Sleeping Through the Night at 15 Months

My two year old still wakes up 2-3 times in the middle of the night. He starts to talk, laugh, cry, and then bounces himself back to sleep. As long you know that he is safe just go back to sleep and he will learn how to put himself back to sleep.

don't get a toddler bed. get a twin bed and put the guard on the side to prevent them falling out at night. i say this because this way you can sleep with him while he gets used to his new big boy bed. also, because the bed is so big, he will less likely to get out and come to you. i did this with boy my daughters when the other baby was coming.

this comes from experience napping changes after you switch beds. I have many friends that once they switched beds the naps because less frequent. my kids, I could not get them down for naps. they basically stopped taking them at 18 months. if they were tired, they would just fall esleep wherever they were.
good luck and congrats on the 2nd baby!

Hi S.,
Sounds like you need to get him on his own a.s.a.p.!
Honestly, you've trained him to get up and get in your bed.
He only knows what he knows. At 15 months I would expect him to know what "I'm tired" means. Tonight when you put him to bed, tell him you're very tired and can not get up to get him and bring him in your bed. Tell him to stay in his bed and wait for morning. I can hear the many moms out there thinking "he doesn't understand"! Well that's exactly how he has learned everything else so far.
I did this with my oldest son when he was 10 months old and I was 7 months pregnant....
First night we let him cry and it lasted 48 minutes (very hard to deal with emotionally)
Second night we let him cry and it lasted 25 minutes
Third night we let him cry and it lasted 12 minutes
Fourth night we didn't hear a peep and slept happily ever after...until the next baby came and then didn't sleep for 6 months again!
If he pukes on himself then clean him up, offer him a drink, hold him for 5 minutes and put him back to bed. This sounds like torture but he will learn and adjust. It's far better to get him trained before the baby comes along so he doesn't associate the new discipline with the baby. The older he gets, the longer the undesireable behavior the harder on everyone.
Just remember this. Babies have no reference point other than their current experiences. It's up to their parents to set the stage for their life for sleep, playmates, food, music and this goes on for the rest of their lives.
You will have a sense of confidence and empowerment once you've trained your baby for sleep it will make the next challenge that much easier.
You can do this! Enjoy your sleep in 4 days.
AC

Hi S.,
I HIGHLY recommend reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth to understand biological sleep rhythms and how to sync with your child's. First, let me start by saying DO NOT put him in a toddler bed until he is older. If you think you have problems now... You didn't mention what your son's sleep schedule is right now, put my daughter's at this age was: wake up 6:30-7am, nap by 12pm, bedtime at 6pm. She went to one nap right after 1 yr but the average 15 month old still naps around 9am and 1pm. My daughter has always been in a hurry to grow up.:) The BIGGEST thing Dr. Weissbluth says causes nightwaking is too late a bedtime. If your son is already napping well and going to bed early, then you need to break the habit. While Dr. Weissbluth says the "cry it out" method will get you the fastest results, he give other options. I used the "modified cry it out" at this age which means I waited 5-10 mins before responding then didn't pick her up or talk. I laid her back down and rubbed her back until she settled down then left. I repeated this, waiting longer each time, until she fell asleep. It took about 7-10 days.When she was a little older I let her cry it out and it took 3 days. You always have to "remind" them after a vacation or illness. The key is consistency. When he is sick, unless he is REALLY sick, don't disturb him. I use a warm mist humidifier with a medicine cup (Vicks makes one) and use the Vicks VapoSteam for coughing. I would be happy to work with you, giving you support and ideas if you want.
Sincerely,
L.

The question of getting toddlers to sleep in their own beds and sleep through the night is asked so frequently that it really should be the subject for a lucrative book! The book, however, would be quite short :-). When your toddler wakes up in the middle of the night, leave him in his crib. Check to be sure he is okay, then get him settled down again, and say goodnight. Do not take him into your bed, even though that would make things easier for you in the short term. Also, there's no reason to believe that changing beds at this early age would help him to sleep better. In fact, he might simply be too young for a toddler bed. Instead, keep bedtime routines and furnishings unchanged. And when your toddler wakes up in the middle of the night, keep your routine in dealing with it consistent: check that your son is okay, get him to lie down and settle in, say goodnight, return to your bedroom. Best wishes!

If you want him to sleep in his crib all night, then you have to leave him in his crib all night. How can he be expected to know that's what you want, when you take him from his crib to your bed every night? As for the "big boy" bed, that will give him the opportunity to get out of bed without your assistance. I don't think that's going to teach him to stay in his own bed. Don't give up the crib until he sleeps there all night. It's going to take a night or two of crying and fussing, but it has to be done if you want to change the habit of his sleeping in your bed and sooner is better than later!

