Sleep Problems - Sugar Land,TX

Your daughter is just developing a normal human sleep cycle. Every 90 minutes or so (varying by a few minutes from person to person), you partially awake and re-situate yourself. Now, imagine in that partial wakening, your pillow has slid off the bed. You reach over, grab it, and fall back to sleep, without really waking completely. You are the substitute for the pillow while your daughter falls asleep. When your daughter wakes, she is looking for her "pillow," and when you aren't there, she cries for you to come back. She needs to fall asleep on her own, and in the place where she will spend the night. It will be easier for her during those "partial wakenings" in the middle of the night if everything is the same as it was when she fell asleep.

I highly recommed the book "Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Dr. Ferber. It was a real sanity saver for us. In a nutshell, Ferber recommends that after you put your child down, she will cry of course, go in after 3 minutes or so, comfort her, and leave again. Then go in again 5 minutes later, then 7 minutes, then 10. But don't go to 13, just keep going in in 10 minute intervals. Eventually, your daughter will fall asleep. (Set a naptime window of, say, 3 hours. If she doesn't sleep, then she's just missed it.) Also, waker her at the usual time in the morning while your "training." It will only take 3 nights, and you'll have a good sleeper. We noticed that our child was a significantly happier little girl once she was putting herself down for naps and bedtime, and sleeping through the night.

Hang in there, mamma!

Read "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg. She'll teach you how to train your baby to self-soothe and go to sleep on her own without having to cruely let her 'cry it out'.
Good luck!

I agree that you should make sure she's not overtired by 2:00. It seems that there's this little window for successful napping/sleeping and when they get overtired it's harder. Once you're comfortable with that, I suggest a routine (like read a book, say a quick prayer) that she can get used to that sort of signals it's nap/bed time. Then you give her a kiss and put her in bed with her favorite stuffed animal or lovie and walk away. Going back in to try to comfort only made things worse with my kids, too. If you remain firm and not go back in, she will learn that you mean business and her "episodes" will decrease in length and eventually stop. It really might take a while! The iron will of babies is amazing! While it's agonizing for you, helping her learn to sleep without assistance will be of huge benefit to her and you. It's worked for my three kids! Hopefully this will be of some help to you.

Hi! I think the first 'problem' is that you let her fall asleep in your arms. You say she was a good sleeper, but this indicates she wasn't 'sleep trained' so it's understandable that she is going through this now.

Some children need help falling asleep. For naps, you might try a nap mat, like daycare. Then you can sit on the floor with her and pat or rub her back. Those who 'sleep train' don't usually like this method but since you're already holding her this shouldn't be a problem. You can put soothing music on, lay her on the mat, and gently brush your hand over her eyes to get them to close. Then pat or rub her back. At first you can do it until she falls asleep (and there might be a bit of fighting at first.) But as she gets used to this method at nap time you can work on pating/rubbing her for shorter periods of time until you only do it for a couple of minutes and then stop (but stay with her.) Eventually she may be able to handle you walking away BEFORE she goes to sleep. This is a good way to sleep train a toddler without just letting them 'cry it out.' It's kind of a compromise between attachment parenting and CIO.

Of course, this same method can be done in her crib but she might be more resistant. In day care we usually took the babies out of bed around their first birthday and put them on cots to sleep. The reason was because they were going to 1 nap a day and they would be doing that in the toddler room. Also, they nap after lunch, about 12/12:30. It may be that your daughter is too tired, sometimes when you wait too long to put a child down for a nap it causes more sleep problems!

Does she have a special blanket or toy? If not, this is a good time to introduce one (but if possible trade it out with another like item so she doesn't get too attached, or have several of the same item.) My two that seemed to need extra help sleeping befitted greatly with a special blanket. They used the blanket to self soothe rather then ME.

S., mom to 5 ages preborn to 5 years old and have a CDA in infant AND preschool child development and LOTS of day care experience!

Usually, it takes 3 days to break a habit-possibly let her scream and cry for 3 consecutive days, then walla! Thats how I broke my children.