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Q
Minneapolis, MN
My son is 10 months old, and he has had what I call "night terrors" since he was a newborn. He will start screaming and crying in the middle of the night, and will do so for anywhere from a few seconds to a minute, and then he stops. He appears to be asleep through it all, and if we don't disturb him, he stays asleep, or at least goes right back to sleep.
But lately, he has been actually waking up upon screaming. We have tried just leaving him be for 5-10 minutes to settle back on his own, but that that isn't working. I'm not opposed to crying it out, but I know my son's different cries, and he is positively terrified, and his crying escalates. We've tried everything: leaving him in his crib and then going in and soothing him every 10-15 minutes; offering him a sippy cup; cuddling him. But his crying goes on for an hour, sometimes longer--he is inconsolable. He has been teething, but this seems very different to me, and giving him teething tablets and Tylenol do not help.
He goes to bed at 7:00--7:30 p.m., and on the nights he sleeps all the way through, he doesn't wake up until 6:00 a.m. He takes one nap a day, usually from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
During the day, he is a very happy boy. He is always smiling and giving kisses and is very loving. He does not have any health problems. He does not go to daycare. My husband and I have our work schedules arranged so that one of us is always home with him, except for 2 afternoons/week, when a SAHM comes in and watches him for 3 hours. I trust this woman completely--I do not believe anything bad has happened/is happening to him.
Any advice, or insight?
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Q
Chicago, IL
My 10 month old has been sleeping in the bed with me. My husband and I have been seperated for a few months now and my son sleeps in the bed with him too which isn't helping now that I am trying to get him to sleep independently in his crib. I don't know what to do.
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Q
New York, NY
Hi
My 10 week old baby has been sleeping through the night for the past 5 days (8:30pm-6:45am)...but his daytime naps are really short... like 20-30mins each... He used to take one big nap during the day 2-3 hrs long... and the other naps were 45mins-1.5hr Is this normal once they start sleeping through the night? or should he still be sleeping the same amount during the day?
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Q
Chicago, IL
I recently went back to work after taking a year off. My 12-month old is drinking regular milk from a bottle from the sitter. The problem is at night. I nurse him to sleep and then the fun begins. He is waking up almost every 2 hours. The only way we can all go back to sleep is if I nurse him. By the third time he has gotten up, I am so tired that I put him in bed with my husand and me. I have become the human pacifier. I would love to quit nursing all together, but I have a hard time with the crying baby thing. Help.
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Q
San Francisco, CA
Wondering what other 11/12 week old babies' daily sleep schedule is like? Mine starts the day between 6 and 7 am. Takes 2 long naps, then a cat nap 'til 5pm. I put him down at 6 or 6:30pm and he cries on and off until 9 or 10pm, then I feed him and he's down until the morning. He is tired by 6pm but just refuse to go down. It's been 2 weeks and he's still doing this. What's wrong? If his bedtime is naturally at 9 or 10pm, then he can't possibly stay awake from 5 to 9pm at his age.
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Q
New York, NY
For the past month or so, my 15-mth-old has been waking up at 4:30 a.m. (and sometimes as early as 4!) She goes to bed at 7 p.m. and takes two naps/day (approximately 2.5 hrs total). I've tried putting her to bed later and earlier to no avail. After many early wakings, my attempts at CIO'ing have not gone well. I give in either due to her maniacal screaming or my fears of keeping our neighbors up. Also, whenever she does fall back to sleep, she'll wake up again in 20 minutes and cry even harder. Also, she literally tells me she wants to get up. What can I do? I'm pg and I work and I can't keep getting up this early!
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Q
Wichita, KS
My 19-month-old daughter has been a poor sleeper since birth. She has never slept one night on her own. Even after she was born at the hospital, we had to hold her in our arms when she slept. We have tried all types of methods, many books - Dr. Sears, Elizabeth Pantley, cry-it-out, going in at 5-10-15-30 minutes, etc. to no avail. She sleeps with us til this day and wakes up in the middle of the night frequently. Sometimes she wakes only 2 or 3 times a night crying, but most of the time about 6 to 8 times a night. Most of my family and friends said their kids slept through the night at around 18 months. I was waiting for that "magical" day. It came and went. We have a bedtime routine with her - bath, read a book, prayer, and lights out at 8 PM. This doesn't really seem to make a difference to her. Does anyone have any suggestions or can anyone reassure me that one day she will eventually sleep through the night on her own?
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Q
Milwaukee, WI
Looking for support and help. I have a 22 month old. He has been a good sleeper for most of his life. However, over the last 4-5 months he has started waking up earlier and earlier. Our typical routine has been to put him to bed between 7 and 7:30. He used to sleep until 6:30 or 7 when he was younger. That started getting earlier and earlier. Now we are having him routinely wake up as early as 3:30..... 4.... and on really good days 5. I haven't seen him sleep til 6 in months. We have gotten into a very bad habit of letting him come into our bed, but even then, he usually does not go back to sleep. We've tried letting him cry until 6am (time to wake up). That usually results in a very upset child who struggles all day with poor behavior. We have blockout shades, it is very quiet, he's warm enough, etc. I can come up with no other reason for his early wakeups, other than that he has an internal clock that tells him it is time to get up (I assume this because it now happens to me. I routinely find myself waking up and looking at the clock in anticipation of him waking up at 4). Any tips for us? My husband and I are getting very sick of being up so early and he clearly needs the sleep.
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Q
Tulsa, OK
I have a 3 1/2 month old baby boy, who sleeps well until about 5:00 am. He will fall asleep on his own in his crib (as long as he is swaddled in his Miracle Blanket) at about 8:30pm and will sleep until about 4:30am to eat. Once he eats he is back to sleep, but after about a half an hour he starts stretching and moaning a LOT. At first I thought he was waking up, but he is sound asleep. I thought he might just be uncomfortable, so I unswaddle him and he wakes right back up. He will not ever sleep more than half an hour with out his swaddling blanket. Is it normal for him to thrash around so much a few hours before I get him up for the day (7:30ish?) If I get him up earlier, he wants to go back to sleep almost immediately. He takes 2 long naps and 1 short nap during the day.
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Q
Tampa, FL
We keep reading/hearing that a baby's most vulnerable time for SIDS is 3-5 months old. Our son is 3 months old and already rolling to his side. We put him on his back repeatedly through the night but he just rolls back over again. We're very nervous because of the SIDS factor... Anyone have any experience with this, been told anything helpful by your doctors, etc???? Thanks!
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Q
Salt Lake City, UT
I had a gorgeous baby boy 3 weeks ago. He will only sleep with me either in the crook of my arm in bed or on a Boppy on my lap while I sit in a chair. I haven't slept in bed for 4 or 5 nights now because my husband needs his sleep. Every time I try to lay him in his crib he wakes up within 2 minutes and starts to cry. We have white noise machines, a wedge for him in the crib so he feels snuggled ... I don't know what else to do. I sleep in a chair in his room cause that's the only way I am getting sleep and I need my sanity. Is this normal and he'll grow out of it or am I doing something massively wrong? HELP!
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Q
Dallas, TX
My 3-month-old son is a sensitive, wakeful baby. A little over a week ago, he was beginning to take predictable naps, and was sleeping an 8-10 hour stretch at night. Then we went on a trip, and he got a cold. Now, he's up literally all night. We might take 30 minutes trying to get him back down, and then he's up in 5 minutes. I get so exhausted that I'll just pull him into my bed for 3 hours at a time, and let him just nurse the whole time (which doesn't allow me to get any sleep, either). We have used the pacifier, and it helps to calm him down sometimes, but I am at my wits' end. It's been more than a week of this kind of sleep, and I alternate between being weepy and angry. My marriage is suffering, and I've got a short fuse with my two older kids. ANY advice would be appreciated. I didn't know things could fall apart within the course of a week, but apparently they can!
