Sleep Pattern

My daughter went through this too (a couple of times). I would feed her with the lights off (just the night light on) and put her back down right after she's done, then leave the room. She would cry and I would leave it a couple of minutes then go in and lay her down and say goodnight then leave again. I had to repeat a couple of times for a couple of nights then she got into the pattern and realized mommy wasn't there to play. Hope this helps............

M.,>> Your daughter could be going through a growth spurt. She may require more nourishment (maybe add rice to her milk before she goes to bed) . After she eats put her RIGHT back in her crib, tell her goodnight and leave ( DO NOT LINGER). She may cry but she will not die from crying (my husband is a physian). We had to do the Ferber method twice in our son's first year. >>> >From another working mom,> M.

M.,

It could be a couple of things, she may just be going through a growth spurt which will correct itself on its own, or it may be that she is overly tired and needs her nap or sleeping schedule changed extended or she may be older and need a daily nap eliminated or her bedtime pushed later...at her age she should sleep a total of 12-14 hours per day...its she ready for bed a 7:30 or sooner if this is case I would try moving bedtime up, if she is content and playing try moving bedtime back...finally at her age she may be being intorduced to new foods and a dietary change such as a stimulate or allergy could cause this...or even a bit of dehydration; is she getting all the fluids she needs?...there could be a lot of culprits and unfortunately its all trial and error...the only other thing it may be is that she may find she gets to spend peaceful snuggle time with you at this hour especially if she sees you less than normal due to the demand of being a single mother...just some thoughts hope this helps. Wishes, S. www.fcdoulas.org

Dear M.,

Mine's only 6 months old, but he's been sleeping through the night since 9 weeks. A few weeks ago he started waking up because he was rolling over onto his stomach and somehow scooting himself into a corner, which would make him cry. I used the same technique to get him to fall back asleep then, as I did when I was first training him to stay asleep at 9 weeks:

I would tend to him and do whatever was necessary to get him to go back to sleep, but UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES would I ever pick him up or feed him. Usually just some soothing, stroking, shhhhing and the pacifier would do it. I didn't even talk to him, because that would stimulate him and cause him to stay awake longer. The person that gave me that advice (the best advice I ever got, by the way), would turn on the vibration in her bassinet to get her son to go back to sleep, but I didn't have that option. A couple of times I played soothing lullabies on the CD player, but usually it was just stroking, sssshhhing and pacifier. At first, I had to do it repeatedly for a long time. Then on subsequent nights, the time he was awake was shorter and shorter, and now he's back to staying asleep again.

I have read that there are these "reverting to waking up in the night" phases and that you just have to be patient when they happen. And that was the case with me. If, however, you end up feeding your child, you will establish a pattern that can be very difficult to break. Your baby does not need the food, as long as she's gaining weight properly. A friend of mine's baby still wakes up at 2 a.m. in order to get milk, and she's 3 years old now.

I sure hope that helps. It will be difficult the first few nights, but it gets easier and easier, and is so worth it. Good luck!

B.

Hi M.,

My recommendation would be not to give her the bottle and to try to put her back to sleep with as little interaction as bottle. It is a good idea even not to turn on the light in her room but the one in the hallway to her room so that the lights do not wake her up completely. You can soothe her back to sleep like rubbing her back saying shh and leave the room quickly. If she calls for you again you can wait a little longer and then go in her room to soothe her to sleep again keeping the time limited. Sooner or later she will understand that she does not get the attention she is looking for in the middle of the night and she will understand it is not worth waking up at that time. If you provide her the stimulation in the middle of the night she will keep waking up. I hope this helps. Good luck.