Completely Stumped on One Year Olds Sleep Patterns!!????

I highly recommend a book called healthy sleep habits, healthy child. It tells you at what stage what to expect. It sounds like she may be sleep deprived. If they don't get enough sleep, they will actually be up more often. (It is scientifically proven. Stress hormone levels go up, and then whammo they get there second wind.) Of course, make sure nothing is going on medically before you try letting her cry....for your own benefit. She is way too old to be doing this. She should be sleeping about 10-12 hours at night then two naps during the day. Bedtime should be no later than about 830.Please read this book. People will give you all sorts of whacko advice that just isn't true, and meanwhile you will be losing sleep.

R., I am in the same boat as you...baby due in 2 months, couldn't figure out why almost 1 year old would wake up...I reread all my books, talked to other moms. His crib is littered with pacis and nice soft things. Finally I tried turning OFF his night light and viola! He has a teeny tiny bit of light from the back yard light, but that seems to be enough. He still wakes up and makes little settling noises, but he's not completely up. I'm OK with getting up once around 5...I have to pee anyway...but that's it! I'm not willing to lose hours upon hours when I know I'll just lose them in 2 months. Like you said-we need sleep now!

R.,
What would happen if you let her cry it out a little and settle herself down? Sometimes we all have restless nights and other times we sleep like babies. Also is your daughter a heavy breather or snore when she sleeps? My son used to sound like Darth Vader when he slept and was very restless. Come to find out he had sleep apenea because his tonsils were so huge. I taped him sleeping one night and brought it in for the ped. to listen to and he said he had apena. So we had his tonsils and adenoids removed and he has slept wonderfully since then. Good luck and I hope you've found a new pediatrician. Wish I knew of any in Fredricksburg. Good luck with your soon to be addition. Where are you delivering?
Take care,
M.

When i saw your post I wanted to rush over to reply and tell you to get the same book that two other replies suggested. Healthy Sleep Habits. Buy it! It's the best!I've given it as a gift at every shower i've been to. It's so worth it.

It is common for children this age to wake 2-3 times a night, but they should be able to put themselves back to sleep. Coming from someone who has dealt with multiple issues around sleep with both my 21 month old & 3 1/2 year old. You are not alone. But the book recommendation is a good one! Crying it out for a short period and then increasing the time gradually is the key of this book. It has worked with my 21 month old and we rarely have problems any more. They just need to be taught the way to take care of themselves when they wake up in the night :)

I'm with Amber - I love this book! (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth) I've used its advice for my now-4 year old and now again for my 4-month old.

Reading it gives you several different ideas for techniques to try and also make you feel better about not being alone in your situation. It is true that kids who are overtired actually sleep worse than kids who are getting enough sleep! Buy it for yourself - I've read mine and loaned it out several times to friends, now I'm reading it again. It has tips and tricks for babies to kids well into their teen years.

I would also check with your DR about the possiblity of sleep apnea - like the other poster said - if your DD is snoring or breathing heavily.

I do think that at 13 months she should be able to soothe herself back to sleep (or put the paci back in herself.)
Good luck!

my daughter is 12-1/2 months old. she usually sleeps through the night EXCEPT, i've learned, when she's cutting a new tooth. after the tooth breaks, she's fine and sleeps through the night again. We use these things called 'teething tablets' and they work great! they ease the pain and let her sleep. we get them at wal-mart...the only place i know that sells them. it's in the baby area, usually near the bottles and the like.
hope this helps you!

My little girl is 19 months old and had the same sleep patterns as your little one. Mine would wake up and try to find her passy and I would have to go in and find it in her crib for her. To fix the problem, I put five pacifiers in at night, so that she will hopefully find one on her own without needing me to help her. She still will wake up a couple times a night and cry out, but she always finds a passy now, and I no longer have to get up. Hope that helps. S.

We are working on the same problem with my little one. We noticed that the sound of his crying in the night changed from and "I'm awake and confused" type sound to a "I'm hurt or scared" type cry. We have made a concerted effort to remember to turn on a night-light and make sure he sleeps with something comforting (usually his silky blanket), and the number of times he wakes and stays awake has dropped. I really wonder if he gets scared by a dream, and the light helps him realize where he is and comfort himself back to sleep. Anyway, it's one more thing to try, and that is almost as much help for one's sanity as anything else, right?