Hi There,
I just wanted to find out if anyone else has had this problem in the past. My eleven month old son has started to where he wakes up crying 4 or more times per night. We have a normal bedtime routine and he goes down and falls a sleep . Then after an hour or two, he wakes up crying either sitting in his crib or standing at the end of it . I or my husband then go in and lay him back down. He then falls back to sleep. He usually does this 4 to 5 times a night. I've recently read that this is common for this age, but my 4 year old always slept through the night. So I'm kind of lost as to what I should do. I mean he is teething and has been sick recently, but this has been going on for some time. Has anyone else gone through this ? Is this normal for this age ?
Well, I wanted to give you all an update. On Friday night, my son slept solid without a peep for the first time in months. I tried Kristen's idea of feeding him some solid food closer to bedtime. That day he didn't do his late afternoon nap, and I fed him oatmeal and a bottle at 6:30 instead of 5pm. Now I don't know if that was just a fluke because he was up again ( but only twice this time) on Saturday night, and again last night. But we were at a Super bowl party and he got to bed later than normal, so that might have had something to do with it. Thanks for all the advice and I will keep everyone posted.
My son went through that, too. If he's teething, I highly recommend Hyland's Teething Tablets (or the gel which is what I used because HEB doesn't carry the tablets). It worked like a charm for us and I got the idea from a zillion posters here who all swore by it. Good luck!
My son is almost one and was trying to do the same thing. I am a proponent of the cry it out method - so I let him cry for 10-15 minutes and he typically goes back to sleep. I also started giving him a bottle @ 7pm and 2 number 2 baby food jars at 8pm - that typically did the trick and made him sleep through the night. So many moms... so little sleep! :)
We went through the same thing with our now 26 month old son. (And, my older son was like yours - always slept through the night.) My pediatrician recommended that we let him cry until he fell back asleep. It was the hardest thing to do! In fact, I had to go outside the first night because he cried for so long. (For some reason, too, it was better if my husband went in the room and just patted him and let him know it was still "night night time" without picking him up at all, if his crying just became too hysterical.) Within the week, though, he was able to comfort himself back to sleep. It was a real blessing when he started sleeping better without our assistance because we were finally able to get some uninterrupted sleep!
My kids went through brief periods like this sporadically. They don't last long, but it can be hard for a mama who needs her sleep! I always brought them in bed with me, and they slept great that way. Especially if he's having teething pain or been sick, he may just need to be close to you.
I would try the cry it out method. My daughter is 8 months and has been sleeping through the night for about 5 of those 8 months. She too will awake in the middle of the night and wimper, but I just listen to her on the monitor and about 3-5 minutes later she is back to sawing logs. I think that it could be the teething thing, but the babies are in a testing stage too. Everything you do is teaching them something one way or another, so if you go to him everytime he makes a little cry then he will associate that with getting what he wants. Good luck with it, I know it is hard, but they are all worth it!!!
Read Baby Wise. I swear by it and have two boys who started sleeping through the night both @ 2 months.
My oldest daughther sleep right through the night also. My 2nd was another story, when she was about 15 months she started the same thing that you are discribing. She still does it (and is now 18 months) I think that it has alot to do with age and as long as he goes back to sleep I wouldn't worry about it to much. Good luck and keep everyone posted.
J.
First of all every child is different, but my daughter did wake every couple hours till she was 15 months or so. I figured it was a nursing sleep association, but at 20 months she is still nursing, and only wakes once or [rarely] twice a night, if at all. Your son might me in a growth spurt, or if he just started walking [or another milestone] he might just need a little extra comfort for a while!
My son is 17 months, and went through this a few months ago. He still sleeps with us (look for my request for advice on that in the future), and sometimes I could comfort him to get him back to sleep. For a few weeks, though, I couldn't get him back to sleep without a bottle of milk. Just when I was getting concerned that I might never sleep through the night again, it stopped. I think his issue was teething, also. Hopefully it's a phase.
