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Hi! I’m Dana Obleman, creator of The Sleep Sense Program. If you’d rather read than watch, I’ve transcribed the text of this video below.
This week’s question is from Tracey. She writes:
“My daughter is three and I think she may be ready to give up her naps. Can you give me some tips on the best way to do this?”
That’s a great question, Tracey. Most toddlers start weaning off of their naps anywhere between two and three years of age; it really becomes a choice for the parent. For example, if I were to put my three-year-old down for a nap, she would probably take one. She seems to get tired right after the lunch hour and if I let her take a nap, she’d probably sleep. The resulting problem comes at bedtime.
You see, I like my children to be in bed at 7:00pm so if she takes a nap and I try to put her to bed at 7:00pm, she’s probably not going to go off to sleep very quickly. She might be in there chatting, talking and even repeatedly coming out; all things that children do because when they are not tired enough. So a good (and usually the first) indicator that a child is ready to give up the nap is if bedtime is becoming a game, a struggle or even a sing song. My second child used to just lie in his crib and sing and for a good hour before he finally fell asleep and that told me he wasn’t tired enough at bedtime and that it was time to look at getting rid of his nap.
I’ve had lots of clients who say they really love nap time because it’s their break and they’d like to get a bit of work done, or whatever the case may be and so they decide to keep the nap. That’s fine to hang on to the nap, just keep in mind not to expect your toddler to then be ready for sleep at 7:00pm. You’ll have to adjust bedtime to something closer to 8:00pm. 8:30pm is about as late as I’d recommend for bedtime; it really depends on whether you would prefer an early bedtime or a bit of a later bedtime, with a nap involved.
Remember that if you’re ready to get rid of the nap, it means an adjustment. For anyone used to taking an afternoon nap, it’s going to take their body some time to get used to going without and it will be bit of a struggle for perhaps four to six weeks. Therefore, you can probably still expect some afternoon grumpiness around the usual nap time. If you’re out driving, your toddler is likely to fall asleep in the car if it’s his usual nap time; don’t panic, just make sure it’s a fairly brief 20 minutes or half an hour nap. That should be okay and still you can go ahead with your earlier bedtime.
I like just to encourage parents to use quiet time during this transition. When it’s what would have been nap time, send your toddler off to her room and give her half an hour of independent play without you involved. She can go to her room and do something such as coloring, playing with cars, and so on, but it is a quiet playtime and it should be a fairly calm activity. You can set a timer as you’re leaving, as well.
If you are having trouble keeping your toddler in the room or wherever the quiet time is, setting a timer is a good idea. Just tell them they need to play by alone until they hear the bell ring and then quiet time is over and can come out; that Mommy will be ready for them. That way, you still get a little bit of a break through the day and it makes things a little bit more relaxed before bedtime rules around. There is somewhat of a dinnertime meltdown when you’re getting rid of a nap and it might just be something you’re going to have to push through.
If your child is no longer napping, you’ve really got to have him ready for bed by 7:00pm at the latest or even 6:30pm if it’s been really hard on her to miss her nap. There’s no reason why she can’t go to bed at 6:30pm. In my opinion, there really is no such thing as too early to bed. If your child is tired, why fight it? Put your child to bed.
I hope that gives you some tips on how to get rid of the nap and it sounds like it’s probably time for your daughter to give that up. If she takes the odd nap in the transition period it’s not the end of the world, it just might mean that you have a bit more struggle at bedtime, getting her down to sleep. Once you’ve decided to get rid of the nap, I do find that it’s best to really push through with it and try to encourage the body to get in line with the idea of not napping. The more the body is exposed to that, the faster things are going to fall into place.
Thanks for your question and sleep well!
To learn more about The Sleep Sense Program, click here — or you can click here to order now!
To ask a question about your child’s sleep, just leave it in the ‘Comments’ section below! I’ll choose one and create a new video answer each week!
My son is 5 months. He used to go to bed very well after his evening feed (breast feeding). However, this past week he takes about an hour to go to bed. During this time he is very restless and cries quite a bit. He has a 11/2 nap in the morning, a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and a catnap (about 30 min) between 5:30 and 6. Should I stop giving him his evening nap? Would that help putting him to bed? Thanks. Karen
When should my child stop napping.. Awful :)
my baby is 10 months old, he always slep well. after breakfast he slept for 1-2 hours, then after lunch he again slept for 1-2 hours, now all of a sudden he does not want to sleep in the day, he just cries, and gets all worked up. at night the sma,e it takes me about 1hour just to get him to fall asleep, then when he is asleep, he wakes up 30min later, and so the night continues. he doesnt always want a bottle at night, he will take a few sips, turn around and sleep again. this is really frustrating and i dont know what to do. he does not have any theeth yet. ( he was 2 months prem), but it doesn’t look like he is teathing! please help, i dont know anymore
Hi there, I have read your book and have started to implement your advice – after just a couple of nights my 4 month baby is already sleeping from 7.30pm to 5am -then wakes for a feed and sleeps another couple of hours. I never thought I would be able to get him to sleep before 10pm until Winter!!
I have a question about naps – if he sleeps longer than 1 1/2 hours should I wake him up?
Many thanks for all your help.
Vicky
Hi Dana,
My daughter is three and three months, I took her off nap time a month or two ago because she was giving me hard time at nap time AND bedtime. now she’d be in bed by 7.00. My biggest problem with her is that she wakes up very early”since she was 8 months actually and started sleeping through the night” but I was expecting her to sleep a little later once she stopped napping, and you know waking up at 6.00 or 6.30 when you have a baby is a bit hard! So what can I do to get her to sleep a little later?thanks
How many naps should a 14 month old toddler be having during the day. She goes to bed at about
6.30-7.00pm and wakes at about 5.00am.
Thank you.
i have two girls, 4 years old and 13 months old. my older one slept with me for nearly 4 years and that distracted my younger one from sleeping in her cot. I have some how now nailed it down, 4 year old is sleeping in her room all by herself but dozing off sometimes takes half to one hour – 8.30 – 9 pm. she has to be up by 7am – how many hours sleep is recomended and how can i get her to sleep any quicker. she can be in bed from 7pm but will still fall off at the same time – doesn’t nap during day. Also wakes up at sometime during night (even when she slept with me)- i have to bring her back in her room.
with my 13 months baby i have spent 9 days carrying out a regular bed routine and left her in the cot in my room crying. Now she will cry only for a minute to 3 at most before drifting off. during night she does wakeup a few times but i have not picked her up and have left her to sleep herself. she still wakeup though and will cry – when will her crying stop completely cos i feel bad and sorry. Although during night she settle in cot but during day she doesn’t and therefore not having any proper nap. Sometime she gets some sleep in the pushchair or in the car. yesterday she slept on the steps but just won’t sleep in the cot.
