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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 Tammy. She writes:
“My in-laws are coming to visit for a week and are under the impression that babies will sleep through anything and that they just need to “get used to” the noise. What are your thoughts on this issue?”
I get this question a lot and I think, on some level, we can get used to certain environmental noises when we sleep. If you live in a noisy neighborhood, you’re going to get used to a bit of baseline noise. However, we’re not in comas when we’re asleep, and neither are babies so whatever can potentially wake you up is probably going to wake your baby as well.
So, I always tell parents to be respectful that someone is sleeping and to keep in mind what kinds of things you would or would not do if your spouse were taking a nap. For example, you’re not going to vacuum right beside them. Just be mindful that there’s someone in the house that’s sleeping and everyone needs to be respectful of that.
If you’re too quiet and tiptoeing around the house during naps, then any kind of little disturbance from dead quiet is probably going to wake up your baby, such as the telephone ringing or the dog barking. Therefore, you don’t want to be too, too quiet.
It can be difficult sometimes to convince in-laws or friends and family members that the things you’re doing for your baby is what’s in the best interest of your family. I’ve had a lot of people write in and say they get tons of flack from their friends because they say they have to be home for nap time or can’t go out past seven because they’ve got to get their baby to bed. I understand where those people are coming from; they probably want you to stay out and have a good time. Once they see that your child is well rested and happy when they are awake, most friends and family members come around.
I remember the first time my in-laws babysat for a weekend, while we went away. When we got home they told us that our son was an excellent baby… as long as they followed the schedule and stuck to his routines! That told us that they might have tried to mess with his schedule a little bit and then realized that it’s wasn’t a good idea. They then saw the longer term rewards of keeping the routine because when he was awake, he was happy, engaged and playful. When he was ready to sleep, he went to sleep.
Since then they have always jumped right on board with our children’s schedules. Now, anytime they babysit they’re very supportive of our routines. I even find them bragging to their other grandparent friends about how well their grandchildren go to bed and sleep and what good children they are. I think eventually your friends and family will too see that you’ve made a good decision for your child.
Another thing I hear a lot about is the issue of light sleepers. A lot of new clients or new parents to the program worry that their child is such a light sleeper and with the tiniest noise, they’ll wake up. That is common when a child is, what I consider tricked into sleep. (For example, if you rock a baby to sleep and then try to carefully transfer him to his crib.)
What will happen then is that if there is a bit of environmental noise, they’ll probably wake up with a start and realize they’re not in your arms anymore. Often they wake up crying right off the bat because they’re no longer where they were when they fell asleep. For anyone, that would be fairly alarming, so those types of situations sort of create this hair trigger; with the tiniest noise and your baby’s going to fly awake and probably start crying.
Once a child learns their own skills for getting to sleep, they’ll become fairly deep and successful sleepers. If, for example an ambulance goes by in the night, I might wakeup and and acknowledge that it’s an ambulance but I’ll go right back to sleep. I wouldn’t need anyone to come to me or do anything for me. I’ll know that it woke me up but I will have the skills to get myself back to sleep. When a baby has those same skills, and your loud friend is laughing or telling a story that wakes them, they’ll acknowledge that they heard a noise and they’ll go back to sleep. You’ll probably find that your once super light sleeper becomes a fairly deep sleeper, within reason, and capable of getting themselves back to sleep should they be awoken by something.
Tammy, I agree that you do need to ask your in-laws to be mindful that someone’s sleeping and that they help keep the noise level to a minimum.
I hope that answers your question — 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 Danika is 14 weeks old. I put her down to sleep around 7pm, she can full asleep on her own.But somtimes she wakes up 3 hours later, i give her a soother but than wakes up at around 1am for a dream feed. should i be feeding her at all, and how do i settle her back to sleep without feeding her or giving her a soother?
Our son is 35 months old
everyday after lunch he has quiet time in his bed
This is him on his own , curtains drawn usually, in a sleeping bag or blanket
He chooses whether or not he has a sleep
Either way he is woken up or collected at 2pm (this was 2.30 but i felt this was too long now given the difficulty)
He goes to bed between 7pm -7.30pm
but has started to get up early…the earliest being 5.30am
Why is this happening and what can i do to get him to sleep to 7am – 7.30 daily?
