and her naps in the day tend to be short - around 30-45 minutes.

  We have started putting her down at 730 now and she sleeps but again, thinks it’s nap time, and wakes, cries it out for 20 minutes, then just plays in her crib for 2 hours until she gets tired, sleeps, thinks it’s a nap, wakes again at 11pm until she finally sleeps at 1am, and so on.

  We have a bedtime routine that we do each night at 700pm, but we can’t seem to break her habit of thinking it’s nap time instead of sleepy time.

  Any advice would be very helpful. Many thanks.

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• 3 Heidi Bailey // Jan 26, 2009 at 3:51 pm

  My daughter is 21 months and needs to fall asleep with a bottle. I know it’s a bad habbit I created. She has never carried one around during the day, She also would never take a pacifier, but at nap times and bedtime she wont fall asleep without her bottle in the crib with her. I’m worried about her teeth and how i’m going to break her of this habbit!!!

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• 4 helen // Jan 26, 2009 at 4:59 pm

  hello, my 5 month old has started waking in the night, usually around 4-5 am, she is not crying and i give her the dummy and she is almost instantly asleep again, how can we try and break this habbit?

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• 5 Liz // Jan 26, 2009 at 5:18 pm

  Hi Dana,

  We have the opposite problem than early waking. Our 30-month-old has done well with night weaning, much to my relief. However, we have never been able to get him to stay asleep if he goes to bed any earlier than 8:30 or 9 (often 9:30). He does have an earlier time where he can be put to sleep (around 7:30 or 8), but all the times we have tried it, he seems to take it as a 40-minute nap (always exactly 40 minutes). Then he is “un-sleepable” until midnight or so (and cranky in the morning because he didn’t get enough sleep.) We think we’ve tried everything to keep him asleep, but if there’s something else, we’d try that too.

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• 6 Mandy // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:33 am

  My 9 month old wakes several times during the night and cries every time. I will be returning to work soon and need to get him to sleep soundly. What can I do?

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• 7 diandra // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:35 am

  hello ive left you 2 comments pls can you help me i cant find your response diandra shazneys mummy

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• 8 gemma // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:40 am

  hi my daughter is 11 months now and up till a month ago has always sleept through the night and now all of a sudden has started waking up at 1.00am every morning screaming the house down and refuses to go back to sleep in her own room, we have no choice but the do the stupid thing of bringing her in with us stupid i know but its the only way that either my husband or i can actually get any sleep which still isnt much!!! i am really at breaking point now and feel like crying everytime i hear her wake up. it is also causing alot of tension between my husband and i as we both work and the lack of sleep is seriously affecting our moods….. is there anything u can suggest to help before things get too bad between us!
  thanks gemma

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• 9 Cindy // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:43 am

  My 10 month old also cries in the middle of the night for 2-3 mins. Sometimes he does it once per night others 2-3 times. I don’t go to him and he does go back to sleep, but it does wake me out of a sleep. Will he always sleep like this? or will this crying out eventually stop?

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• 10 Franleata // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:46 am

  HI! My son Stephen is 15mo. In recent conversations with our pediatrician and from your feedback, as well, I realize that I have become my son’s “sleep aid”. We have a good routine in the evenings which begins around 7:30pm and includes reading books, bath time, a fairly quick (the ONLY one he has, now) nursing session and then rocking/singing to sleep in his room. However, I have made the mistake of making sure he is fully asleep before I lay him in his crib each night, and now, if he’s not fully asleep, there is no way he will stay without dreadful tears. Once I do get him down, there always come that time that he cries out and stands up in the crib, which eventually leads to him joining his Daddy and me in the bed where he sleeps quite contently for the rest of the night. The time he joins us, though, has steadily been getting earlier and earlier since he was about 11 months old. How can I, in a loving way, “back up and punt” and teach him to fall asleep on his own and remain in his crib throughout the entire night? I don’t want to tramatize him and make him think I don’t want him with me — we honestly don’t mind him sleeping with us — I rather like the cuddling with him, but I know that it is not the best solution in the end for any of us, and I also know the longer we wait, the harder and harder it will probably become.
  Thank you for your insights!

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• 11 Aimee fenwick // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:47 am

  my little girl Ebony is 2years old and im struggerling 2 get her 2 bed at at she use 2 go 2 bed at 7.30pm then she got poorly an ever since then she hasn’t bin goin 2 bed at all, ive tryed everything and it doesn’t work. she will only go 2 bed if her mummy(me) will go with her an even then it takes over an hour for her 2 fall asleep and i don’t no how 2 get her back 2 bed at 8pm, even if she does go 2 bed at that time she will wake up anywhere from 10pm onwards and i will struggle 2 get her back 2 sleep, pleasr help me i don’t no wo 2 do x

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• 12 Vernie // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:54 am

  My Joshua rubs his eyes and scratches his head,even pulls his hair non-stop all the time when he’s tired or sleepy. Aside from his flare ups of eczema,what must be wrong with him? It seems he developed the habit.

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• 13 shelly // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:57 am

  Hi, I have a question about my son who will be 11 months old on Feb. 12th. He does not sleep through the night, he usually wakes up on average 3-4 times. He sleeps fine if he is being held or is in bed with my husband and I. As soon as we put him in his crib he starts crying and doesn’t stop until we pick him up. I know this is not a good situation. My husband is gone over nites with his job, so it is hard for both of us. When he is home we take shifts, but neither one of us gets any sleep including the baby. I know this is putting a strain on us. I just don’t know what to do…..Help…

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• 14 JENNIFER // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:01 pm

  My 15 month old little girl has never slept well. Her usual patten is to wake every 2 to 3 hrs. The best we have ever had is 5 hrs a complete one off. It is my fault she is like this, I have nursed her to sleep every night and jumped up to breastfeed her every time she crys so not to wake my 2&half yr old little boy. 15 months later I am on the verge of cracking and I have to work full time in a very stressfull job. I have struggled to get her off breast feeding, she now feeds from me at 0700, 1800 and 0400. The other times she wakes in the night I walk her round or rock her in a rocking chair. She still shares my room as we only have two bedrooms and I don’t want to wake her brother. I did controlled crying with my little boy and he slept 11 hours from 6 months. I have completley messed up this time. She can’t self settle. I just don’t know where to start. Please, please help, no books cover this.

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• 15 caroleann sherriff // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:01 pm

  Please Help
  My 2 1/2 year old son is waking up many times during the night and venturing through to our room, asking for cuddles, if i take him back and give him a cuddle he will sometimes go back to sleep, but more times than none he will get upset and it takes numerous more journeys back and forth, usually spanning over many hours before he will go back to sleep becoming very upset and frustrated. This is now taking its toll as it has been going on for a few months now. I work full time and it is becoming more difficult to function with only 3 or 4 hours sleep. i am at the end of my tether…….

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• 16 Trish // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:04 pm

  Shelly-
  I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!! My son will be 1 tomorrow and was up almost all night long last night. He was doing good for about 3 weeks and sleeping long stretches in his crib- but now he is waking up again crying for comfort. I stopped nursing at night 3 weeks ago and moved him from our bed to his- I thought we were through it- but this has happened now for 3 nights,, NO CLUE what is going on. I wish I had advice for you- but I too struggle with this. They are blessings- but can be hard work to. Hang in there and god bless you!

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• 17 ruchi // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:07 pm

  my son boris do not sleep long in night ,he gets up 4-5 times for feed n take 9 hrs sleep only

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• 18 Brie // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:20 pm

  My 9month old daughter sleeps fairly well at night, going to bed around 830pm, waking around 7am, getting up only once at night. Our main question is, during the day she will take only 30-35min naps. Since they are so short she ends up having 3 or 4 of these to not be so grumpy during the day. She does take these naps in her crib, so we’ve tried to sooth her back to sleep when she wakes up and also tried letting her cry herself back to sleep, with no luck. Help!