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Q
Rochester, NY
Hi-- I have a beautiful 3-month-old boy. Lately he has been giving me and my husband a hard time when it comes to sleeping at night. We give him his bottle and most of the time he is almost asleep when finished. We put him down in the crib and he will wake up and throw the biggest fit, screaming and crying until he is sweating. We have pacifiers and he will spit them out. Eventually after rocking him or holding him long enough he will pass out but this may go on until 2am sometimes and both of us work and need SOME sleep. (My son does sleep about 5-7 hours once he is asleep at night.) Any advice???? I am starting to dread nighttime because of this and my husband is going away for a week soon and I will be all alone! :(
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Q
Syracuse, NY
When my daughter was a few weeks old we had a hard time getting her to sleep at night. We finaly started swaddeling her, then putting her in her crib sleepy but not sleeping, turned on music and she'd fall asleep fine. Then when she'd wake for feedings I'd do the same thing and she'd fall right back to sleep. Then we started giving her a bath everynight, followed by a lavander massage, book, and feeding. She's almost 4 months old now, we still swaddel her, still have the same bedtime routine, but she wont fall asleep on her own. For the past few weeks I've had to rock her and hold her for 20mins or longer, if I don't then she just screams when I put her down. I don't mind rocking her, but I have to do the same thing when she wakes up to eat and I'm getting tired! Any suggestions on how to get her to sleep on her own again? Also any tips on weaning from the swaddeling? I'd like to break her of it before its too hot for it.
My other problem is that she wont nap, she'll take a 10-20min nap her and there but I have to lay down on my bed next to her.
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Q
San Francisco, CA
My son never had a problem sleeping very well at night until now! He just turned 4 months at the end of November and this is when it all started. Some nights hes waking up every 2 hours.
Any sugguestions?
I should also add... started him on rice cereal in his bottle at night at about 3 3/4 months. He just recently started eating it with a spoon. When he wakes up and night, he will only drink about 1 - 1 1/2 oz of formula, so I dont believe hes hungry. His eyes are usually closed when he is fussing around and or crying, so I have reason to believe he is still in a state of sleep?!
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Q
Dallas, TX
I was wondering if there are any other Mom's out there that went through this same thing? My 4 and a half month old was sleeping from 8pm until 6am consistently and has slowly gotten worse. It started with him getting up around 1:40am and then sleeping until 6am and now he is getting up every 3 hours again and has been doing this for about a week now. His temperature is normal so he doesn't seem to be sick and when i change his diaper in the middle of the night he's babbling away and smiling so he doesn't seem to be hurting at all. Does anyone know if this is just a phase and will get better? He is eating 6oz. everytime he gets up so maybe it's a hunger thing? He is a big boy, he's in the 95th percentile for weight and 97th for height. Thanks for your responses!!
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Q
Los Angeles, CA
My 5 1/2 month old has all the sudden started waking up in the middle of the night and since he was 2 months old he has slept throught the entire night. I started giving him rice cereal about 2 weeks ago but lately he hasn't really been interested and I'm not sure why. I'm thinking that might be why he is waking but then again when he wakes he doesn't always act hungry, though I feed anyways cause it helps him go back to sleep. When I go into his room he is babbling and smiling like he just doesn't want to sleep. I told myself I would never let my kids sleep in bed with me but these last three nights I've brought him in my room at 3am cause he always falls back asleep in my bed. Not to mention I am weaning him off breastmilk too. Does anyone have any advice??? Thanks:)
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Q
Burlington, VT
Hi - My 5 1/2 month old baby girl is not so much with the sleeping on her own at night. For the first couple/few months she would go down between 8-9 and sleep until anywhere from 1-2. Then she'd wake up, nurse... and maybe nurse one or 2 more times. This was all fine with me. For the last month at least she is down closer to 7:30-8, and will maybe sleep til 10, if I'm lucky. I feed her and she's up again an hour later. Then she pretty much eats off & on the rest of the night. Right now, I'm just looking to extend that first stretch of sleep, from the time I put her down til she first gets up. I don't know what else to try! She just started cereal at night and that hasn't impacted the sleep thing. She is teething, has been for a bit now, and also struggles with gas from time to time, but those aren't new issues. Even when she's had tylenol before bed she's waking... and it's not like she's hurting when she wakes up. Like I said she eats & is back to sleep. Please - I am open to hearing all your suggestions! Thanks :)
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Q
Springfield, MA
HELP! THIS ISNT A NEW ISSUE YET IT IS BECOMING A PROBLEM NOW BECAUSE IT WAKES UP OUR NEW BABY! SINCE I CAN REMEMBER, MY 5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HAS HAD BEDTIME ISSUES. IT TAKES HER 2 HOURS TO FALL ASLEEP, AND THEN SHE IS UP SLEEP WALKING OR CRYING EVERY 2 HOURS OR SO AFTER THAT, FINALLY SHE IS UP FOR THE DAY AT LIKE 6:30 AM! HER BEDTIME IS 7:30 PM BUT LIKE I SAID SHE FALLS ASLEEP AT 9:30 ISH . SHE IS SO LOUD AT NIGHT SHE WAKES UP THE NEW BABY WHO IS IN A DIFFERENT ROOM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HOUSE. IM WONDERING CAN SMALL CHILDREN HAVE SLEEP DISORDERS?
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Q
Phoenix, AZ
My beautiful daughter will not let me sleep! She is 6 months old now and I have said over and over it will get better once we start the solid foods. WRONG! I have had 2 nights in the 6 months of 8 hours of sleep, she was averaging about 5 to 6 hours for a couple of weeks with brief wakening up for her pacifier which I thought was great. Now she wakes up 3 to 4 times a night crying ranging from an hour after I lay down which is about 30 after she goes down and no matter what she is up between 2:00 AM to 3:00AM. I have to be up to get ready for work by 4:00AM. I am exhausted and starting to get a extremely frustrated. Is there any hope or ideas to help me get thru this?
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Q
Wichita, KS
Does anyone have any suggestions on things I can try to get my 6 month old daughter to sleep through the night? For the past few months she wakes 7 or 8 times during the night, and when she does sleep through the night she cries out a lot. We have her on a pretty good night time routine, dinner, bath, snuggle time, read a book and put down to sleep, but she just doesnt seem to be wanting to sleep through the night anymore. She also has stopped napping during the day, she went from taking two, two hour naps to maybe one twenty minute nap. HELP PLEASE!
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Q
Philadelphia, PA
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has some advice for me... my 6 month old falls asleep on his own, no crying, no fussing... he even sleeps 12 straight hours at night... but for nap time... he often will only sleep for 30 minutes... sometimes 45 minutes and RARELY an hour and a half...
When he wakes up after only sleeping for 30-40 minutes, he often cries, so I know he is still tired... but when I got into the room, he gets so excited to see me, there is no way he'll go back to sleep..
any advice would be great! thank you!
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Q
San Francisco, CA
my 6 month old WAS sleeping through the night, and started waking once so i would feed him so that he'd sleep in longer. he was previosly going 12 hours straight. now he wakes TWO times and wants to eat. he;s eating TONS of solids throughout the day (3 times) and breast feeding so im pretty sure he's not hungry, and its been going on for about a month. so i'm also not thinking it's not a growth spurt. how do i wean him off his night feedings again?
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Q
Chicago, IL
My wife and I think our 6 month old daughter is waking up with bad dreams. Is that too young? Does anyone have any ideas on what (if anything) we can do about it?
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Q
St. Cloud, MN
My son is 6 weeks old and he won't sleep in his crib. In fact he won't sleep any where but in the bed with me. When I lay him down for naps or at night he'll only sleep for 20 minutes then he's up screaming. If I'm holding him or if I lay with him that's the only way he'll sleep longer. Any ideas how I can get him to sleep by himself?
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Q
Athens, GA
My 7 month old son is not sleeping through the night anymore. He slept through the night from the time he was 8 weeks old. He is teething, he just got in his 4th tooth. He does not like to sleep on his tummy and everytime I go into his room when he wakes up and is crying he is on his tummy. My husband and I tried not feeding him because we did not want to get him used to eating in the middle of the night, but that was the only thing that got him to sleep. Now I get him to sleep and when I lay him down he wakes up, so I get him up and rock him back to sleep and lay him back down and he wakes up (this happens a few times until he finally falls asleep). I have tried just letting him cry, but after 20 minutes straight I couldn't bear to listen to him upset anymore. Any ideas of why he is doing this and what I can do to get a full night's sleep again? Thanks!
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Q
Chicago, IL
My 8 month old daughter is unable to fall asleep, even though she is obviously tired. She sleeps from 8:30 (now more like 9:30 or 10 with all the struggling) to 8:30, and takes 2 45-75 min naps a day.
Up until two weeks or so ago, we put her in her crib, drowsy, and she'd fall asleep on her own at bedtime, and for naps (or so I thought). Then I discovered that my husband had been laying down with her to fall asleep, and letting her take naps on our bed while he worked on the computer in the room (he's been home on winter break from school). He kept on doing it even after I told him I was concerned about it because it became the only way she would sleep for him. All of this was followed by a weekend trip out of state where she had to sleep in a pack-n-play in the room with me.
