My 11-month old son has never been a good sleeper. He has gone through periods where we've done sleep training methods and he would sleep through the night for a few weeks or so and then back to waking up every night. Now he is waking up and will scream for over 30 minutes straight (that's my limit) without showing signs of being tired. I usually wait to make sure he's not going to fall back to sleep on his own, then I'll go in and reassure him, give him his pacifier, "nigh night" and walk out. He cries...15 minutes-I go in and do the same thing. He cries...30 minutes, I go back in and place my hand on him to soothe him but no talking. He will just grab my hand and won't let go and stares at me wide eyed. Then by this time I might give him a bottle or put him in bed with me but a lot of the time he won't even go back to sleep then! I leave for work at 6a.m. and get home at 7pm. He is with a great babysitter all day and naps well. He has been not drinking as much formula lately for her (was previously breastmilk) as he was. He is cutting a tooth but it doesn't seem to bother him much. Other than him missing me, I don't know what could be causing all his sleep issues!!! I'm so tired and frustrated after 11-months of bad sleep. Please tell me what you think....
All the answers yesterday helped me so much!! Not only with ideas, but reminding me that I'm not alone and that my job is to make sure that my son trusts me and is happy and healthy! I went into last night with a sense of peace that I was going to do whatever it took to make sure my baby knew I was there for him and to create a peaceful happy environment to sleep in. Ultimately I put him to bed at 8:00p.m. (30min earlier than normal) and when he woke up at 12:30a.m. I GAVE HIM A BOTTLE. I rocked him for a little while too to make sure he was sleeping and he slept ALL NIGHT!!! Thanks again everyone for your advice!!!
At 11 months, I was still feeding my daughter every night at about 1:00 am. Then she would peacefully go back to sleep until morning. He may just be hungry yet, at this age. If you feed him first, he may not totally wake up, like he does after crying for 30 mins. Then you can both go back to sleep.
If you're ok with giving him a bottle (and that's exactly what we did), I would try giving it to him right away. If you wait until after the 30 minutes, he's definitely awake by then, and it will take a lot more work to settle him down. When we got rid of the bottle, we just brought our son into bed with us. I think the important thing to do is go to him right away. If you wait 30 minutes, you're just going to make a lot more work for yourself.
Hold and cuddle, they are only little once! You can sleep while holding them or bring them to bed with you. Peaceful nights compared to "crying it out" are soooo much better!
so you leave for work at 6 and come home at 7? why dont you sleep with him? he probably wakes because he misses you. not trying to guilt you, i am sure you feel that all on your own,but dont you think that would provide great bonding for both of you and then he wouldnt bother waking?
My 11 month DD will wake up every 2 hours... all night long. But if I feed her around 12:00, and around 4:00, she stays asleep the rest of the time. She only has issues when I try to make her sleep all night without attention.
I think 8 PM is still too late for him to go to bed. If he's overtired at night, the CIO method might not work - eventually he'd drop from exhaustion, but because he didn't soothe himself to sleep, he'll wake up upset again. I think you did the right thing by going to comfort him - just try to implement a cycle of more sleeping at night, and by helping him to self-soothe. Be sure there are several pacifiers in his bed so that he can find one when he reaches for it.
Some say that when a child is going through a growth spurt, that it will interrupt their sleeping habits. I know that doesn't help you to get any sleep at night, but it may ease your mind to know that nothing is wrong with him and that he is just a growing boy. Good luck
I went through something similar with my 1st- he was 2.5 and STILL not sleeping through the night. Long story short- a friend gave me her copy of this book to read. Worked miracles!
http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Your-Childs-Sleep-Problems/dp...
You mentioned you've done sleep training methods, but didn't say what they were. If this is a method you tried, but just found out how to do it, but didn't read the book, I'd urge you to read the book because it tells you how to handle any setbacks. It worked with my son soooo well. And as a result of what we learned, we didn't have the same issues with our 2nd, 3rd, or 4th.
I know how exhausting it is- hang in there! :)
He is probably "reverse cycling" which means he is struggling to stay away and change his routines so he can see his mommy, who is gone for 13 hours a day.
If you're really concerned, you can get a sleep study done, but my daughter never slept 2 hours straight until she was almost 3, and now she is 3 1/2 and still wakes several times a night to nurse or have cuddles.
A lot of kids start dreaming and having night terrors around this age too.
Edited to add- my older daughter finally started sleeping through the night around age 7 yrs.
I agree with the others who say to just give him the bottle right away. You can also try having your babysitter give him a shorter nap in the afternoon, or move him to just one nap if he's currently taking two. That is what finally helped my youngest sleep through the night. I used to let him nap until he would wake up, and that was sometimes 3.5 hours, so he wasn't tired enough at night to sleep all the way through. Now I only let him sleep for two hours max in the afternoon and he's done much better. Good luck!