S. -
None of my kids slept through the night consistantly until after 2 years old. Sorry if that discourages you. We have always let our kids sleep with us if they desire and with our last two #3 and #4 we got rid of the crib altogether and had them in our bed, actually we still have both of them in our bed ds is 2 1/2 and dd is 8 months. We have our bed against the wall and it is dd me, ds then hubby ont he outside. We also put our kids in a twin or double bed when we moved them out of our bed sometime between 20 months and 3 years, it varied with the kids and then the bed is big enough that we can lie with them there at bedtime or if they need some middle of the night comfort. You can place the mattress directly on the floor for safety issues. He will be able to get up but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. I reccomend Dr. Sears Nighttime Parenting Book or the No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers. A doctor once told me when he asked where my first born was sleeping and I confessed that it was mostly in our bed, he said "As long as everyone in the bed is happy, it is fine but as soon as someone in the bed is unhappy you need to work out a new solution."

HI S.,
I don't have a lot of advice, but I do have 3 kids (13, 9 and 17 months). My first two were sleeping through the night by 3 months. My son however, 17 months, was a different story. He was sleeping through the night early on, and then stopped. But, at about 10 months or so, I had enough. I knew I could get him to sleep through, as he had done it before. So, I did read some helpful 'sleeping' books I got from the library. I can't recall what they were though, but most recommended a routine. Do you have a routine at night? Whether it's a bath, or a story, or rocking in the chair? What I did was what some might think is harsh, but I started to put him down awake in his bed at night after a drink of water and rocking in his chair, I'd cover him with his blankey, and tell him "goodnight I love you" and I'd leave the room and close the door (not tight, but it looked like it was shut). At first, he cried! But, only for about 20 minutes. Then he woke at 1am. I did not go in, I layed awake listening to him cry for about 40 minutes (on and off). then he went to sleep. yeah! The next night, same thing. He took his bedtime better--just a little cry and he was out. He woke at 1--cried for 10 minutes, went back to sleep. And, he has slept through the night since. Now when I put him to bed at night, I tell him it's nigh-night time, and he grabs his blankey, blows kisses to everyone and walks to his room! It still shocks me every night. :-) We do a little drink of water, rock, I tuck him in his crib and rolls over and goes to sleep. Probably doesn't happen for everyone, but it worked for me. From what I read in the books, it could take much longer since your son is older. May take a week, but if you stay firm with what you want, it will happen. :-) Good luck to you!!
J.

Hi S.,
My name is D.. I Have 3 grown children and 1 17th month old grandaughter,the light of my life, (that sleeps through the night) and one grand child on the way. I am also a child care provider for infants to 2 years old. I have shared the book "Baby wise" with so many mothers.I highly recommend this book. The philosophy works very well. You do not have to follow the book word for word but I believe there will be a few points in it to help you and your son. There are two books. Birth to 15 months and 15 months up. I would read them both. They are easy reading and WILL work.(One week and he WILL be sleeping through the night). I know you can get them at Borders. Please let me know how all goes for you. Congratulations on your next one. When is the baby due? Boy or Girl? I wish you all the best. Babies are such a blessing!
D. :) aka Grammy
____@____.com

First of all, on the question of big-boy beds vs. cribs-- I'd wait till after the sleep training is done. It's hard to make him 'cry it out' if he can just get out of bed. As for sleep training-- I know it's hard to go through, but believe me-- once you're done you'll wish you'd done it sooner-- everyone sleeps so much better!
Good luck!

hey S.,
I had almost the exact same post minus the pregnancy part a few months ago if you want to look at all the great responses i got.
And what I figured out is that they will just decide to do it on their own, the week after I posted my request my son started sleeping thru the night! LOL but it also was a bunch of other stuff like teething, he was hungry and stuff. So just try to feed him a snack like oatmeal to fill him up before bed, if that might be part of why he is waking up. If teething is part of it give him a pain reliever like tylenol before bed, teething tabs, ice water...all those things worked for my son too.
Good luck! I promise eventually they do sleep in their own bed but you should try to stop putting him in bed with you, that just reinforces him getting up in the middle of the night.

My son (now 22 mths) didn't start sleeping through the night until 15 mths - we worked diligently using material from "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" & "Solve You Child's Sleep Problems" by Ferber, but we started at around 7 mths & it still took awhile.

