Sleeping Help

Hi M.! i was in the same boat. I think they wake themselves up at night and figure what the heck i could use a drink. I finally made him cry it out, and it only took about 20 minutes for 2-3 days for him to quit that. They dont really need us they just wake up and want the company. I know its hard to hear them cry, but believe me it doesnt take long and then youll go... well that was easy why didnt i do that sooner!
Good luck!

Well, M., unfortunately I have no good advise, but just some encouraging words. My 19 month old had the same problems. One thing that may be contributing (it was with mine) is that she may be cutting teeth. My daughter after a year finally started sleeping thru the night until she started cutting teeth, then she would start waking up again. You may check her mouth to see if that is the case. What I then did was give her ibuprofen and put baby orajel on her teeth before putting her to bed. Sometimes she would wake up again in the night, but I would just need to put some more orajel on her gums and she would go back to sleep shortly without having to nurse back to sleep. Hope this helps! Don't worry, I am proof that it does get better! Good luck!

Ok I can give a little bit of advice but I didn't breastfeed after 8 weeks (dried up) so I don't know anything about later feeding. When she wakes up in the night and you go in there she is looking for someone to talk to her. That is exactly what you are doing. So...when she wakes up go in there and give her what she needs...but don't talk to her. When you talk to her that is letting her know that she can get up. If she is wanting to eat..feed her but don't talk to her the whole time. If all she is wanting is someone to be with her until she goes back to sleep sit with her, pat her on the back, whatever she is wanting...but don't talk to her, don't sing to her, just sit in silence. My daughter is almost 2 and she still wakes up in the night sometimes. When she gets up I give her some warm milk, pat her on the back to put her to sleep and burp her, and rock her at the same time. Once she is to the point where she is almost asleep I put her in her bed and she is out...usually for the rest of the night. She usually doesn't wake up more than once, if she does it is because she isn't feeling good. Another thing we do for our daughter is we play music for her at bedtime. She listens to Andrea Bocelli. It helps to relax her and ease her into sleep. If she wakes up in the night I also turn that back on for her. You might try something like that. I wish you luck!

Hi M.,
How about introducing her to a sippy cup, put water or breastmilk in it for her,the bad part about this is you are starting somthing that you you will eventually have to stop.
I think tha tin my opinion you need to just let her fuss it out and let her self soothe herslef back to sleep. I would go in there but let your presence be known, check on her, if she sleeps with something give it to her, but don't speak any words to her. Also one other thing give her a snack right before bed, maybe some cheerios or a cereal bar something like this. W.

I nursed both of my kids and it was when I quit nursing that they started sleeping through the night.

Hi, I'm still nursing my 14 month old, twice a day and its only to put him to sleep. He has went though periods where he woke up I think his teeth were bothering him. And there were days when he was between 10 and 12 months where he would be too busy to nurse so he would make up for it in the night. I tried when he was younger to the cry it out way... it worked for my oldest(now 3) but not for the younger. I just cant do it. In my heart I felt that when he was ready to cut out the nursings... and he has we are down to 2 from doing it round the clock in the beginning. Good Luck!

She might be getting hungry. My 9 month old daughter went through that not too long ago. Also when my son was waking up in the middle of the night (he's 2 now) it was because the dinner wasn't fulfilling. Make sure she is getting meat in her dinner...that works pretty good at keeping them full. Gerber makes some meat sticks that my son used to eat before he could eat regular meat. And give her a snack before bed. If she still wants to nurse, it could be a security thing for her. Try to make her a bottle and give that to her when she wakes up at night. Maybe she just needs that to know she is not alone. I also sing to my kids and that calms them down too.

Hi M.,

I feel like maybe you shouldn't stop nursing just yet. Maybe just give it another month or two, and maybe she'll stop on her own. My older 2 kids stopped themselves at 13 months and I have a 10 month old son that is showing the same signs of wanting to stop soon. Have you tried giving her something in a cup? If she has never taken a bottle, I wouldn't introduce that now. My kids took one on occasion, but not regularly. She's probably close enough to 1 year old that she could probably try out regular milk, or maybe mix it in with some formula, as well. Why start on formula this late in the game? She might get attached to it and then you'll have an unnecessary expense.

I have been giving my kids the farm fresh milk for a while now and they LOVE it! There are no hormones in it and it is very good. I think it has a much better taste because it's in the glass bottles, too. Milk in the plastic jugs seems to have a funny plastic-y aftertaste. Anyway, those are just my opinions because I, too have been through similar situations. I thought they'd never want to stop nursing, but they did it and it was in their own time.

Hope this helps,
Liz W.

sometimes when their metabolism changes for a growth spurt or whatever the case may be, their eating habits will change too. She may be legitamately hungry at that time in the night. Most likely, if she had a routine that didn't involve a mid-of-the-night meal before she'll go back to sleeping the night through after her eating habbits compensate for her new metabolic needs. It sounds like you're doing the right thing, and trying to comfort her for a while before you feed her is probably a good way for her to be aware that eating at that time is not ideal. I know that doesn't help you to sleep the night through now, but if that's the case, it shouldn't last too long. Like the other mom's said, giving her a snack before bed may help and she could also be teething in which case the ibuprofen is good; although, I haven't heard good things about the orajel because they swallow so much of it. Good luck.

You have to stop nursing her to sleep. Be consistent. Decide not to and stop it. It isn't crying it out if you stay with her. But she will cry. Wouldn't you? You are only torturing her by making her cry for an hour before you give in and nurse her to sleep.