Sleeping Through the Night - Pacific Grove,CA

A trick that I tried when my daughter was less than a year old was to sprinkle a small amount of rice cereal (baby cereal-too long I cant remember exactly. Soon after that action, she was sleeping contently thru the nite.

I just wanted to add that you can get more information about co-sleeping from these links:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/health/23well.html?_r=2....

http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/co-sleeping-with-your-child/.

Hi Meegan,
This is my first time on Mamasource but this seems really cool! I remember having my first child and being so worried about when and how long she would sleep. After 5 kids, all who nursed past a year, I learned at about kid #2 not to stress about it. The stress is what's causing the stress, not the actual "kid not sleeping through the night" thing. Bring her in bed with you (you said your huspands cool with it) and skip the "walking to the crib in the middle of the night" routine and everybody get some sleep.
The deal is that you want your sleep, and you're hoping that sense you've gone without it this long, that you should be getting some soon. In a word, or two, FUHGET ABUT IT! Sleeping through the night (for the parent) is a carefully planned and orchastrated event, involving babysitters and/or loving grandparents, or playdates and sleepaway camp, which is a long way off! Be gentle with your expectations of yourself and your baby. Sounds like you are doing a wonderful job as a mom! Be well!!

K.

Meegan,
I feel the pain about your daughter not sleeping through the night, It feels as if my son hasn't slept throught the night in forever and he's 2.
I use to pick him up from his crib and put him in bed with us, but then that became such a habit it was like 3-4 times a night and I just was exhuasted. So I started with giving him a bottle (Probably not the best) to get him back to sleep and told him to lay down. Now he sucks on the bottle a little bit and back to sleep. I am also not someone that will allow him to cry it out, so it's been much better and I have become use to waking up 2 times a night now. It's down to 2 times a night if not 1.
I have heard it's a growth thing and by age 3 he might out grow it. But just find what works for you and your daughter and be consistant with it.
I am ok with waking up 2 times a night if my son needs that. I know it's not the best, but the kids are smart, my son will sleep all night at his grandma's house but once he's home he knows the routine and how it works.
So good luck to you.
Sorry I didn't really have much advise but thought I would let you know there are other mom's out there with the same deal.
:)

Hi Meegan,

I had this same issue with my first son, until his Dr. told me that I should not be nursing him at night at his age. He said that his tummy had grown enough that his last feeding before bed could sustain him until morning, and he was only waking up to nurse out of habit. I was actually doing him & myself a disservice by offering him milk every time he woke up, because I was encouraging this habit and as a result, neither of us were getting enough sleep. The doctor said that if I stopped giving him food to comfort him at night, and instead quickly came in his room to reassure him of my presence, change his diaper if needed, and put him back down, he would stop waking up as frequently. And, he was right.

C. : )

Hi Meegan,
My daughter just turned a year in October and I am going through this exact thing! August 20th she started waking up once or twice a night (I remember the day because she was such a great sleeper and it coincided with a well child check up). I have had maybe two nights since then that she has slept. I too think it was teeth (she didn't get them until 11 months), and then I established some habits that I now am trying to break. I do not like to let my kids cry it out, however, I am at the point where I can't do the nursing to sleep thing anymore. Two nights ago I let her cry it out but I stayed in the dark room with her. If she stood up, I layed her back down and said "night night". Last night she slept from 6:45p to 4:30 a.m. I am hoping that I won't have to do the crying it out thing too often. I also notice that if she doesn't get good naps during the day, her night isn't good either. We also discovered that she has a lovey (blanket) and that helps too. I don't know if I have made any sense, but good luck!
C.
P.S. I agree that you should make sure that your daughter is not in pain or sick before letting her cry it out.