My 8 month old son has been sleeping well for a couple of months now after being a poor sleeper in his early months. He was sleeping 7:30pm til 6:30am which suited our schedule.
He has started waking about 9:30 screaming uncontrollably, either standing or sitting in his crib (he is crawling) and I’m sure he is still awake. If I manage to settle him in his cot he’s still very restless and fidgety. He then wakes again about 11pm/1am again screaming uncontrollably. I am getting to the end of my tether. This goes on all night.I’m not sure whether these are night terrors/nightmares but he is definitely asleep during all this. I’ve read he’s too young for night terrors…PLEASE, have you got any tips for one so young?
Hi Dana
My son is 9 weeks old and im really trying to get him into a routine. he was seeping from 8-5 up until last week when he had his first set of vaccines. since having them he has been waking at 1am and every 2 hours after this until morning. could it just be that he is feeling a bit unwell from the vaccines and things will go back to how they were after a couple of days? he also has a old at the moment so i think this is having an effect. any advice would be very hapful. thanx
My 2 1/2 year old has given up her nap and falls asleep well between 6:30 and 7pm. My problem lies in the night waking habits she has formed. She will wake up and call out for either mommy or daddy at least 2 to 3 times in the night. Then she awakes for the day between 6 and 7am. I have tried to leave her and let her fall back asleep on her own, but this just makes her call out even louder until one of us go to her. What can I do to help her sleep without waking? I find now that if one of us goes to her and sleeps the remainder of the night with her she will sleep better. I do not want this to continue. Please help!
hi my daughter is 15 month old and my problem with her is trying to get to go asleep at night with out me having me to rock her. she will fall asleep on her own at nap time i have a cd that i play for her but she will not go to sleep at night unless you rock her and give her a bottle , then when you do she might wake up crying 1 or 2 times in the night , please help.
thanks michele
Our daughter Angelea is now 15 months old and sleeps less and less. She wakes at 8am each morning, she has a sleep at about 12:30 pm for between 1 and a half hours and 2 hours.
Then the night comes, she looks tires at about 6pm but is she falls asleep while i nurse her then she will sleep for 1 hour then be up till about 11pm. Lately she wont fall asleep till about 10:30pm no matter what. She falls asleep in the lounge room while sitting in my lap with her bottle. if i try to take her to her room or in our room to lay down with her she will scream and try to jump of the bed untill she is almost sick and she can scream for hours, she doesn’t go to sleep. Even when she does sleep it isn’t for a solid night. She stirs and grunts and cries for fer bottle or dummy or just to feel for me and my husband to make sure we are with her, she sleeps in our bed. I don’t remember the last full night sleep we had, not to mention comfortable.I am dreading the night time coming, she is such a handful. Can anyone help?
Hi Dana,
My 5 mos old son is a very short napper(30 minutes average). I try to leave him in his crib for a full hour to see if he will fall back to sleep but usually he doesn’t. Any suggestions? I don’t nurse him before naps and he has no other props like soothers. Just his blankie. His nights are better but I still get up twice a night to nurse him when he cries. He cries other times but i don’t go to him unless it’s time for a feed. He sleeps around 7-7:30 pm each night and I put him down awake for his naps 3 times a day and at bedtime. Is there anything else i could be doing? He usually doesn’t have a hard time falling asleep, just staying asleep. thanx
hi DANA…first of all i want to say thanx alot for the useful information u sent…..my question is how to get my baby into his own creb?he is only six weeks age…is it early to do so? thanx again….
my daughter ava is 5 months old and since 12 weeks old she has slept from 8pm till 630am, following a bath,bottle and quite time. she has always gone to bed awake and comforted herself to sleep with her thumb. however she got tonsilitus a week ago and obviously has slept on and off, waking looking for me for comfort, we reluctanly put her in our bed to which she slept well. she is now better and goes to bed the same time with the same routine but wakes around 4-5 times crying for her dummy (she has suddenly lost her thumb) when she gets it she then goes back to sleep for an hour or so. i know this may be happening all of a sudden because we put her in our bed and thats what she is expecting. i just feel that i have now gone backwards with lack of sleep. what can i do? her daytime sleep has not really changed, she has the odd 30-45 mins sleep twice to three times a day, but lately she wants to sleep at around 630pm and crys until she gets her way, which i try to keep her awake as she would be going to bed a hour or so later. please help.
hello,my son is only 2 months old so i know its still early days but how do i introduce a sleep routine for the nights? he only sleeps for 5 hours at a time and my husband works away so im permanantly doing this alone,during the day the most he wll nap is 40 minutes,then awake again.should i leave him when he wakes to see if he will fall back to sleep.or should i just wait for him to get into his own routine.?sorry im a first time mum and not sure what is the best way around this.any advice will be greatly accepted.
I am trying (unsuccessfully) to transition my son from our bed to his crib – I can handle the crying but he has now escalated to hitting his head on the crib and has a bruised forehead! Needless to say, he is back in the bed. Any tips on how to get him to stop hitting his head?! (I tried going in the room, stopping him from hitting his head and saying no sternly but he went back to it.) Thank you!
my2 1/2 grand son gets tired around 11:00am after a6:00 wake up.i wait til after lunch about 1:00 and he naps for2 to 2 1/2hours.my daughter says she wants him in bed by 8. some times he doesnt fall to sheep til 9 or later.should i put he to nape earlier and shorter.i always have to wake him up from his nap and sometimes he is very upset at that.i feel that if he needs the sleep he will get up on his own. my daughter thinks different she thinks that he should sleep more during the night and less in the day.please help me out.thanks
My son is two years old and is stilll breastfeeding and uses this to fall asleep and wakes frequently during the night and only goes back to sleep by breastfeeding. I am now having another baby in november and need to sort out the bedtime. What would you recommend.
Hi DANA,thanks for all the beautiful you have been sending me as regards my baby.My son Victor just three weeks old today and i noticed that he cries sometimes while feedind lately,he expresses a lot of discomfort while feeding,could this be a sign of colic,if so what can i do to assurge the pain he expriences,i am doing exclusive breastfeeding.Pls help me solve this problem,thanks,CHY.
Hi Dana,
I’ve been reading your comments and receiving some of your helpful hints, but none really address my issue. Here’s my problem:
First let me set up my baby’s history for you, so you don’t think that i am clueless about child psychology and have no parenting skills non-what-so-ever!