Thank you
My granddaughter Issaline won’t sleep in her crib. She goes to sleep on the floor about 9:00p.m. and falls to sleep on her own. They then take her to their bed when they go to bed because if she would wake in the middle of the night she could crawl away. She sleeps fine in their bed. I watch her five days a week. Here she sleeps in the car seat. Sometimes half hour or sometimes 2 hours. We both have tried your method of putting a chair next to her bed and letting her cry.We have done it for as long as an hour. She is then hysterical and shaking. It hasn,t worked. It then takes half hour to calm her down. She is 10 months old.
Thank you Vicki
I have a 13 month old son, who for the most part is a very routine sleeper. He has two naps a day, usually at the same time for the same amount of time and he goes to bed between 7 and 7:30. We wait til he is showing some signs of being tired before we go thru our bedtime routine, which is only about 5 min or so. My issue is this, he always cries when he goes down for any sleep, nap or night. He screams bloody murder for about 5-15 minutes and eventually goes to sleep. I would love for a more peaceful going down. If he does get up thru the night, he is difficult to get down too. He really fights it and I find it is getting worse. I do not feed him or anything, I just check and see that he does not have a full diaper and ensure he does not have a fever or runny nose or anything. He will just melt in our arms if we hold him but resists going back into the crib. What can we do to improve things?
Thanks Jackie
I started potty training 2 weeks ago. Things went well the first week and now he is doing well as long as I keep up the routine of taking him potty every hour or so. My problem is that in the last week and a half he has begun waking up every night between 2am and 3am. He wakes up crying and when I go in to see him he clings to me like he has just seen a ghost or gotten hurt. I know it is a no, no but I’ve begun putting him in our bed because he calms down quicker and goes back to sleep within minutes. After 20 minutes or so I can transfer him back to his crib and he is fine the rest of the night. If I don’t let him in our bed then he cries non-stop for 30 minutes to an hour. He also climbs out of his crib to get to me. I really don’t know what to do. I’m tired and so is he. Potty training is also beginning to go downhill because he isn’t as alert. Any suggestions?
my son is 2yrs old. he hardly has a sound sleep.plz Dana i need ur help cos whn ever he falls asleep he cries from his sleep and wakes up. infact he is scared to sleep cos he feels he will fight in his sleep.
Hello Dana, my 5 month old son Caoilin is routined raised. He has his 1st bottle an 7am then 11am, 3pm & 6.30pm. His bedtime is 7pm and he no longer has a 10.30pm bottle.He has 2 two hour sleeps in the day at 9am then 1pm. I follow a eat, play, sleep routine with him and his nanny follows our established routine too. Is this enough sleep during the day as he wakes at 4 am every morning. I give him the dummy and he drifts in and out of sleep until 6.30am. I am terrified I am teaching him bad sleep habits by giving him a dummy at 4am instead of a bottle. I just whole heartidly want to teach him to sleep properly for his well being.
Hi, Dana…
I’d love for you to address the issue of breastfeeding in conjuction with sleep training. Our son is 12 months old and will sleep about 12 hours a night, but wakes twice to be breastfed. We’re thinking that by this age he should sleep through without waking. The problem is that he does not know how to fall asleep without being nursed first. He doesn’t fall asleep in my arms; I nurse, put him in bed, then he usually falls asleep very quickly. But when he wakes during the night, he can’t go back to sleep without breastfeeding. Should I continue as long as he’s asking for it, or make him go without? Thanks so much.- Sharon
My 10 month old, Tess, has been using a soother and we’ve found it a helpful source of comfort… to an extent. But it now seems like the soother is the only thing stopping her from sleeping all night, ie we are in there two or three times a night replacing it for her. I know we need to get rid of it but I am scared to, and I don’t know how to either. Can you help, please?
