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Hi! I’m Dana Obleman, creator of The Sleep Sense Program. If you’d rather read than watch, I’ve transcribed the text of this video below.
This week’s question comes from Cathy:
“My four-and-a-half-month old daughter was sleeping well during the night. Five hours, then up for a feed and back down for another five hours. Now that she’s begun teething, she rarely sleeps for more than two hours at a time. What can I do to help her sleep through the night?”
A lot of the questions on the blog are about teething, and I think it requires a few minutes of discussion over the whole issue. I tend to declare myself a bit of a fence sitter about teething. I think some children breeze through teething without any problems at all and others struggle. I look at my three children, and with my first two sons, I didn’t pay much attention to their teething. They didn’t seem to be bothered too much by it. One day, their teeth were there. But with my daughter, I noticed that she was a little grumpier on the days teeth were actually coming through. It didn’t really affect her sleep; it almost seem like she needed a bit more sleep to get through the teething.
So I do know that every baby responds a little differently to pain, as we all do, but I think sometimes teething gets blamed for everything. If you’ve got a child who nurses to sleep and is up five times a night, a lot of parents say, “Oh, he’s teething.” So you really have to look at the big picture. If you’ve got a baby who falls asleep totally independently, traditionally sleeps through the night, and then has a couple of nights where he’s awake here and there, it could absolutely be teething. But what you don’t want to do is think “Oh no, he’s teething. I’m going feed him or rock him” or do all the things that you’ve worked hard to get out of. Because a night or two of that, and you could be right back at square one, and you’ll have to start all over again with your training.
So if you think it’s teething, all you can do is give some pain medication or go in and reassure her that it’s still nighty-night and that she’s okay, and just know that within a few nights, it’s going to blow over. So you just want to be careful how you react to it. You said that she was sleeping well. I don’t know if that means she has her own skills for sleep, but if she doesn’t, then I would guess that’s probably more the problem than teething.
I do find that, if a baby has lots of props and they slept fairly well, sometimes at a certain age the props stop working so well, and all of a sudden you have a baby who was going six hours through the night and now they’re up every two. Then I encourage people to have a good look at that and whether the props are causing some problems now, as the child becomes more aware of what it is that actually gets him or her to sleep. Then that could lead to, waking up a few times in the night, realizing “Oh right, where is my soother, where is that breastfeeding, where is that rocking?” And now they’re awake more often, looking for that. So have a look at the big picture here, Cathy, and see what could really be going on.
Again, if you really think it’s teething, do a few modified things to your night time response. But, again, teething is something that has to happen; every child goes through it. It’s got to be at least livable, so the more you can put it out of your mind, the better off you will all be and the less likely you’ll be to over-react to it.
Keep that in mind as your children go though teething. You don’t want to start over every few months because you suspect teething. Really hang on to your consistency and your expectations for their sleep. They still need to sleep, even if they’re teething, so you just have to keep those things in mind.
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 2 year old son has very restless sleep all night he never sleeps through the night and i even put him in my bed i know i shouldnt of but i was exausted and now i cant get out of that also he doesnt have a cot anymore and now im regretting it as hes in my bed full time he has been quite sick and at the moment has a cold and he also had athsma which he constantly coughs at night with and that is another reason i put him in my bed i need to know what to do to possibly get him into his own bed and to at least sleep through the night once a week im desperate should i buy him another cot and put him in my room with me my husband works long hours and sometimes goes away for weeks at a time for work so generally i put him in my bed to keep me company i know thats wrong and think that is what made him sleep with me in the first place please help!!!!!
Hi, I have a 10 month old baby girl and we are having a really hard time getting her to sleep through the night. She has slept 9 hours a few times but is up 2 time a night typically. She doesn’t nurse to sleep (as a rule-rarely she will fall asleep during her last feeding). The norm is that she will have a snack, we read stories and she goes to bed…and she goes to sleep. However she wakes in the night and we can figure out how to break the habit…can you help?
My 15 month old was slepping well, he slept 11 hour straight.now he is waking 3 hours after I put him to sleep. And he cries and cries and cries non stop until he makes him vomit. I’m so worried because I used your program when he was 8 months old and it really worked ( he had some bad nights, but generally he slept very good) Now he is doing this. I don’t know what’s wrong, he doesn’t use any pacifiers or blanky… He falls sleep by his own with no problem. I don’t know if he is having nightmares, or he is having separation anxiety because during the day he wants to be with me all the time. But it doesn’t make sence because he doesnt cry when I put him to bed awake and I leave the room. What’s wrong?? I don’t know what to do.