We are now paying for it - she refuses to go to sleep. She thrashes, wiggles, thumps her legs, "sings", and eventually, screams. This can go on for 1-2 HOURS, at bedtime and naptime. Even if her eyes are closing, the minute she hits the crib, it is like someone has thrown a HYPER switch...
I want her sleeping in her crib. There is no room to set it up in our room, and our bed is already too crowded with dad and I in it. We live in a true loft, so there are no enclosed ceilings, but we've all adapted to that. We have had a bedtime routine for 6+ months - bath, massage, bottle, bed with nature sounds. After an hour of her struggling, and us soothing, we eventually have to resort to swaddling her (which she is WAY too big for) or just holding her arms and legs still until she calms down and drifts off. We've tried putting her down earlier. It only prolongs the struggle.
We're at the end of our rope, and I'm at a total loss for how to help her calm down. I'm afraid I'm going to take this out on my husband, and that our sitter is going to quit because my baby has become unruly about sleep....
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Q
Minneapolis, MN
My 8 month old son wakes several times a night. He is fighting a double ear infection, a cold and had a fever. He is on antibiotics so I don't think that is the problem any more. He also rolls onto his tummy and gets "stuck" there and cries out for me to "rescue" him. He also gets stuck in the corner of his crib or gets tangled up in the bumper on his crib. I've noticed that it is harder to get him down at his regular bed time (7 p.m.) because of the time change (it stays light out longer). We have room darkening shades in his room, however a small amount of light still filters in. I don't know what to do...I am so tired, I can hardly function and I run into walls all day at work. My son eats 3 solid meals a day and is bottle fed at daycare as well. I nurse him at night and throughout the night when he wakes. Any advice would really help!!
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Q
Los Angeles, CA
My son is 8 months old and has never slept all night! I have tried everything and I'am going crazy. He goes down at 830 and will sleep until 12am. When he wakes the only thing that will get him back down is a bottle. He will then continue to wake every 2 hours, he wants a bottle with all these wake ups also!!!!!! It doesnt have to be formula everytime, I can also give him some water. The pacifier wont put him back to sleep. I need some help!!!P.S. I dont believe in "The crying method".
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Q
Houston, TX
Dear Mamasource Moms,
My 9 monthsold son had been sleeping thru the night since he was 3 monthsold. But the past week, he woke up in the middle of the night (11pm last night) or very early in the morning (5:30am the past few nights). We let him cried but he only cried harder. We didn't want him to cry to long because that will wake his 2 yearsold siter up. Last night, we put him in our bed which I know it was a mistake. What should I do?
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Q
Houston, TX
Im a first time mom and our 9-Month old is having trouble getting herself back to sleep in the middle of the night. We put our daughter down about 8 o'clock and she goes to sleep with no problem. About 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning she will wake up and its virtually impossible to get her to go back to sleep. We have tried the crying it out thing. It eventually works but it seems like she cries off and on for about 2 hrs before she'll go to sleep. We have tried this for 2 weeks. Does anyone have any advise for me?????
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Q
Minneapolis, MN
My daughter can sleep for 7-9 hours at a time, but she most often choses to do it from 2-9am. It's fine for me now because I'm home, but I go back to work in a month and I won't be able to function on 3 hours of sleep. Does anyone have a solution that doesn't involve co-sleeping or letting her cry it out? Thanks.
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Q
Miami, FL
I've read through many sleep posts and I'm confused as to which strategy to try - if any. Here is my two part question:
1) Do moms with older children and experts agree that it's actually a problem for a baby (and/or parent) long term if they can only go to sleep while being rocked/walked or nursed? Do these infants always have sleeping problems when they get to age 1, 2 and 3? Or do some infants finally one day just go to sleep on their own without undergoing the "cry it out" or other sleep training methods?
2) If in fact it is a problem that my 9 month old cannot go to sleep on her own unless she is rocked/walked or nursed, then which sleep training strategy should I use? (I am still nursing my 9m baby 4-5x per day and nurse her to sleep at 9pm and then 5am when nanny not there).
As a side note, our live-in nanny sleeps in the same room as the baby Mon-Fri. She is 68 y.o. (with 40 years baby experience) and has never done sleep training with any of the babies she's taken care of and doesn't feel it's necessary. She claims infants one day just go to sleep on their own, and she's always walked/rocked them to sleep. Is she full of it?
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Q
Harrisburg, PA
My daughter is just over a month old and I cannot get her to sleep at night. She seems to fight it. She gets so grumpy around 8 pm so I try putting her to bed. First we rock until she falls asleep so then I take her and lay her in her pack n play. (she is still sleeping in my room) As soon as her binky falls out she starts crying. She will continue to cry until I go in and put it back in her mouth. I have tried to let her fall back asleep on her own but she just gets so upset that it doesn’t happen. We go through the binky ordeal until about midnight or a little after – when she eventually is so tired that she won’t wake up when it pops out. It is very frustrating because when she goes to sleep at night I like to have a little time with just my fiancé and I. Please give me any suggestions you may have! Thanks!!
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Q
Atlanta, GA
my child is 17 months old and is still sleeping in our bed. We made the mistake of letting her sleep in our bed as an infant due to her colic. She had a bad case of colic and would only sleep on my chest. 17 months later,,,,and she is still in our bed. We have tried everything and I am starting to slowly feel like a failure! I have tried letting her "cry it out" but, it goes on ALL NIGHT! Until she is literally shaking and hyperventilating. My husband and I just can't stand to let her cry all night. It is so draining. Any advice is appreciated!
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Q
Chicago, IL
My son is almost a year old and still wakes up once in the middle of the night for a bottle. He does go right back to sleep but it is still something i don't want to continue. Plus, i want to break him of the bottle thing when he turns a year anyway. How do i break him from waking up? He's a good sleeper at night otherwise and i have another baby on the way and there is no way i want to have to deal with 2 babies waking up at night. Help!
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Q
Tampa, FL
My daughter is 5 1/2 months old and she sleeps on her side in her crib. She has this beany baby duck that she likes to sleep with. Problem is when she's going to sleep and sleeping she likes it smushed up against her face and she sucks on her pacifier. If I take it away she wakes up and gets angry. I worry about SIDS with the duck on her face. Am I worrying over nothing, or do I take the duck away. Common sense says take it away- but she loves it.
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Q
Greensboro, NC
Does anyone have any tips on colicky babies?HELP
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Q
Tampa, FL
I am having the worst time trying to get my 1 yr old daughter to go to bed at night. This is kinda long, so please bear with me. When Cadence was about a week old she started showing signs of colic, right around bedtime. I tried everything, and just to see what would happen I put her on her tummy to sleep, and sure enough at 7 weeks old she slept through the night. Of course I was very paranoid, since all I heard when I came home from the hospital was not to let her slwwp on her tummy. So I placed her bassinet as close to my bed as possible, and would check on her everytime she moved......seemed that we had solved the problem. At 8 weeks old, I went back to work, working from 230 pm to 1100pm, and since my husband was not here, I lived with my parents and they would care for her at night, making sure that she got to bed. However my mom, afraid that she wouldnt hear her, even with the moniter, would put her to bed in the play pin, in the living room. She never had trouble getting her to sleep. On my 2 nights off a week I would rock her to sleep, since I felt that I was missing this with her, it made my feel good to do so. Well now I am stayong home with her, and up intill this week didnt mind rocking her, but now she is throwing the biggest fits when I try to rock her. She throws herslef back, and kicks me. So I finally had enough and tried to let her cry herself to sleep last night. I let her cry for 10 mins, and she just screamed and screamed. Fianlly I went to get her, and sat down in the chair with her, and she vomited all over. She cried so hard that she made herself sick........and Im not talking a little spit up.....Im talking I have to get the carpet cleaned!!! So tonight I tried something I saw on Nanny 911......I took her in her room, read her a book while she had her btl, and put her in the bed. I sat in the chair and told her it was night nights. She thought it was funny. She got up about 15 times and threw her binky out(she cant sleep with out it) After an hour and a half of sitting with her and playing binky pickup, I got fed up and rocked her, and yes she threw a fit even when I gave in to rock her. I dont know what to do, but I cant deal with it!!!!!! I thought about getting one of those toys that go on the crib that light up and play music. Any help will be great!!!!
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Q
Boston, MA
Does anyone know of someone I can hire for sleep training? I can't afford it, but I NEED it. My 17 week old actually sleeps through the night (knock on wood) but refuses to nap, and she hates to go to bed at night. I can never seem to get her at the right time to put her down - either too early or too late.
