13 Month Old Doesnt Want to Sleep Through the Night Anymore!!!

Hi M.,
I went though a similar situation a couple of weeks ago with my 14 month old son. He would wake up right on schedule at about the same time every night. We thought he might be teething so we gave him some teething tablets to soothe the pain but that didn't help. So either my husband or I would rock him to sleep, sometimes it took over an hour. A friend of mine suggested getting rid of one of his naps because he might be getting too much sleep during the day. So we went from 2 naps to 1 and since then he hasn't gotten up at all at night.

You said that she is taking 3 naps a day, I would get rid of one and see if that helps. Also get some teething tablets and see if that helps, her gums maybe hurting at night.

Hope this helps and hope you can get back to sleeping at night.
R.

M.,
My son, who is almost two, experience the same situation. I started doing some research on the Internet and it turns out he didn't really need the milk or diaper change at night. We put a little light on his room in case he felt afraid of being alone. He just wanted Mom and Dad to be with him. So we talked about it and we decided to be brave and stop paying attention to his requests. We would let him cry and just go to his room to console him and go back to our bedroom. There is a technique in which you console him briefly and go. Wait a minute and go back to console him and go. Wait two minutes and go back; and so on. The first night, it took him a while to go to sleep; but the second night he did his tantrum just for a little while. Now he sleeps through the whole night. Maybe he realized he was not going to get anything out of Mom and Dad and he got tired of asking. I hope this helps you.
A..

My son did this and my ped said to wean him off these feedings. It's like if you ate a sandwich at midnight each night for a week. On the eigth night you will be hungry at midnight because your body has gotten used to eating then. Try givin her less and less until there is none. Then just comfort her for a minute or so, and then make that shorter and shorter, too. Eventually she will get the idea. I would cut her down to two naps so that she is tired enough to sleep at night. Some 13mo still take 2, many go down to one. I'd take away one and then after awhile try going to one. If it does't work I'd call the ped to make sure there isn't an underlying prob.

Hi M.:

When my daughter was about that age (she's 18 months now), I reduced her to 1 nap per day. That seemed to really help keep her asleep through the night. She usually wakes up around 8 or 9 in the morning and then naps for about 2-2 1/2 hrs in the afternoon. If you don't want to cut out any of her naps, my suggestion would be to make sure she is taking them early enough in the day that by bed time she is tired enough to sleep soundly. And maybe try putting her down a little later (not sure what her bed time is). My daughter goes to bed around 9 pm. But try to change it as soon as possible so she doesn't get used to this and make a routine out of it. Good luck, hope this helps some.

She may be going through a growth spurt. Have you tried giving her a little snack before bed? My kids like yogurt and graham crackers. My son started doing that as well, but he wouldn't go back down, turned out he had bilatteral ear infections. I hope that's not the case with your daughter, but if it doesn't improve you may want to take her in to have her checked out to be on the safe side. Be sure to get your nap when she takes hers. It will help. Good luck!

Hi M.!

It sounds like she's gotten used to waking to eat and her body is telling her it's time to wake up and eat. As long as you are offering her the bottle, she will continue to wake up for that feeding. The easiest way to break this is to gradually each night offer less in her bottle until the last night you don't offer the bottle, just a pacifier. So if you have been giving her an 8 oz bottle, tonight offer her 6 oz, then the following night offer her 4 oz, and the following night offer her 2 oz and then finally offer her 1 oz and then nothing or a pacifier , if she takes one. I would also try to eliminate one of her naps during the day, usually by a year most children transition to one long nap in the afternoon. She will sleep much better through the night. I wish you all the best!

Maybe she is ready to cut down on naps. Maybe 2 naps would be enough so that she is really tired when she goes to bed and sleeps through the night. The only other thing I can think of is give her a bedtime snack. Something that will stick with her like crackers or bread. If she doesn't drink much when you give her a bottle in the middle of the night, maybe just stop giving her the bottle and just lay her back down. My oldest son was the same way. Started sleeping through the night at 8-10 weeks and around 1 yr old would get up periodically. (Not as much as yours, but still frustrating) We eventually just would go in, tell him "no it is bed time" and lay him back down. Sometimes patting his back while laying in the crib so he wouldn't just stand back up. After a while he learned that Mommy wasn't going to come in and pick him up whenever and that he was suppose to be sleeping at night. Stick with it... it WILL get better. Good Luck!

