Help with 10Month Old Not Sleeping Through the Night

Hi C.. Let me first say that I sympathize with you so much! My first son didn't sleep through the night until he was 1. We were just exhausted!! We bought the book by Tracy Hogg called, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. It is a nice approach to helping the child gain the skills to sleep through the night. I hope this helps you get some rest! = )

It sounds like there are lots of contributing factors but regardless of cause you might find help with Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth which offers clear plans to help with sleep issues in children of all ages. Good Luck!

Hi C.,
I can only tell you what I have done and I can tell you that it worked. I can also share what a friend of mine has done and how it isn't working...

What I did with my first one...she is now almost 4 (and I breast fed her for 14 months)...She slept through the night early but, she started waking up when she was 4-5 months old and she cried, I went into her room and touched her and told her that she was ok, rubbed her cheek or head and shh'd her and then left the room...I NEVER picked her up. That is the key....don't pick them up! Just so you know....They WILL cry when you leave the room and that is ok, that is part of the learning. If they continue to cry for more than 10 minutes, you go back in and do the same thing. You may have to go back in several times. I usually lenthened the time between my visits as we progressed. This will only take about a week or two and then they learn that if they wake up at night that they are able to comfort themselves and fall back to sleep. I have to say...it wasn't easy and yes I was awake most of the night when she was awake, (each in our own bed)....but it only took a week and then she realized that she could go back to sleep herself with out me.

I did this for my twins too ( who never would nurse for me....I pumped for 10 months and bottle fed them for 12 months - breast milk.) They are now almost 16 months old and have been sleeping through the night since they were about four months old. That is when I realized that one was waking up the other by moving in the crib....So when I moved them into their own beds...the slept!

My first one slept through the night earlier than my twins...but she would still wake up in the night. I had a harder time with her and getiing it to where she knew that she could go back to sleep. I think that difference was the comfort thing....my first used a binki and my twins both suck their thumbs. They never missplace their thumbs and my first one would constantly loose her binki in her crib.....I would have to go in there with a spare and give it to her. However, we took the binkis away at about 30 months old and we don't really have any problems unless she has to go potty or if she has a bad dream.

A long time friend has a little girl that is about 19 months old and will only sleep in her parents bed...and not just that....She will not go to sleep unless one of them is in bed with her. So for the last 19 months not only has the baby been in their bed...but one of them has to go to bed with her at 9pm! My sister was there visiting and our friend asked how my girls were doing and my sister told her. She couldn't believe it...she asked how I did it...and my sister told her what I did.....I am sorry I don't know if things got better for them or if they are the same....I haven't talked with her in a while.

If your baby has a favorite lovey or blankie use those...or a binki....try something that smells you...(since you are what comforts him he wants that close to mom thing and something that smells like you will help!) That should help him feel better and make him feel like you are there with him! Keep a blanket in your bra or pajamas while you sleep for a week and then give it to him to hold when he goes to bed. I know they make specific blankes for this....You can also use the breast sheilds that are fabric....keep them in your bra for a week...to pick up your scent and the scent of your milk...then you insert them into this special blanket...if you are crafty...you could make one yourself. I sometimes would use a burp cloth and keep it in my shirt or bra while sleeping. I did't want to give them blankets because of the fear of SIDS. I gave them the really thin burp cloths...which are actually the thin cloth diapers...not the stitched ones.

As for getting him to go to bed with out you....you need to stop rocking him to sleep. You can rock him...but make sure that you put him in bed before he is actually asleep. This will teach him that he can fall asleep on his own and does not need you there with him... I know it is difficult to let go of the closeness...but it is much better for him and you! I would believe that putting him down for his nap would work the same way...try rocking him and then putting him down while he is still awake. I know I love when mine fall asleep on my....I love holding them....but it doesn't happen often so I really enjoy it if it does.

Do you have a Tad? It is a stuffed frog from LeapPad. It has shapes on it's tummy and plays music and lights up to the music! I use one when my girls go down for a nap and when they go to bed. I set it on a shelf so they can see it but not touch it. It plays night night music for up to six minutes depending on how long you set it for. This gives them something to look at and listen to while they are settling down. I have more trouble getting my twins to nap than I did my first one. I think that the twins play with each other and keep themselves awake longer even though they are in their own cribs.

I hope that we are able to help

Let me know what you find out and if anything works...I am interested in knowing how it turns out for you!
Good Luck!!!
R.

