My 15Month Old Wont Sleep in Her Crib

My daughter slept with us in our bed until she was 10 months old. It was beginning to really wear on us. It would take forever to get her to sleep because she wouldn't fall asleep on her own, she didn't know how. She used us as a soother. When we finally said enough is enough, we had to make a decision. The first week was really tough. We started a bed time routine consisting of a bath, book and bottle (taking roughly 30 minutes). And then we'd lay her down in her bed, say good night and shut the door. She'd cry of course, but we had to let her. I know that they say if you try this method, you can go back in and check on them, but it literally made it worse. She'd want to be picked up and the crying just got ten times worse when she realized that we weren't going to pick her up. We had a video monitor which was really life saving. We knew that she was ok. We just stuck to our guns and each night went a little smoother. She's now 17 months old, sleeps all night long, and soothes herself to sleep every night. Same with the naps. We don't let her play in her crib ever. She knows that when she's put in there, she's there to sleep. If you can stick it out for a week, I promise things will be a lot better. We were so at our wits end that we actually purchased "the sleep sense program". Maybe give that a try. www.sleepsenseprogram.com

I remember when my son was this age and we were having similar problems... To be perfectly honest we had to make him cry it out. It took one night and it was horrible, but it worked! I had to do it a night when my husband wasn't around becuase he didn't like listening to my son cry. So I picked a night and we did it. He cried all night long!! I think I cried some too! I would check on him every so often and go in and pat his bottom and explain that he had to sleep in his bed. It took one night and after that he did great. Once he saw that I wasn't going to give in, he stopped the crying. It stunk, but was soooooo worth it!!

3 words...CRY IT OUT. Harsh or not, you will have two weeks of hell, and it will be over. She will sleep like a dream with no problems. If you do allow her to come into your bed, though, again...you will just require even longer than two weeks to learn to soothe herself.

You can soothe them after 30 minutes and assure them you are there...but DO NOT take her out and give in. Make the time you come into her room to soothe her more and more each day (if you need to), but this will take more time to adjust her.

If you have the stomach for it your best bet is just to let her cry and talk to her without entering the room. If you can't handle it (and most parents can't) come in and talk to her for a moment or two (after she has cried for a while), and leave (just to re-assure her that she is not alone). Extend the time you wait o reassure her by 15 minutes daily. It will take longer but eventually it iwll work.

WE had the same problem after visiting our in-laws and allowing our son to sleep with us. He is now 14 months and starts out every night in his crib, however he ends up with us. I would also be interested in what others have done.

The same thing happened with us and our daughter. We had stayed with family for about 4 weeks and in that time our daughter slept in our bed with us. Once we got into our new place she had a hard time adjusting--esp. because we had just had our son 1 week before we moved into our new place. What we did was let her sleep with us for about 2 weeks and then put a small mattress on the floor right by our bed in our room for her to sleep on. We read to her and made bedtime a positive experience--and she adjusted to sleeping on the floor pretty well. We let her sleep there for about a week and then started moving the mattress a few feet away from our bed every few days. Pretty soon she was not in our room--but in the hallway, which we did not want so we put her in her room in her bed. It took a few nights for her to get use to it but she is now fine and sleeps through the night every night. If your child wakes in the middle of the night--maybe wait a few min to see if she will go back to sleep and if not go into her room and comfort her--BUT do not take her out of her room. She will soon realize that is where she is to sleep!!