She used to nap OK, for about 45 minutes, after I bounced her on my knee for a couple of minutes.
Now she cries and cries - crashes, and sleeps for only 15-20 minutes.
I have tried everything! I have tried letting her cry with me in the room, and with me out of the room - no change. I have tried letting her sleep on me - no change.
I have tried bouncing, rocking, nursing - no change.
She is swaddled, with white noise, and has room darkening shades.
She does not like the sling or the baby bjorn, nor does she fall asleep in the swing.
I really do not want to take her in the car for every nap!
I can never get anything done, I feel fat, ugly, my house is a mess, I have loads and loads of laundry to do, among other things, taxes are due, I have to pay bills, etc, etc, and I work nights and weekends to make ends meet.
I never get to catch up on my sleep or get anything done because she never naps.
I would be willing to accept it - but she is so tired all day - yawning, fussing, which leads to a complete meltdown every time I try to get her to nap (usually 30-60 minutes 3 times a day), and at the end of the day she'll cry anywhere from 60 min to 3 hours.
I am so sick of it. I can't take it anymore. I think I am crying more than she is now.
Please help!
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Q
Chicago, IL
I have a 12 week old boy that wakes up every 2 hours throughout the night. I have been reading about extinction and gradual extinction, but I am wondering if 12 weeks old is too young to let him cry? I am returning back to work next week so looking for a way to get him to start sleeping a bit more throughout the night.
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Q
Austin, TX
My baby girl is almost 7 months old. She has always gone to sleep on her own and was always very good about sleeping through the night. However, lately she has been screaming when I put her down to bed by herself. She wants to be held more often and she wakes up a lot at night. We just moved into a new house last weekend, so I'm wondering if the new place has her off balance. I made sure to take her to the new house and we spent a lot of time here together before we moved in so that she could get used to it. Also, I made sure that I surrounded her with familiar objects to make the transition easier. I just don't know what to do. I never wanted to let her scream it out, but that seems to be the only way she'll go to sleep on her own. I also read somewhere that around 7 months babies begin to become attached to their mothers and fathers (or those giving them constant care). We have always had a consistent routine with her so that she always feels secure, and sometimes we try to rock her to sleep. That used to work, but lately when we try to rock her she makes her body stiff and she gets mad. I tried giving her her pacifier and rubbing and patting her back and butt, but she won't let me do that. I'm at my wits end. I can't hold her all day long no matter how much I want to. Any ideas about on how to get my baby back to normal?
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Q
Boise, ID
Hi!
My 3 month old will sleep through the night IF she is in bed with us. If she is in her crib we are up every 2-3 hours. Selfishly, I enjoy sleeping through the night and have chosen to allow this (since I work full time as well). However, my husband is getting a little antsy for more privacy and is getting less and less excited about having an infant in the bed night after night. Any suggestions for making the full time transition back to the crib while maximizing sleep time for mommy? Thanks!
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Q
Houston, TX
I have a wonderful, healthy baby boy who is almost 5 months old who hates to fall asleep. He had colic the first 3 months so I didn't let him "cry it out" and then he went to daycare where he doesn't nap much. After a week on vacation with him I realized he is getting worse about going to sleep. He not only fights it, he gets angry. I will let him cry, but usually he just gets so upset that he doesn't stop crying until someone goes to get him. I am afraid that he is starting to not be able to put himself to bed and will have to be rocked to sleep always. One problem with this is that he will wake up 5 minutes after he falls asleep and starts screaming again. He doesn't have fever or is hungry, he is just tired, but won't fall asleep. HELP! What do I do?
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Q
Chicago, IL
Hello-
I am having difficulties with my son (10 weeks old) thrashing his legs and head at night and waking himself up. We do swaddle him in a Swaddle Me. Once he is up, he cannot get himself back to sleep. I end up having to nurse him to get him to sleep again (he won't take a pacifier). He nurses for only a few minutes which is frustrating since he isn't eating. Once I put him down, the same thing happens again, he thrashes and wakes up after about 1 1/2 hours. He isn't sleeping much at night and this worries me. I am not sure what is causing this. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
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Q
Chicago, IL
My son is going on 9 months old and has gone from one health problem to another. First we dealt with colic when he was first born, then it was reflux disease, next was bronchiolitis, then 3 ear infections and finally we’re now dealing with a mild case of RSV with a secondary ear infection. Our choices to get him to sleep were either walking and rocking him all night long or putting him in his swing. So of course we went with the swing which in turn has become our best friend and pretty much a lifesaver. His sinuses are so bad right now that he can’t even sleep laying flat. We’ve angled his bed but it wasn’t high enough to make as much of a difference as the swing does. Right now because he’s so ill, he’s sleeping in it for hours at night but when he’s well, we let him fall asleep in it and then move him to the bed.
Here’s the problem. He weighs 21 pounds and the swing’s max weight is 30 pounds. How do we wean him off of it when he’s sick so consistently? I asked the doctor and she basically said put him in his bed awake and he’ll eventually get accustomed to being in it. HA! Not my son. He’s a stubborn little thing and will stand at the side of the crib crying for a VERY long time (like as long as 2 hours), which then turns to screaming. We don’t go in there other than to comfort by touch and to lay him back down. As soon as we start trying to get him more accustomed to the bed and things start taking a turn for the better, anther illness sets in and then we’re back to square 1. I’m not going to allow my son to cry like that when he’s already not feeling well but then again, 30 lbs is going to come quick and then I’ll be out of the swing, dealing with a baby who won’t sleep. PLEASE HELP!!!
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Q
Atlanta, GA
I have an eighteen month old baby, who gets up about twice throughout the night even though I would give her her bottle. Should she be getting up this often? I can't wait for the day for her to sleep through the night. Please give me some advice.
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Q
Chicago, IL
My 5 1/2 month old refuses to sleep on his back. Every time I put him in his crib on his back, he immediately turns on his stomach. The doctor tells me to flip him over until he masters flipping over both ways (which he's still practicing), but if I flip him over, he still goes on his stomach, or worse, he wakes up and is up for an HOUR (not so much fun at 3am). So, if anyone has any suggestions on this, I'd greatly appreciate it.
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Q
New York, NY
my 14 month old has been going to sleep very well with our bath bottle book routine. however last night and at naptime yesterday she sat up in bed and just sat! no crying no calling just sat and looked around, rubbing her face and yawning!!! anyone experience this -any advice?
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Q
Tampa, FL
What time do you put your 3 and 4 month olds to bed for the night? I have heard of people doing it at 5:30 all the way to midnight. I have a 3 month old and my sister has a four month old. We would love to hear from other moms.
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Q
Dallas, TX
Hi Moms,
From 4 to 9 months my little one was a dream to put to sleep each night...our bedtime ritual was my favorite part of the day! Now, suddenly, at 9 months putting him to bed is a struggle EACH night. We follow the same routine, only slightly later because he is now wide awake at his former bedtime, and the minute I lay him in his crib he cries. I have tried letting him cry it out as long as I can handle and I have tried entering the room without picking him up and soothing him by rubbing his back. This has worked a couple of nights, but usually only after I have left the room twice. I read "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" which is why I whole heartedly believe he was a great sleeper before, but now I am at a loss. No changes whatever in his life except for developmental ones, meaning he is now crawling and pulling up...could that be the source? When he is crying I find him sitting up in his crib. And there is nothing physcially wrong either, he just was in for his 9 month check up. Please help! Thanks in advance! I know there have been other posts, so any links to those are also greatly appreciated.
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Q
Cincinnati, OH
This is just a curiosity question.. I would like to know some tips or what you did to get a newborn on a good sleep schedule. I have a 7 week old and I don't think he sleeps all that well. Everytime I put him down he wakes up after a few minutes. Every once in awhile he will take a good nap either in his bouncer or I set him in his crib. He dosen't sleep through the night yet. Actually that is when he gets the least amount of sleep!!! I end up nursing him to sleep and hold him most of the night on the couch because as soon as I set him down he wakes up!! So we both sleep on the couch (I also did this with my other kid for awhile). I hate to put him in his crib at night and let him cry because their bedrooms are right next to each other and I don't know if that would wake up his sister or not. I might have to resort to that until he gets used to it but when my 2 year old dosen't get enough sleep...WATCH OUT!!
So I guess my question is are there any tips or tricks that anybody did to help with the sleeping. I can't wait until I can get some sleep again!!!
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Q
Phoenix, AZ
At what age did you begin putting a blanket or toys in your childs crib. I feel like if he had a few toys (soft ones) that he may entertain himself a bit in the morning and I could sleep a little long and he would learn to self entertain/sooth. Thanks for you input!