I wish that I could give you a solid answer, but my daughter too is a non-sleeper and have resolved that she will just take longer to teach to sleep. I also nurse my daugther and have a full time job. I have done some considerable research in the area and can offer some additional items to check out that may provide some help to you.
1. Have you assessed whether you child might have some environmental allergies. I know this may be crazy but this can cause lack of sleep. Symptoms can go unoticed like occassional coughing without cold, bit of stuffiness, some sneezing.
2. Acid Reflux. Acid Reflux can cause children to wake up every 40-60 minutes because of discomfort.
3. Low Iron. Low iron has been found to cause some babies to wake up.
4. The sleep lady book. She goes through the phycology of sleep and helps you put a plan together to help your child sleep through the night. You can visit the website: http://www.sleeplady.com/
5. Sleep apnea. Some children do actually have a problem with this. They stop breathing temporarily. Usually a good pediatrician can rule this out.
6. New sleeping digs. I puchased something called the Amby baby. My daughter sleeps very well in this during the day. I think your child might be a bit too old to try this, but I am sure that there are some other alternatives out there. http://www.ambybaby.com/

In various stages of her life my daughter has for the most went through it all: reflux, gas, apnea etc. By utilizing the sleep lady book I have been able to get her out of my bed although she is still waking up. I am presently working with her on self soothing which the Sleep lady book walks you through. I am hoping in another few weeks the wakings will become fewer and fewer. I have already seen improvement. You just have to keep reminding yourself that you are teaching the child to sleep. Some babies are born soothers and sleepers while others seem to be destined to be insomniacs. You will get there I promise!

We had the same thing with our son. We used to rock him to sleep until he was 1-year old. He also would not take good naps. I think he was almost too dependent on us.
After he turned 1, we decided it was time for him to go to sleep on his own. We would put him to bed awake and he would cry. He would also wake up 3 or 4 times during the night and cry. Sometimes he would cry for over an hour. We had a couple of bad months of that. It was hard, but we were tough and just let him cry it out. Once he got over it and actually learned to like his bed, it has been wonderful. He's almost 2 now and sleeps 10 to 11 hours at night and takes 2 hour naps!
They just have to learn to go to sleep on their own. Trust me, I know it's tough, but you have to let him cry. It will be worth it in the end. Put him to bed with some toys and books, maybe that will help.

Hi C.. From the sounds of it your son has gone through a lot of changes recently which I'm sure help contribute to the situation. Is your doctor and the articles you've been reading nursing friendly? I know you said you weaned him, and you nursed your other two (but not as long). We recently relocated, but before we did the doctor we had was very nursing friendly. I didn't wean my daughter until she was 16 months old. I had the same dilema with her not sleeping and everyone around me saying "She should be sleeping through the night." My doctor however told me that the average time for a baby to start sleeping through the night that has been breastfed for a longer period of time is 2 years old...and the closer they get to the 2 year mark the more likely it is when they start sleeping through the night they will sleep really good. My daughter started sleeping through the night about a week after she turned two. Good luck!!

A.

C.:

I went through very similar problems with my son, who is now 17 months. He didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 10 months old. I had to use the Ferber method (letting him cry it out). Like all the mothers have said, it was tough. The advice that Liz has given you is the same method that I used. She must have read the same book. :) One thing I would add to Liz's advice is we would turn on his music box and used the magic words, "Night, night Mommy/Daddy will be right back to check on you." By the 3rd night, we were able to put him to bed fully awake and within minutes he was fast asleep until 8:00 the next morning. We used this same method for his naps too. The most important thing is being consistant. If at any time you pick him up then you are conditioning him that every time he cries that he will be picked up. You will see that after a week of ferberizing, it will be such a relief when you go to put him down for the night. Best of luck to you! Please update us in a week. ~Tish

I had a similar problem with my daughter around that stage, though I hadn't yet weaned her. She would wake up every night in the middle of the night and I would go in and hold her and usually she wouldn't stop crying until I nursed her. After getting sick and tired of losing out on that sleep every night I decided to let her cry it out. It was difficult and it lasted 1 hr. but that was it. It only took the one night of not going in and getting her and she almost never woke up and cried in the middle of the night again. I know it sounds harsh, but it's like everything else when dealing with children at this age - he has learned that when he cries out in the middle of the night you will come. If you change his expectations it may just make him realize that he'll have to go back to sleep on his own. Obviously this approach doesn't work for everybody - I think it depends alot on your sons temperament - but it did work for me with almost instant results. Good luck!