Hi Dana, my son is just two years. He is actually a really good sleeper during the night and at nap once he is asleep. The problem is getting him to sleep for his nap. He is fine at daycare but when he is home or at Grandma’s house he is usually pretty stubborn. He used to have a pacifier but that has been gone now for a few months. Since then is when he started to get difficult for naps. I have to end up wrapping him up in a blanket and holding him till he wears out. I have tried to just let him talk himself to sleep but he did that for over two hours one day and by the time he might go to sleep he needs to wake up so he will go to bed. I am at a loss and it wears me out just to get him down for a nap! Any advice?
My seven month old is attachment parented and has slept with us thus far. Now, dad is ready to transition him out of our bed…and mom respects that decision. What is the best way to transition him with as little tears as possible from both mom and baby?
my son is 6 months and 3 weeks he has a good routien especially at night he sleeps 8 hours at night befor he wakes up for feeding .. my problem is that he wakes up after half to one hour and cries i go to him after i give him time to calm his self down but he keeps crying i go to him and comfort him by patting on his back or chest after few minuts he will go back to sleep ,i dont keep patting until he sleeps , plz pretty plz i need help , coz now he sometimes get up every tow to three hours i want him to sleep well …….
My little girl Dembe 8mths has been very unwell with a series of illnesses over the last month. I had been trying your sleep routines but due to her illnesses let it go. She is slowly getting better now, should I start the sleep training now or wait a little longer. She still feeds at least once a night and screams if you try to deny her (2 and half hours last night til I gave in). Thanks Tanya
How long is to long to let Dylan scream he goes to bed fine between 7;30 -8;00. but about 1:40 he wakes up and screams and I try to see if he will go back to sleep but most of the time he will not. Tonight has been up screaming since 1:20 and it is almost 3:00am. My other children just went to bed and slept. at two weeks and the other at 1 month. I have stoped his night feedings at 5 mos. some times he will go right back to sleep but he is up an hour later and if I let him cry it can go for two hours or longer.
Hi Dana,
My four month old daughter, Shaughan seems to have trouble staying asleep for the duration of her naps. She routinely wakes between 30 and 45 minutes into the nap and is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to settle again. We are following a three to three-and-a-half hour basic eat-play-sleep routine, putting her to bed when she displays appropriate tired signs. She is swaddled with one arm out, with her cuddly mouse, for all day sleeps. She has low volume white noise on repeat throughout her sleep. She self-settles to sleep with a minimum of fuss within five to ten minutes at the start of her sleep. She sleeps eight hours overnight without needing regular assistance. I resettle her during her naps using fifteen minute checks with verbal and physical reassurance given, picking her up only on the first check in order to ensure that she does not have wind. I do not understand why she cannot seem to stay asleep for her entire nap and regret how tired she becomes as the day progresses. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Lesley
My 7 week old daughter has recently been ill and since then she is no longer in her sleep routine. i had been putting her to bed at 9pm after a bath at730 and a feed, and managed to get her down to waking once in the night and sleeping through until 7am. since being ill she still is in bed by 9 but this time wakes when i go to bed and then every few hours during the night. is there anything i can do to get back into the same routine?
Our 18 month old sleeps in the same room with us and still wont sleep through the night. we cant afford a bigger place right now. how can I sleep train her while we are all in the same room?
My son has just turned one and we used your program when he was about 6 months and it was so successful! A new problem has arisen though…. he likes now to sleep on his side/front and when he is put down for a nap he flips over in his cot and instinctively raises himself up on all fours and then pulls himself up to stand. We keep putting him back down and he just keeps getting back up! This can go on for over an hour even though he’s exhausted. To get him to take a nap we’ve resorted to lying him in our bed with one of us until he goes asleep and then transferring him to his cot (about the last week or so). Bedtime is ok as he’s usually so tired he just goes asleep. We always put him down awake (but sleepy) with his teddy.
What should we do to get him to take his naps??
