10 Month Old Sleeping - Mangum,OK

Breastfed babies do not sleep as long as formula fed babies so her not sleeping all night is normal. I nursed my child and she slept in our bed. I loved knowing that she was safe and next to me. To me it's natural to want to be close to your baby. You should read a book called Good Nights by Jay Gordon M.D., I've always slept better with my babies near by, maybe you should only give her one nap a day and try waking her up earlier. But you should keep your little girl close for as long as you can, she'll be wanting to strike out on her own soon. My 1st daughter left our bed at 2 on her own with no coaxing, and my 2nd left at 10 mo. Every kid is different so let her leave when she is ready, both of you should be ready. She is only 10 mo. how independent does she need to be right now? Do what comes naturally to you without a lot of outside influence, you are the only one who knows what she needs and it seems like right now she needs to be close to you. I nursed my daughter right back to sleep when she woke up in the middle of the night, so I never lost a whole lot of sleep. My only advice is to keep sleeping with your baby and if she wakes up just roll over and nurse her back to sleep, you'll both be back to sleep within 5 min. I don't think a child should use anyhting but their mommies for comfort, should a baby really be expected to rely on herself for comfort? She won't understand if you leave her to cry herself to sleep, do you like to cry yourself to sleep? She is so young, she is just going to think you've abandoned her.

That bedtime is really late for a 10 month old, so she might be overtired, making it harder for her to fall back to sleep herself. Most kids until age 5 or so do best going to bed for the night between 6-8p. You don't have to let her cry it out alone; you can stay in the room with her, sitting in a chair or sleeping on the floor right by the crib, moving further away every few mights. But the reality is, most people who have babies younger than yours who are sleeping through the night had to tough it out with the crying at some point. You have created a big nursing to sleep habit, and at this age, her memory is at least 2-3 weeks, so it might take just as long to create a new habit. And you HAVE to be consistent, or you are just torturing both of you.

I went through the same thing with both of my kids except for the sleeping in my bed part - they were always in their beds just up every 1-3 hours. I have to say that crying it out is HARD but it does work and if you can get through it you'll be glad you did it. If she is eating meals then she is using you at night mostly for comfort and no amount of food or pacifiers will replace Mom. I waited until I was really ready and then I went through my usual routine at night. I explained that I wasn't coming back in until morning and I put her to bed. (She really will understand). She got up at her usual time and cried for 10 minutes. I cried in the chair in the living room right along with her but I did not go in. She did it one more time (10 min) and then the next time was about 6am and the sun was up so I got her up and fed her.(she usually slept later but I wanted her to associate nursing again with waking up). We went though this for about 4 days with the crying lasting less and less each time and then she was sleeping through the night. I did not wean either of my kids off of the nursing before bed until the very end. That was the last feeding to go and they were both on just that feeding for about 1 month before I did away with it. It was really hard for me to let my 1st cry it out but it was soooooo worth it because the end result was a self sufficient sleeper. Kids don't know how to get themselves back to sleep and as with everything else they need to be taught. My daughter is 4 now and my son is 2 and they both sleep from 9:00pm til 9:00 am every noght without a peep!! You'll get through it no matter what you decide and so will she - just make sure that if you decide to do it this way that you stick to it because if she cries for 15 minutes and then you go in and rescue her the next time she'll cry for 30! lol
Good luck

Sounds like she just needs to learn how to comfort herself. Try putting her to bed before she falls asleep, this way she's alone when she goes to sleep so when she wakes at night, she won't expect you to be there. Also try white noise... it might help her sleep longer. We use a small noisy fan in our son's room. He's 18 months old. At 10 months, he was sleeping 10-12 hrs a night. Even though you say she won't take it, you might try giving her the paci when she wakes at night. Nursing is a way to comfort & the paci gives the same effect. A lovey might help too. Get her a soft blanket with satin on it to sleep with. You could sleep with it first so it will have your smell. Your smell on the blanket & the paci will be similar to nursing & may help her comfort herself. Also, don't pick her up at night when she cries. Give her the paci, lovey, pat her back & let her know you're there & leave the room. You can do this a few times until she falls asleep. This way she knows you are still close by. It will be hard at first, but they learn fast. Be patient & Good luck!