Not Sleeping Due to Learning How to Stand in Her Crib - HELP!

Hi J.,

Just keep up your same routine at night. There is no way to keep her from standing up or sitting up. When she gets sleepy
she will lay down and go to sleep on her own. If she can pull up, she can plop back down. Don't worry about it, just make sure your crib rails are the highest they go and the matress is at it lowest, to prevent her falling out. Put her in bed, tell, her night night, and leave the room. She is still too little for pillows

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She's 8 months old and has been a great sleeper so far. That is an indication to you that she knows how to fall asleep and self-soothe in the middle of the night to go back to sleep. Now it is time for her to learn a new skill: settling herself down after standing back up and going to sleep.

What do you do when she stands up and starts fussing? Do you let her figure out how to sit back down and go back to sleep or do you rush right in? If you run to her at the first sound she makes, then she is learning that she will get your attention and you will come running anytime she does this. And quite frankly, I bet hanging out with mom who loves and adores her is way more fun than laying down and going to sleep!

Our baby does this occasionally still, but he will stand up, press the button on his aquarium, and eventually lay down and go to sleep. Early on, he would scream and cry but we were very consistent with our expectations (it is bedtime, thus it is time to sleep and not play). Now it's kind of funny to watch him from the crack of the door because we put him down, he stands right up, turns on his aquarium, he does a little lap around the crib, the nests like a puppy and falls asleep.

At night - If you're not comfortable with full on CIO (because really the crying isn't because she's hurt, in pain, or in need of anything essential), give her 5 minutes before going in. When you do go in, show her how to lower herself back to a seated position. Try not to pick her up and rock her. Gradually stretch out the intervals between checking her.

During the day - teach her how to sit back down from a standing position and give her lots of practice so that when she stands up at night she can figure out how to 'get back down'.

Good luck to you!

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Connor is 10 months old and we just went through this. It doesn't last very long. We would put him down and leave the room as we always did and then we could hear him and know he was standing up. We just waited awhile and then would go back in a lay him down and tell him it was time for sleep. Je would fuss a little, but not too much. After 2 or 3 times he would get tired and lay down himself. Now sometimes he will stand up or sit up and play but we go in lay him down and tell him it is time for sleep and he usually does. He is usually pretty tired when he goes to bed.

my 9 mo old just got throught this face. it was 2 weeks of hell but there is an end in sight. Now she's up and down throughout the night with little sqwuaks every now and then but it's not the crying and screaming it was. it's just a phase....albeit a hard one but it will only last a week or two.

Pillows are not the problem at her age. My daughter started putting her leg up on top of the crib and tossing herself out. We had to drop her mattress to the bottom latches so she could no longer reach. After about 6 weeks later she was tall enough to get out again so we began leaving the gate down with the mattress all the way down. That way she couldn't get hurt. She was in a single bed with a guard rail shortly after that.

Standing is new and exciting for her...but eventually it will get old. She knows how to fall asleep on her own - she just doesn't want to. Hang in there. The more you try to stop her, the more she will want to do it and get frustrated which definitely isn't a good idea before trying to fall asleep! When the standing thing loses it's excitement, she won't be doing it anymore. Good luck!

We ran into the same problem & bought a aquarium toy for the inside of the crib. it is a toy that lights up, plays soft music & has a fish that softly moves. Our daughter would lie back down and watch that - and it would put her to sleep. She also used to like the mobile - but once she started standing in the crib - the mobile was a challenge for her to pull down, so again that is why we went with the aquarium toy... Best of luck!

Just keep going back in and lay her down. Wait 15 minutes and then go back and repeat. Don't pick her up. Just tell her it is night-night time and that's that. She will get it after awhile. May take a few nights of repeated trips, but she will get it.

Worked for my oldest.

She will likely do that for about a week, then the novelty will wear off. I used a soft cuddly lovie that my little one would hug and that sort of worked but while the novelty was there it was hard to get her not to pull up and jump etc. But it does go away in a little bit. so part of it is just patience.

J.,

in my experience, there's nothing you can do to make a baby stop using a new skill like this one :) the more you fight it, the more frustrated she (and you) will get and fight back.

maybe try letting her use her new skill more while out of her crib... expect a little less while she goes thru this, and know that once she masters it, it will pass.

Hi J.

Here is a answer I gave another mom ( copied and pasted it)

My oldest child, a girl, was a great sleeper, never nay problems. Then along came our 2nd and it was horrible. By 8 months of age he was not sleeping through the night and his naps were only 10 minute cat naps. Needless to say by 8 months I was exhausted.

I went to my pediatrician seeking advice. He recommend a book called, "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems". I am not sure of the author anymore but I believe it was a Dr. Shaw. The book came me a lot of insight into children and sleep, and a strategy for helping my son.

The first night of training my son to sleep was horrible. The 2nd night was not much better but by the 3rd night he was on his way. By night 4 I slept and so did the rest of the house all night long. After that my son became a good napper and was a much happier child because he was getting the rest he needs.

You might want to look into this book it was very helpful to us. Every family needs to find the way that works best for them. Good luck!

I would definitely get the pillows out of her bed, they're more of a hazard than a help. Learning to stand is like having a new toy - legs! Mine used to do it too until they realized that standing all the time was tiring. They eventually did realize that it was okay so sit/lay back down. I agree that you should just keep laying her down and try to soothe her back to sleep. It can be arduous but it's temporary and it requires patience. You'll both get back into a sleep routine.

There is another letter today about an 8 mo old no longer going down easily. This must be a new developmental stage and I know you are thrilled your daughter is progressing normally. I've had 5 children and run a day care for infants and almost all of them, when they learned to stand, didn't learn to get down right away. So up in the crib and they are stuck. If that is the case the next time take her arms and legs and gently show her the movements she needs to make to get down. If she gets right up again (and she will) do it over. Even if she is able on her own to get down, you should do this several times. Sometimes I would then gently hold the child down, these actions are your way of communicating to her what you want her to do. Try to remain matter-of-fact and repeat "time to go to sleep" but do not stimulate her senses any more than is necessary, she has to learn how to transfer from the active mode to the quiet, still mode, and a lack of stimulation will help her to do this, a quiet, dimly lit room is what I prefer, some Moms use the drone of a fan running in the room, whatever works for her. Sometimes, you need to swaddle the child to get her to quiet the movements of her body: use a blanket large enough , lay her on the diagonal and wrap one side over and tuck it under her, then bring up the corner by the feet to her chest, next wrap the other corner around and tuck it under her and lay her on her back. It should be tight enough that she cannot get her arms out to escape from it and stand up again. Try things in progression, if the showing her how to lay down doesn't work, go to the swaddle. If she cries, let her cry 5 min, pop in your head and pop it out. Wait 10 min and do the same, then wait 15 min. She will be asleep by now and as she learns to quiet herself, you won't need to swaddle her anymore and will be able to lay her down and she'll go to sleep. Good luck to a good M. and lucky little girl.

Try doing a bedtime routine with her and make sure she isn't getting too much sleep during the day. You may need to wake her from her afternoon nap at an earlier time.

My mom went through this with my little sister and the Doctor told her that she was afraid she was going to missing something. So she fought going to sleep and I too went through this with my daughter. I think it's a phase they go through the only thing you can do and yes it is nerve racking but you just have to let them cry themselfs to sleep. I doesnt last to long but if you try to rock them to sleep or put them in bed with you they will want that every night. If it doesnt stop within 2 weeks Maybe talk to your doctor. Also try a warm bottle before bed and have quite time, have dim lights on and maybe some soft music on or something that will relax her.

Hope this helps.....