Hi Donna,
my daughter used to sleep well through night about two weeks before, but for last two weeks, she is upset. she started crying during sleep. i took her to the doctor and she said she has no issues. Then one night, i found that she was grinding her upper gums with her lower tooth.
she is not sleeping well and waking up night.
help me please
My 5 month old slept through the night til now. She loves her blanket but puts it over her face when she sleeps. I am afraid she will sufficate so I take it away when she falls asleep. She wakes up every 2 hours and wants the blanket. How can I break her need for the blanket?
my son slept from around 3 months old right through the night from 9pm – 7am this he chose to do himself with no problems now he is just over 4 months and he has decided that he wants to wake up 1-2 times a night how can i stop this? i don’t know why he has changed we still do the same routine everynight. Because he hasn’t slept right through he is more grumpy through the day. Any advise would be greatfully received.
Hi Dana,
My 9 month old daughter has started waking 30-60mins after going to bed for the night usually once but occassionally again after another 30-60mins. She nurses (a full feed – both times if she wakes twice – not just comfort sucking)and then will go back to sleep. Have tried leaving her to self soothe, cuddles but wont go to bed without feeding. Has a feed about 30-60 mins before dinner, bath/bed routine then another full feed before going down. Does she really need these extra feeds? Thought growth spurt but this has been going on for at least a month now with only odd sleep through. Tried both later naps and later/earlier bedtimes all with same result.
Hi Dana,
when is a good time to transition my 6 month old daughter into her own room to sleep? She has always slept in our room but in her crib by our bed. I am also trying the self soothing method of getting her to sleep right now, instead of breastfeeding her-is it too much to do this all at once?
Elsah
Dana,
I have a problem getting my 6 month old to sleep longer than 45 minutes for naptime. Because of this, sometimes she’ll have 3 naps a day and it’s very hard for me to get anything done in that time!!I read about how to get your baby to take longer naps, but my problem is getting her back into that deeper sleep once she wakes up. It never works and I just get her up, and she’s not well rested. Should I just stay in the room until she starts stirring and then try and get her back to sleep? Please help!
Elsah
Hi Dana
my 9 1/2month old was sleeping through the night really well…until teething started and then since then gets up about 2-3 times during the night (even though i dont think shes teething at the mo) she goes to bed at 8pm and its normally the same time like 1 or 2 in morning then 5 then up for the day at 7. she sits up and starts messing around or crying. we r so tired. any tips on how to get her through the night again? Thanx Ruth
My daughter is 33 months old (so 2.5 years ish) and wakes in the middle of the night crying. She goes to sleep just fine, I don’t sleep with her or cuddle or do anything to help her, she goes to sleep on her own. SHe goes to sleep 8 pm (bedtime routine starts at about 7:30 pm) and sleeps until 6:15 am but always seems to wake up at about 11 pm and then again at about 2:30 am. (she also had a nap every day for about 1.5-2 hours after lunch)SHe is fully potty trained and not waking to go potty. We keep emphasizing for her to use self soothing techniques-hold your dolly, close your eyes, think of something happy like going to the park or riding your bike. This has been going on for about 6 months.
We try all the things to prevent….she is scared of monsters so we do monster spray, assure her we are close, doggies keep watch on the house for us.
We would like to know what else to do to help her help herself sleep all of the way through the night. We have a baby on the way in a few months and I don’t think that at the moment it has anything to do with this and it would be nice to have this settled prior to the new baby.
Hi Dana & Team,
Can you please tell me more about the transition from 3 naps to 2 naps for babies. My daughter is 5 months old.
Thanks
Ruchi
my son gabriel isnt sleeping at all he only takes 2 naps and there one hour long or one of them is two hours long. i also pat him to sleep he dont like sleepin on his back he sleeps on his stomach all the time or his side i also give him a bottle everytime he wakes up its a bad habit we got him in hes 6 months and hes waking me up 4 to 5 times a night and he crys and crys hes so winnie during the day to i just need answers realy fast.
im kenzie im 18 years old im a first time mom and my son gabriel isnt wanting to sleep at all he is waking me up every hour its 4 to 5 times a night i dont know what to do? i cant find help anywhere im so drained and tired he is teethin but he once i put him to sleep he wakes back up 3 hours later and hes wanting to play,but i also pat his butt to help him fall asleep and we started a bad habit of patting him to sleep and giving a bottel to him to help him fall asleep but if we dont give him a bottel how do i know if he realy is haungrey i need addvice i dont know whats goin on with him nobody knows. just a month ago he was only wakin me up once thats because i started him on baby food. should i feed him more baby jars instead of 4 should i give him a bottel at all in the middel of the night?
hi my daughter is 3.5 months she does not sleep all night .she wakes up 3 times in the night for her pecifer.please help me
What is your view on using Melatonin for a healthy baby. I have only heard about one study done on 40 healthy babies and it was only on a short-term basis. A friend recommended it to me but my daughters dr said he wouldn’t recommend it. I haven’t tried it but was curious what you thought.
