Sleeping Though the Night? - Tallahassee,FL

My daughter is 14 months old, and we leave a bottle in her crib before we go to bed, so when she wakes she has it and we don't have to get up. This way we get a good night's rest.

Hope you find whatever works the best for you..
My daughter has been sleeping trough the nigh since she is 4 months old.. and I used the method of Ferber ( I found it online) I let her cry ( the older they get the longer it takes for this to work)..
At 13 month old the don't need a night feeding anymore, and is not good for them either to don't know how to get back to sleep on their own.
I also took my baby off the bottle at 12 months.
Good luck !!

First of all yes its normal. I feel your pain. I just taught my 18 month old to sleep through the night. He's my fourth so i"ve been sleep deprived for about 9 years. I couldn't take any more. I found a wonderful e'book with a great strategy that doesn't include abandoning the child alone his room to scream (which I just couldn't bring myself to do.) It will take a few sleepless nights, but it's worth it in the end when your child learns to sleep. I've tried to find the link again but I can't. Here's the jist of it. First a consistant bedtime routine is important. It needs to be the same everynight, and it needs to be relaxing. Early bedtimes are best for rest. 7 or maybe 8 at the latest. Don't let him/her go to sleep with a cut or bottle. After the routine place him in the bed say good night and walk out. (This applies for middle of the night waking too). If he becomes upset you go back in and sit next to the crib or bed but you do not make eye contact, you do not speak at all, you just lay him back down and sit with your back to the child. This allows the child to feel secure that you're not abandoning him but also lets him know you are not going to be interacting with him either. No lights on no getting upset. If he is really upset and screaming you can pick him up for a few minutes if it will calm him, but don't hold him until he's asleep, just until he's calm and lay him back down. It's sounds crazy but after just a few days they get the idea that they will not be recieving any interaction or food when it's night time. Night is for sleeping and when they get this they will stay asleep through the night. It really did work for us, and we had our doubts. it was called something like, teach your child to sleep in 3 days. good luck

Wow-you must be tired!
A 13 month old doesn't "need" a bottle night, but he is old enough to have his clock set so since he is used to waking up at those times and getting a bottle that is what he wants and expects and when that doesn't happen he gets mad.
You have to break him of the habit and the only way to do this is to stop giving him the bottles. Even if he gets mad, you are the parent and not giving him the bottle does not make you a bad parent nor does upsetting him. Sleeping through the night is much more important and healthier in the long run for both of you, so by digging in your heals for a couple of days you wil lsee results and have his clock reset to sleep through the night within in week or so.
Just prepare yourself since the first night will be the worst--do it on the weekend or when you are not working the next day (the next couple will be the best). And get set for a few nighst of him not being happy (the first being the worst).
Before you attempt this though, I would totally prepare yourself by reading the following book: The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems...by Tracey Hogg
http://www.amazon.com/Whisperer-Solves-Problems-Teaching-...

She'll give you all the info you need to get you through training your son to sleep through the night--and there is so much more good info in that book that I could begin to write in a response. And trust me, you want to prepare yourself because at 2am when you are tired and your son is crying you want to be sure of yourself and what you are doing so you don't do anything that will undermine what you are trying to accomplish.

Good luck! It really is possible to get a good night sleep, you just need a good plan and then stick to it!

Hi B., I like your boy's name. What has worked for me was; established feedings routine, full and satisfying feedings during the day, no naps after 6pm, full dinner, scheduled bed time routine, footed pjs. Once you have him down for the night, feed him again right before you go to bed. He might be waking up from so many other reason, being cold (his feet), growth etc. and does not know how to fall back to sleep himself. I hope this helps, things will get easier.

I would say instead of watering the milk down, just give him less and less until there is nothing left. Lower it by 1/2 oz every few nights.

Also, I'd agree with trying a pacifier or other object before going straight for a bottle.

The fact that you say that he wakes up at the same time every night is the clue that says it is a habit, not a need. So you just need to find something to break that habit.

GL to you, I know it can be hard!

Hi B.,

To me, this is normal but your son may be at the age where he can begin to understand that nighttime is not for milk any more. I think only you can gauge this. Perhaps you can begin to describe nighttime for him, that we all close eyes and go sleep, that bottles need to sleep too and bottle will be awake again when the sun comes up.

Laura G's response had some good ideas and a good link (Dr Jay Gordon's method) that we plan to use as well. In any case, trust your little one and learn his cries - annoyed or tired cry is probably different than "I'm thirsty/hungry" cry. And if he knows baby signs, he can tell you water/eat by now.

