Almost 14 Month Old Won't Sleep in Her Crib

Updated on February 28, 2009
K.H. asks from Indianapolis, IN
13 answers

My daughter, born 12/12/07, will NOT sleep in her crib. She does not take many naps during the day (maybe 1 one hour nap) and is usually asleep by 9:30 or 10 at night. However, the minute I lay her in her crib, she pops up and cries. I don't have the heart to listen to her cry for hours (and she wakes up my other 2 daughters). Any advice on how to get her to sleep in her crib?

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So What Happened?

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I found what worked best was putting her in her crib and then sitting next to her and patting her back. She fell asleep, but woke up shortly after I left the room. She was soo tired she only fussed for about 10 minutes and put herself right back to sleep! She never really 'cried' but more fussed. It only took one night and she is sleeping 9-10 hours by herself! Thanks again for the wonderful advice!!

More Answers

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M.P.

answers from Indianapolis on

Just keep putting her back into the bed. If she cries, give her a few minutes, pick her up calm her, lay her back down.
Start on Thurs night. Tell your girls they will not get much sleep that night, or have them sleep on the living room floor. They will be tired Fri, but it is only one day. Try again Fri and Sat, by Sun night she should be sleeping just fine in her bed. Do not give in. It may take a couple of hours. She may wake in the night and cry again, do the same thing.
One thing that might help is put a heating pad on her bed to warm it and then remove it before you lay her down. Pat or jiggle her a little when you first lay her down and gradually decrease it.
Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Cincinnati on

9:30 to 10:00 seems super late to be going to bed for the night. Try backing up the bedtime. If you don't have the heart to listen to her cry, then you need to accept that this might be a rather difficult task. Think about it...you put her down, she cries, you run to her. She has learned "I don't like the crib, therefore I will cry and mommy won't make me sleep in the crib".

You may wish to read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He is a nationally know, respected pediatrician who specialized in infant/child sleep issues with over 30 years of research and practice. You will learn when and why your child should be sleeping, how to get them into a crib, and how to let them fall asleep on their own. He offers both a CIO and a gentler technique for putting a child to sleep.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.N.

answers from Indianapolis on

HI K., My son had the same problem. My "CIO" friends kept telling me to do just that, but I"m glad I read the Dr. Sears website. He is very non-judgemental and said that children that young are not trying to control or manipulate you and that sometimes there is a medical reason for them crying. So I went to my Dr. after several weeks of this and found out he had fluid build up in his ears because they weren't draining properly. We had tubes put in his ears and within 2 days he was sleeping great lying flat in his crib. I'm SO GLAD I didn't do the CIO. I feel like my son trusts me to meet his needs. Anyway, if she's lying flat, you might want to have her ears checked, especially if she gets colds or ear infections a lot. Also, Dr. Sears' site is: www.askdrsears.com He offers several solutions for tired parents, not necessarily just co-sleeping.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.Y.

answers from Canton on

put her in a big girls bed with a guard on it put on some gospel or soothing music surprise yourself.K.

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V.W.

answers from Cleveland on

you might have to put her in a toddler bed my oldest daughter did the same thing and she was put in a toddler bed at 9 months old

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B.B.

answers from Indianapolis on

It could be a couple of things....it could be gas. Mylicon works wonders for that.

One thing we noticed with our oldest is she did NOT want to sleep on her back. She'd pop up the second we'd put her down in the crib. The pediatrician's will tell you to make sure the baby's sleep on their backs. I'm saying the second we'd lay her down - didn't even have the chance to step away or even "clear the crib" (stand up from having laid her down) before she'd pop up crying.

We then tried to lay her down on her tummy to see what would happen, and she slept very soundly. Our thought was, "well that means we need to check on her more often, but if she's sleeping that way, then that's the way we're letting her sleep!" Of course the pediatrician's office wagged their fingers at us telling us how unsafe it was, but said they were glad to hear we didn't smoke (increased allergens) or drink (inhibits the "awareness factor") and were checking on her more frequently to make sure she was okay. Once she was able to roll over, we were able to relax just a bit about checking on her just because we could hear her through the monitor rolling over while she was sleeping.

For what it's worth....and good luck!