Nicole
Hi, I just purchased the online sleep program for my 7 week old daughter. We just started implementing the program and have found that every time we put her down in her bassinet, she starts screaming almost instantly. We pick her up, sooth her, and put her back once she’s drowsy, calm but still awake.
Is there something else we can do to help her get the sleep she needs? Or are we missing something? Has anyone else had this result?
Thank you in advance for any feedback.
I’ve been following your video blog, and I have a question that I’m hoping you can help me with. I have an 8 month old son who is currently sleeping 10 -11 hrs through the night. I’m very happy with his sleep currently but we will be moving into a new house in the next few weeks and I’m concerned that the new environment may disturb his rest. Is there any advice you can give that can help me make this transition a smooth one?
Hi, My daughter is going to 4.5 months old. She was taking 3 naps as per Dana’s suggested schedule but recently her first nap has become 45-1 hour and her second nap has become 2-3 hours and she is dropping her 3rd nap. So she isn’t sleeping after 3.30 pm. Is this ok?
its me again ayisha is my daughter just wanted to add she has a perfect diet loves her food.
hi dana, my daughter ayisha just turned 1 and im still breastfeeding ALOT and its so tiring she goes to bed in her own cot but its still in my room around half 8 sometimes 9, im fining it very hard because she will not sleep unless i breastfeed her to sleep she wakes up around 1am and wants to be nosey she then will not sleep untill an hour or so has past then when iv breastfed her bk to sleep as soon as i put her down she screams so loud its unbearable and because me and my partner are so tired we give in and she sleeps with us in our bed. please help!! im so tired but feel guilty when she cries for me.
I have a 21 months old son that refuses to sleep. I have got him on a very strict schedule nap times and meals and bedtimes all at a certain time. My son is supposed to go to bed at 8pm but he will continuly get out of his bed and come into the living room or if we put the gate up he will stand there and scream from the gate we fight with him from 8 to atleast 11pm everynight and when i finally do get him to go to sleep after much drama he wakes up several times thru the night i give him a bottle only in the middle of the night and thats only because it was a major thing whe we took it away the only way he will go to sleep in the middle of the night is if he is in bed with me and has his arms wrapped around my neck with his face up against mine. my husband thinks it cute ( its his first child) I knew that it was a bad habit to get into letting him sleep with us but he was VERY ill when he was a baby and we almost lost him so i guess that i just couldnt bare having him away from me. His naps are the same way he is supposed to lay down at 11 am and i fight with him until sometimes two when he is supposed to be woke up from his nap. He wakes up no matter what time he goes to bed at night By 8 am i wake him up and feed him breakfast. I am so tired he is waking up atleast 2-3times a night what can i do
My daughter is 17 months old I give her a bottle every night before bed should I stop? I didnt want to stop since she doesnt eat dinner or other meals to good. She is also teething she has 6 teeth getting ready to come in on the top and she has been waking up in the middle of the night. How long do you suggest I let her cry for before getting her? I normal let her cry for 30 min then I will go give her pain medicine but then she will remainn crying for 3 hrs then i will go get her again then we sit in her room for another 2 hours and i am not getting any sleep at all. What should I do?
My 7mth old baby was doing really well with sleeping. He has had the same routine since a couple of months old, bath, feed, bed – at the same time every night, and it used to be that I could put him in his bassinet/cot and walk away and he would put himself to sleep. He did this for about 3 months, and was sleeping from 7:30pm til around 3-4am, having a feed and going back for another couple of hours. At around 5mths old, he started whinging a little before putting himself to sleep, which turned into whinging a lot, which has turned into hell over the last two months. Now he has to be nursed to sleep and is up every 2 hours or more at night. I haven’t changed his routine at all, and this has been a slow run downhill..I have tried controlled crying and found that it stressed me and him out big time and I didn’t like it. I used to put him in bed with us after a while as I was too tired to get up to him, and he would sleep fine with us, but now he is waking up constantly and stirring and fussing even in bed with us. What can I do?
How can I get my 10mth old son on a sleeping schedule?
I also forgot to ask what would be a good idea from breaking him of going to sleep with a bottle?
Our son has been doing great since we took your advice, except that he won’t sleep in past 4:45 a.m., do you have any advice that might help us. We’ve been trying to come up with a plan that incorporates the time change this weekend.
My 2 year old twins have been in toddler beds for just ove a month. The transition went almost flawlessly until we started potty training. My daughter thinks it is a good idea to get up 2-4 times to “potty mommy” before she will fall asleep even though I have her go just before I put her down.
She usually goes when she gets up, so I would hate to tell her no and have an accident. I want to be consistant but I don’t want her to “walk all over me”. It is getting to be a nightmare. We need to figure something out…her brother is next and he is ten times as stubborn, and there is a new baby coming in 3 months.