Even though he was sleeping alright in his crib he never slept when we traveled, so at the advice of his ped, we moved him into a regular twin bed. I bought the longest bedrail I could find. He cried for about 3 seconds & promptly fell to sleep the first night!! I thought it would take a week of transition, so we left his crib up in the same room, but he slept through the night just fine in the big bed. I would do it younger if I had to. There have been times he's tried to get out, but that's the beauty of putting them in when they're younger - the desire isn't as strong as when they're older. I put the back of his rocking chair at the end of the bed & put a small pillow near the head of the bed so it "felt" like he was enclosed, like in his crib.

If you go with a toddler bed, just remember that you'll eventually need to make another transition into a bigger bed. Good luck - I know how trying these times can be!!

If you want him to sleep thru the night in his own bed, then you have to make that decision & stick to it. Being consistent w/something like this is the key. Find a program/book you like & stick to it. Don't waiver in any way. Kids are smart & if he sees that you're not being consistent, he'll use that to his advantage. Even if he gets sick, just stay in his room w/him. Even tho your kids will be so close in age & you'll want that crib for the baby, I say still keep your older son in it so he doesn't feel any anomosity about giving it up to the new baby. Have the baby sleep in a bassinet or a pac-n-go til your son is at least two. Our younger son slept in the pac-n-go in our room for 6 months until we were sure he was solidly sleeping thru the night & could move into the crib to share a room w/his big brother. FYI- our boys are 4.5 yrs apart so the crib was in storage & then put up just waiting for little brother to use. If money isn't a problem, buy a second crib, maybe a friend has one you can borrow, look on Craig's List or at kids' resale stores. My two cents, 15 months is just too young to not sleep in a crib. And, to be honest, toddler beds are kind of a waste of money as in another year or so, you'll be forking out the moola for a twin mattress, box spring, bed frame & the gates. Fifteen months is sitll a baby, so let him stay the baby until his sibling comes along. Hope this helps & good luck.

Have you thought about having a toddler bed in your room to start him out? It sounds like he's just not ready to be separate, but maybe that will help him ease into it gradually, so it's not a all or nothing by the time the new baby is about to arrive. Good luck...you'll figure it out! Do what feels right for your family.

When my son was 13 months old, I got pregnant with my second and we were in the same position as you. When he turned 16 months, we bought him a full sized bed so that if he woke up in the middle of the night, my husband could just go in with him. After he fell asleep my husband would come back in our room, but many times he fell asleep and finished out the night our son's room. Gradually he learned to sleep through the night and in the mean time, I got my much needed rest, because my husband could go in with him.

We had the bed against the wall so that he would not fall out. Now, my younger 15 month old son sleeps in the full sized bed with his brother. It is so cute! Congratulations and good luck!

Just went through this with my year old, who JUST started sleeping through the night last month.

THE SLEEP LADY'S GUIDE AWESOME! Very well known and founda t any bookstore. It is a book written by a pediatrician it is simple and you don't have to read the whole thing at once--tough to do with no sleep, working and a toddler. It is practical and if you follow it, you will train in 2 - 3 nights. You read the 1st 3 chapters (about an hour) and skip to your child's age. It tells you how much they should be sleeping, a sample schedule. Provides the basics of understanding sleep and scheduled and gives SPECIFIC and REALISTIC advice. I couldn't handle the 'put your baby down and let him scream approach. This is a softer approach. Highly reccomend A.S.A.P. I would have been sleeping for 1 year and a half longer. If you don't do it now, it will continue and be harder later.

Hope it helps...

About me--a mother of 4 and work FT as Training Officer for the State and Monavie distributor. MA ed. in Education, former teacher. All that knowledge and experience with this child who was retrained to NOT sleep with a move and a few illnesses and got used to sleeping in bed. that's all it takes to get off track. J. O

I would be concerned with him getting out of bed all the time if you switched him to a toddler bed. If he is not climbing out of his crib, I would keep him in his crib as long as possible. He might also fall out of the toddler bed and I heard it can be hard to find safety rails for toddler beds. Good luck.

My number one advice is to not stress about the social presure to "sleep train" your child. yes, it is nice to sleep all night, but the most important thing is for you to be ok with it. If your ok don't worry about it. At 15 months my children have been fine on a trundle bed. When they climbed into bed with me I would take them back to there bed and lay down next to them and then return to my bed when they would fall asleep. Soon they would stand and look at me instead of climbing into my bed and eventually they would stay in there own beds most of the time. good luck and enjoy him.