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• 19 Cecilia Munk // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:24 pm

  Mikayla was sleeping through the night and around 9 months she starting waking up 1-2-3 times a night. I go in and get her and put her back to sleep and she may or may not wake again. She seems to sleep pretty restless sometime. Mikayla is now a year old.

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• 20 lee-ann // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:47 pm

  Hi

  We have just tried the Supernanny technique for children who keep getting out of the
  bed and it took 2 hours of puting my son back to bed every 1 minute and he still never
  went to sleep. He is 22 months. (we have recently moved and now he will not sleep if we
  are not near eg: couch)

  What is your opinion on her techniques?

  Thank you
  lee-Ann

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• 21 Suzanne Musho // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:50 pm

  Dear Dana,

  My daughter is 4 years old. She yells and screams about going to bed. She runs into our room an average of 10 times beofe she finally falls asleep in her room, only to return in the middle of the night. We try a few times to bring her back to bed, but usually we grow weak and tired and she ends up sleeping in our bed. While in our bed, she twists and turns and kicks, so my husband and I sometimes end up on the couch! My husband and I are exhausted, and we basically have no time alone!It is a real problem for both of us. Do you have any suggestions?

  Thank you so much,

  Suzanne

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• 22 Clare // Jan 27, 2009 at 12:57 pm

  Our son is 8.5 months old, and after following the Sleep Sense Program he is a fairly good sleeper. His bedtime is between 6 and 7 pm and he usually sleeps to between 6:30 and 7:30 am. He is up twice in that time to nurse and go back to sleep. I have noticed that he is not nursing as much now. He is 24 pounds and we think he is ready to sleep through the night. We would like to try weaning from the night feedings and wonder what you would recommend. My husband is a very willing participant.

  Thanks

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• 23 Heather // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:04 pm

  I have been using the program successfully for over a year now with my son and am so happy about the sleep he gets through the night. Although, at 2 1/2 years old, he still has problems waking up too early.

  My husband and I feel that anything before 6 is too early, and when he wakes up around 5 or 5:30 we let him cry but he does not go back to sleep. Instead, he cries until six when we go get him. He understands that he is supposed to go back to sleep if he wakes up too early, but refuses to do it. We put him to bed at 7, and hate the idea of moving that back because we aren’t convinced it would work, but if you suggested it, we would definitely give it a try.

  Also, we’ve tried giving him a clock with only the first number showing but the light seemed to wake him during the night, so that didn’t work. Any suggestions to get us to six in the morning? We’ve been struggling with this all along, and it’s getting worse, not better. Please help.

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• 24 kerry // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:12 pm

  Liam will not go in his cot or moses basket at night he just screams and as soon as i pick him up and cuddle him he stops crying, i kept picking him up and putting him back for 3 hrs he was in such a state i ended up having to put him on my chest to sleep and then when he wakes for a feed i go thru it all again. Liams 9 weeks

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• 25 gloria // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:18 pm

  my 3mth old go to bed at 7-730pm and get up at 1130 then 330 then 630 is this normal and how do i break the 330am feeding???

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• 26 Ethan's Mom // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:24 pm

  Hi, my son Ethan will be 7 months old in 2 weeks. He is a great napper and has little to no trouble falling asleep on his own with no props. We have a great bedtime routine and he is asleep each night by 8pm. The problem is that is wakes up 2-3 times each night crying. If it’s early enough in the night he will sometimes just cry for a couple minutes then put himself back to sleep. If it’s past 1am or so, his cry will escalate into a wailing until I go to pick him up. He will continue to wail/cry unless I nurse him. After that, he’ll babble for a bit then go back to sleep. I realize he shouldn’t be nursing twice a night but I’ve tried the leave and check method, the pick up put down method, the sit-by-his-crib method, the timed CIO method, everything…only once has he slept from 7pm-7am without waking up. From the time he was 2 months until he was 4 months, he slept from 8pm-4am, nursed, then slept until 7:30am, then everything seemed to slowly get worse.

  I would LOVE some advice, so would my husband!! All 3 of us would love to sleep though the night!

  Thank you,
  Sherry

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• 27 Susan // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:33 pm

  Hi I have a seven month old girl and we have a routine but it’s the night sleeping I have prob with. She is up every half hour hour or two hours. sometimes she sleeps for four or more though not often. She wakes up and i used to nurse everytime she’s up then stopped nursing so much and just pat her back, that worked for a bit, but when she cries I have to get her right away or she cries harder and won’t stop. She works up to a tantrum. I’ve tried singing to her, a musical box, music, but she only wants to be held to sleep and I’m getting frustrated with her and it’s showing. The day naps are good she gets up breakfast dressed, play for an hour or two then naps. twice she has onehour naps each. notlong but at least it’s nap. she goes to bed around 7-8 depending on family. I’m just getting frustrated and tired and needhelp. thank you in advance.

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• 28 Karima // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:36 pm

  Hello
  My 15 month old daughter wakes up several times throughout the night. She moves alot during the night, I cannot keep her in the crib as it is not big enough, she would wake up even more because she does not have enough space to move around. I have her on the floor in my room so that I can keep an eye on her, I made a nice cushy little bed for her but she still constantly moves all around and cries because she cannot get comfortable. She sometimes wants milk, but not always. I usually have to help her get comfortable again. She likes to sleep on her stomach and on her knees.

  Any suggestions….

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• 29 Jackie // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:41 pm

  what about for a 2 year old? He doesnt want to nurse, he wants to come into bed with me at 5:30 am. This is obviously frustrating for myself and for my boyfriend who wake up at 6:00 anyway. How do I get him to go back to his own bed without waking the whole house up?

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• 30 adriana // Jan 27, 2009 at 1:57 pm

  matthew is 3 years old,but since he was born he never sleep all night.actually he gets up between 1 or 3 am crying and he only wants mommy if any body else go to get him he get mad and scream.usually he goes to bed arround 9 or 10 pm but no alone i have to be with him.
  Dear Dana im desperate please give some advice i really need your help.thankyou!!!

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• 31 Crystal // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:02 pm

  My daughter is almost 4 years old and still doesn’t sleep through the night. To go asleep she needs me to be there for security. She wakes up several times a night and is up sometimes all night. It seems like she cannot stay asleep. Any suggestions?

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• 32 Rosita // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:10 pm

  Hi, my 7 month old baby girl wakes up from her naps from 25-40 minues into the naps. I try to get her to go back to sleep, but she never does. I know she is tired but she wan’t continue to nap. Sometimes she will nap longer, but it’s becoming more regular that she is sleeping less in the day. To make up for it we’re trying to nap her more, but this isn’t working. I know if she misses sleep in the day it affects her night time sleep too, and she still is waking at night.
  Any suggestions on how to get her to nap longer would be greatly appreciated!

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• 33 Jessica // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:13 pm

  Hello my daughter is 10 weeks she has colic and will start to cry between 6-8pm and will not stop untill 2-4am this happens about 3-4 times a weeks, some nights are great she will feed at 12 - 4am and then 8 am morning and up but the nights she is awake all night crying she sleeps all day what can I do to help her to sleep better on a night and be awake during the day. Thank You.

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• 34 Becky // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:35 pm

  hi, i have a question about my 6 month old son, braiden. he goes to bed at 7:30ish at night and sleeps until about 1am when he wakes for a feeding, then goes back to sleep and wakes at 3ish. when he wakes at 3am he seems to think it’s time to start the day and stays awake until about 5, when he goes back to sleep in my bed. i really don’t enjoy being awake for this long in the early morning. how can i help him to sleep better? i don’t actually get up with him and go about starting the day. we snuggle in my bed and i feed him a bottle and try to coax him back to sleep with a binky. i have tried just feeding him and putting him back in his crib but he just cries until i go get him, even if he was pretty much asleep when i put him down, he won’t go back to sleep. i also have tried not picking him up at all when he wakes at 3 and just keep giving him back his binky and comforting him in his crib in hopes that he would return to sleep, but that didn’t work either. please help. i’m exhausted!!

