Hello! I've posted on here a couple of times regarding my 11 month old's inability to sleep well through the night and then how he will wake at 4 or 4:30 and not be able to get back to sleep. He's been teething, so I've just been dealing with his night wakings, but now his teeth are not bothering him during the day so I think he is waking now out of habit. Here's what he does (sorry this is so long!):
Bedtime routine with a bottle, which sometimes he will drink 8 oz and sometimes only 2 or 3, goes down very easily and usually sleeps for 4-6 hours without waking. We've been putting him to bed around 7 so this puts us at 12 or 1 am. Then he wakes up about every hour until around 4:30 or 5 when he's just up for the day. When he wakes up at 1, 2, 2:30, etc. I can go in and give him his pacifier and he goes right back to sleep. By 4 ish he won't go back to sleep and wants to be in bed with me. He'll go to sleep for a bit, and then he'll start fussing and kicking, and then I just give up and it's usually almost 5.
He used to be able to be soothed back to sleep until around 6 or 6:30, but this is no longer the case. Please note he has been waking around 4 or 4:30 since he was about 3 months old, it's just been getting harder and harder to get him back to sleep. Also he doesn't eat in the middle of the night any more, I've tried feeding him recently to see if it's hunger, and he really doesn't want a bottle at those hours.
We tried adjusting his bedtime by moving it back, for 4 nights we kept him up until 7:30, and he woke up earlier (like around 3:30 was the time to come to bed with me) and his up for the day time seemed a bit earlier too. Last night he took a late nap and as a result didn't go to bed until 9, and he still woke up at like 4:50 for the day (ugh!). A couple of nights in a row a while back we put him down at 6:30 and I'd like to try that again, or possibly earlier since some people swear by early bedtime, but then I'm kind of betting on him needing 11-12 hours of sleep, is that reasonable? Anyway, here are my questions:
1. For early bedtime, how many nights do I need to do that in order to know if it's working?
2. If he goes back to sleep when the pacifier is put back in, is that a crutch and do I need to stop letting him use it in order to sleep train him?
3. Why can he technically "sleep through the night" for 6 hours until 1 am but then wake so much after that?
4. If he will sleep from let's say 7-1 and then go back to sleep fairly easily until 4, does he only need 9 hours of sleep? Because I really can't imagine keeping him up until 9 pm every night to get him to sleep until 6 am!!
Thanks for any advice ladies!
my dd is 14 months, We try to get her to bed by 10 now, but it was 11, 12. she is up by 8. She wakes a bit in the night & is easily shushed back to sleep, usually. She can usually find her own pacifier, but only lately. I would let him keep that & I would keep him up later, so he sleeps in.
hi there. My DD did this too for months! I brought her to a pediatric sleep clinic. I had to getr her on a schedule where nap time (only one nap for your LO now?) was at the same time each day as well as bedtime. and bedtime needed to be later, not earlier. It worked. Her bedtime was 8:30, she'd wake around 7am, nap was 12:30-230.
It took about 3 weeks of being consistent. I moved her nap and bedtime 15 min every 2 days until I got to the desired time.
He will not wake later for several days. Think about it, do you always wake around the same time each day? even on weekends? despite what time you go to bed? It takes time to change their habits and internal clock.
good luck!
my vote is he is not getting enough sleep and needs cereal before bed to keep him sleeping. Don't lose the pacifier yet in my opinion.
Hey Karin,
I have been there and I can relate. My husband and I hired a sleep consultant to help us pinpoint what changes we needed to make to get our son to sleep. She did an amazing job. Our little guy now sleeps 11.5 hours at night and takes a two hour nap in the afternoon (he is 16 months old). If you need help and feel that the info you get here is not helpful to you, check her website out. It can all b done by e-mail too!!
www.familysleep.com
I experimented with 7p bedtime and 8p bedtime and gave each one 2 full weeks. 6:30 sounds pretty early though. I put 5 pacifiers in the crib so my dau can find her own, some might say get rid of it, but my ped says closer to 2 is fine. Is he still on 2 naps? Have you tried letting him cry 5 min before you go in? he might surprise you and settle? is he cold? also, I make sure to give protein like cottage cheese before bed. When you go in be sure to be uninteresting. My dau seemed to be waking and calling out just to see if I was there, then just laid back down once she saw me but of course it took me 30 min to fall back to sleep! 9 hours is def not enough. Keep it up mama, it will resolve!
Have you tried running a "white noise" in his room such as a fan?
Some kids just don't need as much sleep. My son was not a good napper or night sleeper until he was about 18 months, and never got more than 10 hours combined sleep, even when he was a baby. One day (he is now 2.5 years old), something switched on and he started sleeping more, now he sleeps from about 9 or 10 (he will stay in his room from 8:30 on), depending on if he napped, to about 8. So it will get better. He used to always get up at 6:30 every morning, and when we started putting him to bed later, he would go until about 7:30. It probably took a couple of weeks of that to really settle in. I would try exhausting him more during the day (park, running/dancing around the house,etc.), and don't let him take late naps. Once it is about 3 or 4 pm and they nap, nighttime is messed up. Don't worry, it will get better.
I agree with Gina. Part of it depends on how much total sleep he's getting each day - including how many naps and for how long.
Anything you can do to load him up with fiber and protein before bedtime should help.
But if you've been working at this. I'd slowly push his bedtime later.
Some of it may have to do with the change in seasons and sunlight. Try to use the weather to your advantage. Get him outside to crawl or toddle. Make him work hard to get tired. Take him for a nice stroll after before/dinner if you can and then after dinner keep it quiet, dark, etc.
NO sitting in front of the tv or anything stimulating.
Our youngest is waking earlier and earlier now too. I think it's partially because of the sunlight pouring into his room. And partially because he's outside so much now he's crabby and falling asleep earlier, which means he's waking earlier.
After 3 kids I can tell you, some kids just DON'T need as much sleep as others. That's why books have ranges.
I've learned that if they're happy and engaged during their wakeful periods it's enough sleep. If they are crabby, yawning or zoning out, they are tired.
Best wishes.
My 9 1/2 month old goes down at 8:30 - 9, is up around 1 am for a feeding, and back down until he gets up at 7:30 for the day.