My son is 16 months old, and (you guessed it) not sleeping through the night. We haven’t yet tried to put him through sleep training. We lived in a studio apartment for a while, making putting Jarom to sleep before we went to bed difficult. By the time we decided it was necessary, we were planning on moving, and have been moving to various places every couple of months. Now we are expecting another little boy in the next month (so I guess anytime now) and will be moving again (hopefully for the last time) a few months after that. I haven’t wanted to start sleep training because of all the big changes that seem so constant right now. I just don’t know how Jarom would take it. When do you think it would be best for us to start?
Hi Dana,
I have a 7 month old. We have been travelling a lot for the last 6 months. She has slept in our bed since birth and very quickly began sleeping 7 to 8 hours straight at night but was a poor napper. At about 8 weeks of age she began waking constantly (sometimes every half hour). I breastfed her back to sleep rather than let her wriggle and whine but knew she couldn’t really be that hungry! She is such a happy baby that we have lived like this ever since! I am getting exhausted though and have finally moved her into her own bed but find I am up constantly at night – feeding or winding or stroking etc I am not prepared to let her ‘cry it out’ in another room but know she needs to learn to put herslef to sleep… Can you help ?
Cheers,
Nicola
I have an 11 month old (Jack) and a 4 yr old (Callum) and both wake at around 5.00am ready to start the day. At 5.00am I am not ready to start the day and wondered if there was any way of pushing an extra hour or so out of them. They are both in the bath at 6.15pm and in bed asleep by 7.00pm. Callum sleeps very well but has always been an early riser. He enjoys going to bed in the evening and the only time he wakes during the night is if he has wet the bed (which is very rare now). Jack has his bedtime bottle and if he doesn’t fall asleep on his bottle then he likes to be rocked asleep (which I know isn’t a good thing but if I put him down awake and leave the room he just cries until he is sick). He wakes once or twice in the night just to have his dummy put back in but when he wakes at 5.00 there is no way of getting him back to sleep. I would love to have the occassional sleep in and think that Callum will need to start sleeping longer when he starts school in September – please help.
i just wean Anees but in the midnight he will always want to eat when he wakes up if i refuse to give him food or drink he will cry and scream a lot despite the solid food he had taken before going to bed what can ido to stop this
Hi Dana, i have followed your advise and my son Will (18 months) has successfully been going to bed at 7pm awake and sleeping through till about 5.30am for almost 7months. Unfortunately he picked up gastro at daycare and was up through the night vomitting for a couple of days. Now that he is fully recovered my problem is that he is waking up during the night crying. All he seems to want is a hug and he’s happy to go back to sleep. Will has always slept in his own room in his cot/crib. Do you have any advise on how to get him back on track? I’m no longer used to waking up during the night and am exhausted! thanks in advance.
Jacki
My 5 month old son goes to sleep at about 7pm every night. He then wakes at 10.30 and then about every hour and a half until about 7.30am. He only settles with a feed. He doesn’t sleep much in the day though I feel he needs it but he seems to fight sleep in the day when he finally does fall asleep it’s only for about 10 minutes. Please can you help?
My son is 9 months old and sleep well until 5am (which i am grateful for!) however we would really like him to sleep until 6am because he is whingy and irritable all morning because he’s tired. he sleeps for 30 mins at 9am and has 1.5/2 hours sleep at lunchtime. Should i shorten or lengthen the naps? we have tried ignoring him at 5am, tried getting him back to sleep and also rousing him at 4am to ‘break his sleep cycle’. nothing seems to be working. please advise as to what we should do?
I breastfeed my baby. She is now 16 months old and cant stop the night feeds. During the day was hard enough to stop, but at night time she does not sleep without being breast fed. I have tried, believe me, but its no use. Please help!!
My son is now 18months old and still wakes 3 hrs after going to bed then another 2 times during the night. He can sometimes be put back to sleep with a bottle or putting a dummy back in. I think this has become habit and don’t know how to resolve it. My 4 year old daughter also wakes when bailey wakes up and is disturbing her sllep as well as ours.????