My boy Jawad was born with an intolerance to milk. Of course we didn’t know that right away, so I was breastfeeding him, and he wasn’t sleeping, he was crying non-stop, was clearly in pain, and wanted to nurse 24h a day! The only way to make him feel slightly better was to hold him, apply pressure on his belly and rock him while pacing the house for hours. We thought it was colic, so did the doctors. After a month of barely getting 2-3 hours a day (including nights) i asked the doctors if he could be lactose tolerant (it’s in my family) and if it’s present in the breast milk. From there on, a series of formula + breast milk, then formula alone trials begun. It took us a couple of months to finally find a Formula that worked. All this and still no sleep and constant holding and rocking of course. When that was solved, he started a severe case of Acid reflux, that lasted up until he was 7 months. So all this time, he couldn’t sleep, he was in pain, on meds, vomiting etc… (it felt better for him to be upright instead of lying down), basically a really sensitive baby, and that went beyond his stomach: light, noise, change in routine, etc…
He was in his crib since he was 10 days old, but i was going back an forth between his room and ours for almost 10 months, 2 to 10 times a night!!
Anyway, it’s a long story i know, but we’ve been through hell with this precious baby. He also goes through phases, once you think okay, this is the norm now, he goes and changes his whole sleeping routine on us!
When he got rid of the acid reflux stage, i thought i can’t keep rocking/pacing/bouncing etc… anymore, he was getting really heavy too, so i stepped on my heart and went for the “let him cry in his crib until he falls asleep routine”. Well, this has been going on for almost 4 months now, and he still cries for at least 20 minutes EVERY NIGHT!!!! I am going mad here, people say it should take max a week or two for this to work, it’s been 4 MONTHS!
And yes, he has a sleep routine, with the eating, then bath time, then story time, then kisses from mom and dad, and still, he cries.
He sleeps for about 10 hours at night, sometime straight, sometime he wakes up 1 or twice depending on: sick, teething, cramps, had people over etc…. which disrupt his routine, therefor his sleep. He is now napping once a day, it lasts between 2- 3 hours (thank GOD, and no fuss going to sleep, sometime cries for a few minutes).
So, what do you think?? I mean he did get used to being held, therefor he is depending on a “trick” to fall asleep, but he was sick all through his first year. But i did stop going to see him at night, let him find his way back to sleep, which he did, but still doesn’t fall asleep on his own at night unless he cries for a while…
What do you suggest, please help me, even my doctor gave up on him!
Thanks a lot for your help,
Hi there,
I have 3 children, 4 on weekends, all under age of six! My two youngest 1 yr old and 9 months constantly wake during the night causing obviously me having no rest. They both have come acustomed to falling asleep with their milk, and i have tried everything to stick to plans of bed time routines. Both of them do not like pacifiers therefore if i have not stuck to a plan it’s because i have given in as a result of pure exaustion. My eldest who is 4 years old is Autistic and i have lot of dealings with him staying in his bed and stopping him from yelling down the house at 3.00am. i am at wits end and am completely stuck….please help me!!
what re the advantages of a toddler nappind durindg the day. i have been told it enhances brain development is this true?
Hi, my 7 month old son goes to bed at 7pm after his bottle and solids but usually wakes up at 11pm and has another full bottle, then wakes again at around 5am and has more milk. Is there any way i can change this?
Thanks
Hi Dana
My 9 month old sleeps for 10 hours at night and then wakes and thinks it’s time to play which is fine if she goes to bed at 8pm but not if she goes to bed at 6pm. How can I extend her sleep by another hour or so??
Thanks, Nicki
I’m wondering what to do to adjust my 8 1/2 month old twins schedule. They wake at around 6:30-7:00 a.m., have their morning nap about two hours later, usually 1-2 1/2 hours. Then are up for another two hours or so before their afternoon nap ( same time as a.m. nap). This puts them at around a 2-3 p.m. wake time. They were 6 weeks premature, so developing sleep habits have been a little lagged behind ie- did not start regular naps until 5 -6 months. I used to able to get my “easy” baby to sleep again for 30 min-1 hour in the late afternoon, which was helpful in stretching them to a 6:30-7 bedtime. But that has not been working lately and I find that they are both VERY cranky and tired and I put them to bed now at 6p.m. But by this time I think thay are overtired and it can take 30 min -1 hr of CRYING before thay go to sleep. I live with my inlaws until my husband is done with his work out of state and my mother in law does not agree with letting them cry it out even a bit at bedtimes. It’s very frustrating! What to do???
Dana,
My son is 2 1/2 and wakes several times a night moaning and tossing and turning like something is bothering him. He has done this since he was 3 months old. We thought he had acid reflux, it wasn’t that, then we had his tonsils out in February of this year thinking his swollen tonsils were the problem, not that. We try to have somewhat of a nightly routine but that seems to not work most of the time cause he is so tired in the morning from such a bad night that I let hime sleep in so then that messes the whole day up with a nap and a nightly bed time around 8:30. How do I know if this is a behavior problem or if something is really bothering him?
My 6 and a half week old has a hard time falling asleep in her crib at bed time and staying asleep for more then 2 hours at a time and starts crying and does not want to get back in her crib. Help me!!
hi Dana,
my son is 4 months old and he is having a hard time sleeping for long hours. he naps for 1 hr around 12.00p and then wants to play . again between 4-6p he falls asleep, wakes up at 7-7.30p, again sleep for 1 hr from 9p and then plays till 12a. he cries a lot before sleeping. please suggest.
thanks,
astitva
My son is 12 months old and has slept well at night until 3 weeks ago. He will not settle in his cot and seems to think it is a trampoline. He screams as soon as I leave the room. I have tried to leave him but he cries so much that within a few minutes he is sick and then i have to pick him up and cuddle him until he falls asleep. as soon as I put him in his cot and leave the room he starts crying again. this can go on for about 2 hours. he has also starting waking during the night and it can take up 2 hours for him to fall asleep again. what else can I try?
Hello how many naps does a six week old take can I try for a sleep routine or is it to soon? Thanks
Hi Dana,
My 2 year old has never been a great sleeper. But recently her antics have escalated and my family and I need help. She goes to bed at 8:30 after a great deal of protest and crying (despite a regular bedtime regimen) every night. However she wakes up earlier and earlier every morning by screaming and crying until we get her out of bed. “NO MORE NIGHT NIGHT!” is her favorite line. A few months ago, this happened at 7 a.m. Now it has gradually moved to 6 AM and sometimes earlier. Sometimes she asks to eat, sometimes to go potty, sometimes she just wants to play. She is clearly still tired based on her irritability, but refuses to go back to sleep. How do we break this cycle so we can all have a more peaceful morning?