As soon as you hear him start to cry instead of picking him up try just patting his back and softly talk him back to sleep. Tell him mommy's here and close your eyes and stuff like that. Then after a couple of days just softly talk to him without the patting. then do it from just the doorway, he will learn that you are there and go back to sleep on his own. It works for my baby. Goodluck.

L.
____@____.com

Carol - I highly advise reading the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. This book was wonderful and put our daughter on a great sleeping schedule. It sounds like your little one is overly tired. Does he have regular naps and what time do you put him to bed? This book is a life saver!

Hi C.,

Boy, sounds like there could be a lot of factors at work including lots of changes in routine for him and teething. My daughter was not a good napper or sleeper either, and I did partly blame myself for nursing her to sleep at night and during the night when she woke. (I weaned her at 7 mos) One of the things that helped, (didn't solve the problem, but helped) was for her to have a sippy cup of water in bed with her. She'd use it to help her get back to sleep when she'd wake up at night. She woke up one or more times per night until she was almost 3 and we've always struggled with her staying in her own bed... but that's for another post. ;-)

My son didn't really start sleeping through the night regularly until he was about 8 months old, and now he's generally a pretty good sleeper and he's almost 2. What we would do was wait a little longer each time he'd cry before we went to get him, and evenutally he'd put himself back to sleep or not wake up at all. We were more disciplined with him and his sleep routines because of the problems we've had with our daughter, but I have to admit it was easier with him. I think a big part of it has been personality and the differences in amount of sleep they each seem to need.

He still has his nights. When he's teething, he'll wake up a time or two in the night. He usually starts getting cranky in the evenings and chewing on his fingers. I find it helps to give him baby tylenol before bedtime when he's showing the signs. He's also kind of a light sleeper. The dog barking outside or the cat meowing will wake him up, so I have to keep a fan running in his room to drown out noise. Maybe a fan or sound machine in your son's room might be something to try to help him sleep more soundly or go back to sleep more easily?

Good luck!
A.

I FEEL your pain! My son was born with reflux and I was up with him every hour and a half, trying to calm him back to sleep. I eventually got him on medicine which controlled the reflux but the little guy was now used to being comforted back to sleep and couldn't self-soothe. I tried his pacifier (he likes his normally but got mad if I tried to stick it in his mouth at night), and I even tried sticking his thumb in his mouth so he could learn to do that when he woke up ... to no avail.

My only option was to re-teach him how to take naps and how to go to bed. This happened when he was about four months old. It was a painful process but very short. I would rock or bouce him, get him settled and then lay him down before he fell asleep. He would scream and cry and I would kiss him and then leave. He is so strong willed that he cried for well over an hour each time before falling asleep. The next night he cried for an hour, then it was 45 minutes, and so on until he knew that he was supposed to go to sleep when he was tired and Mommy laid him down. Of course, during this time, I made sure he didn't need a diaper change or food and if all was well, he laid there and cried. It was so hard!

It got to the point where he could go to sleep fairly well but then he would wake up in the middle of the night. I would smell him to make sure he didn't have a poopy diaper and without looking at him, turning on the light or talking to him, I would leave. Of course, I couldn't sleep that first week listening to him cry so I would read a magazine until he would calm down and go to sleep (again, an hour later). Then, I would check on him to make sure he was okay and I would go back to bed myself.

Now (unless he is sick or has a nasty tooth coming in) he goes to sleep on his own and puts himself back to sleep. We have been sleeping through the night ever since and Mom and Dad are no longer delirious and sleep-deprived (most of the time).

Like I said, it was a very tough process and I had to restrain myself from rushing into his room to soothe him, but in the end it was the best thing I could have ever done for us (and my husband!).

Every child is different but this is what worked for me. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Jen

my 9 month old has been doing the SAME thing since he was 6 m. WE have got to the point where we let him cry. IT is hard and very tiring but we have to do something. I haven't picked him up and stuff because I don't want him to get used to that;. I started to give him a water bottle to sooth him but now I am taking that away from the picture to. It is rough but he was waking up 5-8 times a night. LAst night was only twice and I got FIVE hours of sleep in between which was awesome!
Good luck!

C.,
You have made some major changes to your little boy's life. It is going to take some time for him to adjust. We have had some MAJOR sleep issues and I found that when I started working more, and I weaned (at 12 months and at 15 months) that the kids needed more reassurance. It seems from what you have said that what you are experiencing is normal. Yes he is probably old enough to sleep through the night, but consider a few things that I learned the HARD way. ALL kids are different. Some require less sleep, just as adults.