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• 35 Jennifer // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:40 pm

  I put my son down for his naps after about 2 - 2.5 of being awake. He appears tired, ie he is rubbing his eyes and starting to get frustrated when playing with his toys. So we do our ‘nap’ routine and I put him in his crib awake for his nap. I barely get out of the room and he has already turned onto his back and is busy playing. I leave him do this and after a while he does start to fuss and then falls asleep. He only takes short naps at this point in our sleep training. My question is, should I be waiting longer to put him down for a nap? As well if he only takes short naps do I adjust his schedule accordingly and if so when will we finally have a set schedule or is always going to be fluid?

  Thanks.
  Jennifer

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• 36 brandy // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:42 pm

  my son will be 1 yr in feb 22nd. he will not sleep
  if he does falll asleep he’ll wake up within 1 hr. he wakes up 7 or 8 times hes fine if hes being held but as soon as i put him in his crib hes starts crying. he wont go to my husband he wants to help but hes on a rotating schedual
  so he really can’t do much.he just started this its been almost a month. he was a really good sleeper when he was younger

  please help!!!!!!!

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• 37 EXHAUSTED Jennifer // Jan 27, 2009 at 2:57 pm

  Hi I am still Exhausted but did have a question. I want to transition my 14 month old son into his own room and into a crib (not a playpen that he is in now in our bedroom) What is the best way to go about doing this? He still hasn’t slept for more than 4 hours straight ever, which means I havn’t slept for more than for hours straight for over a year. He also has a paci and I wonder if moving into a new room, new crib if I should just cold turkey him on everything all at once…no more paci, new bed, new room, no more middle night nursings back to sleep, Is that a good plan or am I setting myself up for major drama? I know it will be several nights of pickup/putdown crying but am willing to try anything now to get some decent sleep and for him to make it through the night finally. My husband is sleeping in another room so he at least has some good sleep so he can function at work. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
  Thank You!

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• 38 Nicole // Jan 27, 2009 at 3:08 pm

  my daughter Caroline in 8 months old and was ill for the first 6 months and does not sleep for long periods of time. She now naps from 9am-10:30am and 1pm-2pm. no 3rd nap. At bedtime 7-7:30pm she wakes every 3 hours. We give her a pacifier(only at betime) but she is up every 3 hours. wakes at 7am. help!!!

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• 39 Jade // Jan 27, 2009 at 3:17 pm

  My baby girl is almost 10 months old. She goes to bed anywhere from 7:00p.m.-7:30p.m. and she was sleeping until 5:30a.m., I would give her a bottle and she would go back to sleep until 7:30a.m. THis past week and a half, she wakes approx 3-4 times before 5:30a.m. She sits up in her crib and cries. She has her sootehr in her mouth but she has just learnt to sit up and almost stand in her crib so she won’t lay back down. What can I do?

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• 40 Megan // Jan 27, 2009 at 3:49 pm

  Isn’t it very possible that her baby is actually hungry and should be feed, especially if she is breastfeeding, baby is only 8 months old. I’ve heard that it’s very common for breastfeed baby’s to wake once or even twice a night up to as old as 1 year. If she’s going to bed at 8pm by 5am that has been 9 hours!! Couldn’t she feed baby, keep things very dim and quiet and then baby should go back to sleep for a couple more hours.

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• 41 desperate Rudi // Jan 27, 2009 at 3:49 pm

  hi i am deperate for sleep. please help. my son is 15months old and has never slept through the night, he goes to bed at 730/8 he takes hours to settle and is awake every 2 hrs some times sooner after, he mainly just wants a drink and his dummy but takes a while to get bk to sleep i have to go in several times to settle him. ive tried leavin him but he only gets destressed and now i go in straight away but it has no effect. will i ever sleep again???

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• 42 Katya // Jan 27, 2009 at 4:10 pm

  Hi Dana!

  Thank you for the interesting onformation you sending over bout the sleep training. My baby has just turned 12 months and was not sleeping well untill I tried to take hin through the training when you put him to sleep and apporach him after 5 then 10 then 15 minutes. It was really hard for me to stand his cry. At the beginning I was successful. He started to sleep through the night. Only once awaked - cries 20 minuted - goes back, But I still have lots of other concerns because the picture is always changiing.
  I give him dinner at 6:30/ He goes to sleep at 730 - 8 pm. But he goes to speep sitting,he figured out that after hefalls asleep in a sitting position I would approach and try to lay him down. DUring the night it is fine, it works he sleeps in laying position. But the day time is taff. He cries a lot before going to sleep and is sleeping in a sitting position. If I apporach to lay him down he would awake and start crying again. I do not know what to do. His day naps are so short 20 - 40 minutes.
  The other question to answer. One morning he got up at 5:30 and was crying and crying non stop. I knew that I had to start morning at 6 am not earlier. At six I took him out of the crib and he was insisting on the nursing session. I gave up morning nursing session because he got lot of air. ANd he was sooo sleepy. It did not look like he cold stay awake waiting for his breakfast. I gave him yogurt then (He does not take any bottle and any milk or formular either) He fall asleep until 7:10 am. The other day he got up at 5:30. What should I do? SHall I give him yogurt or wait untill 6 am and then start morning routine.? I am totally lost here.
  So my major concerns: his day time naps and morning feeding. I hope I was clear about my case.

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• 43 Kathleen // Jan 27, 2009 at 4:33 pm

  Hi, I have tried the ” no cry method” with my daughter Madison, and nothing is working. She is almost 8 months old and wakes up on average EVERY hour. It is usually for only a few minutes, until I pur in her soother or turn her over, etc. I have tried leaving her to cry but she just continues and becomes fully awake so I am not only up Every hour on the hour, but also up for an hour and a half until she goes back to sleep. She does fall asleep quickley at bedtime. I go back to work in a few months and am worried I will not be able to function. Please any suggestions would be really appreciated. Thank you, kathleen.

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• 44 Tammy // Jan 27, 2009 at 4:39 pm

  My daughter is now sleeping through the night, but will only take about a half hour nap during the day. She just turned one and has always been a difficult sleeper. Any advice?

  Thanks!

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• 45 Saba Sayed // Jan 27, 2009 at 4:48 pm

  Hi Dana

  Your emails and blog is very informative.

  My 6 months old daughter is really fussy when it comes to sleep, she cant go to sleep on her own, she needs cuddling, strokes and constantly be with me to go to sleep and has developed an habit of getting up after 20 minutes after she is put to sleep. Even during night she do the same thing and I has to keep her with me on my bed. During morings she gets up at 5 everyday and I have tried all the tricks to put her to sleep but in vain….