My daughter is 11 months old and we have had success using the sleep sense program to have her fall asleep on her own and stay asleep through the night. For the last month she has been falling asleep around 8pm and then sleeping through until 5:30am. She is up and ready to start her day sometimes at 5:15 am and then typically goes down for a nap around 9am for one hour. What would you suggest for encouraging our daughter to sleep a little longer in the morning?
Hi Dana. Thank you SO much for creating the Sleep Sense program. We ‘trained’ our daughter when she was 3 months old using your program. It is a GODSEND! I do have a new issue, however. My daughter, who has been a tummy sleeper, is now an expert at rolling to her back, and it is interefering with her ability to fall asleep. I’m torn about whether to keep returning her to her tummy while preventing her from rolling over again, or ‘re-training’ her to fall asleep on her own while on her back. I’d be so grateful to know your thoughts. Thanks!
My son is almost 7 months. He’s had two ear infections in the past 2 months and I think he has another one. Is there anyway to prevent him from getting ear infections all of the time? He didn’t get ear infections until he started daycare around 4 1/2 months.
I have been following the sleep sense book for my 8 mth old son since he was about 6 weeks (thank you it has been my saving grace) he was having 3 naps a day, waking up at 7am and going down at night at 7pm – perfect!. He was just in the process of transitioning to 2 sleeps a day at about 6-7mths when he started waking between at 5 & 5.30am and has now been doing so for about 2 months. When he wakes I have tried leaving him for 10 or so mins then going in and using my usual “night night sleepy time” phases and patting him when this wasn’t working I tried feeding him and then putting him back to bed (awake of course) but unfortunately neither is working. He is so exhausted by the end of day because he is up so early that I have now changed his bed time to 6.30pm – do you have any other suggestions as to how I can get him to stay asleep for longer in the mornings?
I have a 7 month old and a 2 1/2 year old. We finally just got my 2 1/2 year old off of his binky. He was only using it for his nap and at night. I don’t want to go through the same thing with my 7 month old by waiting that long to take it away. He loves it when he goes to sleep. It is his soother. When do you suggest I take away his binky?
My baby boy is 8.5 month old. I always dreamt of putting my baby to sleep on his own however not all dreams must come true. I must say it is becoming to be such difficult job to put him to sleep sometimes I feel that he is so tired but he don’t know how to sleep he takes two naps a day from an hour to 2 hrs. I tried to do many things and I ended up breastfeeding and rocking at the same time for around half an hour sometimes takes alot longer so I wonder what should I do?
My 15 month old daughter is still not sleeping through the night and wakes for breastfeeding every couple of hours becoming very persistent if she doesn’t get her momma milk.
We haven’t had her in a crib since 5 months since she hated it and currently she sleeps beside us in her toddler bed or she climbs into bed with us.
We follow a routine every night which finishes with her dad walking her to almost asleep.
I want to train her but she is very mobile and gets out of bed and goes to the door when she wakes.
Often she gets up at 4 or 3 or 2 or 5 – depending on the night – ready to play and chatty.
I don’t know where to start with training her to sleep better especially since she is so mobile now. I have tried to wean her off the breast milk at night but she gets so upset and I get no sleep because we then have to get up until she mellows out.
Any ideas would be helpful.
My 23 month old daughter comforts her self asleep with bottle.. how do I get rid of the bottle as a conforting tool for sleeping specially when she askes for it?
My 16 1/2 month old refuses to sleep in her crib. I have been forced to sleep on our living room floor with her for the past month and a half. She still wakes up anywhere from 1 to 4 times a night, has a bottle, gives me the bottles when she is done and then rolls over, goes to sleep and if I am lucky falls alseep right away. If not, I am rubbing her back until she falls alseep. I am really missing my own bed. To make things even more difficult – I have twins and the other one will get up once or twice a night too!
My daughter Briley has to go to sleep with her pacifer. She then keeps waking up in the night wanting it back in her mouth. She will carry one until we get up and put it back in her mouth. Should we put her to bed without it?
Okay, Dana, I have tried your system and quite a few others and am still having HUGE problems with my 16 month old’s sleep habits. I am doing everything the experts say and still nothing works. We follow a bedtime routine of bath, teeth brushing, massage, pajamas, then 1 or 2 short books and a quick song in the rocking chair with dim lights. I put Logan in his crib awake, yet drousy by 7:30pm. He falls asleep without any problems in just a few minutes: no crying, no fussing. But every night, since I can remember, he wakes up a few hours later screaming and crying. I have let him go for 10 minutes, then went in his room and pat him for a few seconds, without picking him up. He calms down but almost always starts back up again within a few minutes of me leaving his room. I have tried repeating this process at timed intervals. I have even tried letting him cry it out (this lasted anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours!) to no avail. He is up almost every night for at least 2 or 3 hours before passing out from exhaustion and sleeping until 8am.
