So I'm at a standstill with my just one year old, or should I say stand off!! He was a great sleeper but lately has been waking at least once a night and sometimes twice, and won't go back down unless I nurse him. My husband tries to soothe him but to no avail, after he nurses he goes right back down. We have tried to let him settle himself in his crib, but he does share a room with two brothers, and after several minutes and escalated crying of the baby we have to get him for fear of waking the others. He goes to bed fine at night and puts himself to sleep, after we do our bedtime routine.
I need some advice on how to get my good sleeper back so the rest of us can have a good nights sleep too!!
Dr. Brazelton's book is great. I am certified to teach parenting...Every milestone has one step forward and 1 step back. Usually when kids start walking, they start to wake up at night. Not all toddlers though. Try not to make feeding him in the middle of the night a habit.
I would try to feed him a healthy sugar free snack around 7 or 7:30 and see if that works.
Didn't his brothers ever go through a growth spurt? Teething? Changes in sleep schedule? I'm surprised you haven't seen this before with your older kids when they were this age.
He may be waking because he's growing now and is hungry. Normal. Feed him. He's one and hungry, and not trying to manipulate you. The fact that he "goes right back down" after you nurse him is your answer. He's hungry, so feed him. Simple.
He may be teething, even if you can't feel any tooth buds in his gum.
Consider that his sleep needs may be changing, too. If he's been sleeping 12 hours -- wow, does he nap adequately? If not, he may need a longer nap and a later bedtime in the evening (with a bedtime feeding) to get him to sleep longer through the night. Don't expect him to keep the same sleep pattern for long. Kids' patterns and needs change and change over time. If your older kids were perfect little sleepers, that does not mean he will be the same -don't compare them.
Feed him a good snack before bed. I used to feed mine a bowl of oatmeal with fruit. Nurse them and put them to bed.
Whenever kids hit a milestone, their sleep is disrupted. After kids turn 1, they will go through multiple sleep disruptions even if they were good sleepers because they go through so many milestones. It's very temporary. It happened to my daughter, too, after she turned 1. She would fall asleep fine when I put her down after the bedtime routine, but she would wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes several times a night. Most notable was when she was learning to walk. Generally, it seemed like the disruptions seemed like they were going to last forever when I was actually living through it, but after they were over, I realized they ended up lasting about 2 weeks at most.
Regarding nursing him back to sleep, I wouldn't do it if he was fine all this time without it. It'll become a habit. Just try to soothe him a little and put him down. If you haven't already, get the book Touchpoints by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D. He talks about going through milestones and how it disrupts sleep and what to do.
Good luck and hang in there!
He's growing and is hungry. Feed him. You might try giving him a snack late, right before bed. If your putting him to bed early then perhaps putting him to bed a bit later after feeding him a good snack will help him sleep all night.
I wouldn't nurse during night but give teething tablets and protein before bed. Perhaps a sippy cup of water. Lovey and paci if he uses one. I hear u! My 3rd is15 months and I have to CIO when she wakes which u can't do, uggggh. GL.
It's just what they do. There are lots of sleep regressions, when teeth are coming in, when there's a big developmental leap...my just 19 month old is coming out of then18th sleep regression with eye teeth coming in. It's brutal.
Look up moxiemom. She has all the sleep regressions. You just have to hang in there until it passes.
Is he eating enough before bed? If so, I wouldn't worry too much about him being hungry. But, i understand your concern about him waking up the other kids. The downside to getting up with him every night is that it creates a habit. If you let him cry and self-soothe, he will stop getting up each night. I went through something similar with all of my kids and we had to nip it in the bud. Mama needs her sleep =)
