Getting My Son to Sleep Through the Night??

I'm a mother of three girls 4,3,1. I would try giving him a bath before he goes to bed. This is what I had to do with all three of my girls, it seemed to work for me.

This is a tough one because you son is stills kinda young. At his age though, sleeping in his own bed and being able to calm himself should he wake up is important. I would suggest making sure you don't let him sleep in your bed until the sun comes up. He should stay in the bed while its dark. When he wakes up just go to his bed and lay him back down with reasurance ie. its ok, its ni night time, mama's here ect. Say i love you and leave the room quietly and calmly. This will be trying for a week or two but you will be so happy when he is finally able to calm himself. It might also we worth testing him to see if he is able to calm himself and how long it takes. that way you can tell if your making progress. Eventually he will pass out from being tired of crying. Eventually you will be able to bring him to his room and he will lay right down and you can walk out. hope this helps!

I have 2 children that were the same way when they were small. A doctor suggested melatonin for sleep. It is a herb that has been approved as safe with a dose of 1-3 mg up to the age of 10. It is actually the same as the natural chemicals that the body produces when night time falls, and it is commonly used for people who are blind for that reason.

They have it in a liquid at Fred Myers, and it can be added to a beverage. It was a life saver for me since my 2 would alternate shifts, making it so that I was getting no sleep at all.....hope this may help....

I have this same problem, only I let it go too long. My daughter will be 2 in a week and I can't get her to sleep by herself. Everyone says to just let her cry herself to sleep, but I just don't have the heart to do it. Any other advice other than that would be great.

There is a great book called "no cry sleep solutions". My kids sleep with us, they always have. We are in a small apt and don't have room for separate beds right now. The oldest wants her own bed, so we put her matress next to ours. I have tried their suggestions before to wean them out of the mutual bed and it worked great. Don't worry about it this early. They turn 2 and become independant and want out anyways.

There is nothing wrong with sleeping with the baby. If people make you feel bad about it read "attachment parenting" br Dr Sears. My kids never learned to scream or cry for attention, they just come and crawl onto my lap. If you need the space and can't sleep that close to your baby, then try putting the crib close enough to your bed so you can pat his back when he is starting to wake up.

They best way for me to get my sleep is for the kids to be with me, especially that young. If I don't get enough sleep, then I don't feel like I can be a mom, because I get so grumpy.

I totally understand your situation! Although I am not single my husband works a lot! You need time so you can be your best for your little guy. This waking-up will pass. I hate to say it, but just be adimit. If he wakes-up, go in there and get him, stay in his room- but do what calms him. Put him back in his crib when he appears sleepy. Soon it will get less and less. Like I said, this will last awhile, not forever! by 12 months he should sleep through the night. My son woke up 1-2 nights a week up until 1 1/2. Now he only wakes when spooked??? I hope this helped!

We never tried this with our son, but my Pedi recommended sleeping in his room. He slept in a pack in play for awhile in our room while he was going through a fear period. He would wake up looking for us several times a night. She said if we put him in his crib, and after a few times of waking up and finding we were there he would stop. The key is too not talk to them or take them out of their crib, just comfort them.

I also read in a book called 123 Magic, to put a chair by the door, but don't talk to them just sit there. After a few nights keep moving the chair till your all the way out of the room.

Your son is still pretty young though. We just started moving him to his own crib at 8 months. A routine greatly helped, the same every night. I would take him in his room, speak softly, rock him for a minute. We got him a CD player, put on the some soft music, put him in his crib read a book, then say night night and leave. If he cried I'd go back in comfort him for a min then leave, but not say anything just rub his back.

My son is now 17 months and sleeps in his room well. He actually likes night night. I tell him lets go night night or nap and he goes up the stairs to his room.

Good luck! I am sure being a single mom is very hard. I can't imagine doing it myself. Also if it doesn't bother you him sleeping in your bed, don't push it ;) they grow so fast!

-- S.

my eldest son did not sleep for 3 years.

sleep with the baby and trust me, he won't be there forever, he is only 8 months now.

Good suggetions here. Just wanted to send you something on "night lights". There is a real cute product, a turtle constellation night light which is real great, from Amazon.com Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-###-###-####-###...

Our kids love it. Also, as my pediatrician has said, some kids just do NOT like cribs. Try getting a room of his own, and Have a baby monitor hooked up. He's still young, and maybe more adaptable. If he gets used to it now... then easier for you later when he gets older... and sometimes harder to transition them to sleep separately. Good luck!
~Susan
www.cafepress.com/littlegoogoo

M., try Adam and Ty's ZZZ. a sleep oil produced by Donna at solegarden.com.