His room is not too hot or too cold, there are no loud noises waking him up, he has a taggie blanket for a lovey, there is only a small night light, etc. He has been off the bottle since his first birthday and hasn’t been fed right before bed or in the middle of the night since he was about 10 months old. Now he gets a sippy cup of warm milk downstairs before we even start the bedtime routine. He eats plenty during the day, so I don’t think hunger is the issue.
We are doing everything that is supposed to work and did work with my first son 4 years ago, but with no luck. He takes a 2 to 2.5 hour nap every day without a problem. It’s almost as if he thinks he should only sleep for a few hours, then be up for a few hours before going back to sleep again for the rest of the night. We are nearing the end of our rope. 16 months is too long for any of us to be going without any sleep. HELP!
Try waking him up from his naps so that he has a shorter nap time.
My son is 18 mths old and i have discovered something that might help you. I quit warming the milk, or i gave him the warmer milk earlier in the evening. I give him water right before bed.
I have found the warmer milk was upsetting his stomache.
My baby is only 6 weeks old but I see her starting some bad sleep habits and would like to try and get her out of them before it becomes a real problem. She has started sleeping better at night. I put her down around 10:00pm after nursing and she will sleep about 3-4.5 hours. This is the longest stretch so far and then will wake up to nurse every 2 hours after that. She seems to be doing good falling back to sleep right after nursing. During the day she gets really fussy right before falling asleep and needs to be either rocked, held, swaddled or given the pacifier to calm down and fall asleep. She’s having trouble getting herself to sleep without help. When she was very little she could fall asleep at anytime without help. Wondering what I should do?
dear dana,
my son is now 34 months old and was a great sleeper up until the 10 months. He was potty trained, changed daycare & transitioned from crib to toddler bed all in 1 month almost 10 months ago and now will not go to bed unless I lay down with him until he is asleep. If I leave the room, he will wake up and call for me until I return or he will come into our bedroom. This will happen 3-6 times a night and is exhausting for everyone. Is it possible to retrain a toddler after such a long time to sleep in his own room by himself?
Thank you,
Roberta
thanks for not responding….im really having trouble with my 23 month olds sleep issue. she won’t fall asleep on her own.
Im at the end of my rope.
My little girl is 10 weeks old and is rarely sleeping through the day – she has only 2 hours sleep somedays. We give her her last feed at 9.30 then put her to bed awake and she falls aslee alone, and she sleeps til between 6 and 8 am. I understand this is very good for her age, but if she hasn’t had a nap by 2-3pm in the day she gets over tired and cries for long periods of time. i have tried everything to get her to sleep through the day, even down to rocking even though i know i shouldn’t, and this wont work either. i have tried swaddling, even when shes in her pram she seems to be too nosey and wants to see whats going on. I know its not healthy for her to be awake all day and am aware sleep promotes sleep but not sure what else i can do
Maybe you are trying to put her down for naps at a time when her biological clock is not ready for sleep. Young babies are usually ready for a nap 90 minutes after they wake up (regardless of how much they slept during the night) and their bio-rhythms are ready for sleep at that time. If you miss that window, her system may be ramping up for another wakeful period, which leads to her being overtired and having a hard time getting to sleep. I put my son on a routine that meant a nap every 90 minutes from waking throughout the day until he was about 3 months old and it worked like a charm. Good luck!
my son is 30 months all of a sudden he has stopped sucking his thumb no big deal except now he wont sleep that was his only means of soothing himself to sleep now i cant leave his room with out him waking back up or fighting with him until he lterally passes out with exhaustion, i frustered tired and eighteen weeks pregnant, i need help
My baby is 4.5 months old and for the past month or so has gone down for naps and bedtime great. We lay her down awake and she falls asleep the majority of the time without a fuss. We still swaddle her in a Woombie and use white noise and she uses a pacifier at naptimes but not at the beginning of bedtime. Our problem is that she is waking many times a night (sometimes every hour!), once to eat and the others to be soothed back to sleep by either giving her the pacifier or patting her. I don’t understand why she is able to fall asleep at night without any help from us but cannot fall back asleep on her own at night. Please help! She is waking more now than when she was a newborn!
I should also add that around 3 months old she had a period of time where if she woke at night she would sometimes be able to fall back asleep on her own, but that rarely happens now.
Hi I’m wondering how to start a sleeping routine for my baby she is 7 weeks and up until now has been sleeping fine with the odd couple off days! Now she seems to not want to sleep at all although I can see she is tired! She will fall asleep but when I put her down no matter how long I’ve nursed her for she wakes up straight away or within the hr! She’s not overly grumpy seeing as she’s hardly sleeping, i’m a little confused?
Emerald haren
Try putting her down before she falls asleep – don’t nurse her to sleep. She’s getting to the stage where she realizes that she fell asleep at the breast and when she wakes up slightly, she knows things have changed. That’s like you falling asleep in bed and waking up lying on the kitchen floor! You’d be disgruntled too! She needs to fall asleep in her crib on her own and learn to do that consistently without your help. Good luck!
