Sleep Solutions

I don't know what you find when she wakes you. Is she wet in a cloth diaper? If so, switch to store bought for nighttime. Is she poopy? Look at her eating schedule and see if you can slide it to adjust her time for this. Is she hungry due to growth spurt? Try a heavier meal at dinner time to help her through the night. Is she thirsty? Put a leak-proof sippy cup of water in her crib at bed time so she can easily find it herself. How many naps a day is she taking? Maybe it's time to ween her off one of them? If she only naps once a day see if you can back it up so it's farther away from her bed time. Even if she naps twice a day, see if you can do both shorten her morning nap and back up her afternoon one away from bed time.

If she's not ill or teething actively, you need to start doing some tough love. Let her wake and then put herself back to sleep. This will be exhausting for the first week maybe two. Then she'll start to get it that you're not coming and she needs to go back to sleep without you. This is harder on you and your spouse than it is on her. The two of you may even fight over it, we did. However, stay strong it's better for the whole family. Sometimes my husband was stronger than I and he'd encourage me to hold on, just one or 5 more minutes. Sometimes it was me holding him back from going to our crying one.

If you need it, check the clock to see how long she cries. No matter how long it is always wait one more minute. Sometimes she may cry for an hour, still wait one more minute. She may even sleep while crying sometimes. The minute she hears you move out of your bed, and she can hear you, she'll get louder in anticipation of your rescue. So train her and yourself to let her rescue herself.

Also, sometimes a baby monitor can be a bad thing during this process. You wake to her slightest sound. Maybe without the monitor you won't hear the very early signs of waking and she'll just fall back asleep since you aren't moving and coming down the hall. Your movement in the house could be enough to fully rouse her from a half-hearted wakening. We all go through these changes in depth of sleep throughout the night, she just needs to know how to not come completely out of sleep.

It's the same thing as when she falls and scrapes her knee. Do you smile and encourage her to get up and keep going or do you suck in a gasp and run to her rescue? Teach her to know that it hurts but she can come to you for help if she needs it and you'll be as loving and compassionate as she could ever need. Instead of her wallowing in the surprise and pain of a minor injury waiting for a savior. It's the same thing with sleep, independence is taught, it's not an instinct.

Just know and be confident in that if you put your daughter to bed healthy and satisfied she can make it through the night on her own. I know some things develop during the night, like ear infections. Follow your instincts and listen to her cry. You know which cry is for pain, hunger, a messy diaper, or "I miss you." Good luck and be strong knowing your whole family will be so much happier with a good nights sleep. It's only two weeks away!

K.

Oh, do I have the book for you! Go to Amazon.com and search for "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weisenbluth. It changed my life when I had my daughter. We went through 8 months of what you're going through and I was desperate. My good friend and mother of 4 children sent this book to me. I was so desperate I started the program while we were on vacation. It took about 3 days for her to get on schedule and she has been a great sleeper ever since. She's now 3. My family and friends are amazed at how easy bedtimes are and what a great napper she is. She still naps 2 hours a day and sleeps 12 hours straight at night. Can't beat that!I just had twins and am using it on them, except this time was able to start from scratch. They are great sleepers too and it has made my life much easier. Just because your daughter is already 18 mos old doesn't mean it's too late. BUT! You HAVE to follow his advice. I promise you that if you do it, it will work. Just remember that she won't die or even hurt herself from crying. She won't blame you when she's an adult for letting her cry! You will be doing HER and YOURSELVES a huge favor. Dr. Weisenbluth gives you many options, not just crying it out. That's just what we had to do. I used to have to take a bath while she cried or go for a walk because it was hard for me to listen to. I really loved this book because it broke down sleep patterns/habits by age. It was easy to just thumb through and find what I needed. Great trouble shooting questions too. I think it specifically addresses nighttime wakefulness. I think it all has to do with naps. Good luck!

Have you tried Melatonin? It is a natural substance your body makes and it helps you sleep well. You can get it in liquid or tablet form on amazon. Our pediatrician recommends it because it helps the kids sounder and rests well. We call it the nighttime vi-te (vitamin). The commissary does carry it as well in a table form and some PXs do, but not our tiny one here in Ansbach, Germany.
A.

My youngest son it 2 and a half. He just started sleeping through the night a few weeks ago. I tried everything, making sure he did not have anything to drink after a certain time so he would not wake up wet. I would make sure the room was not too hot and not too cold. Even went to far as to see what pj's (or just diaper) made more comfortable. It had gotten to the point that he got used to waking up in the middle of the night, so his body just started doing. Old habits kind of thing. Unfortunately, for him and us; we had to wait it out. So I would say try everythign you can think of, and see. Sometimes the simplest things can make the difference. I wish you luck, and if I ccome across anything else will send it your way.

When she wakes up crying do you go in and pick her up? How we got past that is that my husband cracked open her door and sat in the hallway where she couldn't see him. That way we knew she was ok. We just let her cry it out. She spent a couple of nights crying for and hour or so, but it only lasted 3 or so nights and she got the idea that no one was going to come in and/or pick her up so she went to sleep.