Daughter Sleeping Through the Night

I know how you feel I go through this two weeks ago. my little son wakes up so many times in the night and each time I wake up and feed him also. then I remember that with his brother I didn't wake up for more than one time at night, so I started wake up also with him but not feed him just hold him and walk and touch his head softly and try to sing a song with a very low voice until he got the message that I will not feed him and the next time he wake I feed him and so on. It works with me after two weeks trial and I will go from there to not feed him all the night.

You may not be a "let her cry herself to sleep" kind of mom but you better learn. It's very hard to do but if you know she's not hungry, wet or upset by something else, she needs to sleep. She's gotten away with this for a year so she's setting a pattern. I have a girlfriend that sleeps with her 12 and 13 year old kids til this day and if she goes to her own bed with her husband, they come and wake her up!! Better to start now. She won't remember it when she gets older but she'll feel much better about herself if she's a big girl and can sleep on her own. Best wishes~

L....
Another book that might help is "The No Cry Sleep Solution". My mom bought it for me after I told her I just couldn't let my daughter "cry it out". Not everything in there helped but a lot of it did and it gave me some great ideas - some worked and some didn't. All kids are different so it's pretty much trial and error. It takes more time and effort than letting them cry it out but, for me, it was worth it. I do let her fuss a little sometimes and tell myself that she has had tantrums that last longer than 5 minutes so she's ok (My daughter was 2 in November). The bottom line is everything passes....in the beginning, my daughter would only sleep in her swing or if someone was holding her. My sister (who has 2 kids) told me not to worry about it - eventually she'll be too big and it won't be comfortable...that IS what happened!(I hate when she is right!) I used the book to get her to sleep in her crib instead of on someone. Now, she will still wake up at night a few times a week but I just take her in the recliner with me and we sleep/snuggle for a little while and then she's back to bed. I love it since my hubby and I work full time and don't get to see her much during the week PLUS...some day she isn't going to WANT to snuggle with me anymore so I just deal with it. Best of luck to you and do what you feel in your heart is right for you and your family...all kids and families are different.

One other thing and then I'll get off my soap box...here is a piece of information that a good friend of mine passed on to me...you can read a ton of books and get advice from hundreds of people but the bottom line is this....if you make sure your kid is fed, clothed and LOVED, everything else just falls into place. THOSE are the things that are really important!!

My oldest daughter used to wake up in the middle of the night well past a year old too, and always wanted a bottle (we gave her whole milk by then). What worked for us is that we started watering down the bottles - started with like 3/4 milk to 1/4 water and then slowly started adding more water and less milk until within a few weeks she'd stopped waking up all together. I don't believe in letting them cry it out either, so found that this was a good way to let her learn that she didn't need that bottle during the night anymore.

Good luck!

are u trying to break her from th bottle?if so give her a sippy cup.but i was brought up if there is nothing wrong with your child like if their not sick or hurt you need to let them cry to sleep .yes it does break your heart to hear ue baby cry but its not gonna hurt your baby to cry to sleep.....sorry if you dont like my opion.i have 3 kids but they go to school all day now.ive been thrue it....

I don't have much advice for you but I can totally relate to your problem. I have a 20 month old that doesn't sleep through the night. He still wakes up 3-5 times a night to nurse. He will also scream for hours if I refuse to give it to him. I also hate to hear them scream for long.

Oh and as for the person who said that she should be on whole milk instead of formula, actually he should be on a stage 2 formula until he is 24 months old not milk. This is to prevent milk allergies from forming.

Hi my name is C.. Im from Portage. And i have a 6 month old son, and im not sure if it will work for you, but its works for me. I dont let Gage sleep between the hours of 6pm and 10 pm. and right before he goes to bed i give hima a bottle. 8 ounces. and he will fall right asleep. and sometimes even sleep until 11:30 am.

I live in Portage, Im happily married to a man iv know for about 26 years, and i will be 29 the 4th. I have one child Gage william. I am a stay at home mom. and sometime help my sister with her daycare.

Hi L.
My daughter, now 16 months, did the same thing except I was nursing her. I just gave her water in a leak proof cup in bed. At first she screamed and tossed the cup but after a few days she stopped getting up in the night. She was looking for that snuggle time. I feel the key is not picking them up when they wake. I would lean over the side of the crib and give her a kiss and hug. Just be strong and keep helping her lay back down. Try staying next to her crib until she's asleep. Move father away as days go by until you're out in the hall. I know you said you're not the let them cry it out type but that's a very efective way for them to learn to comfort themselves. From my experience with 4 kids, the only way. They have to learn to stay asleep and if you keep reinforcing that it's ok that she's not by giving in to her she'll never sleep. It does seem harsh when you're doing it but think of the blissful sleep you'll get. Good Luck!