Please help. I am 5 months pregnant and my 2 year old son has become a terrible sleeper. He had his tonsils removed three weeks ago but seems to be doing worse now than just after the operation. He goes to sleep on his own in his cot without any form of pacifier. He has taken to waking up about 5 times during the night screaming for either myself of my husband but will settle quickly to sleep once we go in there and tell him to go back to sleep. He will say “mommy’s here and then go back to sleep”. Why is he doing this and how can I stop it. It’s like having a newborn in the house when we’re expecting one in July. Very scary…..
Hey Dana,
I have been using your sleep sense program sense Noah was three months, He’s a good baby and a good sleeper as long as he has somewhere quiet to lay, my husband and I have accepted that he is just a bub that needs a bit of a winge before he goes to sleep. Since 6 weeks Noah has slept from 8 pm until 6am or 7am through the night. He has two really good naps through the day.
I understand that Noah is teething and a good sleeper but when he wakes in the morning he is screaming and lately he will wake up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:00 am. I know this isn’t really that much earlier but I feel like it is a big difference for my baby. Sometimes I let him winge until 6am before I get him and nurse him on my chair. I was just wondering is there anyway to teach him to sleep in a little bit longer and also to wake up happier.
Thanks Dana
Hi my son is 19 months old and has never slept through the night….ever! Every night is different, some nights he is up every hour, every half hour, 3 or 4 times a night. I never know what is going to happen at night. He still has a soother. I have let him cry but he gets so hysterical he makes himself sick and he wakes up his older brother. I am expecting our 3rd in 3 months and I would really like to get him to sleep through the night soon. Sometimes when he is crying he is still laying down sleeping with his soother in his mouth, other times he is sitting up and doesn’t have his soother but he is either screaming or crying when he wakes up. I was thinking maybe he has night mares. Any ideas??
My 21 month old daughter has been able to self settle and was a great sleeper (7.30pm till 7am) until she turned 20 months. Now however she takes an hour or more to go to sleep. She’s not unhappy – she just lies in her cot talking away to herself until finally she drifts off. We have a pretty strict bedtime routine that we have followed since she was very young and she only has her cuddly bunny in bed with her. She sometimes goes through the same process with her afternoon nap as well. We have been approaching the problem by going in every 20 mins or so and reminding her that it is bedtime. Is this the right thing to do? Should I be worried about it or will she grow out of it just as she seems to have grown ‘into’ it?
I had to limit my son’s afternoon sleep in order to keep his bedtime reasonable (8:00 p.m.). Now I don’t let him sleep for more than 2 hours in the afternoon and he’s ready to fall asleep at bedtime. If she doesn’t need you to help her go to sleep, I’d say you don’t need to go in to her. Otherwise she might learn to like your intervention and then it will be a habit you need to break later on. Good luck!
My 9 month old son will not sleep through the night and I know the reason is is my husbands mother will not let him self sooth himself because she thinks if you let a baby cry itself to sleep its pure torture and I have tried tellig her that this is my son I have the right to what think is best for his sleeping habits, but yet it is her house. But she doesn’t realize it’s cutting my husband and I’s sleep so it makes us upset and we fight I don’t want my son to see that. Please if anyone has any answers to my question please be willing to message me. Thank You!
Kaden is 7 months old and wakes up 8 times during the night. He has reflux and has always slept in his chair or swing. Now he is not comfortable in these, but will not lay flat to sleep.
He panics and screams if he is put in a crib.
Mom is working 12 hour shifts and going on no sleep. Please help.
Thanks
Try propping the crib up by putting large phone books under one end of the crib. The crib will not be flat and he’ll have more room than in a swing or chair. He’ll need to learn to sleep in the crib sooner or later because he’ll outgrow the chair and swing. Also try giving him a “lovey”, like a blankie or a teddy bear to help comfort him. Good luck!
My baby is 7 months and half old. He has got a very good and fixed routine before bed time, and very often he doesn’t need much to be able to fall asleep on his own. He’s got a dummy for bed time though. He usually goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up at around 6-6:30 in the morning. Lately, he has been waking up at around 4, and then just lies there and starts to babble, for about 30-40 minutes, before he wants his dummy again and then goes back to sleep. Why is he doing this?
Neha also has skin problem and has lots and lots of rashes I now think it may be Eczema.
Please let me know what I need to use on the skin to avoid itchness.
Hello, Well what I did for my son I used An Eczema cream I think the brand is called Natures Care I know it has Winnie the Pooh on the bottle. You should find this at any Walmart or drug store it should be in the baby isle with the shampoo’s. Sorry if I wasn’t much help.