We are cosleepers, only because it is the way we all get the most sleep. Some babies need that closeness, some don't. Mine both have. I just don't have the heart for CIO, so this is my only other option. If you both sleep well together, I say leave well enough alone.

I'm a single mother with 2 kids. a girl 3 and boy soon to be 2 and they both have slept in my bed since birth. In fact it's getting a little crouded now but I love the closness. I don't get to see them as much as I'd like and I belive that the only thing that keeps us so close is our sleeping time. I get kiced alot but I'm sure the'll grow out of it soon. My daughter already says things lke she wants her big girl bed. and sometimes sleeps in it. There just babies and it wont do any harm by them sleeping there. Plus you'll get more sleep not having to get up every 30 min. just make sure there is a pillow on the floor or get one of those toddler rails for your bed so he's safe. Just think of it a the best bonding time in the world. Plus he the "man" in your life now. treat him well so he'll treat you well later.

you probably dont have allot of money as a single mom but they do have the baby beds that slide up to your bed. that way he is with you but not on top of you and he will learn to sleep in the bed by himself and eventually you can move him to his own and he will be okay. or you can let him fall asleep in your bed and move to his bed after he sound I dont know if that works for you. It is rough I think I tried everything under the sun with my boys I really dont remember which worked better. The cry it out is really really hard I tried to last 30 minutes I dont know if I ever did. they are going to wake up every now and then sometimes if you dont acknowledge that they are awake and let them get themselves back to sleep that works.

When you say you pretty much have him all the time and take care of him by myself except for one day a week it sounds like your son doesn't have the same routine every night. If he weren't sleeping with you would he be sleeping in the same bed everynight? Perhaps he needs the security of your closeness.

I'm in favor of co-sleeping whenever possible. I think that babies do feel more secure when they're close to their mother and that sleeping with them is a natural thing to do. I think babies were with their mother all of the time before we became civilized. They'd be eaten by a wild animal if you left them alone.

At the same time I think that because we are civilized we have different needs (there are no wild animals :))it's frequently not reasonable to co-sleep. Since you are single perhaps you could continue co-sleeping. There are several books that discuss this issue. And there is a time and a way to transition the child to his own bed when he's ready to do so.

Babies need to feel secure and co-sleeping is one way to give them that assurance. If co-sleeping is not your choice transitioning him to his own bed might take time since he's used to sleeping with you. He is used to being aware of your presence and he senses that you're not there when he wakes up in his own bed. He hasn't learned yet how to put himself back to sleep without you. He may have woken up this often in your bed but because you were there he went right back to sleep.

Therefore I'd expect that he'd wake up this often and my goal would be to help him learn how to comfort himself back to sleep. Be sure he has a lovey if he has one. Some kids don't. If he doesn't, see if you can get him to find comfort in a stuffed animal by always putting him to bed with the same one every night. It might help for you to sleep with the animal or carry it around against your skin so that it has your scent. Another idea is to have one of those toys that attach to the crib rail that has a button to push which then starts music and lights with fish. At first you push the button for him and taper off the times that you go in to do that.

Some people say to let babies cry it out. Others say to go in to them, rock them, etc. I advocate something in the middle. If he cries hard or for a long time I say go in and soothe them for a bit without getting them out of bed. Rub their back, sing a lullabye, start a tape with soft music, or in some way briefly reassure them that you are present even tho you're not in the room with them. Babies this age still do not have a sense that someone is present when they cannot see them.
And then quietly and confidently leave.

I think that crying softly or whimpering is one way that a baby does comfort themselves and if this is all that is happening do not go in.

Time and consistency will usually solve the waking up issue. Along with trying different things. But when you try something it has to be done for several days so that your son can feel secure.

I believe that hard or lengthy crying cannot be ignored. When that happens the baby is feeling strong distress. And if this has been happening I think that it helps to go in before the crying gets so serious so that you can stop the cycle. Teach him to soothe himself before he works himself up into hard and lengthy crying.

Getting babies to sleep thru the night seems to me to be high on the list of difficulties with babies. I suspect that sometimes we just have to wait it out until they do learn to soothe themselves or until their nervous system matures. That's a difficult thing to do.

M., look at Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. My husband & I were very skeptical about its suggested approach, but we finally did it. It was the hardest thing we have ever done, but now I am so thankful we followed through with it. Now my 6-mo-old sleeps so well, I can barely remember getting up 3-5 times a night with her just a few short weeks ago. I was afraid that she would be psychologically damaged in some way if we let her cry, but she is still the same happy, loving little girl. In fact, now that she is getting good sleep, she seems even happier every day.