Ok Meegan, this could have been MY request about 3 weeks ago, I swear! My daughter was born in Dec 2006, and had been sleeping through the night from about 2 months until about 7 months, and then she started to wake up to nurse once a night, and then twice a night, and eventually 3-4 times a night and I was getting delusional, resentful,and majorly cranky. I loved our breastfeeding times, but I was beginning to have issues with my personal time, and the lack of sleep wasn't helping. So I bit the bullet and just stopped. When she woke up from her nap one morning, I just gave her a bottle of milk (I know, she wasn't 12 months, but she WILL NOT take any brand of formula, I've tried MANY times in the past, she won't even taste it, even after missing a feeding, and I knew she didn't have any milk/lactose allergies from the small samples I had tried over the last few weeks) She fussed for a few minutes and so I took her for a drive and she drank the bottle in her carseat. And the next feeding she wouldn't take the bottle from me, but when I put it on the floor, she crawled down and drank it. And the next day, she took it from my husband, and then my daughter, and by the third day, she would take it from me. But she had to be sitting up, turned away, so as not to think we were going to breastfeed. That night, I decided I didn't want to break another habit (of drinking milk all night) in a few weeks, so I decided we would just buckle down and let her cry it out, even if it meant all night crying. I prepared myself, since I'm not one to let her cry, and had jumped up whenever she had cried thus far in her life, but I knew in the long run, A) she needed a full night's rest, or at least 6-7 consecutive hours, B) it would be harder when she was older and could cry out for me, or climb out of her crib, and C) she wouldn't remember this at her high school graduation. SO, to make a long story short, she woke up a few times and cried for 5-10 minute spurts, and then fell back to sleep. I told myself if she cried for 15 minutes straight, I would go and comfort her, but she NEVER did. And the next night, we put her in her own room, and she slept 11 hours (8-7) and cried out (one waaa, and that was it) ONE TIME, and she hasn't cried in the night since. I swear, one night was all it took, and she has been excellent on the milk and extra food and we give her Pediasure once a day, to make sure she is getting her vitamins and stuff. I have to make sure she drinks plenty of water and juice, so as not to get constipated, but besides that, she is doing great and now, so is the family. I wanted to nurse until a year or 14 months, but it was just not to be. I can still cuddle her and love on her, but I can also go to school meetings and adult functions by myself. Good luck, and let me know if you try it. (btw, my hubby was not soo excited about it, but once I did it, he was fine. It was my choice, my boobs, my life, my experience. You know what I mean?)

You poor thing. You must be exhausted! At 10 months you're probably at a critical time period where you can teach her now to sleep longer.....before she gets older and really gets stuck in a rut of waking up so often. Honestly, you probably can't do it without a little crying. But, you don't have to go cold turkey cry it out. You might consider going cold turkey though on brining her into your bed at night so she doesn't think that is an option. So....do whatever you can to keep her in her crib or at least in her room. That might mean putting a blow up mattress on the floor temporarily wher e you could sleep in there. But, you're probably better off letter her cry a bit and keeping her in her own bed and just checking on her and comforting her every 5 min or so. They are so young, but they absolutely know how to push your limits to get what they want. Good luck. Remember, there is no perfect solution sometimes and you just have to do what you think is best for you and your family. Good luck! I have a 2 1/2 yr old and a 3 mo old now. My 2 1/2 yr old was a difficult case. I did try everything in every book to get him to sleep through the night and....yes, I finally resorted to letting him cry it out at about 10 mo old. Today he is a great sleeper and sleeps from 7 to 7 most nights and has been doing that since just passed his 1st birthday. Hopefully you'll get some relief soon too!

When our daughter was 20 months I weened her from night nursing. She sleeps in bed with us. I considered making her a breastmilk bottle for when she would wake to nurse in the night. However, I heard from several other moms that to do so is a good 4 months of waking, botttle-feeding, maybe switching to water, etc. Instead, we suffered through 2-3 nights of her waking and wanting to nurse but not getting to. We cuddled and rocked her and all that. It was really hard. But she wasn't alone in a crib in another room. We were right there for her. And after 3 nights, it was over. She sleeps through the night, and has now very easily graduated into her own bed. We chose 3 tough nights to months of waking and bottle-giving, etc. However, your little one is much younger, so may be prone to wake more frequently just naturally... Once we got our girl to sleep through the night in our bed, it was a complete piece of cake for her to sleep all night in her bed.

Wow, we're living the same life ;). My son is also ten months and slept through the night from 2 months until he started teething in August. He has slept through the night once in awhile since, but sleep has really been an issue. The thing is, of course he's always getting new teeth. He's quite affecting by teething, but each tooth seems to come in a little easier than the last. I just keep reminding myself that this will not go on forever, and it has been improving.

My daughter nursed in the middle of the night until she was 9 months old. The trick for me was to stop nursing her when she woke up. I would pat her back, sing to her, once or twice I picked her up for a minute and then put her back down. It took 3 days.