  Please advise

  Saba

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• 46 sarah // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:03 pm

  Hi what do you recommend for a two year old that wakes up to early, goes to bed at eightish
  and can wake between 5.45am and 6.30am

  please help

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• 47 leanne // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:24 pm

  I have twins 18months old girls and they share a room since they were born. I don’t have a sopare room to seperate them so I hope you have good advice for my situation. They go to bed around 7pm evry night with a bottle. They can take 15minutes to 40 mintues a night to put to them to sleep. Mainly it is Coco that is hardest to get to sleep, Phoenix will go almost every time in about 15 - 20 minutes. Once they are asleep, they wake up various times in the night, Phoenix wakes about 4- 6 times in a 2 hours span, COco will normally sleep for 1 1/2 hours and almost to the minute wakes and sometimes i can only get her back to sleep with a bottle somethimes just a pat and rock and she goes back to sleep. This then happens all night probably every 2 hours. Until around 1am I can’t settle her and she ends up in my bed. As for Phoenix it varies, some night she’ll stay in bed almost all night and other nights she ends up in my bed at 11pm or 1am. I did control crying with them 8 days straight with not even a slight bit of different to their sleep patient. If you have any advise to get them to sleep in their own bed all night and to sleep for longer than 4 hours in a row i would love to know. Twins seems to be harder, my cousin had similar trouble to me and I have spoken with other people with twins and they too have had trouble. what is your advice for twins.leanne

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• 48 Jennifer Perez // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:30 pm

  My 7 month old son Landon has been sleeping well through the night since 5 months. Recently he had a pretty severe illness and our routine got a little interrupted. Now he has been waking up a couple times a night. I’m afraid to just let him cry because he may not be feeling well. How do I know if he is waking out of a bad habit or because he isn’t feeling well. Any tips on sleeping and illnesses? Thanks, Jennifer Perez

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• 49 natasha markulev // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:39 pm

  Hello, thank you for your useful information so far.
  My son is almost 4 months old, although he shows his tired signs early in the eveing around 7pm l have never been able to get him to sleep until around 9pm which involves a lot comforting. He is waking every night at 3.30am and 7.30 am.
  How can l move his bed time to a more appropriate time of around 7pm? Kind Regards Natasha and Jack

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• 50 Leigh Murray // Jan 27, 2009 at 5:48 pm

  Hello,
  I was wondering if you could help me, my daughter is 18 weeks old and is going to bed about 7.30pm and sometimes would wake around 4.30am were we go in give her her dummy/soother and then she goes back to sleep usually after the first visit but it is sometimes 2 or 3 times, she then gets up at 7.15am for her first bottle. She is good at going to sleep on her own as I always put her up in her cot before she falls asleep and she will sometimes go to sleep without the soother, can you help with this 4.30am wakening?

  The next question I would like to ask is that I have been out twice now on my own leaving my husband to put Shannon to bed himself and she has cried sore with him and even made herself sick. He has been with us nearly everyday since she was born and we both take it in turns to put her to bed however I would probably put her to bed slightly more often. Is there anything that we can do to make her go to bed when I’m not there without her crying and getting upset?

  Looking forward to your reply
  Many Thanks
  Leigh Murray

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• 51 Maggie Fairchild // Jan 27, 2009 at 6:00 pm

  Travis is 27 months and still wakes up fighting crying and almost as if he is doing it in his sleep. He has had night terrors(doctor’s dianogsis) but is almost uncontrollable at times. Usually he will then ask for food or drink he is totally potty trained and does not wear diapers at night. Any Hints????

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• 52 Katie // Jan 27, 2009 at 6:07 pm

  My 6 month old daughter still wakes up during the night. To get her to go back to sleep, I give her a bottle. Sometimes she wakes up twice a night. How do I get her to sleep though the night without waking up or if she does wake up, do I feed her or just let her cry it out? Please help, I’m so sleep deprived!

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• 53 katy // Jan 27, 2009 at 6:10 pm

  I have read your blog, and am really enjoying all the tips and suggestions. I have been struggling for months now to get my now 9 month old to go to sleep on his own. There seem to be so many obstacles, including still waking up every 2 hours to nurse him. I am tired and completely worn out.

  To explain a bit, I will let you know some of the problems I am encountering.

  Firstly, I have managed to teach him to sleep on his own when he first goes to bed, and at one point he was sleeping throught the night for about 2 weeks. However over the Christmas period, we had visitors over quite alot and he got over excited by it all. He also got the flu and started teething during this time, so started waking up all hours of the night again.

  I’ve wanted to get him back to sleeping through the night, but the second thing is that he is still only 16lbs At 9 months old, and I figured he needs the milk, so I let him nurse whenever he wakes up.

  Which brings me to my last problem. When staying over at friends and family, I don’t have a cot to put him in, and cannot let him cry a bit when putting himself back to sleep, as it will disturb others, and he gets all disorientated and screams even more, so I resort to rocking him etc, which takes hours and hours.

  I am soo tired of the endless cycle of sleepless nights,and crying, please could you help?

  Katy Odhav

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• 54 Caty // Jan 27, 2009 at 6:10 pm

  My 8 month old is waking 3-4 times per night. He wakes, we give him a bottle, he finishes it, puts in his pacifier and goes back to sleep. We have tried to wean him off and limit it to once per night, but if he doesn’t fill up he wakes more and more often or will cry for hours. He is in his own room. Any guidance you could give that doesn’t involve a hysterical baby would be wonderful.

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• 55 sharon // Jan 27, 2009 at 6:32 pm

  Thank you for your advice about Skye your bedtime routine has worked brilliantly.She gets her bath at 7pm has her supper about 7.20pm we have some quite time just us then shes in her crib sleeping before 8pm,my only problem now is her staying asleep.Skye wakes at the least 3 times a night for a drink ive tried patting her back,giving her her pacifier but i always have to give her a drink in the end to get her to settle back to sleep ive even tried giving her water instead of her milk hoping she wont wake for a drink but nothing works.Thank You

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• 56 Concerned Mum // Jan 27, 2009 at 7:29 pm

  Hi same as Exhausted Jennifer, I have a question. I want to transition my 17 month old son into his own room and into a crib (not a travel cot that he is in now in our bedroom) What is the best way to go about doing this? He still wakes up during the night either for a feed or just to come onto our bed. My husband says our son is too young to sleep on his own atleast until he starts sleeping through the night I haven’t slept for more than four hours straight for over a year. He also has a paci. I am like Exhausted Jennifer thinking of being cruel to be kind and I wonder if moving into a new room, new crib if I should just cold turkey him on everything all at once…no more paci, new bed, new room, no more middle night nursings back to sleep. Please advice.

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• 57 gerald // Jan 27, 2009 at 8:50 pm

  geddin is 1 yr old next week and it has been a year that i havent had any decent sleep. She stil wakes up at night for feeds and wakes up at 5am. She only takes 2 hrs max nap in a day. In total she only sleeps for a maximum of 9 hrs in one whole day! Why? Help!’

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• 58 layla // Jan 27, 2009 at 9:03 pm

  my 20 month daughter used to associate sleeping with the bottle feeding, so i took that away hoping she would sleep all night. but she is still waking one to two times every night. the other things is she only now falls asleep if she plays with my hair, how do i stop this? thanks

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• 59 Natalia // Jan 27, 2009 at 9:08 pm

  I received your book as a gift when my son Alexander was born, and I must say that it was more useful than any other gift I received! Alexander has been sleeping though the night since he was 5 weeks old (bar one time when he was sick) and we managed to get him off the pacifier a few weeks ago in two nights!!! The reason why we decided to get him off the pacifier was because he would take very short naps, and in your book you mention that babies who use binkies normally take shorter naps. However, I have not seen any improvement as far as the nap length is concerned. Al little bit of background: Alexander goes to bed at around 7:30PM and wakes up at around 6:15AM. He then goes into the cycle of change, eat, play, sleep every three hours. He eats every three hours, but will not go to sleep less than two hours after he has woken up. Which means that he only sleeps for 30-45 minutes maximum becuase he wakes up hungry. I have tried to delay his nap, and this does not work. On a separate occassion, I have tried to delay his feeding (bottle) but also did not work. I’m thinking that this is the way that he is wired… am I doomed to months of not having an hour to myself during the day?