We have a 14-month-old and I haven't slept a full night in a year either... I feel your pain! ;)

How does he respond if you just try to rock hom back to sleep with no bottle? Maybe he is just waking, not necessarily for a bottle? How about a sippy cup instead? My son didn't need to be fed in the middle of the night after 10 months or so. Make sure you cram food in him during the evening with a little snack right before bed (banana, peaches etc...). Make sure water is the last thing he drinks for the sake of his teeth. I never CIO either. Good luck!

B. I feel for you. I have a 18 month old daughter that I had the same problem with. I asked for advice and got some really great responses. BUT the only thing that you can do is try different things until one finally works. Until my daughter turned 17 months old I use to go pick her up when she would cry in the middle of the night and rock her till she fell back to sleep usually took 2-2 1/2 hours and then go back to bed myself to only wake up 2 hours later to go to work. I also work full time and she comes to work with me so I was always exhausted. Then one night she woke up around 3:00 AM I went and picked her up, rocked her for 2 hours looked at the clock saw it was a little past 5 and said to myself this is stupid. She is awake, I'm awake and nothing is wrong with her she just KNOWS that I will pick her up. So I took her put her in her crib, grabbed some pillows and a blanket and laid on her floor till she finally stopped crying (1 hour) she put herself to sleep and I just got ready for work. LOL The next night she woke up I went in there with my pillows and blanket laid on the floor 15 minutes later she stopped crying and finally put herself to sleep. Now she is fully awake when she goes in her crib, I tell her goodnight and I will see you in the morning and she puts herself to sleep, no protest and when she wakes in the middle of the night she just plays in her crib till she goes back to sleep. Best thing I ever did, but you have to be ready to do it also cause you can't give in no matter what. My daughter gets her bath, brushes her teeth and gets ready for bed between 8-8:30 so she gets fed aroung 6:30. Maybe you need to move his dinner time till later so he won't wake up wanting his bottle?? I wish you the best of luck and I know its hard. I didn't want to do the whole let them cry it out themselves thing because I didn't want to be exhausted for a whole week or two but look at it this way you can stay exhausted for another week or two or start getting a good nights rest very soon. Every child is different my daughter only took 2 days maybe you will have the same luck.

Remeber your not alone in this.

R. J.

My daughter is 16 months and still wakes up 3 times a night to nurse. I feel your pain. Water in a bottle makes her mad too. I don't believe in the cry it out method. I have tried 10 or 15 minutes at a time. That did work, but then she got sick and went back to the multiple feedings a night. Just don't feel alone. She eats dinner before she goes to bed so feeding makes no difference for her and I have heard it doesn't make a difference for most babies. I think some babies/toddlers are just made that way. Unfortunately we are exhausted in the mean time. I haven't had a full nights sleep in over 2 years (I don't sleep well when I'm pregnant). A couple of nights away from home just to close my self in a hotel room and sleep would be the best thing in the world to me! I day dream about that often :) Sorry for not providing any help, but at least I can let you know your not alone.

Hi B.-

Sorry to hear about your 'sleep problems'!

As for normalcy-When my sons (now 13 & 15) were babies, an experienced co-worker said to me - 'same story, different address'. She was very right!

You said you tried to let your son cry it out. The tricky part about that is that it takes a few nights of 'cry outs'. My first son took the 'normal' three nights. My younger (who is still the more challenging) took about five.

It's very, very hard! I remember standing at their door crying quietly myself and actually blocking my husband from going in! Aside from the advice from other moms about letting older babies crying it out, I had also looked it up in Dr. Spock's book. He agreed that it was normal and clarified that it took a few nights. The most helpful part was that by letting the baby cry, we were helping our baby learn how to comfort himself-at night now and in their future. That part helped me and maybe it will help you. He also said that you can let him know you are there by telling him you here him but also tell him it's sleep time.

When you and Dad are ready-team up for a few more nights and hold your ground. Keep in mind that you are nurturing your son's development by helping him learn how to find comfort himself (it's not really a feeding at 13 months, right?). Also remember that your helping him by being a well rested parent by next week and future 'normal' battles (the 'wait till they get older' warnings have always been my least favorite from 'experienced' moms!)

Good luck and keep us posted!!
L.