Here is the question:
My daughter is generally a great sleeper.
but lately she goes to bed at 7-7:30 and then may fall right asleep then wakes up and chats away sometimes for like an hour, then will go back to sleep.
is she over stimulated??
she does usually naps for 2.5 to 3 hours around noon..
just confused, as then she gets to sleep at 8-8:30pm.
suggestions??
thank you
Maria and Galleni too
Vancouver, BC
My 7 month old daughter does great going to bed, she can get herself to sleep just fine. The problem is that she will start to stir and fuss about 4 or 5 in the morning. We go in and give her a pacifier and she goes right back to sleep for 30 minutes to an hour and then she starts to fuss again. This goes on til about 7 am when she really wakes up ready for the day. How can I get her to go back to sleep without me or my husband going in and giving her a pacifier?
My son Logan is 13 months and has Gerd..he awoke every twenty minutes from the day he came home from the hospital. He is very attached to me during the day. He is now napping and sleeping in his crib and we put him to sleep holding his hand. However at night time he is waking once around 2pm at which point I try to hold his hand and put back to sleep but he refuses and I have to bring him in to bed with me and then he sleeps till morning holding my hand at times or turning over to hold my husbands hand occasionally. I don’t want to leave him alone if he is still suffering from the Gerd but if I start to feel he is doing this out of habit how do I get him to sleep in his bed through the night? I am very grateful for the sleep I am getting now but I don’t want to continue this rountine!!
Thanks
Jules
After following your advice our second baby (6 months) is falling asleep on her own at 7 pm and sleeping well for the first 9 hours. She wakes up at 4 am happy and playful. I tried to leave her and I’ve also tried to feed her back to sleep. Both of my solutions sort of work. What do you think is the best way to handle a very early riser without creating bad habits?
I would love to let my daughter fall asleep on her own since I know she needs to learn this skill. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked. I wait until she is drowsy and put her into bed and then she opens her eyes wide and clearly wants to play. so I am left to trick her into sleeping. It breaks my heart when she wakes in the middle of the night crying because I know she is confused as to how she got into her crib. She is 3 1/2 months. am I trying to soon or doing something wrong?
Hi Dana,
I follow the self settle routine and my 9 month old is pretty good with this routine. She has a cold at the moment and is always waking up during the night. I dont want to leave her crying for a bit like usual because she has this cold and is already blocked up and feel that if I keep picking her up etc she might get too used to it and after her cold has gone want to be picked up all the time. What do you suggest?
HI DANA, WELL I HAVE A SOON TO BE A (2) YR OLD IN A WEEK AND I WONDERING IF SHE WILL EVER SLEEP THREW THE NIGHT??? WELL I TRY TO PUT HER DOWN AROUND 9 AND THEN I TIME HER BACAUSE SHE UP 1-2 HRS AFTER SHE FALL ASLEEP AND SE WAKES UP SCREAMING AND DON’T WANT NOBODY TOUCHING HER BUT HER FATHER BACAUSE IT SEEM THAT IT’S CALMS HER DOWN!!! SO WHAT ASKING IS WHY DOES HER DO THIS AT NIGHT?? I KNOW THAT I HAVE FIANALLY GOT HER THE BOTTLES AND IT SEEMS THAT WHAT SHE WANTS SO WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN EVERTHING FAILS??? PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS!!!
Hi – like some of the others my 16 month old boy can go to sleep on his own. I can put him in his cot at any time between 7pm & 7.30pm & he (9 times out of 10) will go down without any fuss. But the problem I am having is that he’s waking during the night, sometimes 12am sometimes later & won’t go back to sleep. I have tried & now usually bring him into my bed for some sanity BUT he won’t go back to sleep unless he has a bottle. He will kick & scream until he gets that bottle & to save my 5 year old daughter from waking from his noise I give in. Does he really need this bottle or is it habit & I’ll just have to perservere or is it because when he goes to sleep of a night at 7pm he has a bottle & is needing that as an aide? My husband & I (Particularly me) are going bonkers as it seems that sleep from when he wakes during the night is interrupted, he doesn’t fall back into a deep sleep & every hour or so whinges until I give him his stuffed toy & then is usually wide awake at 5.30am – 6am!!