What time does she go to bed? I found that if I put my son to bed too early, he woke up at about 4AM and refused to go back to bed. His bedtime is 9pm now, even though he's less than 2.

You might try a little solid food right before bed. If she's waking up because she's hungry, it could help her stay asleep. A friend of mine would mix some cereal in with her son's evening bottle, because she said it helped him sleep through the night. Or you could just do a little bit of cereal mixed with hot water or formula right before bed.

When you give her the bottles, does she drink them all? Is she playing with them? Is she maybe only sucking for comfort?

If she's hungry, the cereal or solids before bed might help. If she's needing to suck for comfort, you might try introducing a pacifier. Sometimes they just need that comfort.

If she's playing...you might have to bite the bullet and try letting her cry it out. We battled with my son...it's worse for us because we have a two bedroom house and we use one bedroom as an office, so we're all crowded in one sleeping room. So he can see us laying right there, and see that we're obviously not picking him up. If she has her own room, you might have it a little easier.
Instead of picking her up, try just hugging her while she's still in the crib, and telling her that you love her, but she needs to stay asleep. Then kiss her and leave the room. It will break your heart....after doing that, I sat on the couch and listened to my son scream angrily for 45 minutes before he dropped off. The next night, we repeated this, but he only cried for 30 minutes. Next night it was 50 minutes, and the next night it was 10, then 5, and then he didn't wake up at all.
We got out of the habit of sleeping through the night again when he stayed with grandma and grandpa for a few days. So we had to repeat the process, but it went faster the second time...only two nights of screaming fits.

I hope this helps...of course, there's no wrong way to be a mom, so you can make your own decisions and do what seems best to you. But you have the right to a night of sleep...and if she's not hungry or hurting, a good healthy cry never hurt anyone! (I know, I'm so cruel that way. But I figure, if you're cranky, you can't be at your best with them during the day, right?) I wish you the best!

~J.

A 13 mos old does not need 3 naps a day, that may be your problem and at her age she is programmable. Meaning she should be able to go all night without eating, if she gets it a few nights she will just do it automatically now as she is using that to soothe herself. Make sure she has a full belly right before bed. Maybe letting her cry it out for a bit too, or find some other way then eating to comfort her at night. At 1 years old she could be ready just for one good nap a day, my son did this at 15 mos and he slept great at night. I would let him sleep from noon until 2:00 and then put him down at 7:00 and he slept until 7:00 the next morning.
I also got my son off the bottle at 14 mos too which helped tremendously, we put them in the garbage, picked out sippy cups and said that he was a big boy now. I really suggest not letting her sleep three times a day, the last nap going no later then 2pm and making sure she is dry, has a full belly before bedtime.

Have you tried just letting her cry it out? It sounds like now its become a habit for her to wake up. You could try and slip her a pacifier instead of a bottle, making it a quicker process for you.
Also, maybe co-sleeping for a while, at least until she's back to sleeping through the night, might be a good option.
Also you might want your fiance to be the one to get up for a whole weekend so you can catch up on some much needed z's. Good luck !

I have three children of my own and I have found that only one good nap in the afternoon, after dinner, is adequate. When it is nice outside I make sure that they get plenty of outside time ~ the fresh air does wonders! It may be her teeth or that she simply needs "mommy time". My youngest daughter is 10 months old and I have been trying what others have said to try, such as reassuring her that I am still present and that it is time to sleep and returning in five minutes increments into her cry. This seems to be working quite well for me and hopefully soon we can put an end to sleepless nights. Good luck!
K.

She shouldn't need a bottle at night. Personally, I would go in there, make sure she's OK and then leave. Let her work it out. If you continue to cater to her, she'll get the idea and come to expect mommy to show up with a bottle and soon she won't let up until that is exactly what she gets. She may also be teething, that always wakes my little one up at night. Not much I can do though, she usually falls back a asleep within a few minutes.