I too had that problem. My son did not stop waking up until he was 18 months old. Thank god I could finally sleep, but then I did not sleep well because my inner clock was used to being up every 2-4 hours. I could not let him cry either but after 18 months I was fed up. He is healthy etc... so I started to let him fuss and it only took a few nights for him to get the hint. He is 23 months now and occassionally gets up once a night and I give him a bottle but I eventually had to teach him who the boss was and teach him how to get a good nights sleep. He also stopped being so cranky during the day. For my own sanity and for the sake of patience it had to be done. Also try only giving her a few ounces rather than an entire bottle it is a good trick.

I have a nine month old son who was getting up at least once a night for a bottle and diaper change. I am not a big believer in letting a child cry endlessly. I got some wonderful advice that I tried and it worked: first, buy nighttime diapers. They hold more and keep the baby less wet. Second, try giving your child a little cerel or food right before bed. This might hold her over until morning. We tried this a week ago and he has slept through the night the entire week! Good Luck!

Fortunately we never had the problem of him waking at night, but going to sleep we had to let him cry it out, jsut a few nights till he got the hang of it. I have found some good info about this and many other topics in the book "Loving Obedience".

Well just wanted to say that I now feel maybe I fed mine too often when she was small. I supposse good advice is to clean her teeth/gums with water...I didnt enough and through BFeeding and then using sippy cup for juice to get to sleep-well a dentist took her front teeth early and we just pray they come in by next year! Good luck!

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you have to stop running to your baby's side every time she cries or wakes up. This is why you are tiring yourself out. Your daughter will never learn to put herself back to sleep. There are some great books out there to help you get through this. I highly recommend "Secrets of Baby Whisper...." There are some things that I didn't agree with the author but overall, this book helped me get my little guy to sleep through the night at 10 months. Best of luck!

I know how you feel, my son went through this a few months ago. Unfortunately in my personal opinion letting them "cry it out" is the only answer. Believe me I know how difficult it is to hear your baby cry. Investing in some earplugs or putting on your headphones helps. I would go in and check on him, talk softly to him and then leave the room. Sometimes he would cry for an hour but after a week or two of this he was back to sleeping through the night. They become accustomed to waking up and being fed and that is why they continue to wake.

I'm sorry to say it but I think the only real way to get her to stop is to stop giving in to her. It's unhealthy for both of you to be up that often thorugh the night. She does not need a bottle that often at this age, unless she has a problem a doctor is aware of. When my daughter was between 5-7 months old she did this and I didn't want to hear her cry so I would get up and nurse her and she would be fine - I finally realized that it would never stop if I didn't stop it. It only took 1 night, she cried for nearly an hour and it was horrible, but since then she has never gotten up in the middle of the night expecting to nurse or anything else. I think at this stage it's no longer "crying it out" it's not giving in. At this age she knows what she's learned and that's if she feels like getting up for a bottle she can. She will not stop if you don't stop it. Maybe start with offering her only a bottle of water, or even a sippy cup. As for whether your daughter should be on formula, stage 2 formula, or whole milk is between you and your doctor - you should not be getting that information from this type of forum. I hope this helps - remember that you are the mommy, the adult, you have the control over what you give in to but you both will have to deal with those consequences.

I am guessing you are still going thru sleepless nights? That is just normal with MOST children --- My (17 yr. old now) daughter breastfed EVERY 3-4 hours the WHOLE first year of her life - I could set my clocks by her! LOL But then our youngest (5 now) slept thru the night before he was 2 weeks old a couple times. Family members thought I should wake him - LOL - they MUST be CRAZY! All of our 3 kids turned out great and they were all different - God won't give you more than you can handle. All problems have - make us stronger! "You're a Better Parent Than You Think" <--- that is a great book - written by Dr. Ray Guarendi... I have seen him speak at least 8 times and have two of his 3 books!

Have a Better Day than You Planned,
R.

I feel your pain, literally. Our son did the same thing to us. A friend of ours who is a family practice Dr told us to give him a bottle of water instead of formula. He said that they are NOT hungry, just want your attention. If you give her something that she isn't necessarily crazy about, she will probably stop getting up in the night. Good luck!

My son was almost 13 months old before he slept straight thru the night. The first night was when I didn't go downstairs to warm his milk bottle. I am in total agreement about the "let them cry themselves to sleep". I hated it. We tried for almost a week. Some would probably say we didn't give it enough time, but when your baby's screaming, one day is too much for me. We also eventually weaned him off milk onto water. Soon, we were able to simply lay him down with a bottle of water & he fell asleep. Some nights took longer & some nights he wanted more water. We even started giving him an empty or almost empty bottle. Just like taking a pacifier. Eventually, that switched to a sippy cup & then to nothing. More than likely, she's not waking because she's hungry. My son also has a Winnie the Pooh hanging blanket in his bed that he sometimes uses to help fall asleep.
Good luck
K.

Hi Lucy,

First I have to say that if you daughter is a year old already she should be drinking whole milk, not formula. But either way she is wanting the bottle, my sister had this problem with her son. She would give him crackers and a full bottle right before bed that way his stomach was full and that actually worked. Good Luck

K.