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M.M.

answers from Fort Wayne on

K., YES let her cry it out.. IF it will bother your other kids get them to stay with a family member if possible and let the lil one cry it out and figure it out it is THEIR bed and TIME TO SLEEP.. Trust me it will break your heart to hear them cry BUT it will be worth it. My son now 18 mo he would sleep in his crib BUT HATED to sleep when he was SO tired.. I would nurse him and he would be OUT COLD and I put him in crib BOOM up he was... I would kiss him and walk out he cried the first couple of nights for about 30 min - 1hr KILLED me. I would still check on him and not let him see me and he was OK so I walked out. By day 4 he was sleeping GREAT now he sleeps from 8pm - 8-9 am NOT waking up it is WONDERFUL.. NOW to get my 4 yr old not not have night terrors I would be set lol Good Luck but do try the cry it out. OH I put books in his crib has well and he will get up and look at them and go back to sleep. It is funny watching him..

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R.B.

answers from Toledo on

The practice of having babies sleep in cribs is relatively modern and is not the norm in most parts of the world. Try a co-sleeping situation with the crib next to your bed, or the baby in a "sidecar" co-sleeper made for this, or right next to you in bed. My baby was the same way. She wouldn't sleep alone, no matter what. Dr. William Sears calls this temperament "high needs". Read his books, Attachment Parenting and Nighttime Parenting for a better understanding of your child's needs. Good luck!

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S.B.

answers from Indianapolis on

I have a 12 month old and had an awful time getting her to sleep in her crib. I believe that your bedtime is way too late for a 14 month old. All research shows that a 7:30 - 8:00 pm bedtime is the most sufficient and healthy bedtime for a toddler. I go upstairs at 7:30 everynight and read a book, rock and then give her lots of kisses and hugs. I tell her that it is night night time and that I'll see her in the morning. I say "I love you, night night" over and over in a whisper until I am out the door. It took us about four days for her to understand that it was bedtime and she was staying in there on her own. She sleeps from 8pm to 7am.... If I put her down past 8, even 10pm, she still wakes up at 7am, as do most kids. She does cry for a minute at her nap and nighttime, but crying doesn't hurt them. Research shows this over and over again. Five to twenty minutes of crying is worth the 11 hour night of sleep that my whole family gets now, including her. Good luck.

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J.M.

answers from Cleveland on

hi K.,
kudos to you for not letting her cry. i went through the same thing with my daughter. nearly every time i put her in her crib she woke up screaming. i slept with her but at night i wanted to be able to lay her down so that i could go back downstaira and do things. anyways, now at 17 months she sleeps in her own full size bed and it is so much easier getting her down for the night because i can lay next to her and then just sneek out. plus she is more comfortable in her big girl bed. you might try that it really helped us. i would also try an earlier bedtime with a set routine that you go through every night. i.e bath, book, sing, bed.
in addition, i highly recommend the "no cry sleep solution" by elizabeth pantley. it helped us considerably. my daughter went from sleeping 2-3 hr stretches at best to sleeping through the night (or at least with only one wake up). it takes time and patience but is absolutely worth it. also, the best part is that your child will not be traumatized from hours of crying alone.
good luck!

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P.R.

answers from Indianapolis on

Where does she take her naps? Just curious. If it is a play pen, whatever, maybe it would be best to let her sleep there at night. You might try what my friend finally did, she put the crib mattress on the floor against the wall, put bed rails along the open side of it and just let her son sleep there instead of the crib. He didn't wake up screaming. I always put my children to bed in their cribs, then sat in a rocking chair in the room and read them a story, sang them a song, turned on the nightlight and they went to sleep in the crib on their own with a few favorite stuffed toys. If they started crying I stood next to them for a few minutes rubbing their back until they settled down but refused to get them back up. Just a suggestion.

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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

I don't believe in CIO either, I think it's cruel:( Check out "The Baby Whisperer". She doesn't seem to know much about breastfeeding or breastfed babies, but her sleep training methods are great; compassionate and loving:)

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S.B.

answers from Cleveland on

First of all, my son was born on 12/13/07! I have three kids, ages 3, 2 and 1. I have never had sleeping problems with my kids, because I totally believe that crying it out was the best thing. I know that you aren't going to want to hear this, but, my best advice to you is to let her scream it out. It might take 2 weeks, but, she will be sleeping in her bed and sleeping much better. Maybe temporarily you could move your other daughters into another room... Check out this article.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/774928.html

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

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