1
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Q
Chicago, IL
How horrible is it to give the bottle (of formula) prior to putting the baby down for sleep? My dentist and pediatrician says absolutely not to do this b/c of fear of cavities down the line, but my 9 month knows no other way to fall asleep. We only leave him with about an ounce of formula to finish on his own... So that means he's obviously not getting his (four) teeth brushed before naptime and bedtime. I know you are supposed to feed about 30 minutes before putting them down and get them in the good habit of brushing teeth before the day is over.. And I've heard of substituting water instead of milk if need be in the bottle, but that does not work, and my son does not suck on a pacifier or his finger so it is hard w/out the bottle... Does anyone have experience with this? More specifically, does anyone have any warnings and/or true stories for me - like they did this and now regret it because of bad teeth / cavities. This was not my decision to start this (bottle in bed) and I firmly opposed it in the beginning, but now I feel forced to give the bottle because he is used to it.
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Q
San Francisco, CA
I have a 7 month old daughter who is still breastfeeding. Lately I noticed that I am not producing as much milk when expressing using the breast pump as I have in the past. I used to express between 8 - 10 oz total, now I'm lucky to get 6-7 oz. She's been on soft foods now for the past 3-4 weeks and has been doing pretty well so far. But she still takes a bottle and is taking about 6-7 oz at a time. I'm worried that I'll not be able to produce enough for her. She doesn't like the formulas I've given her. Any suggestions or words of encouragement? Thanks!
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Q
Charlotte, NC
My 17 month old still sleeps in the crib. I tried to switch his crib to a toddler bed and he cried for hours I eventually gave in and made it back into a crib. The reason I was trying to change his is two reasons he is a big 17 month old being the first reason and the second is we were out of town and he climbed out of his playpen what can I do he can't stay in a crib forever.
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Q
Richmond, VA
about 2 weeks ago my 1 yr old decided not to willingly take his naps and to want to stay up later at night. We have never had a problem getting him to nap - he took 3 naps a day up until about 10 or 11 months and we had pulled him back to 2 naps and he was doing wonderfully. All of a sudden there is a huge problem getting him to sleep. He never had a problem sleeping before. Now if he feels hes not tired he screams. We are doing the cry it out method but he just screams the whole time he is supposed to be napping (about 2 hours for his afternoon and 45 min for his evening). Then when its bedtime he has somehow managed to push it back an hour. Our usual evening is dinner at 6, bath at 7, play til 730, get the final sippy and off to bed. Lately he screams and cries at bed time and when we give him until 815 we have no problem.... should we just give in and do a later bedtime?? I dont even know if 730 is too early for a bedtime... is it? I didnt think it was. Oh yeah, shortly before he started doing all of this he woke up in the middle of the night a few times screaming but there was nothing wrong... I wonder if maybe he had a nightmare, but I dont even know if kids that young can have a nightmare.... I dont want him to pull another 'change the bed time' things and push it to even later... any suggestions would be helpful!
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Q
New York, NJ
After saying I could never do it... I let my 10 and half month old Cry it out. She had been sleeping in our bed since she was 6 months. The first day was rough..it took her 45 minutes to fall asleep. Then she threw up for a couple of days. Now she falls asleep within 2 minutes. I just wondered how long will it take before she doesn't even cry. It breaks my heart. Another question, how do I go about getting her to sleep in her crib for naps. Right now we take the morning nap together and she sometimes takes an afternoon nap in our bed.
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Q
Philadelphia, PA
I am a nursing mother of a 10 month old. Fortunately she now sleeps through the night but this past month she refuses to nap in her crib. I know she is tired because she will fall asleep nursing or in the car and if I don't move her she will nap for an hour! However, I can't always do that and I would like to accomplish some tasks while she sleeps so I have begun the CIO method during nap time. I read Ferber's book and learned quickly that if I go in to check on her she screams only more hysterically. So now I just let her "go at it". The problem is that she will cry and scream for an hour. Now Ferber says after one hour nap time is over. But my child after getting her out of the crib is so tired that she is begging to nurse so as to sleep. I don't let her because I know she is only using me as a pacifier at that point, however if I put her back in her crib she will cry for another hour. She has a blankey, I rotate toys in her crib, she has a sound machine, I have room darkening blinds, I have a nightlight of which I have tried leaving on and off. I don't know what else to do and feel at my wits end. She will go all day getting maybe a total of 20 min of sleep and that is when she will pass out on short car trips to run errands. She never took a pacifier, I tried for 6 months, but am wondering if I should try again. Although I hate the thought of re-introducing a pacifier at 10 months old. Any advice would be appreciated. My husband is soon ready to try for our second child and I just don't know how I could handle another baby if this issue continues!
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Q
Boston, MA
Hi there. I am still having trouble getting my 4 month old to nap. I have tried letting her cry, but it does NOT work.
I have read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, but I do not really agree with his methods, nor can I stand to listen to my little one cry that much.
But she refuses to nap, and fusses and fusses.
I have tried putting her down at different intervals - 1.75 hrs - 2.5 hrs to see if I can get the timing right, but it does not seem to matter.
Has anyone had the CIO method backfire and can anyone give me some NON-CIO methods that worked for them?
I am trying to also prevent her nightly tantrums - I think they are brought on by lack of daily sleep.
(I do practice swaddling, darkening shades, and white noise)....
Thank you!
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Q
Chicago, IL
ok without using medications my stepdaughters baby girl was the best baby up until now she is 2mothns old, and she seem to be getting fussyer and crys for no reason, we have checked her all over make sure nothing is wrong, and i belive she is just coliky, we tryed to wrap her up tight, swing,bouncer,holding her, ect. what else can we do. we do play with her alot and keep her stimulated but shes up all night crying. shes on formula enfimal but i dont belive it is that she does pass alot of gas at times i mean she sounds like an adult. and i dont think its over stimulating
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Q
Dallas, TX
I used to think crib bumpers were just for show, and possibly a SIDS hazard from all of the stuff I read. Now my 4.5 month old is starting to 'scoot' a lot in her sleep, to the point where her head hits the side or end of the crib. We're trying let get her (well, me, too) on a better sleep schedule, skipping her middle of the night feedings, but when she wakes up crying because her head is against the crib, it like a double whammy - not only does she miss out on her food, but know she's uncomfortable to boot! Are crib bumbers safe at this age? She's only rolled over once - from her tummy to her back, but she has very good head control, but I'm worried about her rolling face first into the bumper due to all the warnings I've read.
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Q
Chicago, IL
hi moms ..
just wanted to see what most of you thought...
my son is 5wks old and im having a little trouble with putting him to sleep at night....sometimes he does well in his crib, a few times he does better in my bed.....my other two boys i never put in my bed but for some reason this time around i kinda want him in my bed??? what do you think......besides having to break the habbit later should i jsut have him sleep with us ???
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Q
Milwaukee, WI
Hi moms! My almost 18 month old daughter used to be a wonderful sleeper. Always in bed by 7pm. She takes one nap for about 1 1/2 hours...always is her crib. The last few nights she wants me to hold her on my lap to go to sleep. The minute we walk to her room, she cries. Then I put her in her crin and she cries harder. What should I do? Put her in her crib crying? Do I take her out and hold her for a while? I don't want to ruin her great sleeping habits. Has this situation happened to anybody else? I'm thinking maybe something spooked her in her room, a shadow on the wall, ect..I'll take any advise. Thanks in advance.
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Q
Mobile, AL
I am requesting advice other than the cry it out method. A couple of months ago, my son was waking up once a night, which was fine. I can do once a night, no problem. Then he got sick and even though he's better now, he is waking up 3, 4, 5 or more times per night. I thought it was just because he was waking up in the crib by himself but even in the bed with me, he wakes up 3 or 4 times. It not only wears me out but I can tell that he is not getting enough rest either -- he used to wake up in such a good mood but now wakes up crying. This is his current schedule: goes to sleep at 8:30 pm, wakes up frequently through the night, gets up at 5:30 am, takes a 5-10 minute nap in the car on the way to mother's day out, stays up and plays until 12:30 or 1:00 then takes a nap. This nap can last until 2:30 or sometimes almost 4:00. Then, he eats dinner between 6:30 and 7:00, and takes a bath. We read books from 7:45 or 8:00 until 8:30. Then he gets a bottle and goes to sleep usually by 8:30.
It is not an ear infection - he had them terribly until they finally put in tubes when he was 9 1/2 months old. And thankfully, none since. I have tried putting him to bed earlier and all it did was make him wake up that much earlier.