Case in point...my daughter is almost 4 now but until she was 9 months old, would wake 9-12 times a NIGHT! We had tons of testing done on her to make sure there was no physical reason she couldn't sleep. Looking back on it, yeah it sucked but she grew out of that. My point is that it takes some kids longer.

My own personal feeling is that with everything going on, that more than ever you should cuddle him! Help him feel secure even though his world was shaken up. I'm sure it will get much better with a little time. I found a wonderful book when my son was born called "THE BABY BOOK" by Dr Sears. It really helped me understand some things I never had considered before. It is worth a look if you can find a moment.

Hang in there it WILL get better.
Blessings!
M.

Wow, that's a lot going on in a short period of time. Sounds like he might be overwhelmed and just needs to be comforted through this stressful period. Dr. Sears has some good suggestions for parenting at night. Check out his FAQ section at www.askdrsears.com. I never used the cry-it-out method because it just felt wrong for my family (others use it and like it). I just knew that if I was hurt or lonely that I would want my husband to comfort me instead of leaving me alone.

He's also teething, so that is probably hurting him at night when there is nothing else to distract him from the pain. Sorry I don't have much advice, but if comforting works, keep doing it. My 2-1/2 year old still wakes up at least once during the night and needs a comforting snuggle to fall back alseep. Don't think that your baby has to sleep through the night, that is an unrealistic expectation and it sets you up for frustration. Heck, even as an adult I still wake up at night sometimes. Some Drs seem to think that there's a magic switch that you flip when they are a certain age that allows them to sleep/eat/etc. on a preconceived timetable. Not so, it's a slow process that you have to do with love and patience, and you have to take your son's uniqueness into account.

Hope you find a way to parent through this stage. It's hard, but it is such a short time in their life. Think of a ruler marked with 80 inches, one for each year. Now color in 3-5 inches. These are the toddler/preschool years. Look at how small a time period that is in an 80 year lifespan. Cherish these moments.

Dear C.,
You have to get the book - Healthy sleep habits, happy child, by Marc Weissbluth, MD.
It really helped us. I work alot of hours and my husband is out of town alot. You need your baby to sleep through the night, and learn how to sooth himself to sleep.
Sounds like your whole family just went through a great deal of changes, this could be troubing him, but this book explains how naps are so important, the timing of them and how long they are. As long as my guy gets good naps, he sleeps through the night. He is 10 months old also. I was up at night often after we changed sitters. The second sitter didn't know how to put him down for naps. I made her read the hilighted parts of the book, Putting him in our bed never worked. He cried so much because he was so tired. The book says that teething shouldn't keep the baby up at night. And that any early bedtime is crucial - say between 730 and 8pm. He sleeps til 7 am.
Get the book. It is full of studies and a quick read, just don't get bogged down with it. I promise it will help. And sometimes they do have to cry for 10 minutes to blow off steam - then sleep wonderfully. We do use pacifiers. I do nurse and am weaning right now.
Good Luck!!!
S. K

Do you give him baby cereal try that, you got to remmber he has gone through a big change maybe all at once was a little hard on him if he is teething try baby tylonel close to bed time make sure he is being put to bed at the sametime every night that way he is on a schedule. sounds like he has tested you and won what I mean is he cries out and knows you will pick him up I know it is hard but each time he does that wait longer to go in soon he will learn you are not going to rush by his side and pick him up try those and let me know if it helps

I definitely do not believe in letting your baby cry-it-out. Psychologists have found through research that this can have lifelong effects leading to surpressed feelings of abandonment and then attachment disorders. Babies do not have the ability to use logic. They only know what they need, and that may be comfort from you. Also, a baby learns to comfort himself by having his needs met quickly by you, and then later taking that comfort and reassurance inside himself. He also may be expressing a need to be close to you at night because he isn't getting to see you as often during the day with your new increased work schedule.

I would suggest letting him sleep in bed with you. Try it for a solid week because it will take him awhile to realize subconsciously that you're right there. Don't worry that he'll never sleep on his own. My girls slept with me until my oldest, Karenna was 5 years old and my younger one, Jolie almost 3, but transitioned easily to their own bed together when I was pregnant with my third. The younger one did need me to lay down with her until she was asleep at first for about a month, but now we read books, I turn off the light, and they go to sleep.

