Seeking Moms with 2 or More Children Close in Age

As another mom suggested, I would move the 2 year old out of the room for a few nights. Let her have a "sleepover" with your older daughter. Also, try bananas as a snack before bed as they contain tryptophan like turkey and may help lull her to sleep. Or perhaps even warm rice cereal with bananas. I also did the water instead of formula trick in the middle of the night when my oldest was 10 months old and wanted a bottle and can confirm this works if you are consistent.

Best of luck - my kids are 4.5 years, 2 years, and 3 months. Not quite as close in age as yours, but I do know that it's tough to have such young ones close together.

K. E.

Make sure she is warm enough. My daughter used to wake up middle of night. I put her in an extra layer of sleepwear and she slept through the night thereafter. You can also give her an ounce or two of chamomile tea before bedtime.

I hate to say it but the only way to get her to give up that 2 oz. durning the night is to just let her fuss back to sleep. She isn't hungry or she would eat more than that. I would try moving your 2 year old out of that room for a few nights just until you get the baby adjusted. To try to get her to go to bed early I would try either taking away a nap or moving nap time to earlier that way she tired for bed sooner.

Hey A.,
My mom taught me a trick a long time ago that worked for my son! Cut a hole in a bottle nipple so it's just a bit bigger, and mix some rice cereal into her bottle. Not much, just enough to thicken it up a little bit. As my mom said, "It sticks to their ribs!" This totally worked with me to get my son, who is now 3, to sleep through the night when he was just over a month old. His pediatrician said it was fine, he's perfectly healthy, and I've been sleeping though the night since!

I dont have the exact problem, but I do have a 2 year old (Dalyce) and a 10 month old (Ryanne). They also share a room. My problem is Dalyce will go through spurts of waking up during the night and screaming until I go in there and lay on the floor. Ryanne usually sleeps right through it all. But I have considered taking Ryanne out so that Dalyce can soothe herself back to sleep when this happens. She never had the problem until they started sharing a room.

So I would suggest maybe putting your 10 month old in another room, perhaps yours and let her CIO for a few nights. Start with letting her CIO for 10 minutes, and then each night it goes longer and longer. Hopefully within a few nights she will be able to sleep through the night.

Good Luck!

Instead of getting her out of bed and giving her milk try to give her water. It won't be what she wants so she might just put herself back to sleep after a few nights of doing this.

I have 3 kids close in age and what i do to let my youngest one go back to sleep is let her cry for a few minutes and if she does not go back to sleep I then bring her in bed with me. Also try giving her a stuffed animal in her crib that way she wont feel alone. I hope this helped you in someway