Help - Morgan City, LA

Start a routine. Like bath, pj's, story.. Put her in her bed. If she gets up and comes to you, put her back in her bed. Just keep putting her back in bed. The first time tell her its time to go to bed. But the other times that she gets up, don't say anything to her. Hold her hand and walk her to her bed, tuck her back in walk out. It might take a few days to get that routine down but its all worth it in the end.

I'm late responding so I'm sure you've received some great advice. I'm sure you have a night time routine that includes baths (lavender scented wash and lotion), nice music, maybe cuddle time or story time and a bottle or cup. Is she on a schedule? Is she having trouble staying asleep or getting to sleep?

Hi C.,
My son is 10 months old and we just went through the same thing. He was very sick this winter with congestion and ear infections so was getting up around 3 times a night. When he finally got well, we followed our normal routine (dinner, bath, pj's, bottle, then bed) We then started putting him in bed and let him cry after his evening bottle. I had to go take a shower then so I couldn't hear him but my husband was stronger than I and listened for him. We found that if we went to check on him, he became more upset. After about two weeks, he now lies down and cries for only a minute before going off to sleep. He is sleeping soundly from 7pm to 7am. You feel terrible the first few nights but the payoff is worth it, not just for you but the child as well. Good Luck!

Establish a bedtime and everytime the baby tries to get out of the bed keep putting the baby back in. Tell the baby that this is your bed and stick to it. Eventually it will tire the baby out and you too but don't give in.

If you're nursing sleeping through the night will not come until she's almost weened (at least that's how it was with us). With sleeping in her own bed, try putting her down in her bed and when she protests calm her down and lay her back down (it may be a long night). Eventually you should get to the point where you can just tell her to lay back down, but for the first few nights it's fine to pick her up and comfort and then just rub backs you have to ween her from the comfort of sleeping with you just the same as nursing and bottle feeding.

well it is hard.. but u need to keep putting your feet down to her and be strict. tell her she is going to sleep in her bed tonight and put stuff animals there to comfort her. and put a night light in there where she can see. u might want to put a radio in there and play music. that is what i did. it helps to. what kind of music ? well soothing music. not music where she is gonna get up and dance to. or talk with it.. just music that have no words just music. and u might want to sit there with her for a night or 2 until she goes to sleep. try reading to her while she is laying in her bed.

Try putting a toddler bed in your room with sheets that your child has picked out. Gradually move bed further and further from your bed and finally to the other room. This worked for me, and hopefully for you too!

try the books BabyWise and Baby Wise II for help with this (and some other good advice also).

well, i can tell you what i did and you can take from it what you need. around 6 months we desperatly needed to change things, she didn't sleep well during the day or night and it was very difficult to get her to sleep. I read a lot about baby's and sleeping, and various sleep training methods (and I hated them all, but the information i found was good) finally we came up with our own system. we were co-sleeping with a co sleeper so we moved the crib into our room and replaced it with the cosleeper. first we just let her sleep in the crib at night (nightime sleep is easier for them) then after a few weeks we did naps in the crib too. I thought it would be easier for her since she was in a familiar room, and it was. her problem was i could get her to sleep, but when I layed her down she would wake up and cry. So I let her cry. I was suprized that she would go back to sleep within 10-15 min (if her diaper wasn't wet) so if she cried longer than that i would check to see if she was wet and change her if she needed. After she got used to doing this in our room, we moved the crib into her room and continued to put her to sleep and lay her down, she would wake up,cry for a bit and go back to sleep. At first she would cry for a while, sometimes 30 min, but after a day or two she got the hang of it (it was really hard on me) now she just fusses for under a min, and goes to sleep. After we did this she started sleeping better during naps and sleeping through the night. Sometimes she would wake through the night and I would do the same thing, get her to sleep, put her down,let her cry. Eventually, i got smart and used a sleep sac so that I wouldn't have to wait for her to go to sleep to cover her with a blanket. The info that I learned while doing this is important too. Most moms think that if baby is really exhausted they will sleep better, not true! if they are overtired then they tend to have sleep problems (like waking up at night) so during the day they shouldn't be awake for more than 2 hours and a baby under 18 months needs at least 2 naps a day. Before betime we like to have 3 or 4 hours of wakefulness, then we start with our routine around 6:30 (early I know, but it worked for me! it was after a few weeks of doing this, with what i mentioned above that she started sleeping through the night) Her routine is always dinner, bath, pj's, nursing, and in bed. Now most of the time she doesn't even cry, she just settles in. and she sleeps until7 or 8 in the morning. i think that she learned to settle herself down and when she wakes up at night she knows how to go back to sleep on her own. We really hated the whold cry it out thing, but we found a kind of inbetween way of doing it that worked for us. It was really hard to hear her cry, but worth it. I guess you just have to try to undersand what your baby needs, try to look at it from her perspective and then get creative. for us it was her not being familiar with her crib and her room and having issues falling asleep with a wet diaper. I hope my story helped you a bit and maybe you can find you own way of helping your baby sleep better. sorry this turned into a novel.

I don't know what you have tried in the past, but I am guessing that she is already sleeping with you all night. Neither of my children would sleep all night unless they were sleeping with us (mom & dad). I'm not clear how your child is acting when she awakens at night - it could be a variety of reasons due to diet, hunger or a medical condition, like reflux - which commonly goes undiagnosed in small children. Personally, I have tried a variety of methods to get my children to sleep in their own beds that just ended up making us both miserable. Eventually our son just grew out of it, as I'm sure our daughter will. You may want to have a very direct discussion with your physician or try a different bedtime ritual.

The best advice that I can give you is to read "BABY WISE", but also to break the habit of having her sleep in your bed early, because it doesnt get any easier with age. Especially if you have another child one day, it will get carazy!

Make sure the bedtime is at the same time each night. Also, a good meal, playtime...the more physical the better, and a calming bath just before bedtime should help. Also, you can 'encourage' by offering a bedtime story, or a few rounds of patty cake if she does not resist. If she resists, be firm and do not waver. She must learn to KNOW that you mean what you say, otherwise, manipulation will ultimately take over and win. The trick is 'routine', get her accustomed to 'what comes next', and then follow through with it. Talk to her in advance about what you expect, ("Tonight we are going to have supper, play for a while, bathe, and then it is bedtime. You will sleep in your own bed, and if you don't fuss, I will read you a story..." and tell her it is GOING to happen...no matter what. She may throw fits about it (no story, Mom!), but after a few nights of this routine, she will 'learn' what is expected, and hopefully submit. You may have to remain in the room or nearby until sleep comes, continually re-placing her in her bed if she tries to get out, and affirming the expectation. I have learned through my experience rearing 6 children that they function best in a routine, with boundaries that have to be taught, and that they learn early whether or not we really 'mean what we say'. Otherwise...we lose sleep, and so do they. Stick with it Mom. It will be worth it.