22 Month Old Waking Every Hour All Night Long

Boy, this is a rough one and I know cuz we went through it, too. The easiest way to say it is that your daughter wants your attention and she is SOOOO smart, that she knows how to GET YOUR ATTENTION by pushing your buttons.

Everything in your email confirms this.

She fusses, you go in. She cries, you go in.

She fusses and you DON'T go in, she has to figure out a way to get you in. She takes off her diaper and yells it to you, you go in. BINGO! She's totally got control here.

A comfy blankee or pillow ISN'T what she wants. She wants you there. And the more she sees of you the better. So, quite simply - stop going into her room.

Yeah, well . . . it's NEVER simple! My doctor told me that we needed to have my son cry it out. And believe me - it is HARD! You know there is no infection or pain. It's now become a habit, a game - she just wants YOU! So stop giving.

We SUFFERED through 6 nights before my son made it through the night without demanding my presence. YOU JUST CAN'T GIVE IN! I know if at day 4 we gave in, he won. So we really suffered - but it was worth it because I KNEW that he needed sleep. I could justify it by saying that he had to get his rest and so did I~!

Now my son is almost 2 1/2 years old and he sleeps peacefully 12 hours a night.

It's extremely heartbreaking to hear your baby calling for you. But you KNOW you gotta do it. Stick to your guns and go for it!!!! Don't give in and by day 5 or 6, I'll be looking for your response of how you are doing! Sweet dreams to you!~

GOOD LUCK!

Sounds to me like she might have ear ache or getting her 2 year molers. possibly bad dreams. Shes not sounding to needy to me. And all kids take their diapers off. if she dont like them then put some undies on her with the plastic one over them. she might be ready to train. She just dont like diapers thats good! Try putting some music and maybe giving her some tylenol before bed for a while to see if that does anything. Some kids dont even put their fingers in their mouth if they teeth. so... It will stop and i know its hard but hang in their it gets better. if anything have her sleep with you i see nothing wrong with it. i did it. well good luck.
J. mom of 3

Just an idea here.... Have you tried playing some soft music for her? Something that would maybe make her not feel "alone"? Another idea that you could try with the music or on it's own, is maybe buying her some special stuffed animal, and you sleep with it for a night or two so it has your scent on it, and then give it to her so she can sleep with it, and she might feel less like you're abscent so maybe she can sleep through. Then once she has slept with it for a few nights, it will have her own scent on it, and she might cling to it a little, but every child has their favorites. My daughter has a "baby" that she sleeps with every night, and she still wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes because she can't find it, so we will just get up and give it back to her and she will go right back to sleep, but most nights she has it, and we have no problems. Hope you can figure something out!

I think it is worth a second trip to the doctor just to make sure there isn't an ear infection. Many times I have taken my kids to the doctor with a gut feeling and there is nothing there. A few days later...an ear infection and we go back. FYI my kids have no fever with their ear infections either! If you get another healthy check from the doctor, well then you have to tough it out and let her cry it out. Try duct tape on the diaper which would be much harder to rip off. At 22 months she can have a really warm snuggly blanket in her crib. Tuck it under the mattress (like a regular bed) so she can't throw it out of the crib. That way even if she ends up taking the jammies off she has something in there to keep her warm.
Good Luck! Let us know what happens.
J.

I don't have any advice for you because we've always had sleep issues and they seem to be never ending. However, you are the first person I've heard of whose daughter also LOVES her belly button so I just wanted to say hi! My daughter always plays with her belly button when she's tired and she falls asleep like that. It's weird, yes. And it's good to know my daughter isn't the only one :-) Good luck!

I would recheck the ears and then if it still doesn't work I'd just not go in. Let her cry it out and then go in when she's asleep and put a blanket over her if she's naked. Put a plastic cover over her mattress under the sheet so she doesn't wreck the mattress. She'll learn after a few days I would hope that crying = no attention and naked = cold.
Good luck,
J.

Hello, It was 21 years ago but my son at the age of 18 months would still not go to sleelp without being rocked. Then he would wake up all night long to be rocked some more. When i couldn't take it anymore, i started putting him to bed with a hug and a kiss and his favorite stuffed animal. He cried for about an hour and a half the first night then only woke up twice during the night. Each time i just gave him back his stuffed animal, kissed him and said good night. His crying went on for about a week. When i did this started this routine i was told that it might take a couple of weeks. So after about 2 weeks he started sleeping thru the night and going to bed on his own. I don't know what to tell you about her taking off her jammies and diaper in bed. Maybe its time to start pull-ups and potty training. Good Luck!

my son was doing this and we found out that it was an ear infection...just a thought.