Hi Dana
My 7 1/2 month old son sleeps very well through the night (only wakes once for a bottle) but during the day when it’s time for his naps (he usually takes 3 a day) he cries and screams to fall asleep. Sometimes it takes 30-45 minutes for him to fall asleep but when he does, finally, he sleeps 1-2 hours! Could there be any reason why he fights his sleep?? I’ve tried earlier and later naptimes to see if it makes a difference but it’s always the same.
Chloe is about to turn 20 months old and we weaned her off the bottle a week ago. The first night was horrible as to be expected but the next couple she slept from 8pm-4am and only woke up because she had kicked all the blankets off.
The past few nights she has benn waking up at 6-6.30am and refuses to go back to sleep and this morning was 5.30am after getting to sleep at 8.30pm the previous night. Is there anything I can do to help her sleep longer?
It takes her an hour to go to sleep at night and it is starting to take a toll on me.
I have a 23 month old that has ADHD and a 10 week old. My 10 week old sleep great at night but becouse of the crazzyness during the day with the 23 month old she only cat naps. How do i get regular day time naps?
Hi Dana!
My 6 weeks old boy is very unsettled in the night and he wakes up about 4 times for a feed.During the day he ‘s taking good naps(the longest is between about 12 to around 3.30-4.Why is that so?Why is he able to sleep for 4 hours in the day and in the night he might sleep,longest,3 hours in a row?Thanks for help!
Alina
hi Dana,
My son vrishin is 18 months now and he still needs me to sleep with him to get into sleep but he can sleep through the night for 12 hours. He is also depending on his dummy to get to sleep and if he wakes up in the middle of the night. Could you help him to forget this habit?
My question is in reference to something you said about parents/in-laws/friends giving you ‘flack’ for the way you are raising your baby. I’m super open to getting advice about how to raise my baby…when I want it. It frustrates myself and my husband when we go places and people offer ‘unwanted’ advice by saying, “you should do it this way” etc. My husband often gets angry and has to vent to me on the ride home. I sometimes get hurt and offended because it seems like they think I’m not doing my best. How do you handle situations like this?
Hi Dana, I enjoy a lot the videos, I learn with each one how to help my kids to enjoy slepping.
I have a seasonal question for you, now with this longest days our 4 old year old girl is confused because even are 8 pm, she refuse to go bed, because she says “is not nigth yet” we explain her the situation but is hard to understand for her. We don’t know how to manage this situation?, could you help us?
My daughter Caris (15 months) just doesn’t seem to need much sleep. She’s awake by 7am, sleeps for 3/4 of an hour in the day (I wake her up) and is often up in the evening till 9.30 or 10. She just doesn’t seem tired: not grumpy or rubbing her eyes, not tearful or hyper, just playing happily. She is very active and certainly does enough physical activity that should wear her out. It certainly wears me out! I am exhausted. Do you think there is anything I can do?
My 11 month old daughter Isabella goes to sleep every night at about 8 or 830. she wakes up at 4 or 5 every morning just screaming and wants to come sleep with us. Also she will not take naps in her crib. She wants to be rocked to sleep for naps. How do i get her to sleep all night and take naps in her crib? Please help.
hi
my little boy is 8 weeks old and we are still feeding him during the night, but he does not settle well after a feed, especially the one before putting him to bed at 7pm (it can take about an hour sometimes), and he has developed a habit of having a bottle at 2am, but then being awake between 4am and 6am, just grizzling and making noises..he is not hungry, just awake. as he is in a crib in our room, no-one is getting a lot of sleep. Any help would be gratefully appreciatted!
Helen
We are raising our 16 month old grand daughter since birth. Our problem is she wakes up many times 4-7 during the night, She goes to bed around 8:30pm and sleeps til arounf 1:30am and then again every hour or so. We have recently out of desperation allowed her to get in our bed and that has cut down on the many times she wakes. Most times she just wants a drink or to play with me. I put her right back in bed but she will wake back up again and again. What can I do for her to sleep through the night. She has never sleept through the night since she came home from the hospital. Should I assume this is just her way of sleeping. She does have an 1-2 hour nap most days. Thanks for any help you can give this tired grandma. Lisa
Hi Dana,
My son now is sleeping through the night in his crib. He sleeps 12 to 13 hours. The problem I have is he won’t really nap. I have tried different times throughout the day and he will just cry in his crib. Usually I can give him a morning nap but come the afternoon it’s very hard. By 5p.m. he gets cranky because he hasn’t slept. Any suggestions?