My daughter is 5 months old and I have been rocking her to bed and she does use her soother often. I’m finding she’s waking more often or not settling as easily to go down for a nap. I’m trying to not use the soother as much and I am not rocking but holding her till she gets very sleepy and then lying her down. Am I right by trying to not use that rocking a crutch and do you have any more suggestions to help her learn to fall asleep on her own IN her crib? Thanks
Try giving her a bath before you put her down.
My daughter is 9 months old and has learnt to self settle since we trained her at 6 months to sleep through the night (10.5-11 hours, she has never done 12 hours). Sometimes she naps for 45 mins, sometimes 1 hour and sometimes 1.5 hours. From 6 months I used a nap routine of 1.5 hours after wake up first nap, 2 hours after wake up from nap 1 – second nap, 2 hours after wake up from 2nd nap and then bed at 8pm. As her naps were all over the place in length I havent seen any signs of her wanting to move to two naps so I moved her last week going by her age. She is now very tired and the gap between her last nap of the day (about 2.30pm) and bedtime (which we moved to 7.30pm) is too long for her and ends up causing her to be very over tired. Should I go back to 3 naps even though she should be napping only twice now due to her age? Advice appreciated! Thanks
Every baby is totally different, some need more naps for a longer period of time and other’s don’t. Personally I would go back to her 3 naps a day, she will let you know when she doesn’t need that last nap any more :). Either that or shift her bed time to around 6:30pm if 7:30pm is a bit late.
I noticed something similar a few weeks ago with my 10 mos son. He was 3 naps a day too. But I noticed is that his morning nap didn’t need to be as early as it used to be. I think as they get older they can stay awake longer. I moved his morning nap half an hour for a few days and now it’s about 2.5 to 3 hours after waking that he goes down in the morning and he sleeps for about 30 -60 min. THis pushed back the afternoon nap which is around 2-3pm for 1 -2 hrs and now he is done with his naps at 4pm and is in bed by 8 (which I’m thinking now should be 7:30). So tweak the nap time a bit and see how that works.
My seven month old goes to sleep fine at night by herself. I nurse her after her bath, and she does drift off to sleep, but I then wake her for 5-10 mins to say goodnight to the big kids etc before she puts herself to sleep in her crib at around 7:30pm. My problem is she consistently wakes between 5:00 and 5:30am – which is a little too early for me. I have tried to leave her until 6:30am, but she cries and will not put herself back to sleep. How can I extend this morning wake up time? Another issue is she will not take long naps in the day, usually only a couple between 45mins-1hour. And for each nap, she cries herself to sleep. Hoe can I lengthen these naps?
I have the same problem with my 7 month old! One thing that has helped (but not always) is putting her to bed a half hour earlier. Believe it or not, she will then sleep until 6:00 or 6:30. This typically helps…but, as for the naps—she’s been taking short naps since she was 3 months old. I keep thinking it will get better, but it doesn’t! Frustrating to say the least!
hi, my daughter goes to bed at 7pm and wakes at 7am, but last few nights she been waking at 5am wanting to get up and wont go back to sleep, she has also been waking once in the night crying…..
My daughter is two years old now and we’ve always noticed that when she wakes up in the morning shes extremely cranky and fussy and have never figured out why, she normally sleeps about 10hrs and will take one afternoon nap a day. But not sure why she wakes up so grumpy.
My child is 10 months old and has learned to sit up in her crib but does not lie back down to go to sleep, she falls face forward. She will then wake up an hour later because she must get uncomfortable. Should I take everything out of the crib? Should I go to her and lie her back down or let her figure it out on her own. Please help…thanks
If you keep fixing things for her, she won’t learn to do it herself. Give her a few nights to try to figure it out on her own. She will, eventually, and won’t need you to help her anymore. This is a short phase and will pass on its own, if you let it.
Hi dane!
Me baby is 6 month old and she would not go sleep without dummy.What can i do to teach her to sleep without it?
Dana, my daughter is almost 3 and sleeps well because of your program. I believe she is ready to transiton out of the crib. How do you suggest dealing with this transition?
My daughter is 16 months old and has had a blankie since she was 6 months. She holds blankie close to her face and sucks her thumb to sleep. Since she’s had blankie she started sleeping through the night and taking good day time naps – she stopped needing me to rock her or nurse her to sleep. For the last 2 weeks however, her sleep has been very disturbed. She got her molars cut through and had a fever with it and moved house at the same time but we’ve been in our new place 3 weeks now and the sleep problems continue. She fights when i try and put her in her cot, she’s up in the night screaming. She has her blankie so can’t understand why suddenly she’s stopped self soothing. She’s still in her old cot and trying to get her sleep bad to normal before i move her to her new one. Help. I’m sooo tired
My son just turned three. He refuses to take a nap any more. Is this normal? Should I continue to try to get him to take a nap?
Yep – totally normal for a 3 year old not to need a nap anymore. Try quiet time in the afternoon instead and move his bedtime a bit earlier so he doesn’t get too grumpy in the evening.
Hi Dane..