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• 60 Natalia // Jan 27, 2009 at 9:09 pm

  By the way, I forgot to mention that Alexander just turned 5 months old…

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• 61 Angela // Jan 27, 2009 at 9:20 pm

  Hi, I have a question about my son who will be 9 months old in Feb. He self settles really well both through the day for his naps and when I first put him to bed at night but then he won’t sleep through the night, usually waking on average 3-4 times. He sleeps fine if he is in bed with me. As soon as we put him in his cot he attempts to settle himself but then starts crying and doesn’t stop until we pick him up.

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• 62 Melissa // Jan 27, 2009 at 9:21 pm

  My son’s sleep patterns at night are inconsistent. One night he is up 2-3 times, other nights he sleeps from 8-6 a.m. and then goes back down after a bottle until 7:30 a.m. and then there are those awful nights where he is up 5-6 times. Is there anything I can do to help him get a more consistent sleep pattern.

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• 63 Hayley // Jan 27, 2009 at 9:30 pm

  Hi,
  My 8 month old son has generally slept through the night from 8 weeks old and I have not fed him during the night since this time. The problem is that he has always had a dummy and over the last few months we have gone through periods of night waking simply for the dummy to be replaced. I desperately want to get rid of the dummy but am scared it will do more harm than good and it will interfere with the sleeping he already does! I have been told he wants to dummy because he is hungry but he is a big boy and I have always fed him regulary during the day due to the longer sleep at night and he does sleep through the night on many occasions. The problem is that the dummy replacing is becoming a habit of late. I am not sure how to go about weaning him off it because I have always been told to use the dummy to settle but no one has told me how to take it away! Please help!

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• 64 heather mathis // Jan 27, 2009 at 10:10 pm

  I have a 14month old that has not slept through the night since she was born. We generally will put her to bed around 8pm-9pm at the latest, she will wake up at 1230 and then again at 3am and sometimes will wake up at 6am. What are we doing wrong? Also whenever she wakes up the only thing that will get her back to sleep is milk , water sometimes but she has realized the difference and sometimes will only want milk.

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• 65 Anna // Jan 27, 2009 at 10:36 pm

  My 10 month old has started waking up at night after sleeping through for the last 6 weeks. I try to re-settle, sssshing, stroking hishead, letting him cry it out at various intervals but he will not settle until I give him a bottle. I can be up for 2 hours trying to settle him before I give in in desperation for some sleep and give him a bottle. He eats 3 hearty meals a day plus milk feeds so it seems unlikely it is hunger! Do you have any suggestions please? I know its only once a night but I now find it really hard to go back to sleep and sometimes dont! Thank you.

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• 66 Shannon // Jan 27, 2009 at 10:45 pm

  Peyton is 12 months old and my Husband says i have created a monster. She likes to sleep in bed with us. I can get her to sleep at night nursing and lay her down in her crib 50% of the time. The other nights I give in and lay down with her in our bed and we both fall asleep. Even the nights that I get her down in the crib, she usually wakes up and cries until we bring her in with us. What do we need to do to get her to fall asleep in her crib and stay there all night?

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• 67 Shelly // Jan 27, 2009 at 10:53 pm

  My 20 month old wakes up screaming during the night and several times. She is easily reassured back to sleep…but can’t seem to get herself back to sleep without us going in there. She decided over the New Year to jump out of her crib so is now in a big girl bed. When will she sleep thru the night?
  Thanks

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• 68 GRANDMA CAROL // Jan 27, 2009 at 10:58 pm

  my 11 month old grandson, Trevor, is sleeping at home pretty good now, thro the night. but
  when i watch him i rock him and he falls asleep then i put him in the pack n play to sleep, no problem. but then he wakes up 1/2 hr. later ready to go again. he has very short naps???
  any suggestions?

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• 69 GRANDMA CAROL // Jan 27, 2009 at 10:59 pm

  my grandson has really short naps, only 1/2 hr
  when i babysit him. it is trevor, 11 months old, we already sent to you re: nite wakes

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• 70 Jennie // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:18 pm

  Our 19 month old daughter, Mia, still has a bottle at naptime and bedtime. She also wakes after sleeping for about 6-7 hours at night and wants a bottle to go back to sleep. I know we need to wean her from the bottle but I’m not sure where to start - naptime, middle of the night, or bedtime. I also know she needs to learn to fall asleep without her bottle but want to do it with the least amount of “drama.” Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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• 71 Jennifer // Jan 27, 2009 at 11:39 pm

  My son is 6 months old and wont sleep through the night and in his bed. I try to let him cry but he just cries and gets worse the longer i wait. He will start in his bed but in the middle of the night after I nurse him he wont lay back down in his bed.

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• 72 Ms. Z // Jan 28, 2009 at 12:04 am

  My baby is one year old now and she still does not sleep through the night. In fact, I feed her at 12midnight and 5 or 6am..although she does not get up until 9am.. What can I do to get her to sleep all night??

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• 73 Sarah Gebert // Jan 28, 2009 at 1:29 am

  we have just managed to get our 10 month old daughter Ava down as at a regular time each night (she sleept through the night for the first six months!), but we find that she wakes up between 1.30-3.30 am every morning - sits up and will not go back to sleep. As I work full time and am very tired, I have taken to bringing her to our bed and breastfeeding her until she sleeps. What can we do to get her out of this habit?

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• 74 hellen // Jan 28, 2009 at 2:37 am

  caitlyn and sharna are nine months old.they both sleep in the same room in seperate cots,caitlyn will always get up for a feed between 12:30am/1:30am and again between 5:00am/6:00am.sharna will wake up between 12:00am then again at 5:00am.we put them down by 7:30 8pm the lastest depending on how many hours they have had during the day.caitlyn will cry very loud until she gets a bottle aswell as sharna and we must be quick befor the other one wakes up.and ive tried comforting her but to no avail,even leaving them in their cots, we stick to are rotine from morning to night.so how do we get them to sleep though from 7:30 to at least to 6:00am?

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• 75 Artika // Jan 28, 2009 at 3:13 am

  My 3 yrs old son doesnt goes to sleep untill his really tired,and also he needs to have a bottle of milk while dosing off,he also wakes up 2 times during nite(2am and 5.30am) for milk.He takes 1 and 1/2 hrs of nap during day time,and he still drinks bottle milk.He also needs sum1 to be near him while his sleeping.At present i have got a 2 months old baby gal to look after,,,,and m really getting rough time.Pliz advice me how to get control all over this.
  Thnaks alot.

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• 76 Glen // Jan 28, 2009 at 4:29 am

  Hi Dana, our little Grace (6 months) sleeps through the night till 5am, then my partner feeds her (she doesnt mind) and then Grace sleeps for another hour or 2. With this we have no problems, the problem we have at the moment is that Grace is taking ages to get to sleep at 7pm, day sleeps are ok but the 7pm take up to 1hr 15 mins of constant screaming, we let her know we are there every 10 mins but that just seems to make matters worse, I feel as if the screaming is causing her harm, what should we do?

