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| I've been trying to get my daughter (almost 11 months) on a schedule. I've been trying to get her to take two long naps instead of four to five naps in a day. She's doing very well except at night. She wakes up at the same time (2 am) and she's ready to play. She doesn't act like she's hungry. She plays for about an hour and then falls back asleep. I've tried almost everything. Giving for the same routine everyday, snack before bed etc. I just can't figure what else I could do. |
| Posted by Kris on 02/16/2008 12:12 PM
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| I don't think I have any winning advice for you. My daughter at 9 months is still waking up 2-3 times a night (usually to change diaper and eat). For a couple of days she started waking up around 3 wanting to play and for 2 days I let her play by herself and put her back to bed when she wasn't happy anymore. After deciding I couldn't not do that everyday I just told her no you can't play right now and put her back in bed. She cried but eventually went back to sleep and we didn't have much problems with that afterwards. It may not be anything that you really need to change if she's maybe trying to walk around or learning something else new that could be what is getting her wound up and she wants to practice. Good luck! |
| posted by Elizabeth on 02/16/2008 06:12 PM
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She has been cruising furniture and she learned that she could crawl faster when my step son is here. We've also been having problems with him sleeping through the night. He has been having nightmares and was waking everyone up. But my daughter I just dunno. She has been discovering new things around the house. So maybe thats it. thanks
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| posted by Kris on 02/16/2008 07:57 PM
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I agree, 2 naps per day would probably be my target. Perhaps the catnapping during the day might be interfering with her ability to sleep well at night? I'm no expert, but I read a few books on baby sleep, and each one has some valid tips. Since all babies are individuals, and all families are unique as well, exact timing is different for everyone.
Just curious, how long is she awake during the day between all the naps?
But you might try this:
--work on getting her down for her first nap 2.5-3 hours after she wakes in the morning. keep her awake at least 2-2.5 hours before putting her down.
--next nap go 3-4 hours after she wakes from morning nap. If this is too much at first, shoot for 2.5-3 hours here as well.
--bedtime 3-4 hours after 2nd nap.
Once she's napping solidly, and staying awake longer during the day, she will tire herself out more, and likely sleep better and longer when she does sleep.
What really worked for us, was making those night wakings, nice and "boring" for her. We don't talk to her (only whisper if necessary), we don't turn on her lights (we have a nightlight near the changing table), and we're all business-milk if she is hungry, a change if she needs it, and then back to bed. For night wakings only, I have ordered my husband NOT to make eye contact with her. I read somewhere that it's like giving your baby a jolt of energy when your eyes meet.
We also try to tire her out before bed, lots of "walking (she holds our hands and goes all over the house)" and crawling games before the bedtime routine, so she's physically tired and spent from lots of daytime fun. |
| posted by Bethany on 02/16/2008 08:11 PM
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| I had to put my son on a schedule at that age too. I had him in daycare but when I wasn't working he was home with me and he took two naps a day. He would generally wake up at about 7am and he would stay up until 10am, then he would sleep for two hours. Up at noon and ready to eat. Then we'd play until about 2:30-3pm and down for another nap. He would generally wake up at about 4:30 but no later than 5pm otherwise he would be up until 10 or 11pm. He went down for the night around 8-9 or when he just fell asleep playing. It worked so well!! He started sleeping through night once he got used to it. Good luck I hope it works well for you!! |
| posted by Kimberly on 02/17/2008 12:27 AM
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| She wakes up between 7-8am. Stays awake until 11:30am. This nap she sleeps for 1 to 2 hours. Then usually her 2nd nap is around 4pm. Then I try to keep her awake the rest of the day so she sleeps. Then she wakes up between 2am-4am. My stepson has her crawling all over the house so I figured that should make her really sleepy. |
| posted by Kris on 02/17/2008 08:18 AM
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| I'm having the same problem. My 6 mo. old was sleeping through the night and now he's waking up around 2 or 3am! I've started making sure he gets a good feeding right before putting him in his crib. Last night was the first time I didn't go get him when he cried. Surprisingly it only lasted about 20 minutes but he did go back to sleep for the rest of the night. Hopefully after just a few nights of this he won't be getting up again. |
| posted by Karin on 02/17/2008 10:19 AM
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I have a 17mo old son and he is FINALLY attempting to sleep through the night. He has had some issues with his health and the drs told me to keep feeding him as often as possible...including during the night! So last month I FINALLY weened him (4 mo longer than I planned) and he is doing okay now. Unfortunatley now I have to get him out of my bed and back in his crib!! Agh...another thing to attempt to conquer!