My daughter had a really hard time sleeping through the night from birth until about 10 months old. When I asked my doctor about it, he said to make sure to only give her 2 naps a day, max. Also, to make sure she doesn't sleep past 4 o'clock in the afternoon. And, as an added effort, we play really hard after dinner to tucker her out, and then read her a book right before bed time so that her brain has some processing to do (which is what a lot of scientists believe is the reason we need sleep.) Additionally, at 13 months old, she should be okay to make it through the night without a bottle, but if she wants one and you give it to her, you are teaching her that if she wakes up and wants a bottle, you will give her one. If you stop obliging to her request, it may be rough for a few nights, but soon she will realize that you are not going to give her what she wants and stop trying altogether. I hope this helps. Good luck, I know what it feels like to be sleep deprived... :)

Does your little one fall asleep with the bottle? WE have found that teaching our kids (now 2 1/5 years and 3 1/2 mos) to go down awake has been key. They have to learn to fall asleep on their own and it may just be that your little one is waking up and has not mastered the ability to go to sleep without assistance of the bottle. I have a great resource in terms of a book that describes a method to teach them this. Let me know if you would like it.

Good luck!

I have a 2 year old daughter and those sleep routines are evry changing. First of all I think 2 naps at 13 months is great....one in the am and one in the afternoon, 1 to 2 hours max. 3 is probably too many. At night it is very important not to get her out of bed. She is old enough now that she doesn't need to be fed. She is just wanting mama to get her and comfort her. I would just go in their and lay herback down, without picking her up, and tell her night night and leave. Of course she will cry again. Give her about 5 or ten mintues of crying and repeat going in and laying her down agian. Don't feed her though. This has obviously turned into a bad habit and it is up to Mommy to change it. Her crying will be worse on you than it is on her, but the payoff is both of you will get a good night sleep and be happier in the am. It might take a few night or even a week but until you stop letting her out of bed she will never stop. My baby is 2 and she still does it once in a while and it breaks my heart not to pick her up whenshe is crying "mama, mama, mama" Godd luck

M.,

First, you are not alone. Second, waking through the night comes and goes. In the book "What to Expect the Toddler Years" there are actually references to "Waking at 12, 24 and 36 months" It has alot to do with teething, but that's not the only reason that they wake up. My five and a half year old has been waking me up every night for a month to take her potty, because she is afraid of the dark. She has four night lights in her bedroom, one in the hall and one in the bathroom. But she runs into my pitch black bedroom to wake me up and take her potty!?!? Ahh motherhood. No one said it was easy, just survivable.
Keep in mind that she is not waking to make you crazy and with persistence on your part, you can resolve this in about a week. If she is teething (now or next time she starts waking up in the middle of the night) giving motrin will help with the pain and she'll likely sleep throught the night. I ususally gave it for 2 or 3 nights and then they were fine. But, because she has been doing this a few months it has become habit to her (and you :} ) so you need to break the habit. At 13 months she does not need the bottle or to be feed at night. And giving her a bottle in bed could cause ear infections and will rot her teeth. So my suggestion is.....
Continue with he normal bed time routine. When she wakes during the night, check on her to make sure that her clothes aren't wet (diaper leaked), then tell her good night and go back to bed. She will cry because she wants you to pick her up and feed her. Remember, this has become her routine and you are changing it and she will not like it. Let her cry for about 5 minutes, you will need to watch the clock or you will go back in after 2. If she is still crying, go in, lay her down, give her a kiss and walk out of the room. This time wait 10 minutes before you go back in, if she cries. Keep increasing the time by 5 minutes. Eventually she will go to sleep. This will go on for 5-7 nights and then she will sleep through the night for awhile and so will you. If you pick her up, talk to her, give in to her... then you will have to start the process over and it will only take longer. I know this sounds hard and it will not be easy, but it will allow you both to get back in the habit of sleeping through tbe night. Also, when she starts waking up at 24 and 36 months or any other time, you will be able to keep it down to a few nights instead of months. Remember to smile before you go into her room and scream into your pillow if you need to vent.
Also, because she will already be unhappy about you changing her nightimte routine, this is a good time to stop the bottle and change to a sippy cup. But no drinks in bed. I did that with my oldest and night time potty training was a bear!
Best of luck, it WILL get better and you are a good mom!
Pat

It is probably a phase... could be teething, a growth spurt, etc... My son goes back and forth all the time, depending on howhe is feeling. I know people who let their baby cry, and people who don't (including me), and we all have the same experience. Usually things go back to normal on their own in about a week or so. Good luck!