Any suggestions?
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Q
Denver, CO
My 6.5 mo. old son recently started sleeping through the night (yay!). However, around 3AM every morning (he goes to bed at 7:30) he wakes up fussing a little because his diaper is full and his entire front is wet. Is there a diaper out there that is absorbant enough to last all night? We use Huggies but bought some Pampers to try, but they were worse. I thought about trying a bigger diaper, but he is in size 3 diapers, which are supposed to fit up to 28 lbs and he is only 19 lbs. Won't the next size up be huge on him? Any suggestions would be appreciated so my little one (and my husband and I) can sleep!
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Q
Atlanta, GA
Hi ladies. I am stuggling lately with a consistent routine for my 5 and 1/2 month old little girl. We were on a very predictable routine until around 3 months which is also when i went back to work p/t. After that she doesn't take daytime naps longer than 30 minutes. I know lots of other moms have dealt with this so i am hoping that the older and more active she gets and starts solids...hopefully her daytime naps will lengthen. She used to sleep about 11-12 hours each nite. 8:30 to 8:30...8 to 8...7:30-7:30....but now she is waking at 6, or 6:30, sometimes 5:30....she has been teething and i know that changes things. My question is...can i or should i be doing something different to encourage a better, more consistent routine? I don't rush in when i hear her and try to let her put herself back to sleep. Sometimes it works. I would love for her to sleep until b/t 7-8 am consistently. Am i asking too much at this age? I just really want to stop guessing every day, every nap time...i just want to know when she will need her nap. But if i'm expecting too much i want to know that too so i can just relax and go with the flow. I have read that babies need routine and i feel like i'm failing to give her one. What can i do differently? Note: she is a happy baby, eats well and when she's not teething, very pleasant to be with despite her 30 min naps. HELP!!!!
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Q
Dallas, TX
My little guy doesn't sleep through the night anymore!! This has been going on for a week or so now - he goes to bed about 8, and then wakes up around midnight, 3, and then 6/7. The last few nights, I've been leaving him alone to 'cry it out' per mom and dr advice, and hopefully this will get better soon. Any ideas on how to move things along a little bit??
Hand in hand, perhaps, he's been dropping %s at the Dr- from 75 at birth to 60 at 4m, now down to 30%! The dr wasn't worried, but have you guys had this experience?? I'm nursing 4-5 times/day, and feeding him one package of the Gerber 1's, about to transition to 2's, 2-3 times a day. He's had a bit of forumula every now and then when I've had to leave him with a babysitter - so I'm thinking about giving him a bottle of that before bed. But he doesn't seem hungry when he wakes up at night! He just wants to talk and play. Thanks for your help!
S.
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Q
Washington DC, MD
At 17 pounds 10 ounces, our pediatrician claims that our four-month-old son should be able to sleep through the night on his own. She says the problem is that we've rocked or nursed him to sleep, and he expects to be rocked or nursed when he wakes at night. He's only waking once to nurse at night (and I'm fine with that), but it would be nice to be able to lay him in his crib when we're tired--rather than waiting until he's completely out. Because so many of our friends and family members said it was the only thing that works, we tried the Ferber method last night--against our instincts--and it was AWFUL. I don't want to let him cry even for a minute, and I honestly don't know if it would work with him anyway (since he's cried for 45 minutes in the car before and never cried himself out). So, I guess my question is: have any of you been successful with a sleep training that doesn't involve "crying it out"? Please tell me how!
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Q
Dallas, TX
Another question. My baby is 4 weeks old. I am breastfeeding, and I feed her every 2 hours. Is that ok? That is when she is hungry. Doctor says so. Also after I feed her how can I keep her entertained? I know it seems silly but she will swing in her swing or I may put in a video. Baby Eeinstein but she seems too young. I read her books. I guess I worry about bonding and not boring her. I am home all day with her and have no one else to help since my husband works all day. I go back to work on the 1st of October. I know it sounds silly of me but I wanna make her happy. I feel guilty if I put her in her swing. I had to get chores done today so I did not hold her much. I feel so bad. Anyone else feel the same or tell me if I am doing the right thing. Thank you
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Q
Chicago, IL
Hi all,
I've got my son on a very strict routine for bedtime that he has responded really well to. He's 4.5 mos old, and knows that every night at 6:30, we do bath, PJs, bottle and then bed. He rarely fusses and usually goes right to sleep by 7.
For those in similar situations, how do you handle plans on evenings where you would bring your little one with you? Ex: we have been invited to dinner with friends at 7 on Friday night. I'm not sure what to do with our little guy, and we don't have a sitter. Do I skip the routine and just take him with us (he'll be MEGA crabby)? Do I try to go through his routine and "put him down" in his carrier?
We've really not varied much from this routine, and the few times that we have (and tried to go out with him) it hasn't been pretty. I'm wondering what others do. Is there a way to do both? Or are we just bound to stay home with him every night after 6:30?
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Q
Minneapolis, MN
My son is 5 1/2 months and is a flipper. He can roll over from his back to his front, and does so with great enthusiasm. He also has rolled over from front to back, but he seems to have forgotten how to do it, or that he can do it. It's been over a month since he's flipped from front to back. So now when I put him down in the crib to sleep, he promptly rolls over to his belly and eventually (sometimes sooner than later) starts fussing because he can't (or won't) flip back. We swaddled him for a while so he couldn't roll over, but now he's so big and strong he instantly breaks free from the swaddle, sometimes before we even get him wrapped up.
So we resorted to putting him to sleep in his infant car seat (the bucket kind) and he sleeps great in there, but now he's starting to scoot out of this too. So this won't work for much longer either.
I know he'll grow out of this problem eventually, but has anybody here experienced this? Any tricks? Neither of my other kids had this problem, so I'm looking for some advice here.
thanks!
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Q
Tampa, FL
My son is now 5 months old. He sleeps in a pack n play in our room and sometimes with me at night. I know he is probably at the age now where we need to move him into his crib but he loves rolling over in the middle of the night. The problem with this is that he will not fall back to sleep while laying on his back. I end up turning him back onto his belly but then he gets mad that I did not pick him up. I let him fuss it out for 5-10mins. Sometimes he falls back asleep but other times he just screams. I then give in and bring him into bed...I just want any kind of sleep at this time. I breast feed him and sometimes I am able to put him back down but other times we just fall asleep. I am ready to break this habit. I get no sleep this way and he tosses around. Any suggestions on what to do about him flipping over and waking in the middle of the night? We have placed small pillows on each side of him but sometimes he scoots himself up and then the pillows serve no purpose. Will he just get use to falling back asleep on his back? I would love any advice :) Thanks.
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Q
Boston, MA
I'd love some thoughts or advice on what my doctor told me about sleep.
First of all, my doc specializes in pediatric sleep and is a neurologist, yet his advice has me more confused than ever.
He says for my baby's age (14.5 mos), she should sleep 10 hrs a night and take a 90-120 min nap. That I should wake her at the same time every morning and wake her from her nap until she starts to do it on her own. If she ends up crabby, then add more sleep back in. He says this helps consolidate sleep, and will help her sleep more deeply, and will prevent sleep problems down the road.
I am just curious, but right now I can get anywhere from 11 - 12 hours a night, and anywhere from a 1.5 - 3 hr nap! She IS however a VERY light sleeper. She will sometimes wake at night and play, or wake during her nap and go back to sleep. My Dr. says this will stop, and she will sleep better if I keep her on a stricter schedule with a bit less sleep.
She will sleep more deeply, and will stop waking at night to play and stop waking during her nap. I understand his point, but I am not sure I agree with it. Of course I do not want to set the stage for problems later on. He thinks she is waking more in the night than I realize, and that once she gets a bit older she is going to be calling for me to play, etc, when she is up.
Thoughts?
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Q
Columbus, OH
My daughter, who just turned four months old, has always been a good sleeper. At six weeks, she was sleeping six-seven hours at night. At ten weeks, she was sleeping 10-11 hours at night. About three weeks ago, she started waking up multiple times every night. Mostly, she seems to want her binky (it falls out and she cries for it without really waking up) but at least once a night, she wants to be picked up and rocked to sleep. I don't want to get her into a bad habit, but if I let her cry, it seems to make it worse - she will really wake up and there's no easy way to get her back to sleep. This has coincided with a cold (stuffy nose, little cough no fever), but she's in daycare, and every time her cold seems on the brink of going away, she gets the sniffles again. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
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Q
Atlanta, GA
My 14 month old daughter's crib is in our master bedroom. She wakes several times per night for me to pick her up and help her get back to sleep. Sometimes I'm simply too tired and I lay her in the bed with us until she goes to sleep then I put her back in the crib. I've tried laying her back down in her crib, but she cries. If I continue laying her back in her crib, she becomes upset and wakes up and will stay awake for 2-3 hours. These episodes are becoming too frequent. The problem is she can't fall back to sleep on her own. Any suggestions for gentle sleep training? We're not interested in cry it out (cio).
