18 Month Old Not Sleeping Through Night

Hi K.,

I wish I had some solid advice for you. Unfortunately I dont. I just wanted youu to know that I had similar issues with my son. We tried everything. He finally grew out of it. I think some kids are just better sleepers than others

Hi K.,

Here are some web sites:

http://www.naturallynurturing.co.uk/sleep.html

http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/35/toddler-night-ti...

Join a parenting support group and parenting classes to help you as you parent your child.

www.kidspriorityone.org or ###-###-####

or www.chkd.org/classes or ###-###-####

Good luck. Hope this helps. D.

My son is just over two years and still wakes up for a drink at night... To solve our problem we started giving him a tippy cup of water when he was about 18 months old and he would wake up and get a drink and go back to sleep... many times we do not hear him waking up now, there is no crying unless he can't find his drink cup... It has been great and he loves his water...

Good luck

If you can't directly transition her to water, I would start watering down the milk. It isn't good for her teeth.

Depending on your situation, some moms have said they get mileage out of forcing the child to get up, go down stairs and drink the milk at the table. Apparently it is more disruption than the child wants. For me, I think that would make it too hard to get the child back to sleep.

I can't offer personal advice as my 16 month old is still nursing and awakes several times to nurse. However, a5t least I don't have to go get her a cup.

Honestly, we had the same problem with a bottle (as an infant she would NOT sleep unless her bottle was in her crib with her!) Its bad for her to go down with her milk cup though, so maybe you can try giving it to her with water in it with a teaspoon of milk for flavor then if that works try and give her the empty cup. My daughter now takes an empty bottle to bed every night but if she wakes up she sucks on it til she falls back asleep.

This sounds harsh, but put her in her crib, leave the room and don't return until it's time to get her up in the morning. Wear earplugs if you really need your sleep..you'll hear her if she's hurt, but you have to know she's safe in her crib! It keeps out her little cries and noises when she wakes up.

You HAVE to get that milk cup out of her crib. I'm sure you've heard that the milk pooling around her teeth causes them to rot and it's true. Just one night decide that "this is the night we do this" and never look back. She'll get used to it!

White noise CDs and white noise machines work wonders.

I would go in and comfort her and then let her cry it out. She will soon realize that a milk cup is not an option in the middle of the night and will stop waking up for it. You will loose more sleep in the beginning of the process but it will be worth it in the end. I also agree with the other poster that it is very bad for her teeth.

Best Wishes!

My daughter is 10 months and I just stopped nursing her in the middle of the night last week because she was waking every 1-2 hours all night and I just couldn't take it anymore. I have been suffering with low milk production and thought maybe she is not getting enough each time and switched to dreadfully making her bottles 1 scoop formula to 3 oz formula and was offering 6 oz at time. She would drink it dry and go back to bed without fuss. She began only waking 2xs a night after a few nights. She has just woke once the last two nights-I am offering 6 oz to 1.5-2 scoops form. One more 1 up night and I will switch to 1 scoop to 6 oz. This has allowed me to not have to let her cry it out and she actually is beginning to drink water a little better during the day out of her sipping cup which I have been struggling to get her acclimated to.

I am slightly depressed and feel like a failure that I have to ween her from breast feeding due to low milk production caused by stress-i'm told-before her year but try to tell myself she should be learning the sipping cup and to drink other things like juice and water besides my breast milk or formula anyway and will be switching to cow milk also in just 2 more months. This doesn't make it better for me but helps reduce how much I beat myself up about it.

Sorry about the tangent-As mentioned by others and I have been trying-try watering down formula (or maybe even your milk if you are not having the problems I am and can pump) and feed through bottle during the night. Another depressing thought is that we need to allow them to grow up and nursing is a security some pediatrician (my daughters) have said will cause night waking also. The bottle can help break them of this without breaking the trust they have in you.

Good luck.

OH I feel your pain. My son will be 2 in a couple of weeks and still doesnt sleep all night. Drives me crazy. You think I'd get over it and deal, but every night when he gets up I get angry, then I deal, lol. He wakes up, gets a diaper change and a 4oz bottle.
He still gets a bottle, I know, bad mommy. So we just did away w/ the bottle 3nights ago. 1st night cold turkey AND he slept all night. (that was a tease) 2nd night he got 1/2 cup of milk in a real cup before bed and he woke 2x and fussed for a min. 3rd night he refused the milk and fussed and had to be patted to sleep. He slept thru again...and we even had a HUGE thunderstorm w/ lightning. WOW.
Last night I also put in a sippy cup of water for when he wakes in the a.m. I see he sipped a little bit of it.