Have you considered relactating? Ten months old seems a bit early to wean. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing a minimum of one year and they are being conservative. The World Health Organization says two years. You can definitely bring your milk supply back if you just allow your little one to suckle frequently. Another option is herbs like Fenugreek, Goats Rue, and pumping. Also, bresatfeeding seems to make the teething process much easier. Nursing is scientifically shown to reduce pain in babies. You could even just nurse while you're home and leave formula and food while you're at work. Personally, I don't think I could have gotten through the first year without being able to side lie nurse at night. My kids didn't sleep through the night until close to 3 years old. Every child is different, and it is extremely common that 10 month olds do not sleep through the night.

If you opt not to relactate, maybe you could keep a sippy cup with some water in it near the bed. Or make sure he gets some cereal or some other food right before bed. He may be going through a growth spurt and is waking up because he's hungry.

Good luck!

there is a good chance that he made be hungry. You stated that you wheened him, so maybe he needs to have a heartier meal to fill him up. I also had a minor problem with my son waking up in the middle of the night. I choose to allow him to cry himself back to sleep so he would learn that I would not run to his side every time he decided to cry in order to be held. It was a difficult thing to do, but after the third night of crying he did not have this problem anymore. I would check on him just to make sure he was not hurt or wet, but I had to discipline myself not to hold him, and it turned out for the better.

I also have a 10 month old. She dis not want to sleep through the night either. I just started weaning her and she has decided to wake up every couple of hours in the middle of the night. I refuse to pick her up out of her crib. I just go over to the crib and tell her it is night night time hug ger and lay her down. I rub her head and sometimes have to hold her down. It breaks my heart to do this but it is starting to work. She has only been waking up once at night and has started to not cry as hard. She sleeps in my room still but in her own crib. Well i hope this works

Wow, I feel your pain. It is so hard to be working and not be able to get a decent amount of sleep. I have a 10 month old, and she has been sleeping through the night (mostly) since she was about 4 months old. I worked with her using the cry out method, and now that she can soothe herself, she rarely wakes up in the middle of the night. If she does, I know something is wrong, and I go take care of her. Usually it is because of pain from teething. The only thing I can do to console her is give her tylenol, a nuk or teether, or a bottle filled with cold water with a slow flow nipple on it, and then rock or bounce with her. I think when he is in pain, crying out isn't a good option.

Around 4 months I started letting her cry for about 5 minutes before I went in (if I knew everything was okay), and then gradually increased the time. Most of the time she goes to bed with just a little fussiness now, and then she goes right to sleep. Sometimes she fights it anyway, or is extremely overtired, so I'll let her cry for about 10 minutes, and then go comfort her. She is always asleep within 15 minutes if I leave her alone, though. Sometimes going in the room actually makes it worse- the crying has settled down, and when I pop in to reassure her, she gets mad all over again and it takes her longer to get to sleep.

What I do depends on the type of cry, and time of day. Depending on the cry, I either pick her up and comfort her, just stand there and talk to her, or give her a nuk or teether and leave. I do let her fuss/cry most of the time to get to sleep, which works, but honestly, I go by the situation. If she cries for naptime, I give her the nuk and teether, and then let her cry it out, because I know she is tired, and she needs the sleep. Your son may only need one nap a day now, so you may want to try that so he is tired at night. You probably want to set a cut off time for when naps have to be finished by as well, so he isn't sleeping until 5:30 and then supposed to go to bed at 8.

I always feed my daughter right before I put her to bed (in her own room) and with generally the same routine at night- bath (every other night), eat and bottle, book, rock and/or bounce for a few minutes, kiss, and put her to bed while still awake. She seems to do much better with a routine, because she knows what to expect. I also have a lullabye CD that I play for her at night, and it seems to calm her down. She doesn't like it for naps as much though, because she knows what it means now! It took her a long time to figure that out, though!

So, my recommendations, for what they are worth are:

-Establish and keep a routine for nap time and bedtime. Lay him down when he is drowsy but not asleep.

-Try skipping the morning nap, and transitioning him to one nap a day. My pediatrician actually suggested this to me for my daughter.

-Make sure he eats food that will stick with him and a bottle right before bedtime so he doesn't wake up hungry.

-If he is teething, give him tylenol, a teether, and cold bottle of water.

-Let him cry it out unless there is something wrong, at least for a week, until he learns to soothe himself. But, since you've had so many changes in such a short period of time, you may want to wait a week before you start to do this.

