15 Month Old Sleep Changes

Perhaps she is getting her molars in...my son was a basketcase when his came in...fever, whining, runny nose...ugh!

My daughter acts this way when she has ear infections... something to consider. Usually she doesn't have any other symptoms of it either (no fever, no pulling at the ears, etc)!

One question to ask is, is she teething? Both of my son's would wake up in the middle of the night crying at this age. My 12 year old son had 2 teeth from when he was 4-5 months old. Then after his 1st birthday-BAM!! He was getting his teeth all at once. I had to give him infants/childrens advil before bedtime, just so he and I could sleep. My 6 year old did the same thing (he's growing his molars now as we speak, and has never teethed well). At night, pain, colds, everything gets worse at night.
Also, how many naps does he take? Both of my sons took naps until they were 3, but after they turned 1, they changed thier nap times. Instead of a morning nap-an afternoon nap they just wanted the 1 afternoon nap. I started changing it when they wouldn't go to bed until 9:30-10:00pm. My 6 year old took a fabulous 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He would still go to bed at 8:30pm. That ended after he turned 3.
And, yes, the time change- "but it's still light outside". That doesn't help either.
As far as weaning her, stop letting her nurse in the afternoons, and then take mornings away (after a week or whenever she doesn't nurse in the afternoons) and then evenings. It will take a while, and there will be tears and fighting, and it won't be easy. Sorry. But, when she wants to nurse, give her a sippy cup of warm milk.

Tackle one problem at a time! If she needs dark to sleep try hanging a thick blanket (wool works well) over her window. You can use an old roll up shade and just sew cloth over it if you like.
For weaning start giving her a spill proof sippy cup to go to bed with. It is easier to fill it with formula or breast milk then water it down more each night until you can send her with just water. You will also want to wean her during the day first cutting out one feeding at a time.
If you prefer the CIO method you can use it again now. Kids will start this trend of waking up of and on until about 4. Can you determin if she is having night terrors or other problems? If it is night terrors she will want to be nursed to relieve her fears. Ask you doctor about giving her a small amount of Kava tea. It is safe for children but I would still want a doc's ok before giving it to any one under 2 years.

Hi E.,
It sounds to me like she is throwing that bear because of frustrating pain that comes along with certain teeth, some seemed to hurt my kids more than others, like the ones that come to a point, or just having several at once. All I would do is give my kids some tylenol with a cloth to gnaw away at. She could also be in pain because her legs are getting used now and being worked like they never have before.

I have an 18 mos old son who went through this. At first I needed to feed him more milk during the day because he was waking up hungry at night. Then I switched from breast feeding to Formula or Next Step formula. Then it was teething and I used either natural teething tabs or Tylenol. Later, it was a growing spurt. During the day I made sure to run him around outside so he would sleep better. No Tv right before bed because of the stimulus. Blankets over windows with the time change. Good luck. Sounds like you're doing well. I quit teaching to be a SAHM at 38 yrs old. Married for 11 yrs.

My kids were both allowed to CIO to learn to sleep on their own too, and are great sleepers overall, but every once in a while we have to revisit it when waking starts increasing again. I've found that the more you start getting up with them, the more they keep waking, and it is a vicious cycle resulting in exhaustion for everyone.

You may just have to let her cry again for a night or two, often this happens at a time of developmental changes (walking), or after an illness, or a season change, or for no apparent reason at all. I've found that the CIO time is MUCH shorter at this point, with an already sleep-trained child. Usually one night or maybe two of extinction (not going in at all). If you want to keep up the daytime nursing, then do, but starting to nurse her at night again (when she definitely is beyond needing it) probably won't help your sleep issues.

If you want to wean, then do it, there's nothing wrong with that either at this age, she's already gotten pretty much all the nutritional benefit from nursing that she can get by 15 months (for that matter, I think they say the vast majority of the benefit of nursing is derived in the first 3-6 months). Our kids have access to SO many nutritious foods in this country, those WHO guidelines are geared towards third-world mothers who would otherwise feed their children inadequate or nutrient-poor foods if they didn't continue extended nursing. Applying them in our country as pressure to continue nursing on moms who want to wean is a bit of a stretch.

Sounds to me like teething. If you are trying to ween, I wouldn't nurse her back to sleep. Maybe try oralgel or those natural teething tablets, or even Tylenol. When my boys were little and teething I sometimes had to give them a little Tylenol at bed time, not every night, but some nights so the boys little guys could get some sleep. For weening, I would give sippy cups with part breast milk, part cows milk. It gets them used to the new flavor of milk. Just slowly increase the cows milks until it is full strength.

Best of Luck!

P.S.
Don't let people try to pressure you in to not weening, I weened my boys at 3 months and they are healthy and happy!

Good morning E....apparantly the little buggers decide about every 6-12 months to retest ALL the rules to make sure they're all the same. I have no idea why...lol. But I've got a 9 year old and 5 year old and they still go through phases where we have revisit long established rules. We had to do the cry it out thing at 5 months and then again at 13 months, 2 1/2, 4, etc...lol Actually when they're older they don't cry the whole night which makes it easier.

Good luck!

L. H

PS 38 year old sahm of 9 and 5 year old girls.