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Q
Tampa, FL
I didn't want to go through this with my second child,but I'm doing it again HELP! It's so much easier to breastfeed in the middle of the night with the baby in the bed. now everytime I try to put her in the crib she wakes up. So I just end up putting her back in the bed with us. I've created a little monster. She wont even lay down for a nap as soon as I lay her down in five minute she's eating her toes. I've tried to just let her fall asleep again but she's screaming in ten. She'll sleep all day if I hold her. she's only 4mths old and I dont have the heart to let her scream it out. Any ideas? My son didnt leave my bed until he was 4.
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Q
New York, NY
My 2-month old is still feeding every 3-4 hours at night and we are patiently waiting for him to stop the 3am feeding so that my husband and I can get more sleep! I am breast-feeding and supplementing with formula so we know that he is getting a good amount of milk at each feeding and he is gaining weight well. During the last few days, he has stopped napping during the day - only about 20 minute catnaps - so we thought that he was prepping himself to sleep through the night but that hasn't happened yet.
Once he is done with his feeding, we need to rock him to sleep because he won't fall asleep alone (he is too busy looking around). When we put him to sleep on his back in his bassinet, he wakes up after about 5 minutes; we have had success letting him sleep more upright in his bouncy seat. We think that he has gas from not burping well enough and being upright has helped him.
Does anyone have any advice about getting him to sleep better at night? How do we get him to sleep well on a flat mattress? Any suggestions on how we can get him to nap even though he doesn't want to? Is this something that he will naturally do or should we set the schedule for him - and if so, how?
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Q
Seattle, WA
Ok, so I knew I was creating a possible situation when we were allowing our daughter to sleep with us from birth. All other moms I know had their babies in bassinets and cribs. So now, at three 1/2 months, I am trying to get my little one sleep in her crib. She has been consistently sleeping for 8 hours for at least a month now, and she normally goes down very easily. But last night she was screaming, ctying, almost to an inconsolable point. Finally, I gave in and put her in our bed and she calmed right down and went to sleep. So I am wondering if any of you have any advice for me as I am feeling guilty and regretful! Any advice would help!
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Q
Washington DC, VA
I am trying to get my 9 month old son back to sleeping in his crib. He was doing great a couple months ago at sleeping at nighttime and naptime. Due to lots of traveling he got used to sleeping with me. He does have a fear of the dark so I have a dim lit lamp in there as well as his crib aquarium which lights up and plays music. He cries and cries and cries. I try to do 5 minutes of crying which is difficult because it gets bad. I just dont know what to do to get him to sleep alone in his crib. ANY advice would be helpful!
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Q
Los Angeles, CA
Need any suggestions on how to get a 14month old into own crib and out of the family bed, she doesn't take a bottle or pacifer and still breastfeeds at bedtime(and all night long!!!I'm the human pacifer). I nursed her to sleep and put her down for her nap and she slept about 45mins. Then at night I did the same thing and all was fine for about an hour and a half when she woke. I tried patting her and then let her cry as I layed on the floor. Then she climbed out of the crib. I looked into buying a crib net, but none fit my crib. She is too young to transition to a toddler bed and I have tried rocking and nursing her to sleep then putting her down for the last 5 nights and she is sleeping only 30mins at a time and seems to be getting worse each night. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Q
New York, NY
My daughter is 6 months old, breastfed and sleeps in my bed. All she wants to do is use me as a pacifier to get herself to fall asleep and stay asleep so she's "nursing" all night long. I've tried putting her in her crib, but whenever I put her down, she wakes up and cries. I've tried giving her a real pacifier and she won't take it. How can I get her to sleep in her crib and how can I break her of her nipple addiction- all without losing too much sleep myself?
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Q
Milwaukee, WI
Hello,
My daughter is just over 11 months old now and I was just wondering when they give up their morning nap. I am not worried or anything, it's just that my daughter really seems attached to it, and I just can't foresee her giving it up and just having an afternoon one. She gets up every day around 8 and her morning nap is usally 10:30-1pm, sometimes a little less, and then she usually sleeps from about 3-4pm. Then she goes to bed at 8pm. So I was just wondering when other kids gave up theirs or how it happened...like do they just all of a sudden not want to sleep in the morning, or what? Thanks,
A.
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Q
Louisville, KY
My daughter is 1 month old and I'll be going back to work full time on Oct 13th (she'll be 6 weeks old then). She's a pretty good, happy baby but I'm worried about her going to daycare because she really likes to be held when she sleeps during the day. I know the daycare folks won't have time to hold her like I do. At night we swaddle her, turn on her white noise machine and keep the house nice and dark and quiet and she sleeps on her own no problem. I don't do all that during the day because I like her to be more alert and active during the day so that she sleeps good at night. Do you guys have any ideas on how I can transition her to going down on her own during the day? I don't really like the idea of letting her 'cry it out', but I don't want her to be traumitized when she starts daycare.
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Q
Philadelphia, PA
Does anyone know of a good book with helpful ideas/strategies that will help me get my 5 and 1/2 months old son to sleep through the night.
At 2 months he was sleeping from 10pm until 6am. But once he hit 4 months he began to go backwards. He is now waking around 3am for a middle of the night feeding. sometimes he is up around 1 and then again around 4. Any ideas how to help? Any good books that have helped you? Thank you!!
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Q
New York, NY
Hi, I have a 4 1/2 month daughter. She has been a pretty good sleeper since she came home and at about 3 months she started sleeping about 10 hours a night. Now, suddenly, she wakes up in the night and just makes noises and shouts (not crying, but more exclaiming). I have been feeding her because I am not sure what else to do. But I know she can go 10 hours at night so I am not sure this is the problem. She is also still in a swaddle so I thought she could be annoyed at that, but leaving her hands free doesn't seem to make a difference. Any thoughts? She is exclusively breast fed at this point (and the nanny feeds her breast milk through a bottle during the day while I am at work).
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Q
Seattle, WA
My 7month old used to sleep for 6-8 hour stretch at night, get up to eat, and go right back down for a total of 12 hours. It was great. Then she started pulling herself up into standing position and teething at the same time. Now she gets up 2-3 times in the night. I nurse her because I am not sure what else to do, and she goes right back down...but only for 2 hours and then up again. And she wakes up at the EXACT same times every night. You could set your clock by it. So I do not think she actually needs to eat, and isn't screaming becuase of her teeth anymore (yet). I use the teething tablets and they seem to work good. So should I let her cry at those times and see if you puts herself back to sleep? I just think this is a habit and we need to break it before it gets worse! Any advice?
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Q
Los Angeles, CA
Hi fellow moms! I have a 15 month old who has never been a great sleeper. She's breastfed and I have fed her on demand since birth. I am also a stay at home mom who, with the exception of co-sleeping, have practiced most of the attachment parenting methods. I personally, did not like the idea of the Ferber/Cry It Out method for my child, although I couldn't deny the fact that it has yielded lots of positive results for many people. I read the no cry sleep solution and followed it's methods, but unfortunately, after much patience, it did not have too many results for my sweet little girl.
Over Christmas, she became sick with a double ear infection, then in the following month I was sick, then we traveled, and lastly she got a horrible flu where she wouldn't eat for 5 days and would only nurse. Anyway, we co-slept out of desperation and figured we would give it a try. It worked while she was sick, but once she got better, she was restless and I feel like she simply doesn't know how to fall asleep. She even has a difficult time falling asleep when breastfed, in her room with white noise, AND she has a routine. I spend hours everyday trying to get her to sleep. It's taken time away from my husband, my social life, I just feel like a walking zombie a lot of the time! I have always had a reason why we shouldn't let her cry it out, but it feels like there's always going to be some reason. I fear my little gal will not ever learn how to fall asleep on her own and I will never get back to getting some sleep.