My 4-month old generally is a good sleeper. We have recently stopped swaddling him to sleep (didn’t expect him to need it this long). He falls asleep well with a pacifier. For naps this is ok – he sleeps for a hour or two, then wakes. The problem is night – when the pacifier falls out and he sleeps for an hour or two – then wakes and needs us to replace the pacifier. We decided to work on getting naps without the pacifier first…with little success. Help!
l have a 3and ahalf year old boy
who still doesnt sleep through the nite.l ve tried keeping his light on but it doesnt work.no matter how tired he gets during the day,hestill gets up at least twice in the nite.plis help
Hi Dana,
my second son is now 7 weeks old and as weird as it might sound, I have trouble keeping him awake during the night. He goes to sleep at 7:30-8 pm after a bedtime routine (bath, massage and nursing) on his own in his crib. Then he wakes up around midnight fussing, so after 5-10 minutes I pick him up, change his diaper and nurse him. The problem is that he is such a heavy sleeper at night that he would only feed for 1-2 minutes and fall asleep again only to wake up 1,5-2 hours later hungry again. This is repeated untill 5:30-6 am, when he finally wakes up for the day. While nursing I’ve tried talking to him very loudly, tickling him, taking him off the breast, burping him sitting up, even shaking his arms a little but nothing helps. When I give him breastmilk in a bottle, it’s the same story. The only thing I haven’t tried is to switch on the lights as I’m afraid it would mess up his day/night recognition. I believe that if he nursed well he wouldn’t need more than 2 feedings at night and I would get much more sleep myself. Any advice what to do with my Sleeping Beauty?
Thanx,
Monika.
I have a 5 mouth old and the differents between her and her brother we are putting her to bed when she is still awake. And she is still getting up once to eat, how long will she be getting up in the middle of the night to eat? My almost 3yr. old still is very hard to get to bed or nap, I have been following your addvice. But his bed time is 8:30 to 9:00. We ALL take naps after lunch. I lOVE my nap time.
Hi Dana,
What do you do about teething. My 8 month old has been teething on and off for a month. I do believe that it bothers her quite a bit. Because of her teething, she has been waking up at least once at night. It is so difficult to get her back to bed. She needs comfort, so I pick her up and rock her a little. However I think she has caught on. Now what? I can’t tell the difference between the teething or just her wanting to be held. I also live in a semi-detatch home so I try not to let her cry too long without intervention. Help!
Hi my son is going to be 2 yrs old in september. We put him to bed at 8:00 and he wakes up around 7:30 to 8, my question is my son takes a nap at 12 but he wakes up with the worst mood screaming, not wanting to eat, just being bad. I don’t know what to do is it the ( terriable twos) or should I take the nap out? And when should I move him out of the crib to a toddler bed?
My son is 19 months old and is a terrible sleeper. He’s had many bad sleeping habits since he was born, all of which I’ve gotten him out of, only to replaced by another one.The latest, and most exhausting is that he wakes up aboout every 1/2 hour at night crying. When I go in, he wants to be reassured with a light touch and covered up again and tucked in. I am exhausted! My husband and I are at wits end.By the way, I’ve tried letting him cry it out and it goes on all night. Please respond and help me!!!
Lily has a very strong will to stay awake and her bedtime is very hard work, by this I mean she fight ot keep herself awake anyway she can, she just wont relay and enjoy the calming/slowing down and slide into sleep. We can spend many hours at times trying to confort her (rocking, patting, bottle etc) enough to finally relax into a sleep. This sleep does not last long she wakes anytime from 10-90 mins and is awake fighting the sleep again for 2-3 hours and eventually passes out from from being exhausted. Routine is one thing Lily fights once she picks the start of a pattern (this can be anything from 3-5 days) she starts the fight there, we keep routine as consistant as possible.
I have a 5 month old who I have trouble getting to sleep due to my lack of consistency but also because he has 2 older brothers (4.5 & 2.5yrs) who have be looked after – play, swim lessons, daycare; so no 2 days are the same routine for us… I also work from home part-time (few hours a week) and find myself tyring to “trick” him to sleep as you call it so that I can get to work (esp when deadlines are near)… what can I do to help Nicholas learn how to sleep and manage a routine with his older brothers and my work???
Hi My name is Jennifer and my Son Cody is 16 months and he just over the last couple of weeks just started going to bed later like around 9 or 10 at night and he was going to bed at around 6:30 to 7:30 at the latest and I know he is tired but when I put him down he just cries and cries I really don’t know what to do anymore are you able to tell me what I am suppose to do in this situation is it normal or just a phase or what?? Please help
I’m confused. This 6/2 info about napping is not making sense. You mentioned at first; “if your child is ready to give up his nap.” Then you speak as if it’s the parents who are choosing. What I mean is, my son who is almost 2 1/2 is singing and talking and jumping in his crib at his nap time, for about an hour. (in at about 12p or 1p) He used to nap for two hours and all of a sudden it stopped. HOWEVER (this is the clincher!) he is a cranky mess for the rest of the day and sometimes falls alseep in my car at about 3pm. So in my opinion – HE IS NOT READY TO GIVE THEM UP. Something is stopping him from sleeping. Whether it be excitement of learning new things at this age or whatever. So, what do I do??? I’ve been putting him to bed at 630 – he falls asleep at about 715pm….and then gets up at 530am. Did I stump you??? Help!
My grand-daughter is so happy all day—-she is tired at 7 o’clock, after her bath and bottle, but she gets very distressed when put in her cot to sleep. Once she has stopped crying(15 to 20 mins) she sleeps for 11 hours. She has no dummy and will enjoy her mobile above the cot during the day.
my 2 month sleeps mostly all day and stays up at night what can i do to change this?