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• 77 kerry // Jan 28, 2009 at 5:32 am

  hi dana,
  my son maxwell is nearly 9 months old and wakes 3-4 times in the night i go into him and try and settle him with water or his pacifier it will work for the first waking but then after that he just does not seem to settle. he is still having a night time feed which i have tried stopping but with no sucess. in the end i will bring him into bed with me, he settles but will still wake twice and its very hard to settle him once again. quite often he wakes at around 4am wanting to play. please can you help. thanks

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• 78 rebecca ferreri // Jan 28, 2009 at 9:13 am

  hi Dana,
  Please could you advise me of the best method to ensure my 4 month old son sleeps the full two hours for his daytime nap between 12-2pm (he has a short morning nap of 30-45 minutes at 9am) as he always wakes up after 45 minutes or less and cannot settle himself baack to sleep. He is then tired in the afternoon and will not make it to bedtime without another short nap.
  appreciate any help,

  Rebecca x

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• 79 Kelly // Jan 28, 2009 at 9:42 am

  I’ve just started getting our 13 month old son to start falling asleep in his crib. We have always rocked, danced or held him to get him to sleep. It is going really well @ night, takes about 30-40 mintues for him to fall asleep on his own, though I am sitting next to his crib. He will usually wake a couple of times in the middle of the night but I lay him down again in the crib and within 5 minutes he falls asleep. However, it is a different story during the day. We cannot get him to fall asleep in his crib, he will just cry until you take him out. Even though we sit by his crib, like we are doing at night, it doesn’t matter to him. So, my husband will lay a comforter on the living room floor and he will fall asleep on his own there. What is the difference for Aidan between day time and night time? Also, I feed Aidan dinner between 6-6:30 every night and then our usual routine, bath, pj’s, brush teeth, bottle and then into his crib between 7:30-8pm. Again, it takes him about 30-40 min. to fall asleep. Is his dinner time okay? Is he eating too late? Thank you for your help.

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• 80 Tristan's Mom // Jan 28, 2009 at 10:58 am

  Hi Dana,
  My son is 10months and is been sleeping through the night since he was 5months but he has a weird routine: he goes to bed around 7-7:30pm then he will wake up most days after 40min to an hour but all I have to do is pick him up right away and just hold him for like 2-3min and then he goes back to bed until at least 6:30am but usually 7-7:15am. Sometimes he also wakes anytime between 2,3,4 or 5am where he seems hungry cause nothing we do it seems to calm him down other than feed him so we do and he goes back to sleep. Again he doesn’t wake up EVERY night but when he does you have to feed him or he won’t go back to sleep. After he got his first 4 teeth he went back to sleep through the night without waking up buy now that he is getting his molars he is waking up again and now 2-3 times which I think is normal and I can deal with it as I know it will be just for a while. My biggest concern is that YOU HAVE to rock him to put him to sleep, he doesn’t know how to go to bed alone and in the afternoon when he takes a nap he only does it for 40min - 1hr and wakes up, you have to rock him and let him sleep in your lap if you want him to stay asleep (which it can be close to 2 hrs in total) and this is the resting time of my day so I don’t want to stop his afternoon nap but I know is not good letting him sleep in my lap. What should I do to keep him sleep longer in his bed at nap time and how do I teach him to sleep on his own?

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• 81 Michelle // Jan 28, 2009 at 12:28 pm

  Joey is nearly 5, and much to my chagrin, he is still sleeping with us.

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• 82 Michelle // Jan 28, 2009 at 12:52 pm

  Joey is nearly 5 and is still sleeping with us. we brought him home when he was 9 months old, and he had experienced a life of being left with strangers for several days at a time. By the time we got him, he was terrified of going to sleep and would only nap when being held. Nights were horrible and we finally gave in and brought him to bed with us for the sake of the whole family getting some much needed rest. In trying to provide a safe and secure home for him, we have still had several upheavals, including moving to new homes (twice) and tow of the older kids moving out. Our last teen will probably be leaving after graduation in May. At this point Joey refuses to even consider sleeping in his own room, he says he is afraid. I think that he is old enough to start talking about his fears, but he is still vary generic and refuses to be convinced that Swiper “the sneaky fox” from Dora the Explorer is not waiting in his room to terrorize him. In the last couple weeks, as part of his ready to sleep routine, he always asks me if I will be sure and wake him up in the morning. I’m not sure if he is afraid he wont wake up, or if he is afraid I’ll leave before he wakes up. My husband and I would like to make the transition form our bed to his own room without traumatizing him. We do have a fairly good routine that includes bath time, cuddling, reading books, telling stories, then finally lights out.
  We are actually using the methods in your Sleep Sense program for other behavior issues with success,I I guess I’m really nervous about his nighttime insecurities.
  So I guess my question is, How do I know if he is crying from having to do something he doesn’t want to do (sleeping in his own bed) or if he is freaking out because he thinks he is going to be left alone?

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• 83 Ellen // Jan 28, 2009 at 3:16 pm

  My 8 month old Daughter goes to sleep about 8 but wakes up an hour later. She gets fed again and wants to stay up till about 11 to play. Then she wakes up all night long every hour. I don’t go to her unless she cries more than 5 min. This has been a problem for months. She gets up when she wants to in the morning. Mostly about 8:30 in the morning. I would love to know how to solve this problem.

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• 84 Lisa // Jan 28, 2009 at 3:18 pm

  Hi Dana,

  My question is how do you know when your Little One is ready to make the transition from two naps a day to one nap a day. My daughter is 15 months old.

  I recently bought your book and with A LOT of success she now goes to sleep at night after our routine by herself and awake with no help at all.

  She has never really been a good napper and since I’ve started your sleep strategy at night we’ve also started it with nap time too. The problem is she only naps anywhere from 30 mins to 1 hour, on a rare occasion it’s 1 1/2 hours. Should I be consistant (which I know is important) and only give her one nap a day even if she only naps for 30-40 mins? Or on the days where she only naps for 30-40 mins give her two naps?

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• 85 Ann // Jan 28, 2009 at 3:56 pm

  Hi Dana,
  We are on about day 20 of your sleepsense program and still cannot get our 2 1/2 yr old to go to sleep until 2-2 1/2 hours after he gets into bed. He willl just not go to sleep. He doesn’t get out of bed but he won’t go to sleep. He is completely exhausted and looks terrible. We keep telling him that it is night night time and that he needs to go to sleep but to no avail. Putting him in his bed earlier just isn’t going to work. We hardly see him as it is and he really won’t be tired if we put him down any earlier than 7:30pm. Any thoughts? I just can’t get it in his mind that it is time to go to sleep. We have been doing the routine very religiously for all but one of the 20 days.
  Thanks,
  Ann

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• 86 margaret gourley // Jan 28, 2009 at 4:04 pm

  grandson jack sleeps soundly for 4-5 hours then after that for rest of night seems to be asleep but tossing turning kicking etc he still wakes up for a bottle milk 3 times nightly.

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• 87 Carol // Jan 28, 2009 at 4:08 pm

  Hi Dana: Just commenting on this week’s question about the 8 month old waking too early. I have the opposite problem. My 8 month old daughter goes to bed way too late. She won’t go to bed until midnight and wakes at 5 a.m. I’ll usually give her a bottle, and she’ll go back to sleep until 8:30 a.m. If I put her down earlier, around 8 or 9 p.m., she’ll sleep for an hour, and wake back up. She does have a few sleeps during the day, from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Any suggestions? Thank you.

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• 88 Fabiola // Jan 28, 2009 at 4:35 pm

  Hi Dana. My 10 mth old baby is successfully falling asleep for naps and bedtime thanks to your helpful program. My question is that lately (2 weeks) he is taking an extremely long time to fall asleep for his morning and afternoon naps (60 min). We have a routine before bedtime (day and night): stories, feeding and songs as we are going to bed. He is clearly tired and almost falling asleep on me during the feed, but then has a long & fun (it seems!!) play session in bed. However nightime is going very well: going to bed @ 07h00-07h30 and falling asleep within 15 minutes most of the time.

  Is it time to start thinking of 1 nap a day? What are the signs that suggest to do so? Or is it just a phase: he is standing up on his own now, could it be sleep disturbances related to new milestones?

  Thank you for your time.

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• 89 Sharon // Jan 28, 2009 at 4:46 pm

  Hi Dana,

  I have six month old twins and they share a room together. Often they wake each other during the night for the dummy and sometimes I am up during the night up to ten times. This is very tiring as my sleep is broken the whole night. I thought about slowly taking them both of the dummy, however it does seem to settle them both when they are distressed and sleepy. I do want my twins to be together during the night so they know each other is there and feel comforted by that.
  Thanks so much for your help.

