16 Month Old Won't Sleep Through the Night Climbs Out of Crib and Won't Wean.

As for the crib, I have to say that a crib tent is the best thing ever. I put one on my son's crib so that he can't climb out.

You son sounds like the way our son was (he is 6 now). He was very active and he was a terrible sleeper. It was very hard for him to learn to sleep through the night and to sleep in his own bed. It took a long time. I think when he was two and a half he wanted a bunk bed sooo bad that we negotiated with him. If he could sleep in his own room and sleep all night he could get the bunk bed. He was very motivated and did well. Of course he had many relapses after that but it kept getting better with time. Good luck and hang in there. I think it all has to do with the personality of your child and some are harder than others.

I want to add that at 2.5 yrs old we put a mattress down on his floor and often one of us would sleep with him or lie with him for a while. That really helped him make the transition.

According to nature, your toddler should breastfeed at night a few times, should not yet eat much food, should mostly breastfeed and should sleep with you for a few years at least.

If you bring him to your bed and set it up safely, and if you push his sleep time to your bedtime, you will get all the hours of sleep that he is asleep. He will be more content and over time sleep better.

At 16 months, he is not supposed to sleep through the night. (Your daughters being easy that way does not mean that it was good for them either.) You won't be tired because you won't even sit up to nurse. You can stay in the dark under the blanket and nurse. Knowing you are always there, your toddler will gradually calm down and reduce the amounts of wake ups.

Right now, sleeping alone, his only way to get his need for your closeness met, is by waking up and nursing. It is lonely and scary for him alone.

Co-sleeping is so so tenderly enjoyable and emotionally healthy. It is the way the rest of the world does it and has been doing it for millions of years.
Many of our emotional difficulties in this culture stem for the anxieties created in isolated sleeping in the early years. You will love sleeping with your baby and he will develop healthy sleep, independence and emotional peace.

With care,
N. Aldort, Ph.D. Author of, Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves

Hi! I had that same problem with my daughter not too long ago:) We co slept until about 10 months (at that time she started sleeping sideways and kicking us so we had no other choice:) The first few nights were hectic, she would wake and then cry for awhile before she went back to sleep all on her own (a couple times it was almost an hour) But by the end of the week she was sleeping throught the night, well most nights! At a year I tried to introduce whole milk to her in a cup and she would not drink it whatsoever, I tried tons of things and at 16 months I was just done... I talked to her dr and he said as long as she is taking a vitamin supp for the vit D and getting calcium other ways she didn't have to drink milk if she didn't want to.....So one night my hubby was home with her while I had dinner with a friend, she was fast asleep on him (without me nursing her!!) So I decided to go with it, the next day we went shopping and to the park to distract her from nursing and then he put her to sleep again (crying, but without nursing) and it just continued from there..... So, it just takes a little commitment from you and if you mean business he will get it sooner than you think!! :)
Now if I could just get her to sleep all on her own in her own bed we would be content!! I guess its always something! Good luck!

Yes, it sounds like he isn't ready to wean. Why the rush? If there is some extenuating circumstances, I appologize. But he's only 16 mos old & is telling you that he is still needing to nurse. As for sleep, I'd sleep with him so he can night nurse without you waking up to have to feed him. He'll be a lot happier too. Good luck.

As for the crib, just move him to a toddler bed. We moved our son at 16 months. We put a baby gate at his door, and the first couple of nights he stood at the gate crying some, but we just told him it was bed time and than let him be. Those first 2 nights he fell asleep by the door, so we would just put him into bed so he would wake up there. Over the next few nights we found him asleep on the floor, in his toys, under his bed, we just kept putting him back in his bed, and after about a week he got the hang of it. For weening, he is old enough to understand no, so just tell him that mommies boobs are no longer working and he needs to use a cup. This also may upset him at first, so be firm and if you do not give in he should get over if quickly. If you want to, start by weening at night, he may cry at first, but there is no reason a 16 month old needs to be night feeding. Since this is a lot of change I would introduce one change at a time. First taking away night feedings, than either the day feedings or the crib, and than the other. Best of luck to you.

He is hungry. Feed him a big dinner of everything you give your daughters to eat. Then before you go to bed wake him up and nurse him. He'll be too full to move all night. If he wakens before 6 am have a bottle ready with banana all ready to go. A smoothie will put him to sleep again.
My aunt Rose of blessed memory taught me how to make a baby sleep all night when I was a new mother. This method has worked on hundreds of babies whose mothers came to me over the years with tales just like yours.

It's not necessarily about being hungry... it's about comfort. My daughter was up during the night etc. until she was 25 mos. old and i stopped nursing all together. I'm not saying that's the answer.... it's your choice. At 24 mos. old we moved her into a "big" bed. If he is "working" on something mentally, that often causes night wakings too... good luck!

You need to do something about him climbing out of his crib before he falls and gets a serious injury. You need to a. get a crib tent or b. baby proof the entire room, put up a gate, and put him in a toddler bed

As for him waking at night how many times is waking up at night? What is the longest stretch that he does? Everyone wakes up during the night he needs to learn to fall back to sleep without needing you every time. This did not happen for my youngest until he was 3.5 yrs old. You also need to consider that 16 months old he could still be teething which caused my son to want to nurse around the clock for comfort every time for about a month before the tooth finally broke through. How long does he nap and how often? Maybe its time to cut down to one nap or shorten the length of the afternoon one. He could be getting too much sleep during the day.

P.,
I just went through this myself. My son is now 16 months but he's been sleeping through the night on most nights for two months and he has been off the breast for about 5 wks. With the breastfeeding I cut it gradually to make it easier for him and to avoid me getting mastitis. The last feedings we dropped were the early morning ones between 4-7 a.m. I just could not sleep well during these crucial hours when he kept waking up wanting more and more. I had tried many techniques to get him to sleep but I knew that only weaning would do the trick. Actually, I took advantage of him starting daycare. There, they put him to nap by doing the sleep routine but then letting him settle on his own. I then used the same techniques at home. I can tell you that at first I had to let him cry for about 15 minutes but within three days he was down to about 3 minutes and eventually he stopped crying altogether. Then, he even started pointing to the crib wanting to be put down. This of course, was also the moment to finish the weaning process. I had tried unsuccessfully for months other techniques and none gave us the results we now have. We did this in spite of the fact that he would not take regular milk. I just made sure he had a good dinner and a few ounces of milk, which is all he would take. Now that we're off the breastfeeding he gobbles down eight oz. As much as I cherish breastfeeding I feel that if I had gone beyond 18 months, I would be in this long term. I did the same with my first born and both times I've been successful. Hope some of this helps you. Best of luck.