JAY IS 20 MONTHS OLD, UP TILL HE WAS 4 MONTHS HE WAS A GREAT SLEEPER BUT AFTER HIS INJECTIONS HE WAS QUITE POORLY AND THE SLEEPING STOP. SINCE THEN I HAVE TRIED THE LOT. I ALSO HAVE A BABY 4 MONTHS OLD WHO IS THE SAME ROOM AS JAY , HE SLEEPS ALL NIGHT. JAY GOES DOWN ABOUT 9 I SIT WITH HIM FOR ABOUT HALF HOUR BUT HE ALWAYS WAKES AROUND 12 OR 1 THEN HE CAN BE AWAKE FOR UP TO 2 OR 3 HOURS JUST HAVING SHORT NAPS THEN WAKING AGAIN. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE I’M EXHAUSTED.
i have a 27 mth old son who was text book perfect till 7mths. i got mastitis and glandular fever and it all went out the window! after alot of tears and persuauion i got him back to sleeping well for a couple of months then we had another drama and the same thing. i think he is a real comfort child that picks up on me being upset or things out of the oridianry. we had a major upheaval in march and he has been terrible at sleeping ever since. he has also taken to not napping during the day most days which he is coping fine with and then debtime is about 7.30/8. he will go to bed awake and fall asleep by himself. on a good night he will sleep solidly for 4-5 hours before waking but most nights its about an hour at a time. he will cry hysterically and if we dont go in to calm him down (have to stay and cuddle back to sleep) he will come to my bed where it still takes a while for him to settle back down. he is now waking in my bed again where he used to sleep fine there. he will wake, find my hair and wrap it round his fingers to go to sleep – very uncomfortable! i am 4 months pregnant so need sleep at the moment and im finding myself getting uptight and wound up when he wakes up. i know that it is mostly habit and will take perserverance to break but do you have any hints on the comfort part? i have tried special toys etc. crying out dosent work with him as he becomes so hysterical he will vomit everywhere… help?
Thanks for the tips! My almost 3 year old just quit napping and it seems I have been mostly doing things right, but I did pick up on a few tips that might make the transition easier. Any advice on traveling to different time zones and bedtimes during the trip?
I have a son who is 2 and 1/2. Although he has never had a consistent schedule, I usually would have him to bed around 8:30 which is the time my 7 year old has to go on school nights. Recently, my husbands 2 teenage kids came to live with us and my 2 year old is very clingy to the oldest. He completely throws a fit if he can’t stay up with his big brother, so my husband thinks it’s o.k., but at times (since school is out) they have been up until 2 a.m.! What do you think the end result will be if we allow this to continue and how do we fix it? Please help!
i have twin boys the age of 3 and a half Jaccob the youngest of the two sleeps wonderfully but Jeramy not so much. They still get there naps at about 12 they nap for about 2 hrs.. If they dont nap then around 5 Jeramy will get cranky and scream straight till bed time at 8.. The problem is no matter if he gets naps or not it still takes him about 2 hrs to go to sleep. And he wakes up again at about 3 in the morning and dont fall asleep again for another hour or so. What can i do to get him to have a normal sleeping pattern, im starting to think he dont know how to sleep..
thanks
ashley
Michael (26 months) used to be a very good sleeper and putting him to bed was never a problem. The situation changed completely 4 months ago when I was 8 months pregnant with our second child. Michael started to climb out of his cot and we thought that it might be a good idea to buy him a normal bed. He was initially very keen on it but quickly started to tease us. He started to regularly get out of his bed and come down in order to see what we were doing. He did not want any attention and his face seemed to say ‘I know I should not be here’. We calmly put him to bed every single time (up to 10 times) without engaging with him. If that did not work, one of us stayed with him for 15 minutes. Both methods worked but it could take up to an hour. Further, Michael now regularly wakes up during the night (sometimes twice) and tends to crawl into our bed. He falls asleep immediately in our bed but screams for 45 minutes when he has to sleep in his bed. Given that we have a new baby (11 weeks) and are exhausted and very often let him sleep in our bed. However, I really want him to sleep in his bed. Finally, he regularly wakes up early as well and is up at 6.30 am at latest.
We give him as much attention as we can during the day. We now thought of cutting down his nap time from 2 hours (sometimes 3) to 1 or 1.30. What can we do so that he wakes up less often and stays in his bed? We would very much appreciate your helpful suggestions.
Many thanks,
Claudine
My son is 18 months old, he still does not sleep through the night. Generally waking 2-4 times a night. He goes to bed awake and always has done, but when he wakes he screams the house down as is either sat or stood up. All I do is lay hin down, give him is dummy and teddy bear and he goes back to sleep. He is also a light sleeper. I have been in touch with my local health vistor and they have said I baiscally have to wait till he grows out of it. They say he has a over active imagination. (he is always on the go and forever climbing) Is they nothing I can do?
My son liam is 15 month old and sleeps in my bed with me most of the time. i have tryed using loads of different routines but he seems not to be tired out. when he finaily goes to sleep around 10 – 11 pm, he will then wake up in the middle of the night around 2 or 4 and want in my bed. when i try using a routine again he seems to be wide awake again or just crys to come in my bed.
My 6 month old Neve has no problem falling asleep at night. She will sleep for 6 or 8 hours straight, then will wake for a bottle then self sooth back to sleep for another 6 hours or so. My problem is that Neve will not nap during the day! I might be lucky to get her down for a half an hour at the most. She will cry and scream to the point where she is so distressed she will vomit and choke so I have to nurse her to sleep. I have tried your methods for nap time (they are very successful for us at night time) but it wont work during the day. I have ensured Neve’s room is very dark and there is minimal noise and it is the same routine as our night time except for a bath. What can I do? Please help as I have a very tired grumpy girl who needs to nap.
My son Rushil is now a year old and he used to nap 2 times very easily till about 15 days back, he slept at 8-9pm and used to wake up at 8 or 8:30am then sleep at around 11:30-12 in the afternoon for and hour and a half and then sleep again at 4-4:30 fr and hour.Recently he has started waking up when I give him milk in the morning at about 7am…Also his usual milk time was 6am about 2 mnths back,which I had pushed til 7 -7:30 …he still wakes up at 4 and 6 am ,which used to be his old milk times…the 4am milk time had stopped 3 mnths back, bt he stil wakes up every night at tht time…6am is fluid…he sometimes wakes at 6 or straight at 7am…for his milk..then he used to have his milk and sleep again fr an hour- hour and a half and wake up finally at 8-8:30am.
He has dinner at 7pm and sleeps at 8:30pm mostly. Now, since the last few days, he doesnt want to sleep in the evening and then because he misses his nap, he is cranky by 7, and even feeding him dinner at 6pm becomes a problem.
My questions are, that when do babies quit their 2nd nap of the day?Is Rushil ready to let go of his 2nd nap?
My second question is that how do I make Rushil sleep through the night..and not wake up at his old milk times … he doesnt do much when he wakes, he just wakes and I pick him up for a minute and put him bak in his cot and he goes bak to sleep…also I wanted to ask you as to how long can you not feed the child, as in if he has his meal at 7pm the previous night , is it ok if he doesnt drink or eat anything for 12-13 hours after that?
georgia is 7 months now,she still gets wrapped to go to sleep whats the best way to get her out of it ,as she not a good night sleeper but we are working on that one
thanks wendy
My 19 mo old daughter has never been a good sleeper but seems to be getting worse.We have always co-slept and because we have moved home and are still not settles I havent put her in her own bed.She relies on me to put her to sleep at night and asks for milk through the night.When she wakes she cries and moans so much.Shes wakes up at least 6 times a night and we are having serious sleep issues.Thanks for your help
My 6 month old refuses to take any nap after 12 pm, and usuallly naps before noon are 40 minutes short. In the afternoon he is sooo tired that he will gratefully go to bed at 4 pm. I dont mind because he will still stay in bed until 6 am on most days, with 1 to 2 nightime feeds after 1am. Will this resolve itself when he is 9 month and no longer needs the afternoon nap?