Id say when your child wakes, pat her back to sleep. Sometimes it takes my son 15min of patting. Dont talk to her. Dont keep giving her a drink. They told me that I had trained my son to wake for the bottle and he will continue to do so if he got the bottle.
Also watch her nap times. Make sure she isnt napping too much during the day. AT 18months she could probably combine naps if she is still taking 2. We allow at least4-5hrs between afternoon nap and bedtime. You want them to be tired. So make sure you have a active evening activity, but not too close to bedtime.

First, please switch to water!!! At this point that is harming her more than I would worry about whether the grown-ups are sleeping. She won't like it, but tough. Maybe leave it in her room at bedtime so it is warm when you give it to her.

Next, I would suggest giving her a heavier nighttime meal and trying to increase her activity level - go for a walk in the evening to tire her out. Look at her nap schedule to see if she is sleeping too long or too late in the day.

I hope you don't let her just cry and ignore her - I think that is awful. But she is also old enough for you to just go in and say "No drink during the night." Just discuss this with her ahead of time. She is old enough to talk to and explain she may only have a drink right before bed - and only milk before you brush her teeth - and a small drink at that. Don't spring it on her at 2 am. Let her pick out a special cup for her bathroom and let her put the water in it. That can be her "night-night drink" - make a big deal out of it. Than be tough during the night.

Good luck.

I've JUST recently stopped nursing my 18th month old in the middle of the night. We broke her out of that habit by 1) making sure she had a full belly prior to bedtime routine (full fat yogurt/ice cream work very well!), 2) having dad get up and offer her a little water instead, 3)not rushing to her bedside immediately after crying (not to be confused w/letting her "cry it out", which I don't agree with).

One month later... she sleeps through the night (8-10hrs) 90% of the time. Wonderful!

~L.

I'm still nursing my 14 month old who wakes up several times to nurse, but my oldest (now almost 4) sounds a lot like your daughter. I read "The No Cry Sleep Solution" and it made a lot of sense to me. "Sleeping through the night" does not mean 12 hours! Especially not for all kids. Both my girls are not great sleepers. My mom would always tease me and say that they're going to be very smart because of their brain activity and how often they wake up! My oldest still doesn't sleep "through the night." She'll wake up once and sometimes more just to have me come tuck her back in bed and be ok. I'd say that as long as your daughter goes back to sleep, it'll be ok. Now if she wakes up for a long period of time, that's another issue. It's hard to break habits (the milk thing). So just do the best you can and month by month, it'll change. I liked the advice about watering down the milk. Best wishes! And get the book! :o)

Our 18 months old still wakes up 1-2 between when he falls asleep (around 7:30 pm) and when he wakes up in the morning (around 6:00 pm). When my husband is in town, he goes to him when he wakes up. He gives him water (especially now that it's summer and hot and we all need as much water as we can get) and stays with him for a few minutes until he falls asleep. We took him out of his crib and bought a twin mattress and put it on the floor (without the box still because he doesn't climb that high yet on his own). So when we go to him when he wakes up, we just lie down next to him until he falls asleep. When my husband is out of town (which is A LOT) then I go to him. That's when it really sucks because if I'm the only one around, then he wants to nurse and so it takes longer and so I'm awake for longer. But you are a single mother and so you always have to be the one who goes. So I should count my blessings!!! I admire you! So I guess what I'm thinking for you and for us is that they will just grow out of it. Some toddlers/babies just need extra love and attention and I believe they will grow out of it. The only other suggestions I can give you is to make sure your child gets a '2nd dinner'. Basically what we do is about 30-45 minutes before bed time (after his bath) he gets oatmeal with about 1 1/4 cups of milk (warm of course). Then he gets his teeth brushed and can have as much water as he wants and then we change him and read a stroy and then I nurse him and then I just lie down next to him and wait for him to fall asleep (he likes his tummy rubbed). So make sure your child isn't waking up because of hunger. Also, if you have yet to do so, it's probably time to switch to 1 nap. Maybe around 11 am or 12 pm and for 2-3 hours. That way, the nap isn't too late in the day. And make bed time no later than 8 because they tend to sleep better when it's an earlier bed time. Other than that, I hope both our kids start sleeping through the night sooner rather than later. Good luck!!!