H. F.

Dear Meegan,
The first thing I can recommend is to buy the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weisbluth. I don't think we should assume that night waking is something children outgrow. We all wake up several times during the night. The trick is to teach children to fall back asleep unassisted. My mother never taught me how as a child and now I have a difficult time falling back to sleep. My daughter is yrs old and sleeps 11-13 hours at night. She does wake up at night sometimes(mostly when she is overtired) but I don't respond even if she is crying. I started sleep training when she was 2 1/2 months old using Dr. Weissbluth's book. I established a bedtime routine and at the end I put her in bed whether she was asleep or awake. By 10 months old, your daughter doesn't need to eat at night, she is using nursing as a way to go back to sleep. In other words, it has become a habit. As a registered dental assistant for 17 yrs, I know that teething pain isn't as bad as one would expect. It is worst with the first tooth and the molars. I was a co-sleeper for the first few months but noticed that the only person getting a decent nights sleep was my husband who can sleep through anything. I was so tired that I decided to try the extinction method described it the book. It only took two nights of not responding for her to get the message that she was in bed to stay. Sounds harsh, but it is the fastest way to correct the problem. (and yes night waking is a problem)If you just can't let her cry it will take longer to retrain her to fall asleep with out help. I suggest that you take a little more time to respond to her at night, making it longer each time. When you do respond, don't talk to her or make eye contact. Nurse her and then but her back in her bed and leave. Expect some protest crying as she will protest. Give her a little time to settle down before returning to soothe her.Each time you respond, take longer and longer. Maybe giving her a bottle of formula or breastmilk instead of nursing at this time may be useful. If your husband is willing to respond at night that might also help break the habit. Also make sure she has an early bedtime (around 5:30-6:00) and is getting good naps during the day. At 10 months my daughter woke up around 6:30-7:00am and napped around 9:00am and 1:00pm. Her naps were at least one hour long. As Dr. Weissbluth states, "sleep begets sleep" and I have found this to be true with my daughter. She has an easier time falling asleep and staying asleep if she is well-rested. A lot of our friends don't want their kids waking up so early, but once they start school they will have to wake up early. Please buy Dr. Weissbluth's book, it will provide you with the reasons and the tools to help your daughter be the best she can be. He feels that most things are connected to sleep. I see a HUGE difference in my daughter when she isn't getting enough sleep at the right times. Good luck to you and please keep me posted on your progress. Feel free to email me anytime and we can brainstorm other ideas. I have a ton of them, just ask my husband:)
Sincerely,
L.

Try feeding her without putting her in bed with you. She will continue to wake-up so that she can share your bed. By changing the routine now, you'll save yourself from many future sleepless nights.

This is something that we are very familiar with. My daughter is 15 months and we just got her back in her bed to sleep through the night. I was so done with not sleeping well with her hitting me, kicking me and nursing throughout the night. So, now if she wakes up she only cries for like a minute and falls back to sleep.
My recommendation is she has to learn to self soothe. When she wakes up and cries you have to let her cry it out(if she is in pain or sick then that is a different story). Give her a sippy cup or bottle of water when she cries. It is extrememly hard but for the sake of your sanity you have to do it. It should only take a few nights and pretty soon she will realize that the water is not worth waking up for. I feel for you! Good luck.
Also, check out the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth. It is really helpful.

Hi Meegan,
I"m not there yet but I've heard that the book "the no-cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley is a great resource for parents who aren't comfortable with "crying it out" techniques. I'm about to read it myself. Good luck!
A.

i know this may sound a little harsh, but tough love worked for both my son (now 26 months) and daughter (now 4 months). as long as you have the patience for it, it will work for you every time. i've had to use it multiple times now.
after anything where they needed that extra love and attention (whether it be teething, catching a cold, etc.), i would work with them to learn to sleep through the night again without needing mommy's nursing or daddy's extra attention. on the first night you're ready for them to sleep through the night, i would put them to bed using your normal routine. when they would wake up, i would go to them, check them to see if they're diaper was wet (i would usually only do this for the baby, not the toddler), change them IN THE CRIB (DO NOT PICK THEM UP), and after that, i would rub them or pat them on the butt and tell them that they were fine and that it was night night time. depending on how much patience and energy you have, you can do this every 5 minutes (like i've been told) or you can wait a little longer. i went to them every 10 to 15 mintues the first night. the second night, i went go to them every 20 minutes. the third night 25-30 minutes. and so forth and so on. i've never had to do it more than a couple of nights. by the third night, they would not wake up. and if they did, they quickly put themselves back to sleep.
it can be a little trying at first, and very nerve racking, especially for a first time mom, but i promise you, it has helped me out time and time again, and i've been able to be there for them during the day (because i have the energy and i'm not too tired) when they really need me.