  Regards,

  Sharon from down under

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• 90 Katie // Jan 29, 2009 at 3:32 am

  Hi my son is going to be 11 months next week. He usually sleeps the whole night but he wakes up maybe two or three times a night crying. I get up and give him his pacifier and hell go right back to sleep. He use to fall asleep around 8:30 9 the latest but now sometimes it will be 11 and hes still up. I try putting him down but he just cries. I give him a bath then a bottle and sometimes it works but usually he gets right up and fights his sleep and wants to play.What can I do to get him use to a set time to sleep.

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• 91 Tina // Jan 29, 2009 at 3:41 am

  My 3 month old usually has her bath around 7pm then bottle at 7:30 then bed.
  She has been falling asleep on her last bottle so I put her up to bed but then she is waking about 2am then is up about 7am sometimes 6:30 to start the day off.

  How can I get her to sleep through without waking at 2am, also any advice on the part about falling asleep on her bedtime bottle.
  Thanks.

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• 92 Angela // Jan 29, 2009 at 3:46 am

  Hi Dana,

  After reading all the other comments on this page I feel somewhat silly because my daughter is pretty good. Rebecca is 11 months old and unfortunately she suffers from night terrors - she can have up to 3 in one night. Sometimes she will just cry and whimper in her sleep (which is heart-breaking to listen to) and other times she will wake up screaming and need to be comforted, but because she is so awake it’s impossible to get her to go back to sleep so we give her a toy in bed and leave a nightlight on for her and she falls asleep in her own time.

  I cannot find much information on night terrors in babies, could you please advise me of any ways I can help Rebecca with these / stop them altogher?

  I appreciate your help, I know you are obviously a very busy lady.

  Kind regards
  Angela
  Mother of Rebecca who is 11 months.

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• 93 Kristy // Jan 29, 2009 at 6:19 am

  HI, i have a 3mth old girl Kirra who sleeps a good 11-12 hours a night which is fantastic, however she seems to only have 30-45 minute sleeps during the day between each bottle. If i try and keep her awake for a longer period during the day hoping she will sleep longer she becomes over tired and then it becomes hard to put her to sleep. id rather her have 2 longer sleeps than 4 short ones during the day… am i being to eager to have her in that kind of routine considering she is only 3mths old and should i be happy with her day time sleeps the way they are?

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• 94 Elena // Jan 29, 2009 at 8:19 am

  Hi Dana. I have been using your program with much success with my daughter self settling and sleeping through the night. However, three weeks ago at 8 months, she learnt to stand up in her cot. When I put her down at night she repeatedly stands up, regardless of how many times I try to lie her back down. Also, through the night she stands up when she wakes instead of re-setlling. She no longer finds comfort in her snuggle rug and won’t resettle without a feed. She has crept back up tp 3-4 feeds per night. How can teach her to resettle?

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• 95 Lisa // Jan 29, 2009 at 8:39 am

  Hi Dana ,,really enjoy your website ,,but I’m affraid theirs no help in my situation for my problem is with all three children all boys at 5yrs,2yrs,and 5months,,I co-slept with them all as it was much easier to nurse through the night,,daddy had his seperate room for he can’t sleep with a night light on and the room too warm as the next child came along the oldest moved into daddy’s room and the baby in mine ..now daddy is sleeping with two and myself with the baby,,we have tried absolutly everything we have routine in the evening with the boys ,their room desireable too their likeing a light,,full tummies they will not lie down in their own bed or their own room,,,even when daddy gets them asleep because we have to lie down with them to go to sleep then sneek out they will get up in a couple of hours looking for daddy if daddy stays in bed they do too…my husband and I have not slept in the same bed for 5 yrs now and its putting a huge strain on us we are frustrated on what to try because nothing is working…please help???

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• 96 Lynn // Jan 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm

  Hi Dana,

  My question is along the same line as Becky. My almost 8 month old daughter wakes between 4:30 and 5 am for a bottle. She eventually falls back asleep by 6 AM (she seems to think this is a good time to play) only to wake up around 6:30 AM with a BM. This means that I am up around 4:30 AM every morning for the day as my 2 year old is up by 6:30.

  I’m not sure how to fix the problem. Should I be cutting out her early morning bottle by this age?

  Thanks,

  Lynn

  [Reply]

• 97 andrea // Jan 29, 2009 at 3:20 pm

  My son is 9 months and does not sleep through the night still. He wakes up 3 to 4 times a night. He only goes back to sleep if he is being fed or put back to sleep.

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• 98 Anita // Jan 29, 2009 at 8:18 pm

  Hi Dana, my 5 month old daughter Maiya is not a great sleeper. I am breastfeeding her around every 3 hrs, which often continues throughout the night. she does now understand the difference between day and night because at night she will go in her cot and sleep, either already asleep or sleep on her own if she’s tired enough. The longest stint we’ve had would be around 6 hrs which doesn’t happen very often. I know if i feed her she will go straight back to sleep. Bed time routine starts at 7.30, usually sleep by 8.30 and bed by 9.30 up again between 11-2 then between 3-6. i can keep putting her back down till she’s had enough between 10 and lunchtime because she refuses to nap in her bed during the day! i am lucky to get 2 half hour naps out of her and they are on me! As soon as her body touches the sheets she starts screaming, I’ve tried putting her there awake and asleep but during the day she just refuses to sleep there, but i know she needs the rest, any suggestions?

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• 99 Maryam Payne // Jan 30, 2009 at 1:42 pm

  Hi Dana,

  My son is 3 and half months old. The fisrt tw weeks after he was born he slept ok but then right after that he’s been so restless specialy at night when he sleeps on his back. He kicks with both legs and turns his head side to side and moves his whole body. I have tried everything I could think of, nothing works. He naps 3-4 times during day, every time for half hour to 40 minutes either in a swing or car seat or on his tommy. I have him sleeping in our bed so I can hold his body so he can go to sleep. He starts wiggling every hour, then I spend 10-15 minutes helping him sattle down. he rests for another hour and it’s all over again till every 3 hours that he won’t sattle down unless I feed him. I have tried wrapping him, putting a little pillow under his head, putting him to bed earlier, get him to sleep on his tommy for an hour before I put him on his back for the night, hold him in my arms for a bit before he goes to bed… All the books seems to say the same things but non includes this kind of behavior. I have to add that otherwise he’s a very healthy boy and has no other concerns. Would you please help me.

  Thanks

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• 100 Katrina // Jan 30, 2009 at 7:26 pm

  Hi dana,

  I have a 11 month old boy, he goes to bed around 7pm each night and goes to sleep by himself without the aid of dummies or bottles. He sleeps right through and if he does wake up he goes right back to sleep. He wakes up around 5:30 most days, occasionally to 6:00. What can I do to make him sleep into 6am? Should I put him to bed later? he is tired by 7pm and is ready for sleep!

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• 101 Stephanie // Jan 30, 2009 at 7:55 pm

  Most would not think this is much of a problem. My 8 month old daughter sleeps from 8 to 8 everynight. She also takes 2 naps of about 1 to 2 hours each during the da. My problem is that sometimes she is rubbing her eyes and sucking her thumb after 1 hour of awake time (after naps). She does have a twin sister than doesn’t nap as well and cries and cries after about 45 minutes of napping. I wonder if this is preventing her from getting good sleep during naps, or is she sleeping too much and therefore tired all of the time. She seems tired constantly.

