12 Month Old Waking up Every Night

Updated on February 10, 2009
T.W. asks from Norwalk, CA
10 answers

My little one wakes up every night between 2-4am and stays awake for a1-2 hours to make noise, mumble, play in her crib. She goes to bed normally between 7-8pm every night, but it is really tiring (and frustrating) that she wakes us up nightly! Any ideas on how to keep her sleeping through the night? Any help you have is appreciated!!! Thanks!

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi T., If she is waking up, and she's playing in her crib, I would not worry to much, just don't you get up, or it will become a habit that will be hard to break. One of the things I did when my babies/tots were little ( now grown ) I put a fish aquarium in their rooms with a blue light, that is what i used as a night light, the water and the movement of the fish is very relaxing and calming for babiies and tots who wake up and cry. My kids had things to play with in their cribs, busy box, plastic bells hanging on the railing, etc. the key thing is not to relate her waking up to eat, or have mommy or daddy going into her room. J. L.

3 moms found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Ditto.
It's a phase, and they do this at this age, and then again at around 2 years old.

You do NOT have to wake up/get up, just because she is. Leave her be... she will settle back down and go back to sleep. She's just playing in her crib... no harm in it, no problem. BOTH my kids did that too, at that age.

Don't change anything or her routine. Just keep it consistent. She will go back to normalcy.

Unless she is in distress, there is no reason to 'interfere' in her wakings. And, it's great that she IS able to entertain herself in the crib during that time. So that is GOOD.

Sleep is never static in a baby/child anyway. This is just one 'phase' developmentally. It will pass.

This is all normal and just a little hiccup in sleep for now.
All the best,
Susan

1 mom found this helpful
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D.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I have to say, I agree with Julie.

If she isn't waking up crying or anxious and in need of diaper change, teething help or other ailments...then, she's just going through a waking phase. The important thing is to maintain your routine and be consitent. At this age/stage, infants are becoming more aware of their surroundings and this can often produce nightwakings out of curiousity or seperation anxiety (which would result in crying and panic). But, if she is playing and distracting herself and then, putting herself back to sleep then leave her be. She'll get over it in a short period of time...

My son went through this at around the same age and he grew out of it after a few weeks, but I made sure to listen to his sounds to see if he REALLY needed me or was just awake. I've co-slept since he came home, and even co-sleepers experience this, as it's just normal phase stuff.

Good Luck! And, get some rest.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

Just be happy she's not crying. It sounds like this is just an awake time for her. Is she in her own room. Or then maybe you have a moniter and that wakes you up. Maybe another bottle of milk would put her back to sleep. Hope you get some good advice. Sandy

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M.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi T.,
My daughter is also 1 and has been waking up during the night. I try to let her cry it out or hold her for a minute and of course breastfeeding always does the trick. I remebered yesterday that our ped said that if daddy goes in there, that the baby probably won't fuss like she does with mommy. So last night my husband went in and held her for a minute and said good night and she cried for about a minute and went back to sleep until about 5:30! I was sooo happy. So I think that after a couple of nights of daddy coming, she will stop waking up! Good luck:)

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A.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter us to wake up like that too, then I read a book by Tracy Hoggs called the Baby Whisperer, which helped me she sleeps from 8 till 7 now. In the book she deals a lot with sleep problems from birth up to toddler age, but she has a few books, I think the one I have is her second or third book. I hope you can find the answer there:-)

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A.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi T.,

This will sound contrary, but I followed my doctor's advice for the same issue. Put her to bed earlier. I was told that by putting them to bed later, they are so tired they don't sleep well. If you can get her down around 6-6:30, then she will sleep through the night. You may have to work slowly into this, a half hour or 15 minutes for a couple nights until you reach the designated time. But, I will tell you it worked! It also pushed my son's naptime to late morning instead of 8 or 9 am and then another late in the afternoon which caused us to keep him up to 8pm.

Hope this helps!
A.

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D.B.

answers from San Diego on

Try putting her to bed around 6:15-6:30 and see if that helps..

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L.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi T.,

You may have to cut down on her naps and then put her to sleep closer to 8. We found that the afternoon naps would cause my son to stay up until midnight so this might help.

Good luck!

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V.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

homeopathic remedy Mag-m 30C. Whole Foods may have it.
Good Luck
V

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