Night Wakings

D., does he sleep on his stomach? If so, just rub his little butt shaking him just a bit....try not to pick him up, try that and see if he falls back asleep....it always worked for my girls and they went back to sleep. Good luck, N.

Hi D.!

I'm a Mom of 2 (9 & 5) and have also had "interesting" nights. I found that each night was different, depending on what was going on. My suggestion to you is to start out slow by simply trying to rub his back trying to get him back to sleep. Sometimes just the simplest touch can sooth the child, while other times they need to be held and reasurred. I never believed letting a child "cry it out" until they could understand what you're doing. To me a child cries for a reason -- even if it is just for comfort. I always wanted my kids to know I will always be there for them no matter what -- hense, rubbing their back, or belly if they're laying on their back. If touching them in that way doesn't work, then try to weed out what could be wrong. It could even be you. Young children sense when something is wrong, and with you mentioning you just went back to work full-time is NO DOUBT hard for you -- and your child could be sensing that. Children are little people who also dream and take their "stress" to bed with them too. But being so young, they take your feelings with them. I also went through something similar like this and I ended up staying with my youngest until she fell asleep -- I rubbed her back until she was asleep, and then slowly stopped and went downstairs. I would only do this for like 3 nights so it didn't become a habbit. I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

J. B.

Hi D.. Actually, I would love to know if your son spits up alot? Gerd in babies is a problem that is often over looked by doctors. It is often mistaken(if you will)as 'being colic'. If you are like most mothers, your son gets a bottle before you put him down for the night. Therefore, 45 minutes later he is experiencing indigestion. When you pick him up and comfort him, your helping relieve some of the discomfort he is experiencing. This may not be the problem. I just know several mother's (like myself)and babies, who had to endure many sleepless night's and days. Good Luck...

You should check out the book On Becoming Babywise by Dr. Gary Ezzo. It is amazing and totally explains the natural wake up after 45 minutes of sleep. It helped us get our two yr. old on a sleep schedule. I can't tell you how helpful it will be. You can find it on Amazon or at Barnes and Nobles. It's worth it!!!!!

I would definitely recommend trying the cry it out method. Our son had terrible nights, waking from 6-10 times per night. When he was 13 months old we tried the CIO method, on the recommendation of 2 pediatricians and it was like a miracle! The first night he cried for about 8 min, the second night about 3 min, and that was it!! He has slept through the night since, for the most part. Sometimes he wakes up in the night, but he puts himself back to sleep within 5 min or so. Definitely worth a try...it has changed our lives!!

Hi D.,
A lot of times these sleep issues are phases that will work themselves out naturally, if you're sane enough to keep with what you've been doing.
Do you think he might be over-tired from a busy day?
Whether to let him cry it out or soothe him is completely about how YOU feel. You can read every sleep book ever published, and none are fool-proof. If you feel good about letting him cry it out, go for it. But if you start feeling horrible about it,go soothe your little guy!! There's no right way to do it-jus go with your instincts.

From A. G (a mom who has been there, and survived)!

How is he sleeping during the day? I know that my DD's went thru stages like that and would do exactly the same thing, but more during the day. Seems like the typical sleep cycle is about 45 minutes and sometimes they wake up and can't soothe themselves back to sleep. Hopefully it is just a short stage and your DS will get back on track. Good Luck!

C.
Mommy to Jessie, Katie, and Julia
www.TimetoChangetheDiapers.com
Adorable, affordable cloth diapers and reusable items for babies, kids and Moms!

D.,

Congrats on your first child! I am the mother of 3 and had sleep problems with my first until he was 4 1/2 years old. One of the things that he did was waking about an hour after going to sleep. I had researched it (on the web and in books) and found that a child that is overtired will wake about one hour after going to sleep. I have found that with my other two children that they will wake crying (and I can almost set a clock by it) an hour after going to bed if they were kept up too late. Sleep is very important for infants/toddlers/children so check your son's nap and bedtime schedule to make sure he is getting enough sleep each day. There are many places on the web that have charts (sorry, can't tell you any right now) that list the number of hours that children at each age should get.

I do remember one book that you can probably find at your local library (I did) called "No Cry Sleep Solutions" by Elizabeth Pantley. I was amazed at all the things that can wake a baby/toddler up in the night. You don't think about many of them so it is definately an eye opener. She is very gentle about her approach (not leaving the child to cry it out) and provides a sample log to use to track your child's sleep/bedtime routine.

Hope this helps!! Take care and good luck.

Hi D.-
What you are describing is what my daughter used to do at that age. You don't mention what your son's naps are like, but I noticed with my daughter that it happened more on days that she went to bed overtired. At 6 months, she had just transitioned to two naps a day the length of time between the last nap and bedtime could be no more than 3 -3/12 hours at the most. What is happeneing is that your son is getting disturbed when he comes in to light sleep at 45 minutes and then again 45 minutes later. Most likely, he is not settling into the deep, rest of the night type sleep because he is overtired and it's harder to settle then. I am a fan of cry-it-out but if he's such a good sleeper the rest of the night, I would hesitate to do that at first. The rule in our house when the kids were that age (now they're 5 and 2) was to wait 15-20 minutes from when you first hear the crying. If he can go back to sleep on his own, then he'll do so during that time and by not going in right away, you are giving him the chance to put himself back to sleep. I gues this is a kind of cry-it-out except that if he isn't asleep within 20 minutes, you'll go in and help him. But, try to make sure he's not overtired and see what happens. Good luck.

My 6 1/2 month old daughter has been doing the exact same thing. Like you said, it is almost like clockwork when you can expect her to wake. We also had her sleeping through the night for months until now. We've been doing a modified CIO--wait 5 minutes before walking in, then rubbing her belly and slowly heading out the door as we see her falling back asleep. Some nights it works....but others, we have to resort to picking her up and "walking" her back to sleep. I too also just went back to work and find it frustrating to be dealing w/sleep issues when we know she can sleep through. Some nights, that is all she needs; others, she gets up again. But it does seem to be getting better. Good luck! As I am still dealing w/this, I'd be curious to hear what ultimately ends up working for you.

He may be growing, teething, many things. If you figure there is no reason for it, you can start cry it out at this point. We did it in five minute spurts. We went in and soothed at 5, 10, 15, minute frames.