- After he learns to soothe himself, I think it's okay to pick him up on occasions when he is having a very bad "day", but don't get into the habit of rocking him to sleep every night or every nap. This should be on occasion, and definitely not 3-4 times a night. I know plenty of people think you shouldn't pick him up at all, but do what works for you.

-Don't let him sleep in your bed or in your bedroom. You are trying to teach him how to sleep. Your goal is for him to sleep in his own room, so if you teach him to sleep in your room, you'll just have to reteach him later.

I hope this helps.

Sweet dreams!

I nursed my 1st born and my second for 2 1/2 months.... both were tough to get to sleep through the night... My older was 14 months and my second well... 18 months! I just weaned my 18 month old off of the bottle with a nubie... you can get at Sears Essentials or Target. The top is similiar to a bottle... I would bring this up at night and tell my 18th month old she was a big girl and no more bottles.... she would cry a bit and I would give her the nubie... after a couple of nights I told her she was a big girl and had to do it herself... I also gave her a snack before bedtime... a yogurt smoothie. The process took a week... BUT she sleeps through the night!

I had the same problem with my son. The only way to get him over it was to make him take naps. I would allow him to cry for 30 min, then console him, then 30 min more and more consoling. It took about a week, but my son eventually learned how to console himself. It's hard to hear them so upset, but try and plan an activity for you while he's going down. Go outside read a book, something to make the time go by faster. It's hard but it works. Good luck.

I know you don't want to hear this, but I think you should let him cry until he falls back to sleep. He will eventually realize that you are not coming in, and fall asleep. He will get over his frustrations in a week. I know it's hard to lay in bed and listen to your baby cry, but in the long run it works out better for everyone. I have two kids (3 and 1.5) and I had to do this for my youngest. It was hard, but he's a great sleeper now.

Hi, C.! Your situation sounds very familiar. We finally reached a point that we had to let our little guy cry it out. It was really hard of course but definitely fixed the problem. He had simply learned that if he cried loud/long enough, we would come running. I probably had to do it twice a day for two or three days in a row. Then presto! You know it is worth it when he wakes up in a terrific mood--not mad at you (which helps relieve the guilt). I hated when people gave me this advice b/c I just didn't want to do it. I was sure there was another way. But for us, there really wasn't. Best of luck to you!

Ugh! I have been there and I know how frustrated I was!

I have to say that the most effective method I have found for solving the sleeping dilemma is the crying-it-out method. Two of my babies have had sleep issues, and I am one of those mom's who can't STAND to hear her children cry. I tried everything with my first(and I really mean everything), but to no avail.

Finally, with my youngest, when he was around 11 months old and hadn't slept through the night more than twice since birth,I decided to try to let him cry. I won't lie - it was horrible. I think I cried harder than he did. The first night I had to actually leave for a while and let my husband deal with it. But, after several nights, he started sleeping through the entire night uninterupted. And he started napping better too - without having to cry at all.

The cry-it-out method seems cruel and it is really hard to stick to (if you are a big softie like I am), but it is SO worthwhile and it really does work. It doesn't do any emotional damage (I was always afraid it might - but it really doesn't). In the end you are giving him a gift by teaching him to console himself. That skill will make him a more stable and well adjusted child as he grows up.

Whatever method you use, I wish you the very best of luck!

My little boy is now 21 months old and is a fairly good sleeper. However, it's not always been that way. The 1st time he ever slelpt through the night was at 6 months. From then on it's been on again/off again. But everytime I decide I can't handle the getting up anymore, it seems to only take me about 3 nights to get him on track again. I think you are just going to have to be strong and let him cry it out. Now, I haven't been able to do this cold turkey. I have to slowly progress over a couple of nights. Start by going in and just making him lay down. Just tell him that it is night night time (or whatever you call it). You might try sitting in the room but not getting him out of the crib. Just let him know you're there but you're not getting him out. Then maybe on the 2nd night just go in there and lay him down and tell him it's still night night time and then leave. Anyway, for me, going a little bit further each night seems to work. Also, time how long he cries and wait a little bit longer each time you go in there. And I've read that with little ones, it only takes them about 3 times of something to become habitual.
Good Luck!
J.

try dr. weissbluth "healthy sleep habits, happy child". It was a life saver when our girl was 7 months and awaking all night. Itt was recomended to me by our pediatrician that is also a mother of 3, as well as another frined. It's my favorite gift now for baby showers, almost like a bible to me...Good luck and good sleep.