Loredana
i have a question about Ela’s sleep .she is now 16 months and still get up at night about 3- 4 times crying and does not feel sleep again without a bottle of milk.I barely can sleep for 2 hours in full .when i get up in the morning I feel tired. please help me.by the way me and Ela sleep in the same bed room.thank you.
Is is ever ok to wake up a baby from a nap? Our baby is 15 months old and I feel like he still needs 2 naps a day, but when he sleeps more than about an hour in the morning, his afternoon nap isn’t as lengthy and then he gets overtired by 7:30 bedtime. We’ve tried doing one nap a day, but he seems to get overtired then too. Thanks!
Kelly
My little girl goes to sleep awake at 7:00p.m. but routinely wakes up around 1:30 a.m. I was wondering if I Have to do her Whole routine that we do before bed to get her to sleep or is there a way we can just do the last 3 things of song, prayer and kiss and then lay her down? How much of the routine do we have to do in the middle of the night? Thanks
my little one (21 months) has just started going through using your techniques!! thank you! i still have to stay in the room with her at the moment until she goes off (just by the door), and if i try and leave before shes asleep she gets upset – although we are working on this. The problem is she is waking any time between 4.15 and 5.30. She will sometimes go back to sleep on me (!) for about an hour or sometimes have a cuddle or rock and back in her cot. If i go into her and not pick her up she then thinks its time to start the day and starts chatting to me. If i pick her up and tell her its too early she will snuggle in. Naps are fine about 2 hours in the middle of the day although we have an early lunch if she is awake very early. Could she be waking early morning because of hunger or thirst? or jsut habbit. Thanks Sarah x
My baby is falling asleep at bedtime on his own, but is still waking a couple of times during the night wanting to nurse. We have tried to give him time to settle on his own but he gets hysterical and I end up giving in. What should I do?
Our daughter is 8 months old and she is still getting up 2-4 times during the night. We are consistent in her scheduled nap and bed times (nap at 9-11, 2-4, bed at 7:30). My question pertains more to night feedings. Everything I’ve read says that babies at her age should only need 1 feed at night. But I feel my baby is truly hungry when she wakes. I say this because I know when she has a ‘good’ feed and when she is just sucking for comfort. She has always had good feedings during the night and goes to sleep immediately after feeding. My worry is that we are creating a poor pattern of sleep for her and that when we stop breast feeding in a few months we are going to have trouble with her sleeping. Is it normal for breast feed babies to feed more often during the night?
My grandaughter is 17 months and has always had a problem getting to sleep on her own for naps and bedtime and staying asleep. I will be caring for her for a few days and wonder if there are any techniques I can use for the few days I am with her to help fall asleep on her own.
My son Walker is 9 month old and having real issues with sleeping at night. My husband and I have tried everything we can think of to help him sleep…music, no music, lights, no lights, blanket, no blanket, toys, no toys, in his crib, in his play pen, in our bed and nothing seems to work. We’ve recently started putting him in his crib and closing the door and returning every 30 minutes to reassure him. Some nights this goes well but other nights he will cry for 4 or more hours without stopping. What am I doing wrong? I hear so many mothers of children Walker’s age or even younger saying that their babies sleep for 12 plus hours. Why won’t Walker?
Dana, our 22 month-old daughter is on a great routine thanks to you – we started her when she was six months old and she usually sleep and naps very well. Once in a while she will cry for a bit, but we trust now that she can get herself back to sleep.