I agree with Jerri and Naomi. I think that she is just going through a growth-spurt. She is probably just needing extra comfort during this time of developmental growth, especially since she has learned to walk.
However, I would first rule out teething, night terrors, and being uncomfortable (too hot, too cold, itchy clothes, etc.). How much time do you spend with her during the day? Because she could be trying to "catch up" at night. Any changes in your diet recently? And have you thought about co-sleeping? If she is teething, Hyland's Teething Tablets work great! They are all natural and usually work within 5-10 minutes (at least for my son).
And I want to commend you for breastfeeding as long as you have. I think it is absolutely wonderful and the best thing for your child. Keep it up if you can. It is the ultimate gift you can give your child, filled with antibodies and the perfect amount of fats for brain development. Great job!

15 months old is a growth spurt time and this growth spurt involves more than some since it is usually developmental as well. The milk babies get @ night while doing long stints of nursing is the milk that has the cream that has the essential fatty acids that help with brain development.

Sounds like to me that she is hungry and her body is wise and knows she needs what only you can provide. You likely both would sleep more if you just let her sleep with you and nurse all night and likely get more done in the day too.

At 15 months they suddenly become more aware of surroundings as well and she is likely startled and needing to be with you @ night. ( afterall most adults don't really like sleepign alone and kids are smart too)

It is commendable that you are nursing beyond a year, especially since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 2 years and as long as mutually desired by mom and child. And the World Health organization suggests @ least 4 years. ( which is done, but not often in our culture) It can be hard when you are trying to balance your needs and your childs too.

You mentioned that she is only nursing 2 times a day which is very very infrequent for a child her age, this might work easier with your sleeping if you are with her during the day to nurse more often so she does not need it as much @ night.

I hope you both get it worked out and can continue to enjoy your nursing relationship, I really did not appreciate it like I wish I had with my first child, it was simply difficult and I often wished I was done. (especially when I was pregnant again) but now I wish I had enjoyed and cherished it more especially since he was the only child that I got to be a stay at home mom exclusively with. I wish you many happy memories and much love.

First and foremost my best recommendation is to stop all middle of the night feedings. My children have both (thankfully) been on a nice schedule and have gone to sleep without a fuss since about 2 months. If a child needs food in the middle of the night, or if you think she's really hungry then you should increase her food during the day definitely not feed her after she's gone to bed. Also, no matter how good of a sleeper your child is or how well they've slept in the past they all have their moments and they all have restless nights that sometimes last for days at a time, she may be growing, getting sick, having a bad dream or just testing her surroundings to see if someone will come. The more you go in to soothe her especially by nursing or talking to her the more she will demand that.

Hi E.,

Any diet changes(for her *or* you, since you're still nursing?), maybe some new teeth, does she have allergies, or could she be ill? These are all things off the top of my head.

Could also be that maybe her clothes are too tight, itchy, tags, bunching, anything like that? Maybe her room is too cold or too hot, or maybe there is a new noise outside that wakes her? Once we had a neighbor who would come home at all hours of the night with his car stereo blasting, and it finally started waking my kids. They were older(6 and 7), but eventually it was repetitive and bothersome enough to wake them up everytime he did it. When we first moved here, my "little one(9 now, 3 at the time)" couldn't sleep because of the planes(we're in McChord AFB's flight path <groan!>).

Anyway, on the going to bed later, you may be right that it's because the sun's up longer.

I'd try and look into the above causes, maybe take her in to the doc and get her ears checked(sometimes there's no indication of ear infection besides a mood change) and an exam, but otherwise, I can't be much more helpful to you.

Hope I helped some, though, and good luck getting her back on track and getting your rest back ASAP.

K. W

It is very common for sleep to be disturbed when babies learn to walk.....it's just such a big change.

I don't know why a previous response mentioned suggestions for weaning. The World Health Organization recommends breast-feeding for AT LEAST two years (and as long as desired by both mother and child thereafter.) There are lots of documented benefits to extended breastfeeding (for both baby and mother) so keep it up if you can. (Look for articles online or in back-issues of Mother Mag for studies done about benefits of breastmilk/breastfeeding related to intelligence, bonding, health of mother, nutrition, etc)

Who says letting her "cry it out" is the best thing for you and your daughter. Maybe she is waking out of hunger since she seems to fall back asleep after nursing.
Have you though about co -sleeping? Then all you would have to do when she woke up wanting to nurse would be to roll on your side and go back to sleep. This is what works for my family. My son hardly ever cries because I hear his grunts to eat long before he is hungry enough to cry.

Even for a 15 mo old, crying is their way of communicating, their language skills haven't caught up with their communication needs. She could be hungry, wet, scared and waking up for some comfort is not unusual. Letting her know that you're there is not wrong. I never was a big proponent of letting a child cry it out, by responding they knew that they could count on me and it never failed with all 3 of my kids. I didn't have very many, if any, of those sleepless nights. They could sleep secure knowing that I would be there, always. 3 times a day to nurse is not very often or drinking very much. The closeness of nursing is comforting to her as well. How much time are you spending with her during the day, rocking her, reading to her, playing with her? The interaction is important. If you want to wean your daughter, that's one thing, but if this is her only means of drinking, it's not very much at all. Think of how much you drink during the day. Consider a bottle at night if you don't want to nurse any longer, but she could be very hungry, she's going through a growth spurt more than likely. Sleeping 11 hours straignt thru the night is a long stretch, especially when she's taking naps during the day. Staying up later is a natural occurance. If she stayed up a little later in the evening she might sleep in a later in the morning. 5:30 am is early, unless you have a need for her to be up that early in the morning. Believe me, you will yearn for the days when you could hold her on your lap and rock her to sleep or just snuggle with her, they grow up way too fast. Enjoy this time, because there will come a day, sooner rather than later, when her independence blossoms and you will have some very empty arms.