Sleeping Though the Night

OMG...I am in the same exact boat with my 2 year old daughter. I can't get her to gie up her "cuppy" at night therefore she wont sleep through.

I too have a two year old , and three other girls, 10,7,6. Each of them have been different. I know alot of professionals have opinions on sippy cups and bottles, but through my experiance and with my two yearold now, they eventually give it up. Right now it is her comfort, when she finds a new comfort or simply grows out of it, she wont need it. My two year old still has a bottle , none of my other kids did, she was a very sick baby, and that was her comfort. I only give her water for bed with a few drops of juice for flavor, then as soon as she sleeps , I go in and take it. I would ask if she eats very much, or is she attached to the cup all the time, if she is not eating well and only drinking she may feel hungry through the night and wakes up, try buying the parents choice nutrition shake(like ensure) give 1/2 can of it to her in her cup a half hour before bed, she may sleep better being satisfied, then give 1/2 again at breakfast, keep little dishes of cereal setting at her level and keep the cup out of site unless it is meal time, encourage her to be the big girl and put it in the sink, then at meal time have her help get it out. Even at two they strive to be in control and independant, the more you involve her in the daily activities help put shirts in the washer, or put toys in the box, or hold the handle while you vaccum, you find she will not think about the cup so long as she is occpied, and soon it will be a routine to put the cup away in the special place untill dinner. If you are worried about teeth, realistically, if you child gets rid of the cup , bottle , passy or thumb sucking before the adult teeth come in in most cases their teeth will be fine, granted that is contingent on not putting them to bed with juice ect. Of course this is just my experiance and opinion. Also, in adition to the full belly before bed, try soothing music and dim lights , to reasure them if they wake it will not be dark and scary. Good Luck

Hello, I have three children ages 10,7, and 3. In order to get my kids to sleep, per doctor recommedations, I give my kids melatonin. It is all natural and something your body already releases. Since starting this, all three of my childrn have been sleeping through the night.

I would also go with the white noise at night. I've used it with my own kids & even my daycare kids at naptimes so the babies could sleep in the next room to where the kids play. It works miracles! As far as the sippy cup goes...I would go cold turkey! She's old enough a couple nights should take care of it, but it also depends what you out in it, water, not such a problem but milk is NOT good for her teeth all night, besides she's old enough she doesn't need that kind of drink at night time. I would let her have one cup before bedtime routine starts and then brush, bath book, whatever you guys do, then bed, no more until morning. This could be contributing to the night time stuff too if she thinks she needs it to sleep. I don't meant to sound bossy, just trying to help! Hope you find something that works for you both!

I wasn't a huge fan of just letting my child cry it out so I found a gentler way. There are some tears involved but this is much gentle. You have to read the book 'Good Night Sleep Tight: the Sleep Lady's Gentle Guide to Get your baby to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up happy' by Kim West. It has great ideas that work! My 1 year old was still waking up every 1-2 hours at night and within 6 days of following the sleep lady's guide, he slept 8 hours straight!! Now he sleeps 10 hours solid every night. See if the library carries the book otherwise I got mine from amazon.com. Hope this helps!

maybe this isn't what you want to hear, but when it come to sleeping that's the only thing i am super stict on. I totally let them "cry it out", and yeah, i think applies for a 2 yr old as well. I would stop going to her in the night. I have a fan in each of my kids rooms to block sound. So that might help with the train.

I know that "CIO" is hard and if you do try it, just know that the first night is the WORST, she'll stay up way long, maybe even a few hours. So try to do it on a night before a day that you don't mind being exhausted, at least i know that when they are crying I can't sleep either.

And any time I've had to make any transition such as no pacifier, no sippy cup, no night time wakings, crib to big bed etc, It take 4 days - that's it! day one and two suck, day three HUGE change, and day 4 perfect! I think CIO is really worth it.

As far as sippy cups in bed. well, again, just don't give it to here. or replace it with something else comforting. Get her a new comfort object - a blanket, a toy etc. I have a hard time with it though. Took me forever to finally take away the pacifier at night i think she was like almost 2 yrs old. I just didn't really care if she had it, so I kept letting her have it. But when she bit it, I was scard she sould choke and that was enough incentive to just take it away.

HTH
M.

Hi S.,
I agree with Tara. When she wakes you probably cuddle, read, ect. with her (which is what she wants). She needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own. I would get a humidifier or something to help put a little noise in her room. Then I would do what Tara says. Don't comfort her at all put her back in her bed then let her cry for 5-10 minutes, go back in and give her a hug and put her back. It may take awile but she needs to learn to fall back to sleep on her own. Good luck.
Chris

I would get a cool mist humidifier. That will help drown out the noise of the train.
When your daughter wakes up in the night what happens? Does she get to come into mommy's bed? Do you get up and read to her or rock her or hold her or watch tv?

My guess is if you are doing any of those things she is going to continue to get up and come to you for that comfort.

My suggestion is this (and you may already do it, I dont know) - when she wakes up, but her straight back into her own bed. Do not hold her, sing to her nothing...tuck her back into her bed, give her a kiss, tell her mommy loves her and to go back to sleep. Then walk out of the room.

If she starts crying when you leave the room let her cry for 5 minutes. Then go back in and repeat the same thing as the first time. If she cries again when you leave the room this time let her cry for 10 minutes and repeat the comforting techniques...next time let her cy for 15 minutes.

Sure you are going to be tired, but with in a week of doing this repeatedlly she should be able to put herself to back to sleep when she wakes up. I did this with both my children (age 2 and 4) and it worked great - I saw it on super Nanny.

If she doesnt already, you may want to get her a blanket or stuffed animal - something to snuggle with and feel safe.
Hope some of this helped.
GOOD LUCK!

put a radio in her room and leave it down enough for her to sleep but it should drown out the train worked for me when my girls were little

What about a fan or radio with the volume turn down in the room to block some the sound. Reward her after so many nights off the sippy something special or do something grown up with her because big people drink from big people glasses.

My 2 year old does the same thing but he's still on the bottle (I had his sister almost immediatly after him so I cant take it away yet or its just crazy in my house) I wouldnt worry so much about the cup right now. I dont know any kids that are older and still take a sippy to bed! Our babies are only little once. The world is a cruel and cold place, lets let them be babies while they still have the chance! As far as the getting up, I try to be as boring as possible. I change his pants, get him a bottle and lay him back down. I dont turn on lights, dont talk to him, and then try to go back to sleep. It seems to get less and less each day.

Hi S.,
Here is an idea that has worked for me in the past. If it is noises that wake her, the trick may be white noise. My youngest was often waken by the neighbor’s barking dogs. With the house so quiet at night it is easy to see where these type noises might be scary.
Try running an humidifier (I prefer cold so to avoid the chance of a burn), a Fan (in hotter weather) or my favorite- music. Specifically the radio. I find that the constant changes between music and quiet talking is the most familiar to children since this is what they hear during the day.
I located a child appropriate station (love songs, religious, etc.) and put the player on a high self out of little hands reach. It worked for me and is worth a try. Good luck!