Need Advice on How to Keep My 11 Months Old Son Sleeping Through the Night

Dear Joy, It will be hard at first to listen to him cry, but it usually only takes about 3 nights then it is done! From the books "Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems" and "Baby Wise" I followed their suggestions and boy does it work. Begin one night and let him cry for 5 minutes. Go in and just comfort him with a soft voice - do not pick him up - do not give him a bottle. Only stay in there for 1-2 minutes. Leave. Wait 10 minutes then repeat the process. While he continues to cry, add 5 minutes to each time you go in to reassure him. One time this process lasted about 1 hour.

The second night you do exactly the same, except you wait 10 minutes until you go in the first time. The third night, wait 15 before heading in the first time.

Usually after 3-4 nights he will learn to put himself back to sleep.

One of the things they say is that you may want to feed him more solid food at dinner so he is not as hungry in the middle of the night. Also, food/drink in middle of night keeps their body more awake and they tend to be more active, not less. They say he may not be getting good sleep after he drinks because it activates the digestive system.

Hope this helps... it's tough at first but worth it for both you and your child in the long run!

God Bless!

I was SO against CIO for so long with Aidan, and then around Christmas, when she was 10 months, I had enough! I wanted my bed back. I wanted to be able to sleep when I wanted, and Aidan had really regressed back to waking multiple times a night just to nurse for comfort. I was tired of being a pacifier. So, I decided to let her cry. We started her on a strict bedtime and naptime, and started putting her down at those specific times, shutting the door and not going in until she was asleep. The first few days were rough. She would cry for 30-45 minutes. One night, she cried for an hour!

We've stuck to our guns, even when company comes or we're off visiting. Aidan goes to bed at 9 every night. Period. End of story, and now, almost 4 months later, she doesn't cry at all when we put her down. We change her diaper, tell her it's bedtime, give her kisses, and lay her down. She normally goes straight to sleep.

Feed him a bedtime snack.

At 12 months wean him to a sipper cup with whole milk in it (unless he is not tolerant of cow milk).

Mine did this for 2.5 yrs and it was no problem as she got older. She learned mom would carry her to the kitchen, get her sippy cup from fridge, hold her for drinks, maybe sit in the rocking chair for a minute, but never for long periods and then put her back into bed. She also learned over time that it was slowly becoming 1 oz instead of 6-8 oz.

Another thing to remember is sometimes they are doing this for comfort more than food/drink. ;-)

ts

When he wakes up just give him a water bottle and leave the room. Don't talk to him and don't turn any lights on. He will eventually get used to this and stop getting up cause he will know that you aren't coming in there to spend time with him. My oldest son did this when he was about 10 months old, I think, and I started to just give him water and not talk to him or turn lights and on and he finally started to not wake up or at least I didn't know that he woke up cause I would never hear him til the morning. They just need to get used to another routine so they can get out of their old one.

I think the best thing to do is to let him fuss for a couple of minutes to see if he goes back to sleep on his own and if he doesn't, then go in and soothe him without picking him up and tell him it's time to go to sleep (or whatever phrase you use...we say "night night time"). If you stop feeding him, he will eventually stop calling for you because he knows he won't get fed. You may try giving him some water or something too, but then he may just start calling you in to get some water. I would try to ignore it for a little bit to let him learn to put himself back to sleep without the feeding and only go in if he hasn't calmed himself within 10 minutes or so. (My pediatrician always said 15 minutes, but that seemed like an eternity to me)

Good luck!

I'm also an only mother of a 10 month old boy. My son started sleeping through the night around 6 1/2 months, I think. BUT I took his paci at 8 1/2 months and he hasn;t sleot through the night since. I think I'm going to start letting him cry it out for a little while so he can learn to put himself back to sleep. The reason I know he only wants attention is b/c when I make his bottle and give it to him...theres been a couple of times he hasnt even drunk it!! He would just be wanting me to come and pat his back. Well let me know if you find out any good information please.