looking for some tips here...
my son just turned one and he still gets up one time during the night. when he gets up he's crying then drinks and falls right back asleep. he doesn't want to play he just wants to eat and get back to bed. i just want to break him of this habit and would like to know the best way for both him and me. i realize that he doesn't "need" to eat during the night but sometimes i just find myself on auto-pilot and i'm already in his room before i know it! ladies - please help me with a game plan! i'd love for him to soothe himself to sleep and for me to get a little more sleep too!
here's some background info - we have a bedtime routine (bath, cuddle & story time then a bottle), he usually goes to bed around 7:30pm, somedays he takes 2 naps a day (one around 9am and the other around 2pm) - somedays it's only one longer afternoon naps - trying to get this worked out better but for now he seems to be in a transition.
thanks so much!!
A question first, is he off the bottle during the day? If not I would start there. Then, I would put a sippy of water in his crib at night see if that works. It may take a few nights but I am thinking that eventually if he has to do it himself he wont be that interested. Hope this helps!
Sounds like you're doing everything pretty "textbook" right, and it was right where my daughter was at that age as far as naps, bedtime, etc. She started sleeping through the night around 9 or 10 months. Between about 6 months and when she started sleeping through the night, every month or so I would choose a night and let her "cry it out" for a little while when she woke up. Usually she'd start really screaming and I'd go feed her. Then one night (around 9 or 10 months old) she never actually started screaming and instead cried for a bit and then got quiet and went back to sleep. The key was that from that point on I didn't get up again to feed her, and instead let her go back to sleep each time she woke up. She was sleeping through the night within a few nights. Not sure this will work for you, but it did for us. Good luck!
my 13 mo still takes two naps and every once in while she does get up and will have a sippy of milk and will go right back to bed (after a quick teeth brush) she does have a sippy with water in her crib, there are times she will have a quick drink and is out. maybe put a sippy of water might help. also he may not like it if his diaper is really wet, that will wake my dd so a change a little love and back out again. I know this sucks now but things will level out. gl
My grandmother told me that she used to leave a peanut butter sandwhich on a table within reach of the crib for one of my uncles. Haha...I never resorted to this myself.
Hi,
You didn't mention whether you were nursing him when you go in at night "on auto pilot" or if you're taking him a bottle. I think sometimes it's just the comfort of the breast that they like waking up for :). My son has just turned one, and we started weaning him of the 1-2 night nursings he was still having, around 9 months old. When he woke up my husband would wait 10 mins to see if he'd settled back down, if not, he would go in with a bottle with a couple of ounces of expressed milk. The next night, if necessary, he would go in with water. After a couple/few nights DS cottoned onto the fact that mom wasn't coming in :), and he started sleeping through and was sleeping a solid 11 hours for ages.
Having said that, my son has started waking up again around 4ish. My husband travels sometimes for work, so unless he's home, I have to be the one to go in and there is NO WAY my boy will accept a bottle or just a cuddle from me when he knows my breasts are nearby. He is getting his molars in so I imagine that is what started it all, but can't be sure. However, honestly, I'm kinda ok with it. I figure if I let him CIO or whatever, I'm already awake, and feeling anxious because he's upset, and he'll just wake up in another hour and a half anyway and he'll be up for the day. If I nurse him at 4:30, it's still dark enough that he goes back to bed pretty easily (usually) and then we all get to sleep in till 7:30 or 8am! If I'm going to wake up anyway, I'd rather have the option of a better lie-in. I might live to regret it :), but I'm taking that road for right now.
Their schedules seem to be exactly the same - we also sometimes do a one nap day instead of 2 naps. It's a definite transition time. Best of luck to you!
your kid is still teething. and getting in the very big painful teeth. My daughter started sleeping through the night as soon as she was done teething. some kids can handle pain better than others. also maybe its dry at night in his room? i drink in the middle of the night. why not leave a sippy cup with water in his bed so he can access it if he wants?
I left a sippy cup (Nubby) with water in my kid's cribs and now they have the sippy cup on their headboard (on most nights, they wake up, take a drink and then go right back to bed).
Both of my children - now 15 months and the other 3 - had to be night weaned. We were finally ready around 10 months old when I knew that they were able to make it through the night and were just waking out of habit to have some "nums". I highly recommend the program found at www.sleepyplanet.com. It shows you on an easy video (for tired parents) how to night wean easily with the least amount of crying possible. Follow exactly what they say and baby will be sleeping through the night in less than two weeks. Good luck!
