My husband and I are exhausted. Our 20 month old daughter wakes up several times a night crying & won't go back to sleep unless we bring her in bed with us. At first we were able to give her a pacifier & she'd lay back down & go back to sleep but it's not that easy anymore. We've tried letting her cry it out but after an hour & 1/2 of trying to calm her, making sure she's ok (she is) and trying to ignore it we give in. I know we're adding to the problem but we both work full time and need our sleep! When she is in bed with us, she's quiet but rolls & kicks constantly so we're not sleeping well then either. Does anyone have any great tips on getting them to sleep in their own bed? I'm open to any suggestions you may have. We're so tired and frustrated!
Thanks for all the great advice Ladies! We have success!! We decided to start letting her cry it out on Friday night & see how the weekend would go. Friday night was terrible. She woke up 4x that night crying & wanting in our bed. We didn't give in! I did notice that each time she woke up, She would cry for less time before going back to sleep. Saturday night she woke up once and cried for 10 minutes, Sunday she woke up once & cried for about 5 & last night she didn't wake up at all!! It was tough but totally worth it. I just can't belive we waited so long! Thanks for all the great advice!
I highly recommend the book "The Sleep Easy Solution". It's a good mix between letting kids cry it out and rocking/sleeping in bed with you. The authors give lots of explanations and very helpful advice. It worked great for my son. He's 20 months now and sleeps wonderfully. Good luck!
you can get her to sleep through the night in her own bed, but it will take some work after teaching her otherwise.
the previous post is right, she has learned that the pattern is, cry for 30 min, mom and dad check in, cry my crazy histerical cry and they come get me and i get in their bed like i wanted.
we let our daughter cry and it took her 3 nights. HARD nights, but it was worth it. but lots of people arent ok with that approach. IF you are gonna let her cry you have to really be committed to it.
if not... i like "the baby whisperer" she has a good plan for ending bad nighttime patterns, without crying it out. and i like her approach to respecting children, and teaching them new habits. BUT it means committing to a week of less sleep ad being willing to stick it out. not just one day, or a few days, but really doing it until she is fine in her own bed. and BOTH you and your husband have to be together on this.
if you are both just waiting for the other one to give you the OK to give in, it wont work.
i know that when you really need sleep it is hard to think of getting LESS sleep to help the problem. it seems better to get interupted sleep with kicking than not enough.... BUT it really is better to dig your heels in, and soon she will be giving you the real uninterupted sleep that you need.
good luck! you can do it!
G. - i will be of no help to you! LOL... I had my kids sleep with me until age 2 and transition directly to a toddler bed.... I woudl lay with them until fell asleep in their beds....I worked full time and I NEEDED MY SLEEP so what worked for us was to snuggle them right into bed with us...everyone slept and when we were ready to transition it was during vacation time. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.. they say it only takes about 3 days so maybe start on friday night to let her cry it out, saturday will be less time, sunday will be less and by mondya night she should be sleeping fine....
My doctor told me to try benedryl. when my son was having the same prob, he said to give him benedryl right b4 bedtime for about a week and it will break the cycle. it worked for us
I don't have any advice but am in the same boat as you....curious to see responses!!
Could she be getting her 2yr molars? My daughter went through that around that age, and it turned out to be the teeth!
Making sure hydration levels are adquate & sufficient amount of exercise are ALSO KEY. Make going to bed SPECIAL. Start reading books, music, etc but ONLY in her room. Talk alot about how special her room is and encourage her to WANT to be there.
She might be teething. Try giving her some Tylenol. We are going through the same thing with my son. And sometimes I will just lay down on the floor next to him in his room. That usually calms him down enough to go back to sleep. I wait for a while and then sneak out.
If you try letting her cry it out for 30 minutes but you give in, she learns that "If I cry loud enough, they'll come and get me and let me sleep in their bed." She will continue this pattern because it will become 'learned behavior' and she will expect you to come.
There are many different philosophies on how to do this, but if your child was sleeping just fine in her own crib then there's really no reason why she cannot go back to that same routine/expectations.
If you're okay with bringing her to your bed, continue to do that. If you want her to go back to her regular sleeping patterns, you may need to endure a few nights of letting her cry.