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• 102 Shann // Jan 30, 2009 at 8:57 pm

  Hi Dana,

  My son has a set bedtime routine howevr, if my husband puts him to bed he says goodnight and within five mins my husband is downstairs, with me its a different story I do exactly the same as my husband but when I say goodnight and leave the room he waits approx 3 mins then runs out and I have to keep putting him back to bed (this can take anything upto 2.5hours) I don’t talk to him just keep taking him back.
  I would appreciate your advice and help.
  Thank you

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• 103 Jessica // Jan 31, 2009 at 12:20 am

  I don’t have a question but a comment to Elizabeth. I could have written the same question when my daughter was that age. She would wake up between 6 and 6:30 no matter what. Eventually, that turned to 6:40, then 6:45, then closer to 7am.

  I didn’t do anything differently for her really, we just started her day when she would wake up since it was after 6am. One thing I did try was to put up darker curtains in her room. Her room would get pretty bright in the mornings and I thought that could be what was waking her. It also helped in the rare instance that if she did wake up at 5:30 I could coax her back to sleep because her room was still quite dark.

  Maybe that will help in your situation. My daughter now sleeps until about 7:30 every morning and her bedtime routine starts at 8pm. Good luck

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• 104 stacey // Jan 31, 2009 at 7:57 am

  Our son will go to bed a 7:30pm. He then wakes at 8 pm crying. He will cry on and off for an hour. Then at 9 pm he stops crying and will play in his crib. He will then fall asleep at 10pm. Please help us!

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• 105 Gill // Jan 31, 2009 at 5:58 pm

  would you advise cutting out an afternoon sleep for a 2year 4month daughter, who takes ages to get to sleep in the evening sometimes still awake at 9.00p.m. and awake again at 7.00a.m. or earlier.

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• 106 rene segarra // Jan 31, 2009 at 9:48 pm

  hello please help me ,my baby girl is 8 months old and gos to bed at 11pm or some times later she ntakes napes during the day about 3 total she is a happy baby all the way allways smiling, and love tv, baby einsten videos, she likes the most, the problem is we dont know what to do, it is our first baby, and the big problem also is the her crib is in the same bedroom , is because we cant aford an aparment of 2 bedrooms, yet, please what we do , i need to sleep more, thank you so much for your help, rene

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• 107 Simone Lambert // Feb 1, 2009 at 12:46 am

  Dear Dana,
  I have had sleep problems since my now 2.5 year old daughter was 6 months old. During that time we have had two residentials at Tresilian. Here they taught the control crying going in & out of the room, listening to different cry as she settled. At 10 months this techqniue worked until she climbed out of her cot & ploughed into the floor. After that I was too worried to leave her to cry. I got her finally just at 19 mnths to go to sleep on her own, not too much patting. I went back to Tresilian only because I’d been on the waiting list months prior to get in. The woman in charge talked me into coming in & getting her into her own bed etc. Well we went & got her into a little bed only for the novelty of it. Our residential was cut short it had began to backfire She wouldn’t go to bed without being patted. She became terrifed of the nurses. Her I am 7 months down the track & it takes me an hour to get her to wind down & go to sleep. I have to sit by her bed & pat her until she goes to sleep. Every night I end up going to sleep by her side only to wake up hours later. During her day sleep routine I end up reading two stories & then trying to get her to wind down. Sometimes she gets up & jumps on the bed. She tests me all the time. I find myself using methods like ” If you don’t go to sleep I’ll go get either the nurse, the witch, the man across the road, the plumber, the wolf, anyone other than me to pat her to sleep. Whatever gets a reaction. When this doesn’t work I begin to lose my temper. I try to be firm but I end up rousing on her & angrily caying “just go to sleep.” Bedtime is really beginning to be a nightmare. I am over the hour routine twice a day. I can’t get her to stay in her bed unless I am in the room. Can you please suggest a routine that I can follow. She goes to bed between 1-3 in the day, between 7-9 at night depending on what time she went down in the day. In the day she will sleep two hours. I try to always wake her 4-4.30pm
  Please help.
  Warm regards Simone Lambert

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• 108 Tina // Feb 1, 2009 at 11:40 am

  hello from ireland! my little fella is 16mths and hasnt slept a night for me yet. Before christmas, in order to get a nights sleep i brought him into the bed. Its now at a stage whereby he goes to sleep happily enough at 8pm in his cot, but will always wake within the next 2 hours and cannot get him back to sleep as he wants to go downstairs. I end up bringing him into the bed and he’ll usually sleep till 8am. He will wake a few time during the night to check that i’m there with him. If i put him back in the cot when he’s asleep he will wake again in a few hours. I’ve tried the control crying and he cries for over 2 hours or till he vomits and we give up. is there a way to solve this without tears? Thanks, Tina.

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• 109 Cathy // Feb 7, 2009 at 1:02 am

  Hi Dana,
  I just read your “My baby wakes up too early… help!” problem and I have the same problem, but my has turned into the:

  “The risk you run in starting your day at 5:00 a.m. is that it then becomes 4:45 or 4:30 and it just tends to get to creep earlier and earlier, so I really would resist getting up any time before 6:00.”

  My baby used to sleep from 8pm-8am with a few wakings in between. I’d go in usually 1-3 times a night to pat his bum and he’d go right back to sleep. We just started sleep training 2 weeks ago. He is 10 months old now. I’m doing the chair method (sitting by his crib till he falls asleep and slowly moving towards and out the door). I’m just about out the door. He cries when I put him in the crib for a bit, settles down and just rolls around till he falls asleep. He sleeps so great through the night now. I haven’t gotten up at all the last 2 weeks. Then one day, he woke up at 7am instead. We were just like “ok then” and got him up. Soon it was 6:30am, then 6am and now for the last 2 days, he’s been up at 4:30am!!!!!! I’ve gone to sit back in the chair when he wakes up and he cries and falls back asleep for maybe 10-20 mins and wakes up and cries and goes back to sleep. This con’t for till about 5:30am when he just cries and won’t sleep anymore. He’s very tired and rubs his eyes. I don’t know if I should be putting him back to sleep right away??? His naps have also been affected. He used to nap from 1-2 hours and now, it’s usually 30mins-1 hour. He cries when he wakes up cuz he’s still tired. How can I help him get his sleep back on track??? Thank you so much! Cathy

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• 110 christabel // Feb 10, 2009 at 4:22 pm

  My 6 Month old son is bottle fed and he has his feed and falls to sleep on me during the day , at night he will usualy go up in his cot between 7.30-8.30pm he is fed to sleep. He will wake up usualy once or twice a night for the bottle which he wont stop crying untill he recieves this. My question is how do i cut out the night feeds without being up with him crying all night?

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• 111 nikki aberdeen hunter // Feb 16, 2009 at 5:23 pm

  my 5 month old son goes to bed 7.30-8 usualy with no problems but always wakes around 4 and wants to play, nothing gets him back to sleep. He is usualy awake for an hour some times more and then wakes again 6.30. Have tried going in to his room as soon as he stirs, and have tried leaving him makes no difference. He has 3 naps during the day totaling 2 1/2 - 3 hours, he is eating fine and has plenty of play during the day, so no idea why he wakes up

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• 112 Amanda // Mar 2, 2009 at 5:04 am

  Lani is 14 months old.She is usally put down to sleep at 7-7.30pm goes to sleep with a bootle sometimes,othertimes she cries so much we pick her up a let her crawl around until she seems tired this can take us up to nearly 9pm sometimes.She then cries around 11 if we havent went inm before hand to give her a dream feed.She will then wake me by screaming the house down this can be between 3 and 5 in morning,sometimes she will settle with a bottle otherdays we have to put her in our bed were sometimes she doesnt settle there either and were all tired in morning,but if she has a bottle around 5 she will wake at 6.any ideas for a whole night sleep.People have said feed her more before bedtime,do you think its because im giving her cows milk its not as filling as formula.

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