Sleeping Suggestions for a 1 Year Old

Some kids are just more difficult. I still rock my 20 month old to sleep for naps and bedtime. It gets frustrating (especially when it takes 2hrs!!!) but the way I look at it is: she won't need to be rocked to sleep when she's older, so I just enjoy the cuddles!!! =) It would definitely be easier if I could lay her down and she would just go to sleep, but that's not her... All kids ate different. Good luck... =)

The best advice is consistency with whatever you choose. There are some helpful hints for getting little ones to sleep at www.toddlerbedandmore.com/toddler_tips.html
Good Luck with the little one!

Do you play her all day? My daughter sleeps A TON better when I let her play in the backyard and take her on walks and to the park most of the day. Do you let her cry for 1-2 hours straight? If so, that is WAY too long.
I'd put black out curtains in her room, open them wide during the day so a lot of natural light comes in and tell her see it's daytime time to be awake, then at bedtime... after the routine... says see it's dark, nighttime, time to go to bed. After a few weeks she will probably have it unmixed.

You start getting her ready at 10pm? No wonder she's not going to sleep babe. That is way too late. You need to put her in bed by 8ish if she's like my daughter. My daughter will be put to bed at 8 and be asleep by 9. 10pm is too late in my opinion, and by that she's probably so tired she is wired. Because if youre gettin her ready, that means she's not in bed til 11pm.

Do you feed her again before bed? I'd try something like oatmeal or toast or something right before your bedtime routine. 6PM to 10 PM is a long time for a 4 year old to go without eating. She might go down a little easier if she has another meal.

Also, my daughter napped twice a day for 1-2 hours still at that age and would still wake up hungry in the middle of the night sometimes.

There are plenty of sleep books (at the library). My daughter will sleep in if she is very tired too. Try waking her up a bit earlier--maybe 15 or 20 minutes and adjust the bedtime earlier by the same amount. Do that for a week or more until it sticks (she wakes up on her own at the earlier time). Then you can do it again until you get to the bedtime you want.

In a pinch I have gotten my babies to go to sleep by reading to them from a longer children's book. After a while the sound of my voice lulls them to sleep. It even still works on my 5 year old. The only problems is not making it a habit because it is a pain to read a long time every night. You could try sitting in the room with her until she is sleepy or almost asleep.

Getting some active playtime, especially after the nap may help. You may need another meal or snack if she goes to sleep at 10 or later. After 3 hours a 1 year old is probably hungry again. My kids usually eat 6 or 6:30 and are in bed at 8 to 8:30. (But there were bumps in the road to getting them on a workable schedule!)

She is trying to wear you down with the crying. I would start our day earlier. I would start getting her up the same time every day. Start waking her up at 8:30 am. Breakfast lunch then a much neede nap from noon to about 3 or 4 pm. She will cry for at 4-5 days in a row. BE CONSISTENT. In the long run it will work. Don't give but you can check on her. I tried not to open the door when I was crib training. She obviously doesn't want to nap. At one yr old she still needs it. Be consistent....good luck.

Didn't have time to read all the responses. My guess is that she's not getting enough sleep, so by bedtime she's too exhausted to fall asleep. 1hr naps are too short. Try feeding her lunch before nap time. She's probably waking up early because she is hungry, but is not rested enough. If you can get her to nap longer during the day, she'll sleep longer at night. My theory is sleep breeds sleep. more sleep = even more sleep.

10pm is pretty late, but if it's because mommy or daddy are getting home late, it's totally understandable. Just be consistent, and make sure she has at least 10-12hrs available to sleep.

My 18month old still naps 3hrs at nap time. If I dont' get lunch in before hand, he'll only sleep 1hr and he's cranky the rest of the day. My daughter was the same way. She napped 3hrs at a time till recently, she's 3.5yrs old.

I think the time of your schedule is a little off. Little ones shouldn't be up that late. You should have her IN BED by no later than 8:00.

Our pediatrician gave us a schedule to try:
Up by 8:00 AM
Breakfast about 8:30
Snack about 10:00
Lunch at 12:00
Nap at 1:00 (they should sleep for at least 2 hours if they only have 1 nap)
Up from nap at 3:00 (or whenever she wakes on her own)
Snack at 3:30
Dinner at 6:00
Get ready for bed at 7:00
In bed asleep by 8:00-8:30

If you're doing bath, lotion and story time starting at 10, she's probably not getting to bed till maybe 11? And if she cries for an hour, then it's midnight by the time she's maybe asleep? That's not a good schedule for a little one. Watch for her sleep cues. I would bet that she's getting overtired and that's why she doesn't want to sleep.

wake her up earlier and she will go to sleep earlier! try half hour changes over the next week or so and by this time next week she should be getting up around 8am and going to sleep around 8pm....

You need to establish a better schedule during the day. How many naps does she take during the day, and how long do they last, and WHEN does she take them?

Even if she is still taking two naps, the last one should be OVER by 4 o'clock (some days are hard, but still...try.) If her afternoon nap is over and she has time to play before dinner, then have a nice relaxed dinner, more play time, and start the bedtime routine at 7.

