Help with Toddler Sleeping Through Night

If you decide to let her cry it out, don't feel guilty. Every child has a different need/personality. With my son, cry it out was the only thing that worked. After one night of crying for 1.5 hrs and the second at only about 30 min, he sleeps through the night now. I hear him stir & cry out every now and again, but then he rolls right over and goes back to sleep. Allowing him to learn how to put himself to sleep (and back to sleep) was one of the best parenting decisions I made for my family. We all sleep well these days.

Hi L. I to just move here(tx) from nm. I been here for about 5 months now and my my 2 year old did the same thing. I did what most mommys did just let her cry it out. Its not bad that your doing that. she is still not over that, but she not doing every night now. But just try letting her cer it out for a couple of days see jow that works.

B.....

L.,

I know it's hard to hear your little one cry for you at night, but it is ok to let your baby cry it out. You will go through some painful nights at first, but eventually they will learn to soothe themselves on their own, and all family members will eventually enjoy night-time versus dread it. Plus, your baby will get a better night sleep too!! Try instilling a nightly bedtime routine. I have 2 girls (ages 3 yrs & 14 months). For our 14 month old we do a bath every night, then bottle, and then we lay our baby in her crib while she is awake, but drowsy.

My first child we always ran to her when she cried. Finally, at 14 months of age, and my husband & I being exhausted, we decided to try the "cry it out" method. For about a week or 2 she cried (almost screamed) at times for us. We would go in about every 5 or 10 minutes and tell her it's night-night time and lay her back down, and eventually she would give up. The first night she went to sleep without crying we were so happy!! Now she is 3 years old and has been a wonderful sleeper ever since. We had an adjustment when we transferred her to a big girl bed, but we applied the same method using a baby gate on her bedroom door. After a week or 2, it worked again.

Our 2nd child, we applied the same method since infancy. As soon as we noticed she was tired, we laid her in her crib. We have never had any sleep issues with her, and she is now 14 months old, and I think a very happy baby because she gets good sleep.

I hope everything works out with you. Good luck!!, and just try to remember, she can't cry forever.

Responding to your babies crys is NEVER WRONG!!! What you did by comforting her and caring for her is to let her know you love her and will always be there for her. A babies sleep patterns change as they grow, she may have started waking at night no matter what you did or where you were.

Please DO NOT let her cry. There has been so much recent research showing that when a baby/toddler is crying they are in stress and we all now what unrelieved stress does to you, just think what it does to their little bodies. It is really damaging. It effects how their brain developes as well as how they trust you and other adults.

Her crys are because she is in need. She is in a strange home, having gone through a big change in her life, I would not be surprised if she is really scared. She needs the comfort. You've said that you are now at home with her so there's really no need to be "scheduled." You can take her sleep, and yours, as needed. I'm sure she takes naps, if you nap with her, she'll sleep better and you'll be rested too.

My best resource has been Dr. William Sears. He has a website with tons of great information and lists of other resources.
http://www.askdrsears.com/

I hope that helps,
S.
mom to my 3 and 4 year old girls.

I too have trouble letting either of my children (5mos. and 3yrs.) cry it out. It makes me feel like I am cruel and I worry that they think that I am not there for them. My advice would be to wean your little one from the rocking. Start out by laying her down just before she falls to sleep, and then patting her or stroking her until she does fall to sleep to gradually just going in and patting her and stroking her until she is able to calmly soothe herself back to sleep. Also, I use to keep a sippy cup of water with my daughter at night unitl she moved up into a big girl bed and I was also potty training. Obviously you can't do this with milk since you don't want it to spoil, but you could do it with water or juice. Good Luck and Welcome to TX!!!

It's not "mean" to help your child learn good sleep habits. You did the right thing while your family was in transition with the move, and you're very wise to look at solutions to help her get back to sleep. Now that you're settled it shouldn't be too hard, you'll both just have to suck it up for a night or two of crying. Start by making sure she has a bed time routine, and maybe a comfort object. After that, decide what you'll do to wean her from your little visits at night, and stick with it. When our son has had phases of night waking (usually due to illness or teething) we have to do this too. After he's feeling better, when it happens we just go in there, re-cover him, give him a kiss, and walk out. He usually cries the first time and we might have to go back in if he gets hysterical. The next night, he expects it and doesn't cry as long or hard. We never even have a third time because by then he's sleeping all night again, or at least can soothe himself back to sleep. It helps if you put a couple of toys or books in the bed for a distraction when she does wake up. The Ocean Wonders Aquarium has been wonderful for that.
Good luck!

give water not milk, it will take the treat away from waking up.

L.-

I went through a similar situation with my 16 month old when we moved. The crying it out method was the only thing that worked. My best advice is to create a bedtime ritual and stick to it. This also helps. The first few night he cried for a while and would also wake up a few times in the night but after a few nights he learned to put himself back to sleep. Good luck!

try starting a routine for every time she wakes up. sing a song, turn on a cd player with soundscapes or any other thing that would be soothing. let her know you are there, but don't pick her up.