This will be a brand new sleeping problem i guess..
my husband has been moved to another country 2 days ago, and me and my son Mazen will move too after a month..
so we have to leave our rented apartment, and we moved to live with my parents for this month,
since then Mazen sleeping problem became worse…
he became very anxious and he is awake every one or two hours and refuse to go back to sleep unless i hold him or even walk while holding him..
Please help me cause i feel I’m going insane!!!
I forgot to say that Mazen is 9 months old now, thanx
Well when you take a baby to a new place they always act like that because they are not used to sleeping in a new enviroment try giving him a warm bath with some lavender baby soap before you put him to bed
Hello my daughter Izzy just turned 2 years old. I have never had a problem with her sleeping until recently with in the last 2-3 months. She wakes up at least 1 to 2 times a night and sometimes she falls back to sleep other times it takes hours. I am not sure if it is her teeth or if it just becoming a routine. I know for sure mom and dad are tired and dont know how to fix it. Please Help Us!
(this is a rewording of my original question.) My baby is 6 months old and as been going to bed at 7 PM and waking up at 7 AM. She wakes up twice for a feeding during the night. I am ready to stop night feedings cold turkey. I’m wondering if I should still expect her to sleep 12 hours, or should I go to her if she wakes up before 7 AM, since she will have had no feedings at night.
Hi, my little girl is only 10 weeks and she has been sleeping through since 7 weeks, i have been squeezing her feeds in through the day, giving her last feed at bout 8.30 and putting her down and she is sleeping til 8 am (only waking once for her dummy) but is going all nyt without a nappy change and feed, at 6 months your baby should be able to go all night if they’re getting enough through the day, hope this helps
If you are worried she isn’t getting enough feedings in the day to sustain her, give her a “dream” feed before you go to bed – around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. Pick her up and feed her, but don’t wake her up. This worked like a charm for my son and he started sleeping from 7:00 to 6:30 when we did this at 6 months of age. Around 8 months, we dropped the dream feed and he slept right through the night, no problem.
when I’m teaching my child to sleep through the night with no more nursing, and she wakes up at 5 AM when she would typically wake up at 7 AM when I would nurse at night, should I go to her at 5 AM, or not go to her until I want her to be up for the day?
i have the same problem at the moment with my little girl 9 months
When I was going through this same thing I didn’t go get my son until it was time to wake up. He no longer needed night time feedings, so if it wasn’t time to get up he stayed in bed. It only took about 3 days for him to figure it out!
If she isn’t crying I wouldn’t go to her because that is just telling her that as soon as I make a noise mommy will come running to me.
I started teaching my son to fall asleep on his own at night about two weeks ago. Hes very good but each day is different. One day, he is down for bed by 10:30 then the next day he doesn’t go down until 11:30 or 12:00. I want to know if there is anything I can do to get him to go to bed at the same time each night? Also, hes still waking up fussy during the night. When he does wake up during the night, its not for a bottle or a diaper change and he usually goes right back to sleep once I come and calm him down. He is doing this probably about 2 or 3 times each night, is something wrong that he cant sleep properly or is it somethign I am doing? I had a lot of sleep problems when I was his age.
My son is now 8mths old and he is now having difficulty sleeping . He’s also teething kinda early for his age. He has 3 teeth already and one more piercing his gums! So he is def irritable now! I suspect that the difficulty sleeping is due to that because he slept through the night before the teething. I’ve been waking up about 2 to 3times at night trying to comfort him with his pacifier but that doesnt help. So i replaced his pacifier with a soft fluffy balnket and he’s beginning to sleep better. Try different things to see if one sticks.
How old is your son? 10:30 p.m. is too late a bedtime for a baby that isn’t a newborn any more. Most babies like an early bedtime – between 7:00 and 7:30. A consistent bedtime routine (i.e., bath, nursing, stories, songs, bed) is important to set the sleep stage. He may be overtired by the time he goes to sleep and can’t settle down during the night. The better rested he is, the better he’ll sleep each night. Bedtime does really depend on how old your child is, though.
How do I chang my baby’s sleep schedule because I think he has his days and nights mixed up?
Try and opening the blinds or windows in the house whenever he wakes up so that he can tell it is daytime and he needs to stay up.
My 10.5 month old has never been a good sleeper and now it has been getting worse. Sh wakes up every 2 house and some times more often. I have ruled out any medical problems and teething. Pacifiers help but I have to keep going in her room to put it in her mouth and pat her back. I’m absolutly exausted. I have two older children as well. Please help me. I don’t know what to do.
I had to same problem with my son, remove the pacifier asap and replace it with a teddy/toy. Make sure she stays awake during the feed and that she goes to bed awake so she learns how to self settle. This took my son some time in learning but now he sleeps 7pm til 4am (then nurses as his only 4 months old) then sleeps again til 7am. Good luck hope this helps.