Bryce only sleeps 4-5 hrs at a time during the night. Is that normal for a 12month old
Bryce is 12months old now and still only sleeps 4-5 hrs at at time during the night. Is that normal?
My daughter is 15mths, she was always a great sleeper. Now recently she is finding it hard to sleep at all some days, no sleep for 12hrs. I know she is teething, but it cannot only be the cause. She wakes at night and yells not cries to be picked up, she is testing our patience. Can you help?
How can I help emma (6 monthes) to take a longr naps during the day cus she keep waking up after 15 min of napping????
My son, Henry, is 18 months old. About 2 months ago he had a bad cold that took a while to get over. Due to a cough, he would wake up early than his usual 7:30am time and couldn’t go back to sleep. As a result, I put him in bed with us to comfort him in his time of illness. He is now well over the cold but we seem to have created a bad habit and he will now wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 expecting to sleep in our bed. I want to break this habit fast! Any suggestions?
My son is 4 years going on 5 years, I have a 1 year little girl. Before she was born I had no problem getting him to bed, 8:00 was bedtime and there was a routine. But now it is a struggle, to get him to bed, he is constantly in and out, up and down, jumping on the bed, screaming and shouting, I’m tired of telling him to go to bed over and over. I’ve taken away toys, rewarded with stickers when he does go to sleep as he should, but to no avail, the next night it’s the same story all over again. I’m thinking it’s him wanting attention, because of my daughter, but I don’t understand, because she’ll be asleep, and he can have me all to himself and he’ll do something to wake her up and now my attention is focused on getting her back to sleep. I am at my wits end, please help. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
angel again (kenneths mother) if you can’t reach me at zangel@yahoo.com try my motherinlaws address Bettykzr76@yahoo.com
kenneth is staying woke all day.not that I mind, but he whines and crys, and whenever I put him down or walkaway from him he crys. What should I do. He’s teething,and i think he has a bellyache because he hasen’t moved hs bowels all day.I gave him some prunes, He didn’t want much.what should I do? he wont take a nap or go to sleep
Hi Dana, i have tried putting Madison on a schedule as you suggested and its working from the day i tried it. i put her down around 8pm and she sleeps until 1 or 2am, after that she gets up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours after that. i tried putting her back to bed without nursing but thats the only thing that works right now . how can i get her to sleep for a full night without feeding her every time she gets up
Right now, my husband and I are going through this battle for bedtime. He is 2 1/2 years and is not going to bed. He does take a nap–usually at 11:30 to 12:30–we have been trying to put him down for 8:00-8:30 but he gets right out of bed and we are at our wits end. Maybe we need to take out the nap and do a quiet time. I really need advice.
Hello,
My daughter meg (2 yrs) will not sleep in her own bed. Sge will settle of a night but within 1-2 hrs she is up and wanting to sleep in mummy & daddies bed. When we try and put her back to bed she screams and screams. I am not getting any sleep and obviously we are all suffering. I need some advise, can you help? I have tried night lights, books etc but to no avail.
I have a 19-month old girl and am 23 weeks pregnant. We will be moving our daughter into another bedroom and will put the baby in the nursery. I need some tips and suggestions on when is the right timing on moving her into the new bedroom and making that transition. The baby is due the end of September and will sleep in my room for the 1st 2-3 months however I feel like I need to transition her prior to the birth of my son. I need advice on a good transition timetable.
hi
my little man is 16 weeks old and is having a lot of trouble with his day time sleeps. i put him in his cot and he goes to sleep on his own but wakes up after 40-45 minutes crying and won’t resettle no matter what i try. when i get him up he ic cranky and wants to be held until his next feed. he has also started waking at 4.30 am when he used to sleep through till 7.30 am. his bed time is 8.30 and he has a dreamtime feed at around 10.30 i am just unsure what to do to help him sleep better . thnaking you
My first child is 11weeks old and I am having a hard time getting him to nap during the day. IF he does nap it is only for about 1/2 an hour. Afternooons seem to be better about 2pm-3pm but not much else. Night sleeps are generally good goes down at 6.30-7 then every 3-5 hours wakes for a feed. Is this normal? I fight with him all the way to sleep I leave him for 20 mins at times.
im having a problem alot of new moms may have my 5 weeks old sleeps all day and awake all night how can i get her to sleep less during the day and more at night any tips ?
My 10 month old daughter naps well during the day, and generally a good sleeper at night, however lately has been waking in the middle of the night and won’t resettle. The solution so far is to bring her into bed with us. She rubs her legs a lot, so I am concerned she may have growing pains, as both myself and my husband are tall and experienced this in our youth. Please help.
My three yr old tosses and turns all night…He sits up every couple of hours then lays back down. Is this a normal sleeping pattern for a toddler or am I expecting too much for him to sleep soundly all night??
Hi Dana,
My 20 month son only naps during the day in the buggy or car and wakes up after one sleep cycle (around 40 mins), needs more sleep but refuses to sleep more. I would love him to sleep in his cot and think that once this is established he would sleep longer and without interruptions, noise, movement etc.. Do you have any advice here? He started going thru the night at 11 months, now after some sleep training, he falls asleep by himself at night in his cot and sleeps thru most nights. Thanks
My daughter is 1 year old and does not like to sleep in her crib she cries and throws temper tantrums and it never lets up. So, what do I do? I let her sleep with me or I won’t get any sleep. But the times that I stay up late and get her to sleep in her crib she tosses and turns and she gets into crazy sleep positions to where I fear for her safety and pull her out of the crib and put her back in my bed. And she even has a hard time sleeping in my bed she sits up and basically folds in half and falls asleep then she sits up and leans her head against me and then lays on her back again. She does this all through the night and she whines when she does this I don’t know if she is in pain or what. I don’t know how to control this tossing and turning so i can feel safe about her sleeping in her crib. She has been doing this since she was four months old. I don’t know what to do to help her, could you please help me help her?