The question is, when her new sibling arrives in October, do we put them in the same room? It took a lot of work to get our older child to sleep on her own, and I don’t want to jeopardize that with a possobly disruptive new sleep schedule with the new baby. But I would also like them to bond and learn to share. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Martha
Hi Dana
We have a 9 month old and we are going on our first holiday at the end of next week. I have been very strict with our routines and I generally have a happy baby who sleeps from 7pm to 6am most nights. My concern is that I know the routines whilst we are away are going to be more difficult to manage. My mother is already saying that he will have to come to the restaurant with us and sleep in the pram and be transferred to his cot once we get home which we have never done before. I am worried he wont settle well and be unhappy about going back to sleep when he is disturbed and put in to his cot.
What is your advice?
Many Thanks
Suzy
Hi I am in the similar situation as patricia… I just cannot get the right time for my son. He is no trouble at all during the day but I just want to get his sleep routin correct. Firstly…his feeding times vary from day to day so I cant really say that he will definately have had his last feed of the day by 7.00pm. for example today he is feeding every 3 hrs.. his last feed would be 8.00pm after which i give him a bath and all… any suggestions would be appreciated… thank you
I am having a terrible time getting Jordan to sleep at night…he is in daycare during the day …Our routiune was bath at 7:15pm & asleep usually by 7:45pm…but for some reason he now won’t go to sleep until 10pm or later…He gets up at 5:30am to go to day care ( have to be to work by 6:30am) They tell me at daycare lunch is 11:34am & then they are put to nap right after lunch until 2pm-2:30pm…..is that the problem?…I am at wits end with little sleep for myself since I get up at 4am…he does good on weekends with a nap for just an hour…sometimes I have to wake him after an hour then he goes to sleep earlier at night….please any suggestions would be great……..thanks……
Pat
My child Zavier has just turned 1. We have been having sleep problems from day 1. He usually has no problem falling asleep but is up every hour or two. This has been going on for a year. I attempted for 9 months to get him to sleep in his bed. I have recently been putting him in his crib this week-enough is enough! Well I have been letting him cry for increments of 5 minutes each night. this method worked with my daughter who is now 4 years old. I am up to 20 minutes tonight. He just never settles. I generally can get him in his crib intially at about 9:00pm but he is up in 1 or 2 hours. He just screams “ma ma”. Around 4 am I just give in, sometimes I sleep walk and retrieve him and bring him into my bed. My husband works nights and so I am it. Yes, I am still nursing and want to contiune for a little while longer. He doesn’t always nurse back to sleep usually he falls back asleep in my arms after just a few minutes but not in a deep enough sleep that i can put him in his crib. I have tried letting him cry and going in to check on him periodically but that just seems to upset him more. HELP!!
I’m asking this for son and wife. My 3 year old granddaughter has a horrible time getting to sleep every night. Even if she doesn’t have an afternoon nap is up from 7am, she still takes hours to get to sleep. The parents have tried laying down with her, reading (hoping she will get tired) or even letting her get into bed with them. She will lay there sometime until 3am and then feels bad every morning when having to to get up for preschool at 7am. She will even get up in the middle of the night and sit in her room on the floor by herself and play. Please help us with some advice. Thanks
My son is almost 6 months old and he won’t sleep all night. I am a little concerned because my first son slept all night. I do the exact same thing with my youngest son as what I do with my oldest son. The doctor told me to put my youngest in a different room to sleep than what I do, I did that and my son sleeps better, but he does still gets up 2 to 3 times a night. I feed him cereal right before he goes to bed at night and lay him down between 8 and 9 pm. My son doesn’t take naps much anymore and when he does take a nap it is only for about 10 minutes at a time and then he is awake again. Can you give me any suggests to make him sleep all night? I have even tried laying him down at like 9:30 or 10 a couple of times and that doesn’t make a difference. When should my child start sleeping all night? Can you please help me?
My 4 1/2 month old has a normal bedtime routine, goes to bed (awake) b/w 7-7:30pm every night and has routine AM and PM naps (1.5-2 hours). She usually will sleep a total of 11-12 hours/night. However, she continues to wake up every night about 1:30-1:40am…. it usually just takes her about 20-30 minute of off and on crying to go back to sleep until 5-6am. What is causing her to wake up every night at that same time. She is like clock work! Any suggestions?