How Do I Make My 11 Month Old Baby Sleep Through the Night

Updated on July 28, 2008
J.W. asks from Carmichael, CA
5 answers

My son is almost 11 months old and still wakes up several times at night. Last night has been the worst so far. He went to bed round 8 pm and woke up at 9:30 but just needed to be comforted and went back to sleep. Then woke up again at 1:30 and cried on and off until 3:30 am. We tried putting him to bed awake each time so that he learns to fall back asleep on his own, but last night my husband had to let him sleep on his chest and then we slowly transfered him back to his crib. At first I though his middle of the night wakings were due to teething, but he's been doing it for far too long now and usually takes at least an hour of crying on and off at around 1 am before falling back asleep for a few more hours. Any ideas about what is going on and how to fix it? Thank you.

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J.C.

answers from Sacramento on

I used a combination of ferber/sears methods.
First, we've done bath, bottle, and book every night. Good sleeping habits start during the day. Make sure he gets good naps. At night, put him to bed. At first wake up, go in his room, lay him back down and say its time to sleep. Stay less than a minute. After an amount of time that you determine, If still crying, and you're uncomfortable, go in his room, lay him back down and say its time to sleep. You aren't 'making' him sleep; you're teaching him that it is time to sleep. RESPOND to your baby when he is crying. Don't pick him up, but re'binky' him or recuddle him.
He will learn that when he cries, you come in, and lay him back down. The first night you do this, prepare to go in 20 times or more. The good news is that after 2 nights, I bet you will be getting a full night sleep. The most important lessons are 1) Baby's cries are not too be ignored. ever. 2) Good sleep habits are learned not enforced. Teach with respect and kindness. good luck.

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E.V.

answers from San Francisco on

it's totally habit at this point. my son did the same thing. you basically need to help him break this habit. depending on how you feel about a littel crying or not...i feel like a little crying is going to have to happen at this point in the game since he is already so old. it took my son only a week to realize there was nothing to wake up for anymore and he sleeps thru the night! yours will too!

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C.A.

answers from San Francisco on

Try putting him to bed a little earlier. I use to start our daughters routine (bath, bottle, bed) at 8 and she would be in bed and most nights asleep by 8:30. Love (one of the women on here, she responded to this also) advised me to try moving everything up an hour. I started her night time routine at 7 and she was in bed, and most nights asleep by 7:30. She started sleeping all night at that point. She was originally waking up 1-3 times a night.
Best of luck and I hope this helps!

1 mom found this helpful
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L.R.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi J.,
I HIGHLY recommend reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He explains biological sleep rhythms and when/how they evolve/mature. I have been using is book as a guideline since my 3 yr old was born and she is a great sleeper. Dr. Weissbluth is VERY adamant about the need for an early bedtime. The first thing I would do it move his bedtime much earlier. At this age my daughter was going to bed around 6-6:30pm and waking up around 6-7am. She would nap around 9am and 1pm for at least 1 hour. These nap times are part of the naturally occurring biological sleep rhythms and are when they get they most restorative sleep. Dr. Weissbluth states the the most common reason for nightwaking and difficulty falling asleep is too late a bedtime. I still find that if Paige goes to sleep too late she ALWAYS wakes up at night and wakes really early. I know early bedtimes limit time at night with your son but you will see an improvement in his overall sleep if you do it. As to handling the nightwaking, the quickest way to correct it is to let him cry it out. I had a hard time doing it at this age so I used a modified cry it out. I would wait 5-10 mins before responding and then I would try to soothe her without picking her up. I would then wait 10-15 mins before responding if she started crying again. Continue waiting longer and longer until he falls asleep. This method could take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to work where as the cry it out takes less time. The key is consistency. If you give in just once, you have to start all over. If you think he is having pain because of teething, give him a little Tylenol before bed. If you have questions, email me. I'm always here to help everyone get a better night's sleep! :-)
Sincerely,
L.

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V.M.

answers from Sacramento on

Babies don't normally outgrown the need to be parented to sleep and back to sleep after wakings, til they are about two. I know it's tough, but infant sleep research confirms that the central nervous system that governs sleep doesn't mature til then. Unfortunately, most all the sleep training books and methods ignore this, it just causes unrealistic expectations and a lot of frustration for both parents and babies. Of course it may reassure you to rule out some other physical cause - here's a page at a site I have found helpful many times -
http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070400.asp

My third baby is turning one year this week and she still wakes several times a night too. The best thing to do is to give him the help he needs to get back to sleep, so there is no crying time that interrupts everyone's sleep. When you all are not getting enough sleep, everything is harder. And when a baby doesn't sleep well, it throws off his sleep schedule and messes up his sleep even more, it's a vicious cycle. So don't feel that you are going to stop him from learning to fall asleep on his own by comforting him back to sleep when he wakes. He will naturally begin doing it as the sleep centers in his brain mature, and even if you wanted to at that point you couldn't stop it!

I always nurse my babies to sleep, and I remember at about 18 months, my second baby started to unlatch and sit up in the middle of the bedtime feeding. I was bothered and would try to get him to finish. After about three nights it hit me: he's telling me he wants to lie down now. So I put him into his crib - awake - and he cuddled his lovey and went to sleep. It just happens when they are ready, all you need to do is pay attention to their cues. At every stage they will tell you what they need from you.

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