Need Advice for 7 Mo Old Sleeping Problem

My daughther is almost 1 and she was doing that. I asked my pediatrician and she told me to just let her cry and she will go back to sleep on her own. It took about a week or so of doing it and it finally worked. It was hard to do but it did help now she sleeps great theu the night.
A. H.

You didn't mention when you moved but it may be the trigger. My son was 2 when we moved from Hawaii to the mainland and he started having night terrors. We set up a routine and stuck with it and after a few weeks he settled in. The main thing to remember is consistancy. If you do the same thing every night it will become soothing to him.

good luck

Dad needs to get to know his son. If he is not involved in caring for him daily he can't expect the boy to look to him for comfort. You may have to leave the room and stuff your head under a pillow for a while but he will eventually calm down or pass out from exhaustion. Either way, it won't be pretty but be consistent until he lets dad do this. Dad needs to take over some care like feeding, changing, entertaining. I know he is probably tired after working all day but really needs to make the sacrifice if he wants to be able to comfort the little tyke.
Good luck
C.

Hi K.. We used a book called "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. She has all kinds of different ideas that you can pick and choose from depending on your family and your son. This might help you out.

Hi my name is M. and I have a 18 month old named Giovanni. That is funny my son still to this day get's up in the middle of the night but I have kind of figured it out. When we have a vary busy day and do new things he will get up and cry and scream. I to am the only one he will calm down with. But it will get better over time and remember you just moved to a new place and maybe he is trying to figure out where he is maybe just a little turned around. Hope you start to sleep better M.

Dear K.,

There are some good articles on www.kellymom.com regarding nighttime issues. For instance, http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html

I wonder if your baby would benefit from sleeping next to you, rather than in a crib. We have co-slept with our three so far, and it provides much-needed security for baby through the night. Co-sleeping is still in the minority in our culture, but if you step back and look at other cultures and what has been done over history, the real 'experiment' is in putting babies away from their parents for the night. For our family, we get more sleep and peace by being together. Especially with nursing babies, this is a great way to do it. I feel my baby starting to wiggle, and latch him on before he cries. I'm awake for 1 minute, then we're both off to sleep. It may take your son a couple of weeks to realize you're really there every time, but I would think his terror would subside after a bit. The longterm benefits to meeting their needs while they're young will be worth the sacrifice.

I hope you find the help you need.
Blessings,
R.

Supporting you as you nurture your family.
www.NurturedFamily.com

Hi K.,
I have a 20 month old and he used to do the same thing. After weeks of trying to figure out what was going, I found that the stuffed animal he had in his room combined with the night-light was the culprit!! My mom used to tell me that if I didn't have a night-light to get one, then I got one and everything was fine until he realized( began to notice) the stuffed animal. So if you have anything in his room that may FREAK him out, try removing stuff. If not, maybe its a phase. He also may be having seperation anxiety. He may just be used to you during the day and freaks when he wakes in the middle of the night, in the dark with you not there. I kinda look at it like he went to bed in the light, you put him to sleep, and now here it is dark and you're not there!! Just a thought!! Hope something works!!

my daughter did the same thing. she is now 16-months and sleeps through the night. Do you rock him to sleep or give him milk at bedtime? I used to and my doctor said that was what was causing it. If he wakes up at night, he doesn't know how ot put himself back to sleep and he freaks out and looks for you. I started giving her milk earlier in the evening and lying on the bed with her until she fell asleep instead of rocking. I still do it and i move her after she falls asleep. I don't know if it is what people consider the "best" but it works for us!

I am a 34 year old father of four. Daughter 13, son 10, son 4, and daughter 2. Have daddy spend as much time with him during the "wake" hours - that will do wonders for his bonding (both ways). Second, if he is consistently going to bed at the same time and is on a fixed schedule (congratulations, it's hard to keep it up) but make sure you feed him JUST before he goes to sleep and try having daddy (when available) play with him and keep him up for 30 minutes past his usual bed time. Having a full tummy and being over tired will do wonders for his sleep. To address the screaming I agree with one of the other mom's response, make sure there isn't something in his bed or room that is scaring the little guy. If it's just 'missing mommy' then I suggest you perpetuate the separation anxiety by letting him cry a bit longer during the day. Instead of going to him immediately or within a minute or so let him fuss a little bit. This was VERY difficult for my wife especially with our son (Jacob) born at 27 weeks (he is TOTALLY fine now) but well worth it in the long run; then again I still think he is going through it with the way she babies him :)

JE

my parents had this exact same problem with me when i was a baby. my mom said i drove her up the wall! LOL! one night my dad took me and made me stay awake until at least 9 or 10 p.m. a couple of hours being awake made a whole difference. my dad said come 7 p.m. i was already falling asleep so he tried his best to keep me awake. then came the tough love....he put me in a tub of cold water to wake me up. they said this went on for about two or three days until i could adjust, but after that i was sleeping through the entire night. 7:30 seems way too early for the baby to be going down for the night, i could be wrong though. i took my parents advice with my own son and kept him up until around 9 or 10 p.m. since the day he we brought him home. he slept through the night then and still does today 9 years later. give it a try, it can't hurt!