My daughter Peyton is 4 months old. She will fall asleep on her own around 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. She sleeps really hard until around 1:00 a.m. Although she will stay asleep until 6:30 a.m. she will kick and throw her hands around every 5 -10 minutes. She doesn’t wake up yet we don’t sleep from 1:00 a.m. forward. She grunted whille doing this badly until we put her on zantac. Now that she is off zantac and the grunting has stopped the flailing has not. We do feed her on occasion in the middle of the night but not very often. Why is she kicking around like this constantly?
My baby is 29 months and we sleep together but she cries and talks in her sleep. Why? Is there anything that I can do to have her stop this. She is all over the bed and when she wakes up crying, she is saying “no elmo” more popcorn and other things similiar. Help!
My baby is 14 months old has had good routine from 5 weeks and good long naps since 9 months when late afternoon nap went. Rises around 7am naps 10:00am -11:30/12pm and then had 30 mins around 3pm. Now he has huge tantrums that go on for an hour if I put him down for an afternoon nap but it too tired to go without it, his morning nap seems too early if he is only having one nap but he is exhausted by 10:30 and very fractious if not put down then. Incidentally he does not nap in the car or buggy however tired he is, he likes his bed and needs the lack of distraction. Help don’t know what to do I thought babaies needed 2 naps a day intil they were about 16-18months?
hello, i have a 12 month old, she used to sleep great for me and then about 3 weeks ago she started putting her fingure in her mouth and tries to make her self get sick. she only does this when i am trying to put her down for bed or if she wakes up in the night and i don’t come and get her. i have tried to not paying any attention to her actions but then she ends up getting sick and i can’t have her doing that..i try and calm her down with out picking her up but that will make her even more upset…please help i am so lost and no one i know or even nurses i have talked to know what to do!!..thank you
Hi, Thankyou for the information about sleeping. It has helped alot. I just need one other question answered. My son is almost 12months of age, and Im unsure of how to wean him off his night feeds, he has a 11pm or midnight feed then again around 5.30. Does this come back to the way I put him down to bed. Eg nursing him instead of allowing him to work out how to put himself to sleep. He usually wakes up crying, very upset for his bottle…if you could give me some tips on how to wean him off his milk that would be great. Im a first time mum, so sometimes i still feel abit overwhelmed by it all…Kind Regards, Karen
Our son is 10 months old and has only slept through the night a handful of times. We have let him cry it out on and off at nap time and during the night, which has helped, but we have had disruptions lately including sickness, teething, and most recently pulling up. He wakes up twice a night standing in his crib and has fallen and bumped his head when we have left him alone. I tried lying him back down, but he just pulls right back up. We do rock him to sleep at bedtime (7:30pm) and now I have resorted to rocking and often nursing when he wakes up at night. He naps well during the day- two naps about 1 hour and 30 minutes each. We let him cry until he is tired at nap time, and then hold him to sleep. I would like to stop rocking him and nursing him at night, but am afraid he will hurt himself if I let him cry it out. Please help!
i have a 5 years old son and he is not paying attention to us and he is not been nice to his 6 months bother, this situation is been very difficult to us because our 5 years old son is very jealous of his baby brother. we try to pay attention to him all the time but it since that is not enough. what should we do in order to make our older son to behave better and make him to be nice with his bother. thanks.
My son is two in July we have always put him to sleep between 7-8pm. We do the same bedtime routine of bath, then into his darkened bedroom with nightlights for a bottle of milk and a story before bed. He has soft music played as he falls to sleep too. We have always put him to sleep awake and left the room for him to go to sleep but now all of a sudden he wants us to cuddle him to sleep. We have moved him from cot to bed and we now sit with him until he falls to sleep, sometimes he messes about and it can take a oood hour for him to settle If we leave the room he stands at the gate on the door and cries / screams. How do we get him to the stage where we can put him into bed and then leave the room for him to fall asleep by himself. Please help!
Can I follow a routine such as the one recommended in your guide if we have a busy lifestyle which sees us away from home for a large part of the weekend and a late night out at least once a week? We can get our 4 mth old to sleep, but as soon as it’s time to get in the car she wakes up and doesn’t normally go back to sleep (she’s one of the rare babies who don’t like sleeping in the car).
My daughter is 2 at the end of August, I still lie with her when she goes aff to sleep so she is waking in the night and when she does she won’t go back to sleep unless I sleep with her in her bed, I have tired leaving her in her room to go to sleep without me but she will not stay in her bed and if i shut the door she will scream until i come back in, what should I do?
Hi Dana,
I am 23 year old and my baby is 3 month old now. She had colic for the first two months. Hence my Hubby and I had to rock her to sleep during this time and she did not sleep well at all. However, while we were doing this, I still watched every video of yours and I’ve picked up ways that I believe will help my baby to sleep better. Of course I couldn’t apply these steps initially. Right when I sensed that her colic was over, I immediately applied everything I’ve learned. My baby now sleeps at least 2 to 3 hours during nap time and sleep 8 hours straight during the night. She only wakes up for half an hour to fill l her belly (I’m nursing) before she goes back to sleep for another few hours. My house is fairly noisy and hence she wakes up sometimes during the middle of her sleep, but she goes back to sleep right on her own.
I’ve achieved all this by just watching your videos. I have my deepest gratitute for you. I can only imagine how much your sleep sense book will do for me. If for whatever reason I have problems with her sleeping that I cannot deal with, I will definitely turn to the sleep sense!
-Thoa
How do I transition my 9 weeks old girl from recognizing night and day. She’s awake from midnight till sunrise and sleeps from sunrise till sunset. I can’t keep her awake in the daytime. This is her schedule she’ sleep at 6 AM until 6 PM (b/w the sleep I feed her 3 times), then sleeps again from 8-11 PM and is awake from 11ish until 5-6 AM. HELP!!! can you provide me a formula in how to start as day 1 to tranistion her slowly so it has the minimum impact in her mood. Also, since she’s awak during the night hours, will it effect her growth? not sure about the physiology of the growth hormone/melatonin, etc and if it’s impacted in this case. Any advice will be appreicated.
Hi ,my 1yr old daughter sleeps well, settles on her own, goes down at 7 and mostly sleeps through to 7 . occasionally she wakes at 4/5 for a change and bottle (if she hasn’t drunk much during the day) but will settle again till 8/8:30. she is on 1 nap a day now after lunch but i allow her to sleep until she wakes naturally. this can be 21/2 to 3 hrs. i am causing problems for myself? is this why she still wakes at 4/5 sometimes? she has one bottle a day now,before bed, not in bed and will settle herself with her blankie and dummie (which she isn’t bothered about in the night). I’m not sure if i should waker her in the morning at a set time so she can fit in 2 naps instead but i have always let her sleep whenever and for as long as she needs it (or wants it) my mum says sleep breeds sleep, is this right? My husband could sleep for england!