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| posted by Elise on 02/24/2008 08:17 PM
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Let me first say that I am no expert OR doctor, and I know that every baby is different, so the only advice I am able to offer up is what has happened with us and what our doctor told us.
My son (from about six to nine months) was waking up every two-four hours or so at night and would go right back to sleep after a feeding or after I comforted him. He stared waking up and wanting to play for an hour or two. Since I'm still working, I just couldn't accommodate his late night "parties," I asked my pediatrician about this and he said that after six months of age, babies don't need to eat more than once at night, and as long as I am going in there, he will continue to wake up and cry for me nightly for a very long time. He said he was proof of this--- his son didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 3 and a half!!! He also told me that in all of his years of being a pediatrician (20+ years), he has never had a baby hurt themselves in their crib by crying. He also said that it is a decision that every parent has to make on their own; weather or not to let their babies "cry it out."
On a side note, I also read in Parenting magazine that babies eventually have to learn to put themselves back to sleep when they wake up at night. It also said that everyone wakes up at night, even adults. I thought that was very interesting, and I had never thought about it.
I decided to try letting him cry it out. I was not looking forward to a night of crying, but he did put himself back to sleep after crying for just over 10 minutes. He did this what seemed like every hour the first night. It WAS HARD not to go to him, but I figured it was best for him and me in the long run. After the first two nights he got much better. Now he wakes up at night and I hear him crying, but it is only for 2-3 minutes.
I love Parenting magazine. I read another article that said that if babies are having a hard time sleeping through the night, that you might INCREASE the amount of sleep they are getting throughout the day. I thought this sounded strange, but we tired it and it worked.
Good luck!!
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| posted by Liz on 02/26/2008 09:49 PM
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| You said she has a snack before bed, about a week ago I saw a little news bit about snacks that are better for kids before bed, as far as helping them sleep the only one I can remember is yogurt there were about 10. I don't know if you could go to yahoo and put bedtime snacks or something and see what the rest of those were, maybe that could help. |
| posted by amy on 02/27/2008 08:28 AM
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| I have been giving her yogurt before bed and she sleep through the night a couple of times. I will look those up though. Thank you |
| posted by Kris on 02/27/2008 10:14 PM
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| Miraculously, my daughter has slept solidly through the night since she was 4 months. Believe me, I was the most surprised and relieved about this. Thankfully, she must take after her dad who is an expert napper/sleeper! I agree with everyone on the naps (my daughter also takes two a day) because you don't want her to be overly tired at bedtime. Ironically, this can cause sleep distrubances. I think two primary naps, always at the same time of day, is the way to go. I also give her plenty of one-on-one time when she is awake and keep her stimulated. I think the thing that helped really set the pattern early with my daughter (and it sounds like you are already doing this), was having a daily routine (early waking, one hour play, 2 hour nap, few hours play, one hour afternoon nap, few hours play, bedtime wind down) was sticking to a clear bedtime ritual. My husband and I "sound the trumpets" when it is time, sing a "bath song" marching up the stairs, which she loves, then we give her a 15 minute bath, massage afterward, read a small book or two, then give her milk (which we will be doing away with soon because she turned one last month and having milk before bed can cause tooth decay, plus the whole weaning thing). I plan to try water in her sippy cup as a replacement--and I pray to God that it works and goes over well with her! Anyway, that's been my experience. |
| posted by on 03/02/2008 09:48 AM
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My son is 12 months old and he's just now starting to sleep really well at night. He still gets up at night, but usually only once and that's due to his teething. Usually, if he gets up, I can give him some teething tablets and he's out for the rest of the night. Is she teething?
He's gotten up a couple of times around 2-3am wanting to play, but I've found that when that happens, it's usually because he took long naps during the day. The more sleep he has during the day, the less he wants to do at night.
As for naps, my son takes about a 3 hour nap during the day and that's it. He might spread it out between two naps, but he doesn't sleep any longer than that. We have a pretty good schedule down:
7:30 - cereal or some kind of breakfast (or whenever he wakes up)
9:30 - 8 oz bottle (right before nap)
Wakes up - snack
1pm - lunch
3pm - 8 oz bottle and hopefully a nap
Wakes up - snack
6pm - Dinner
8pm - 8oz bottle (after his bath, which is right before bed)
Definitely try and get her on a schedule. Don't let her sleep longer than 2 hours per nap and get her down to 2. She may be cranky if you have to keep her up, but she'll sleep better at night, and hopefully longer, and after a day or two, she'll start to pick up the new schedule and will adjust herself. |
| posted by Jaxon on 03/05/2008 08:28 AM
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