12 Month Old Sleeping

Hi,
Try letting her cry it out. It worked with the nap and she is probably getting up from habit. It could take a few days or even longer (my 4 mo old just started sleeping through the night and while he sleeps, I still get up at 3:30 am for the last 2 weeks). Also, the 2 short naps may be all the rest she needs. Eventually, she'll go to one nap and hopefully that will be a long one. good luck!

she needs longer naps, don't rescue her at the first peep, leave her for a full 2 hours, make sure the room is DARK and there is a fan or music on continous play. I bet when her naps increase to longer (she should be getting two 2 hour naps a day) then the night time waking will also disappear. I would treat a 5 a.m. waking just like I would a midnight waking, at that age they do not need to drink at 5 a.m.

She may just be an early riser. Especially because of the sun coming up at 5. Make sure her room is dark and also make sure the windows are closed. The birds start at 4:45 and wake me up if my windows are open. What time is her first nap? Waking up at five she is ready for a nap earlier and may not make it to the afternoon. Between twelve and 15 months is a transition from one to two naps so she is on her way. I would extend the first nap but do it in increments. Hold her off 15 minutes at a time and see how she does. My youngest had to eat lunch at 11am and go down for a nap by 12pm. she would then sleep until 2-2:30 and go to bed at 7:30-8. Does she drink out of a bottle or sippy cup? With my first I woke up at 5:30 to go running in the morning so before I left I put a sippy cup in his crib with milk in it and he would drink it (husband home just never woke up). this way he got his milk and either played in his crib or fell back asleep. Being a mom is a lot of trial and error. You know your child best, just try out different things that would work for you and her. Good luck!

I would first try putting a sippy of water in her crib with her after she goes down for the night. When she wakes up, she'll find it, and if she's really thirsty, she'll help herself to it. I would also suggest putting her down before 8. Try 7:30. You may find that an earlier bedtime causes her to sleep later by itself.

If thirst does not seem to be the issue (which is probably isn't) I'd let her cry. DH and I have a rule that we don't go in to get DS before 6am. There are days where he cries back to sleep, and also days where he sleeps till 7:30.
Our DS (12 mos) is transitioning to 1 nap. I have found that on the days he only has 1 nap, he sleeps later in the morning. We put him down at 7:15 nightly.
I would not try to force your DD into 1 nap, though, if he's not ready for it. She'll do it when she's ready, and you'll have a much easier time of it.

If you were an old woman who woke up at I've hungry but didn't have the strength to get out of bed, would you want your caregiver to get you something to eat?

I think we should treat our children the way we want to be treated.after all they will care for us when we're old. We hope.

Aroun that age or older I gave my son stoneyfield yogurt before bed or he would wake up hungry around 5 or 6.one year is also the time when they switch 1 long nap in the aternoon.

As for the night time, that's awesome. As for the waking, she may be an early riser. My almost three year old has always been up between 5 and 6. As for naps, I would ditch the morning nap and do one afternoon nap. When both of my kids gave up their morning naps, their afternoon naps became much longer... making me a happy camper!

C., every baby is different, but it is a sure bet she needs more sleep. She needs to go to bed earlier - "sleep begets sleep". Once you do that she may go longer in the morning until 6am, but that could be it. And the naps should get longer too, but they still might only be an hour - most babies this age need at least an hour to make it a restorative nap. also, before you let her cry it out, make sure she is going to bed on her own without rocking/nursing until she is asleep, it is not fair to let them cry if they do not know how to soothe themselves to sleep in the first place. Most babies should not need to eat in the night after 9 mos old. So it is not hunger waking her, but not enough sleep waking her, or just desire for your attention :).
My boys are 3 years and 6 mos - both slept 12 hours through the night after sleep training at 3 months old and have two naps per day at least an hour in length until 15 mos old.
Just to make it a level playing field as well, my oldest was only bottle fed and my youngest is still exclusively breast-fed.
you may want to refer to Dr. Weissbluth's sleep book. Everything has not been text book for me with my sons, but this book sure helped A LOT.
Just send me another note if you want more help.
Good luck.

She might be waking up earlier because of the summer months and the sun coming up earlier. I know my dd is getting up a lot earlier that she used to. And a lot of other moms have said the same thing to me. So you might just have to get used to it for a while. Also you could try to transition her to one long nap in the day time instead of 2 short ones. Are you giving her formula or whole milk? Because watering down formula is not safe and I wouldn't water down whole milk either. If she wakes and she is hungry I would just give her some milk and try to lay her back down when she is done. We are on their schedules afterall not the opposite ;) I don't think anyone has kids and thinks they will be able to sleep a lot!!

If I were you, I'd count my blessings that my baby is sleeping 8-9 hours straight! Then, get used to getting up at 5 a.m. to give her some milk. After sleeping that long, she must be hungry. You are so lucky she sleeps through the night. My baby only slept in 45 minute increments all night long for the first year of life. And didn't nap for more than 20 minutes at a time a few times a day, in between the colic screams. Believe me, you are blessed!

After our son was 12 months old he was down to one nap and by age 2 he was totally done with naps. He learned if he was tired he would just lay down and take a nap without being told.
Cut out one of the naps. Many children sleep much better at night when they don't take all the naps during the day. Our son use to sleep 12 hours each night when he did not have a nap. In fact he still like to get his sleep every night at age 19.
He also is still a milk lover. He drinks up to 4 gallons of milk each week.
S.

My daughter woke up to be nursed at 4:30 until I told her "no more milk" and just gave her water. She protested a little, but after a few days, she stopped waking up. She'd fuss for about 5-10 minutes. Mind you, she now usually wakes around 5:45-6:15, but it isn't 5 ;-)

I'd go down to one nap and see what happens. Try feeding her lunch around 11:30 and putting her down at 12:15. She may then only sleep 1.5 hours, but she may decide to sleep 2-3.

You may have found a solution by now, but just in case you'd like more information here are some other resources...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t131200.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/0/T000100.asp#T031009

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/0/T000100.asp#T031014

Best wishes,
J.

Giv her the milk!she's only 1 put it in a spill resistant cupand let her sleep however make sure the room is dark! They stop drinkn milk after a while when they need it most so give it to her hope it works !!!

Hi C.:

My 11 month old son went through the exact same 5am wake up ritual. UGH! I started out the same was as you did, going in to give him a little drink and putting him down and he would sleep another 1.5-2 hours. Eventually, I just had to let him cry it out (more like fuss it out) and now he doesn't wake until 7am. YIPPEE! Yes, it is not pleasant to start the day with CIO, but it only took 2 days and sleeping until 7 is better for both of us. :-)

I hope this helps!

A.