Hi,
My almost 10 month old is running the house in the evening. The rest of us need time together to do homework, etc. I have been researching some books online to help me learn how to get her scheduled, but they seem geared toward younger babies. Any ideas? Advice, what worked for you, a good book? We cannot continue to have one adult tied up with her for such lengthy times in the evening.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks so much to everyone for the great advice! I really needed to hear from multiple people that it was going to work. My baby girl is now sleeping in her own room, in her own crib, for 10-12 hours each night. It is heaven. We are all much happier and I feel better knowing she is getting the uninterrupted rest she needs.
We had great luck with the Sleep Easy Solution (http://www.sleepyplanet.com/). It seemed to address kids of all ages.
I used Dr. Weisbluth's book - Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. The catch is that you really have to read the entire book before proceeding but it gives you the research you need to get your child on track with sleep, including putting some kids to bed much much earlier than you would think (our 10 month old daughter goes down between 6 and 6:30p now usually and without tears). In addition, we ended up crying it out with her last week and, well, it worked. Dr. Weisbluth gives you all the options, though, if you're not comfortable with the more strict methods. If I were to start anywhere, I'd start with a much earlier bed time and see if that worked.
Good luck!
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth is a great resource that has helped me and a few others have mentioned it on this site as well. The chapters are organized by age group so it would be easy for you to focus on the specific stage you are at. The book also includes a lot of background to the methods and reasons for setting up a consistent schedule, but you can skip it to get to your child's age. Babies need a lot of sleep and at 10 months the book's author suggests a 6:30-7pm bedtime. Since the author includes numerous case studies and testimonials by parents, he has a great deal of credibility in my opinion. Getting my son to sleep earlier was the key for us and well worth the effort to bump up his bedtime a little earlier every night until we reached our goal. It didn't take long, maybe two to three days but consistency was key. We stuck to a set schedule and it saved my sanity and made for much more enjoyable evenings and days too as my son was getting the sleep he needed. All the best to you, M.
If you're reading BabyWise, it does work for older babies too. You said it yourself - she's running your house, and it needs to be the other way around. She'll continue to run your life if you allow it. So just let her know that times are a-changing and that she'll need to fall asleep on her own (although she doesn't yet speak, she probably understands most of what you're saying). Put her down super early (like 6:30pm) and if she fusses a bit, so be it. Make sure she has her binky or lovey or whatever she needs to comfort herself, and let her figure it out. Guaranteed if you stick to your guns and make her stay in bed, she'll come around within a few days! Once she understands that you are running the show, she will happily comply with your wishes. Hang in there - with my older daughter (pre-discovery of BabyWise) our life was like you're describing, so I've been there!!
I am a tried and true Baby Wise user. I have 7 kids and it has worked for all. So let me say first of all the schedule you come up with has to work for your family. Others suggested an early bedtime, that wouldn't work for me due to evening activities and I don't want to be up at 6am. So for 10 months old this is what I would do. Start the day at the same time everyday with nursing and then breakfast. You will have time for her to be up and play, included in that time should be time with you, siblings if able and in the playpen playing alone. She needs to know she can play by herself, she is safe and you will come when she needs you. BTW, she will hate the play pen at first, but stick to it and she will enjoy her time after awhile. Then morning nap for about 2 hours, as others said put her down sleepy. Up and nurse and eat and then play again all over again. Sleep again for 2 hours, then up for dinner and nursing. Finally she has her evening routine of time with Dad, bath, whatever. Nurse and off to bed. Her naps and bed time should be the same time everyday. This will take some work and patience. She won't like the change at first, but then will find comfort in the routine. Blessings.
Stac
There is a book called "Sleep through the night" that has a good section for older infants and toddlers and even addresses naps and what to do for different phases of sleep issues. I can't remember the author but we found it at Barnes and Noble. It helped us alot - we do the bath-sippy cup of milk-book routine and our son almost always goes to bed without complaint. If, however, we try to leave something out (usually bath) - it's a disaster. What works for us is sticking to the EXACT routine no matter where we are - even on vacation. Good luck!
I agree with some of the people who answered before. Children get very wound up when they get "past the point" of tired. Many seem to fight sleep and the parents pay dearly! An earlier bedtime could be your answer. Worked for us.
No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley!!!!
