I Can't Get My One Year Old to Sleep All Night

J., my first question for you is how much does she sleep during the day? If she is sleeping a lot during the day, this may be your problem. If you can not keep her awake, keep messing with her anyway. They can not get good rest this way. Eventually, they will have to catch up, when you are not messing wioth them. AT NIGHT!! Also, you can try some of that lavender, bath wash. They say it's calming. After her bath, rub her down with lotion. If you already do, maybe try to do it a little longer. The massage part of this is calming. You might also try to warm her milk. My last idea for you is to try to cut out the juice. It has sugar in it. If you can not cut it out, try watering it down more and more gradually. Hope this helps and you get a night of sleep soon.

Try a book called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution". My son was waking every 45 minutes to an hour EVERY night at 13 months. Within a week we were getting to two-hour stretches, and by the end of a month and a half, he now sleeps from 7pm to 6:30am!!! Also, we always had to rock/bounce him to get him to sleep--now we can lay him down, say nite-nite and leave the room. I'm sure not everyone has the same results since all kids are different, but I cannot give enough praise to the woman (and mother of four) who wrote this book!!! Good luck!

Ha! I had to laugh at your "brief moment" comment. Very funny. My 19 month old has only ever slept through the night for a brief moment, as well. She wakes to nurse anywhere from once to several times a night.

I've noticed that she sleeps best when she's had a good nap during the day. Better sleep during the day equals better sleep at night.

Maybe try cutting out the juice; perhaps the sugar is affecting her.

Using Johnson's bed time bath lotion and wash (the one with lavendar) helped my eldest to sleep well.

Maybe she needs a little bit of white noise? You might try turning on a fan or keeping a radio on low in her room. My six year old can't sleep without her "smooth jazz" CD.

And it's entirely possible that she just wants her mommy and eventually she'll grow out of it. :) I hope mine does soon!! :)

Maybe she is overtired. I know with my 15 month old and 4 year old I have them in bed no later than 8:30 at night so that they get close to 12 hours sleep. We were having the same problem up until the last couple of months when I noticed that on days that our schedule was hectic and he napped poorly he slept really bad that night. So now no matter what I make sure we get at least one good nap, follow the same bedtime routine, and get to bed by at least 8:30 so that he is not overtired. Its working for us now, good luck.

My second didn't sleep thru until 2! Sorry!

My son didn't sleep more than 4 hrs straight until after 2 yrs either. I did find that his sleep would alter when he was approaching a major milestone (of course, I wouldn't realize this until after the fact) or he was teething. The fact that your child has slept this well so far is amazing. Most children do not sleep through the night despite what some tell you.

When you say milk, I assume you mean cow's milk not breast milk or formula? It could be that this is upsetting her tummy. I assume this was just recently introduced since she's only about 12 months. Try switching back to breast milk or formula and see what happens.

I would also question the juice. For one thing, it's a sure way to rot some teeth if you're not brushing them afterwards. Juice will energize my son too as someone else suggested. Not helpful at bedtime. It will also give my son diarrhea or will at least make him poo soon afterwards. Maybe she's got some tummy distress from this evening cocktail. I would advise cutting this from her nightly routine to see if it helps too.

You don't mention how long she stays up after she wakes. Does she go back to sleep after eating more? If so, she could be going through a growth spurt perhaps or maybe she's getting ready to walk or something else. Does she just need to be comforted? You might try moving her closer to you so you can get some rest. Maybe she's teething? If so, some motrin or tylenol might be needed.

Good luck!

Have your tried cutting out the juice. Maybe it has to much natural sugar in it and that keeps up. I would try giving her her bottle, then give her some cereal. Does she wake you up in the middle of the night? My son is 7 months old and he does wake up in the middle of the night sometimes several times, but puts himself righ back to sleep. If she is doing that I don't think that is to unusual.

J.,

I realize you have many suggestions/answers from other moms. My son is now 16! I was a single/working parent when my son was little and also very exhausted much of the time. It added to it when he woke up during the twice during the night and drank full bottles. When I went to the pediatrician, he told me that he should have been sleeping through the night long before. So I went to the library and checked out the book "Teach your child to sleep through the night in 3 nights". That may not be the exact title. I was skeptical, but it worked!!! I worried because he was still drinking during the night, but I realized it was more habit than hunger. It worked!!!

The juice has sugar in it which may be causing some of it. Some Tylenol wouldn't hurt anything to help relax her enough until she gets in a habit of sleeping all night.