K., have you tried putting him to bed an hour or two later? The reason I say this is if he is sleeping 5 hours straight, then maybe that's all his body requires for now. Apparently when I was a baby I was the same way. It turns out that when my mom got me use to going to bed a little later, that seemed to work. I slept 5 hours and woke up really early and ready to start my day. I have never changed. Still sleep 5 hours and am an early riser. I know that some children don't like waking up in the dark and that freaks them out a little. As for your hubby, I know the feeling. My daughter only calms down when her daddy holds her. I just learned to accept that she loves me but her daddy is extremely important to her. Good luck. Hope you guys can get some sleep soon.

I went through something similar. It sometimes still happens. I found that my son just wants to be reassured that we are there for him (at all hours of the day & night). Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job especially since you know he will get past it. Great job.

TRY TAKING HIM FOR AN EVENING WALK, IF YOUR APT. COMPLEX IS SAFE! SOME ARE NOT!, THEN GIVE HIM A WARM BATH WITH THAT LAVENDER SOAP, & A NICE WARM BOTTLE, I USED TO DO THAT TO MY SON AND HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT, I WOULD PUT HIM A-SLEEP AROUND 8 OR SO, THEN HE WOULD GET UP AROUND 6 AM. HE WAS A GOOD SLEEPER! YOU MAY ALSO GIVE HIM A LITTLE GAS MEDICINE THEY MAY HELP ALSO. I KNOW THE OUTSIDE WEATHER REALLY TIRED MY SON OUT, DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS THE AIR OR WHAT!.......
GOOD LUCK ~

K.,

My son is 7 months and just started sleeping through. I play with him in the evening to get him going, and by 8:30,9 he is rubbing his face...I'll puthim in the crib and he lays there looking st the mobile and passes out. I have a plain mobile but you may want to try one that has lights, and light music... to make entertain him till he dozes off. My son is also on baby food now, he eats a good dinner, and a dessert so that might also help...

are you giving him a bottle of milk when he wakes up? My 6 month old is sleeping from 7:00pm to 7:00am almost every night. When he was around 5 months old I started giving him water in his bottle instead of milk when he woke up. I guess he decided that water is not worth waking up for. Also, try not to make it any fun for him. When he wakes up change his diaper, pat him on the back and tell him it's time to go back to sleep. It took a while for this to work, but it did work for me. Now when my son does wake up he is trying to roll over and go back to sleep before I can finish buttoning his clothes after the diaper change. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Just wanted to let you know, your not the only one in this situation. I have a 27 month old who still wakes up in the middle of the night once, usually around 4:30. He does not go to bed early, around 8:30. Until recently, no one could calm him but me. One time I was sick, he woke up, dad went in, and he wanted nothing to do with dad. He choose to stay in his bed and cry rather than have someone other than me get him. Since then, he will sometimes be comforted by dad, but not always. Usually only I can do the trick. Just be patient. With my son, I want to believe it is because of the bond we share from when I did not work and I was the one who took care of him at night. Good Luck.

A six month old baby may sleep 6 hours @ night before needing to eat. Many babies go back to sleep easily after nighttime feedings. You could try to help your baby learn to comfort himself by pacifier or a soft toy. You should also try putting him to sleep while he is awake.
Sorry I don't have much advice to give...I chose to co-sleep.

K. -

Welcome to Arkansas.

I have a friend who experienced something similar with her daughter. She ended up visiting with her peditrician about it. Much to everyone's surprise, the pedi diagnosed her with night terrors.

What sounds so very similar is how your son is inconsolable. My friend's daughter was the VERY same way.

Give your peditrician a call. Maybe he/she can help.

PS - Congrats on the 7:30 bed time!

- O..

All of mine stopped sleeping through the night temporarily when they learned to sit up. they would wake up, sit or stand, and then either want to be entertained or not know how to get back down.
Is he still awake when you put him down at night or during the day? Sometimes they just can't figure out how they got into bed, especially if it was light when they went in and now it's dark. I don't know if that would help, but my oldest NEVER went to bed without being totally asleep and he kept getting up at night for years. With my twins, I can put them down wide awake and they'll fall asleep on their own. They got over the middle of the night waking much faster. I don't know if one had anything to do with the other or if he just wasn't a good sleeper. I've always been single, so I can't help you with the dad part but tell him not to feel bad. I hear that it's really common for babies to go through favoring one parent over the other. You might be next so enjoy it while you can, I guess.

K., it sound like your son is scared and that you are appropriately his saftey. Moving can be really disorienting for our small children. Please consider sleeping with him for a while because he needs you. Children learn that they can be alone at night when they feel safe and secure and this happens at different age for different children. Please listen to what your son is saying to you. Emotional security come with time (read Age) and your loving consistancy and attention.
Your little one will be "big" much sooner than you think. I am the mother of 2 boys ages 16 yrs and 12 yrs and it feels like they were just little a short time ago.
I wish you the best, please update us on your progress.
Take care,
R.