I think you've waited to long to let her cry it out, so you may just have to keep putting her to sleep, but you can do it much earlier than midnight. Just start her day earlier, don't let her nap late, and make sure evenings are relaxed.

I never let my first one cry it out, so she couldn't fall asleep on her own...she was in a regular bed by 16 months, so I would just sit and read to her until she fell asleep. Never took longer than a half hour, and that is very valuable time spent reading to your child...nothing wrong with that.

I let my second one cry it out starting at nine months, and it only took three days. I suppose you could try it again, but explain it to her very simply!

Good luck, hope some of this helps!

Many little ones older than yours will not go to sleep on their own at night. Just go with it. Please do not let her cry it out. It is very terrifying for young children and only makes their issues worse. Crying means you need to go get her and comfort her. There's no way around it. She can't reason things out. She doesn't know how long it is, where you are or if she'll be rescued or not. She's just too young to deal with this separation.

You could also try getting her up early. Try waking her up at 9:00 am for a couple of days, then 8:30, then 8:00, etc. If she's going to bed at 11:00 pm and sleeping until 10:00 am, that's 11 hours of sleep! If you could gradually move her wake-up time to 8:00 am, she would probably go down around 8:30 pm and be asleep by 9:00 pm.

Just try to think about the total number of hours she might sleep at night and what you would like her "go to sleep" time to be. Then count forwards to what her new "wake up" time would be. Gradually move towards that, and I think you'll find that she is plenty tired enough to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

If you count her total number of hours sleeping, she's right on track.

Well I will suggest a great book "Healthy Sleep Healthy Baby" by Marc Weissbluth M.D really great book I did read it and did what he said.

And I thing you putting your baby way to late at night she should be in bed by 7-8pm specially that your baby doesn't sleep in a late afternoon.I thing you need to move the whole day starting with wake up.Read this book it really save my life twice :)
Good luck

All kids are different so trial & error is key. :)

My suggestion is adjusting her nap schedule. Does she nap until late in the afternoon? Does she get a long nap? Cuz if she's not tired come 10:00 it's gonna be tought getting her to sleep. :) So look at that.

Is she hungry or thirsty? Maybe give her a little soothing snack or something around 9:00 and some water. Even 8:00. Just to make sure there's something in the tummy.

Once you know she is tired at 10, it sounds like your bedtime routine is a good one. :) I'd say if you lay her down & she pitches a fit, put your hand on her butt & pat her for a little bit but don't take her out of the crib. :) After a week or so, she will get the hint & won't cry. You can't cave in though cuz then she knows she just has to hang in there crying for a little longer & she WILL get her way. Kids are super smart like that.... LOL! After she gets used to you laying her down & bouncing her some then maybe lay her down & stand in the corner of the room for a few minutes. Then out the door. Couple weeks & she'll be sleeping like a champ. Good luck!

Work toward getting her to bed by 7:30-8:00pm. Everything else will fall into place.

What's the room like? Is it nice and dark, can you run a fan for some white noise? That is really the key to getting my girls to sleep at night and naptimes. Get the darkest curtains you can find, even double up if you need to. Get the faux wooden blinds for the windows, they block out lots more light then the plastic ones. Run a fan on high to drown out any noises the family makes. This gives your little one a sleeping environment, no matter what time the sun goes down in the evening, it will be dark. 7pm is a good bed time. I'd aim for that, do your routine (you've got a great one), and see how she does in this new environment.

Then be consistent about sleeping. Use SuperNanny techniques for going to sleep (you can watch past episodes online at hulu.com for free) and she'll learn to go to bed when you put her down.

Best wishes!

Try to start looking at her nap schedule. My daughter is 14 months. She gets up around 8am, has about an hour morning nap, gets up has lunch, plays, and has an afternoon nap from 3-5, gets up plays, has dinner, gets her bath and night clothes and then I lay her in bed with her milk, she drinks it and goes to sleep, then I sneak in and take her milk away. Sometimes she will wake up once in the middle of the night but not normally. With babies it's hard bc if they are too tired they will fight sleep and if they aren't tired they will fight sleep. Try getting her on a nap time routine during the day and see if it helps. Make sure she is full and has a dry diaper. My lil one has changed her poop time to the middle of her afternoon nap and this wakes her up everytime! We have a video monitor and I had to watch her for a while and see why she was getting frustrated when I would lay her down. Turns out she wanted a pillow, she was pulling and ripping at her crib bumper to try and use it as one! I put a small baby pillow in the crib with her and she started sleeping thru the night with no problems! BTW I really feel for you! Having a baby that won't sleep is so frustrating and stressful!! Good luck momma!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child...

Buy this book-

Good luck =D

oh- btw- you might need to get her checked for reflux.
Also, don't let her cry for 1-2 hours.
Most she should cry (a distressed cry) is 10 minutes.
She may still need soothing.
Could be teething (tylenol at bedtime should help).
May have gas that won't come out easily (gas-x)

first and foremost- get her checked for reflux.

Good luck!