Hi, my son is almost 1 year old and he just started standing up on the crib….so when i put him in to take a nap he starts standing up, throwing his pacifier and his blanket he laughs…and laughs ….so i go in the bedroom and give him back his pacifier and lay him down …but everything stars over when a get out of his room , sometimes he even cries so it takes him like 1/2 hour to get him to sleep , when he used to fall asleep in 5 min all alone, without my help. What can I Do?
thanks
all the way from Mexico
Catalina
My son is 6 months old. He usually goes to bed around 6:00 and gets up in the morning at 6:00. He nurses twice during the night, usually around 11:00 and 3:00 am. The problem is naps. He never naps for more than about 50 minutes, sometimes only 35 or 40 minutes. I would not mind the short nap times, but he needs more judging by his mood. He is usually grumpy and rubbing his eyes about an hour after he gets up, which makes it really difficult to do anything during the day. I leave him in his crib for the duration of an hour, regardless of how long he sleeps–this almost always results in crying. Sometimes it takes him a half an hour of crying to fall asleep for naps, but not for bedtime. At bedtime he might chatter a little bit and then fall right asleep. This has been going on for about six weeks. He goes into his crib awake before bed or naps. Please help.
my son jared is now 8mts old i have had to rock him to sleep the whole time for his day naps & to get him to go to bed at night! I know i have done the wrong thing & people have told me to leave him in his cot crying & he will get used to going to sleep on his own. This is not the case I have tried it if it was up to him he would stay awake all night playing or rolling round & when he gets fed up with that he screams until I go get him and i hate letting him cry! Also i have just gone back to work for 3 days a week so my parents have him overnight for 2 nights he is very comfortable around them so i feel safe he is ok with them. My husband picked him up this morning & when i came home from work after not seeing him for 2 days he just cried at me it was like he didnt know who i was it took him a while to adjust i hated that he didnt recognise me should i be leaving him for so long?????
My 6.5 month son is napping by the book during the day (since reading a lot of advice on this) but it has not improved his nighttime sleep at all. He goes to bed OK at 7.00 and goes to sleep on his own etc. etc. but then wakes in the night. he still has a full feed at 11.00ish which I am happy with but then thinks 3 am (or sometimes even 2 am) is morning and nothing will persuade him back to sleep. I also have a 3 year old so the sleep deprivation is affecting all the family. My health visitor suggested controlled crying and we were so desperate that we even tried this but couldn’t really manage it as he wakes up plays (loudly) for 20-40 minutes before he starts crying so its difficult to know when to start the clock!
any suggestions gratefully received.
Our 3 y/o daughter is in a twin bed, but still wakes up during the night and either wants to come in our bed or just wakes up and is able to go right back to sleep in her bed.
Why do toddlers wake up in the middle of the night?
I’ve tried, nightlight, no nightlight, white noise, etc.
Thanks, Jena
My five-month old fights with his sleep during the day (takes maybe two 30-minute naps a day). If I try the night-time routine (i.e., rocking and music), he gets upset and cries – as if he knows what’s coming (he does!). How can I get him to nap for a longer stretch during the day? I find that, when he does, he is much happier and more alert.
My son (almost 16 months) falls asleep for the night (usually about 9.5 hours without waking up) with a bottle of milk. It’s obvious it is a comfort thing as sometimes he falls asleep in little than 5 minutes with only about 2 ounces of milk. It is the only time he has a bottle. Would love to hear how to get him to say goodbye to the bottle for good. Your suggestions would be much appreciated
hey Dana,
let me thank you for being a big help to me.
Actually, yes. I still need your help big time.
Rayan has a new brother, he is acting in an agressive way, and it seems that he is annoyed
from me, each time i get close to him, he hit me, and he does the same with his brother.
About his sleep, after that i put him on the right track, he went back to wake up for the bottle, so as you see everythink is mixed up with me and obviously i need an advice.
I will be waiting for your answer.
thank u in advance.
My almost 2 year old is going through a bad stage…. He won’t go to bed without me.
Until about 2 weeks ago, he went to bed at 8:30 without hesitation. Now, all the sudden, he doesn’t want to go to bed. We took down his crib and put him in a toddler bed thinking the transition to a “big boy” bed would help. Now he just wants me to lay down with him to put him to sleep. I let him cry for an hour last night hoping that he would put himself to sleep….but that didn’t work. PS…he shares a room with his older brother, so letting him cry himself to sleep has always been a struggle.
I would love some suggestions.
Thank you!!
My son 19 months old vomits when he goes to bed. We don’ t know what to do. Please help
My little boy is coming up to 2 years old and I’m still breastfeeding, including a couple of times during the night. Alexander adores breastfeeding and I have to admit I enjoy it too, but should I be thinking of giving it up now?
My child goes to bed around 730/8pm. he does great falling asleep, sometimes needing some help. Sleeps through the night but wakes up at 530am. His last bottle is around 630/7pm. Is there anything I can do to help him sleep later or do I just have an early riser? Larson is 6mons.
I have been putting my baby down for naps and allowing her to fall asleep on her own without me being in there, this usually involves some crying but not longer than 5 to 10 minutes. When will she start to just fall asleep without crying? I almost feel like she’s learned to cry herself to sleep as a soothing method or something. If I try to go in and sooth her it just takes longer for her to fall asleep than if she just cries herself to sleep. she’s almost 7 months old now and we’ve been letting her cry herself to sleep since she was 3 1/2 months. we have a very good routine of reading a couple of stories and then she gets a snuggle and down to bed with a music box on but she still doesn’t seem to go down easily. Is there anything I can change or do differently to help her fall asleep without crying? or is this something that takes a long time for them to learn how to do on their own? Thanks!
Sleeping & nap time when traveling to different time zones
My baby seems to cry a LOT at nap time, even if he is tired, if I don’t nurse him to sleep first. He is still very young (3.5 mos.) Any suggestions for how to get him to nap with less of a teary fight and without nursing him to sleep?
At what age would you suggest a routine or schedule for a new baby? Can they really tell the difference between having a routine or not when they are as young as 3 months?
my son will be turning 2 years old at the end of August. He has never had a full night sleep in his own crib. he now sleeps with me in my bed. i try to put him down in his crib but he just throws a tantrum and cries, and cries until i pick him up. How can i get him to sleep in his own crib?? should i buy him a big boy bed instead??
Hi, i have tried every trick in the book to get my 11mth old to sleep through the night, she is still waking every 2 to 3 hours for no reason, i have had to move her 5 yr old sister out into my room as she keeps waking her too! i aim at my wits end!!! HELP