I don't really have any advice but I can tell you that your child is not the only one. My daughter is 2 1/2 and she is not taking a bottle anymore but she is waking up at about 3 am most nights wanting a snack. It was actually easier when she took a bottle! And I really believe that she is hungry, I can hear her tummy growling and she eats a large portion of cereal at that time. I don't know how wise it is to allow these night feedings into toddlerhood but I know that it feels like there is no other option. In my home crying for hours until she passes out from exhaustion is not a solution. And that is what it would take for her. That approach does not help any of us in getting more sleep. So the only thing I can tell you is that slowly it does get better. She used to be a every 2 hour feeder as an infant and now she'll sleep for about 5 or 6 hours at a time. And occasionally she will sleep through the night, it is happening more and more. I want to point out that my daughter is not big for her age, she is only 25 lbs. at age two so I hate to withold food from her even if it is inconvienient in the middle of the night. So, my approach has been to just respond quickly and get her back to bed as quickly as possible so that we can all get more sleep. It may not work for everyone but it works for us. A positive attitude and getting yourself to bed early helps too.

It seem's the other mom's have some really good advice, it dosn't hurt to try them out. I have kids ranging from 6yrs up to 21 so I feel ur pain. If the other suggestions dont work let me know & I will give you mine. I wish u the best.
~A.~

You are a hardworking Mommy and I can't imagine how tired you are - and your son probably is too. You have some good advice here so do what works. Personally, I think he just misses you, he knows you will come and spend time with him and that is why he wakes up. Most likely he is not really hungry. I tried every technique in the book when my son started night waking. I read a bunch of books and after a few weeks my son and I were even more exhuasted. In the end, 'crying it out' was the best thing we EVER did. But it really, really stunk. It took about a week but it was only really bad the first few nights. You just have to decide to do it and not give in at all - then you might as well start over. You know your son and you know his cries. If you let him cry it out, he will cry but he is okay. He is safe and you are a great Mom for letting him figure out how to go to sleep on his own. After the week of crying it out (and that includes me outside his door - and eventually hiding in the other room while my husband listened). My son has been sleeping 12 hours a night... for more than a year. Do what is best for you and your family. But that worked for us.

Good luck. And you are doing a great job.

It will take some time, but start watering the milk bottle down, a little more water each night until it's all water, depending on how much he's attached to the milk you may have to stretch it out awhile, but that worked for my daughter.

I have a 14 month old boy who has done the same thing since he was very little...He wakes once or twice a night and we give him a bottle....I feel guilty sometimes because he is with a sitter during the week but I notice he doesn't always eat a lot during the day, especially at dinner, so I don't know if it's a result of the bottles at night.
There are times his teeth has bothered him or he has gas and we've overfed him and he's thrown everything up. I think he would be really pissed if we offered him water instead of milk, as he usually goes down right after he drinks it...
Interested in hearing your advice from others....T.

Give him cereal at his last feeding before going to bed, sounds like he's waking up hungry. This may help him sleep at least past that first 2 o'clock wake up time. The more solid foods he starts to eat the longer he'll stay full and will eventually pull away from wanting so much milk.

Whenever it is that you may decide to break him of his habit, wait until Friday. At least then you won't have to go to work the next day and have time to rest. It also will help you be consistent, which will really help so he will know that this is it, the end of the night bottle, and the rule from now on.
Best of luck,
Jen
Don't give in!!

Have you tried just soothing him or rocking him when he wakes instead of giving him a bottle? Will he take a pacifier?

I nursed my son and he was still waking several times a night to breastfeed at that age. I understand how exhausting and frustrating it can be. I used a modified version of Dr. Jay Gordon's method when my son turned two. http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp I think it's mainly for families who co-sleep, but may have some useful info for you. There is also a book called The No Cry Sleep Solution that several of my friends have had luck with.

Good luck!

My 13 month old daughter does the same thing!! It's getting better, but has yet to stop. It seems to get worse just before and during a growth spurt. She just finished one so it's longer between feedeings, say 11:30pm and 5:30am. I'm about to try diluting the formula a little more each night until it's only water. I'll keep you posted!

J.

Maybe it's time to wean him from the bottle completely. My son started using sippy cups around 9 mos. and then we took the bottles away during the day around 12 mos. The only bottle he got was the one right before bed. Then took that bottle away around 13 mos. At 13 mos., it seems like you son shouldn't need any feedings during the night except one before bedtime. He should be able to make it through the night w/o being hungry. Maybe he just wants you to attend to him regardless whether he drinks/eats. We had to go through several nights of him waking, us checking on him, patting him on the back, saying night-night, and letting him cry...which only lasted a few nights.