I've never been a fan of the Ferber method, but it is the only thing I have not tried. We started last night and while it breaks my heart to hear her cry, I am hopeful that she will soon be a better sleeper, as will I, resulting in a happier baby and mommy. Have any of you tried the Ferber or Cry It Out method with an older child? Besides the advice I have heard often of being consistent, can you offer any additional advice or wisdom, based on your experience of doing this with an older child? For example, do you do the exact same thing for daytime naps as you do for the nighttime? What if they cry through their entire naptime? Being that she needs sleep, do I just get her at what would be the end of her naptime and let her be cranky for the rest of the day? Any advice for nighttime wakings? Thank you in advance for your kind words of support!
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Q
Boston, MA
Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone has used the Snuggle Nest for co-sleeping in the first few months. I am contemplating getting one (I'm due in Sept) as it seems it would be ideal for the first few months with night feeding and trying to get into a schedule (and we are short on space!) My only concerns - will it be difficult to transition to a cot later on? Is it easy enough to access half asleep at night for feeds? Any feed back from moms who've used it (or something similar) would be greatly appreciated!
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Q
Los Angeles, CA
Hello,
My son just turned 20mns and is not sleeping through the night. He still wakes up at least once a night for a bottle and gets in bed with us. I know he probably doesn't need the bottle anymore and needs to sleep with us, but it's the only way we get sleep!
My son has never been a napper either. I must drive him around to get him to sleep for naps, that is getting old and expensive with gas prices! We have him on a nightly routine...dinner, play a little with Dad (while I do the dishes,) read a book or two, then off to the bath, then bottle and read a book with Dad in the glider (in my son's room.) We ususally goes down with no problem.
But, at 1:30am he starts yelling for one of us (my husband or myself.) It's a routine for us as well, my husband gets him out of the crib, I grab the pre-made bottle and we meet back in our bed for sleep till my husband gets up at 5:30am.
I need sleep. I am a full-time stay-at-home mom that also works from home. I am also the president of our MOMS Club.
I am just now (for 2 days) starting to cut my son's naps to just one a day. So, far the naps are great, nice, long naps. But, last night he still woke up.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, we have tried the whole cry it out thing, we broke after 2hrs of hard crying, so hard he started to vomit. He is very strong and will not back down if he wants something bad enough.
Thanks,
M.
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Q
New York, NY
HELP!!! My 12 month old still refuses to sleep in her crib. She has many ear infections as a newborn and it was suggested taht she sleeps reclined. The most comfortable place that she slept was in her infant car seat. We just recently had tubes put in her ears and thought that now she would sleep in her crib, since there would be no more pressure or pain....that only lasted 3 nights.
She falls asleep in my or my husbands arms (bad habit, but since I am gone for 12 hrs a day it is the only special time I get with her) and then is put in her crib. Before she even hits the mattress she is up and screaming. We went through 3 nights of not sleeping and finally decided to try the car seat again. She fell right alseep. She looks so uncomfortable and is getting too big for this seat and I don't know what to do. Did anyone ever go through this?
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Q
Madison, WI
I have a son that is four and a half months old. He is still waking up every hour- hour and a half. He is not waking up to eat,he wants me to sit up and put him in my lap to hold him. He does want a bottle, not to eat but to suck. He will not take a pacifier in the bottles place. And now in the last couple weeks he has had a really hard time getting to sleep too.
he cries , a screaming cry the second he gets a little tired. During the day he wants to nap about every two hours. But it will literally take me two hours just to get him to sleep, even when he is so tired he can barely keep his eyes open. About two hours after he wakes up from his last nap he will start to rub his eyes a lot and get cranky. But he will not go to sleep. He will just scream and thrust his body around. I am begining to lose my mind. I average about 2-4 hours of sleep a night. He can not do this anymore and I can not do this any more. But I don't know what to do. I have gone to a class on getting your infant to sleep. But the class was about both parents splitting the time so evryone gets more sleep. Well I am a single mom. The other option from the nurse that taught the class was let him cry it out in a different room. Well we share a room and I do not believe in the cry it out method. If anyone has any advice at all, Please Help!
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Q
Philadelphia, PA
Background: My daughter will be 8 months on May 25th and has not been sleeping well at all! When she was younger she got to a point where she just woke up once a night when she slept in our room in her pack n play, and we responded to every cry. Now she's in her own crib and after a few sicknesses she's become not such a great sleeper, waking up every hour and a half or so.
Well last night was a victory in our household. I have been reading both "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Pantley and "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth, and have really been working on her sleep and eating schedule, naps, bedtime routine, early bedtime etc. Last night we started the bedtime routine at 6 pm. I thought it was insane to start so early, but that's what the books said, so I was going to try it. We were out running an errand as a family at 5, and I wanted to swing by the grocery store, but we skipped it and went straight home to get our little one going. She got a bath, Daddy read her a story and rocked with her (We'll read her one of her books, and then we'll read the Sleep Habits book out loud because she just likes to hear our voices :) ), and she was out by 6:30!! She stirred and woke once or twice in the evening before my husband and I went to bed, but got settled and went back to sleep... and slept almost a 6 hour stretch between 8:30 and 230 am! It was absolutely amazing. She hasn't slept that long of a stretch in months.
She did down about 8 ounces of formula in the middle of the night and had a very full diaper, so handling that always seems to stimulate her and wake her up-- so she didn't get back down until 3:30. She then woke up at 5:30, Jay calmed her down, she slept in until 6:45, we got up, ate breakfast, and she was back down for her AM nap at 8:15 and is still sleeping- in her crib and not the stroller!!!
Now I haven't totally abandoned the cry it out method, but for now I've been mostly focusing on consistent routines and a good eat/nap/sleep schedule and it's been showing great results so far, really getting her biological clock on track. Just last week she was waking up every hour and a half or so.
The next hurdles are shortening that stretch of wake up time in the middle of the night to hopefully eliminating it, and also shortening the pre-bed rocking routine so eventually I can just lay her down in the crib sleepy, and she'll go to sleep completely on her own! Baby steps of course. And who knows- maybe tonight will be a relapse, but a night like last night gives me so much hope!!! As much of a struggle on our busy lives it is to be in the house by 6 pm, if she sleeps, we'll defintely take it!
I'm open to hear any of your critiques, or suggestions on how to overcome those next hurdles.
Thanks!
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Q
Boston, MA
Hi all. I have read through a lot of the sleep questions here on Mamasource and I am STILL having a problem with my 7.5 month old DD.
She is the world's worst sleeper. So many of you recommend the book by Dr. Weissbluth, and I've read it, and I don't understand the enthusiasm. It is supposed to be a non-CIO book?
He says to leave your baby in her crib up to one hour of crying for nap time, and endless amount of time at night, to ignore your child til 6am, and it is ok if your baby cries so hard she vomits.
What am I missing? This seems very harsh to me.
I did let my baby cry for an hour in her crib for naps, and it took SIX weeks for her to learn to nap on her own. She STILL takes short naps regardless of how long I leave her in her crib, and now at night she wakes at 3:30 and 4:30am FOR THE DAY - she stays in their complaining until 6am when I go get her.
I cannot take this anymore, but I cannot afford help either. I am so sleep deprived, and my child is old enough to sleep through the night AND take consolidated naps. I have no idea what I am doing wrong!
I thought I would find answers in this book that everyone raves about, but it has not helped.
My DD knows how to put herself to sleep - without me - she has no props. She will often wake from naps and in the night and play and play and play (about 30-40 min) until it turns into crying, but she will NEVER go back to sleep. So if she pays for 30 minutes after 3:30am, she is awake at 4:00am for the day. I am sick of ignoring her because it has not been a solution for us, so I go to her now, and try to get her to go back to sleep and she will not. I am at a loss.
She is getting about 9 hours at night (7pm - 4am) and about 2 hours during the day - if that. I thought maybe she did not require that much sleep, so I've kept her up later at night, but she gets very, very cranky and overtired - probably becasue she barely naps. I have tried earlier and later bedtimes, more naps, less naps, and nothing works.
I am at my wits end.
I am sleeping 2 and 3 hours a night and have been for weeks. I do not know what else to do, BUT I NEED sleep!!!! HELP!!!!
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Q
Cleveland, OH
My 5 month old DD won’t sleep in her crib. We can get her to fall asleep in her crib but she wakes up screaming (not just a cry but a bloodcurdling full on scream). She’ll do this about every hour unless we put her on the couch next to us or in her bouncy chair next to the crib. In the chair, she’ll sleep for 5-7 hours. When she does wake up screaming, she’s not able to soothe herself to sleep, nor are we able to calm her down with out picking her up, giving her a paci, and/or feeding her. At the same time, the pediatrician said we shouldn’t be feeding her during the night any more, so we are trying to eliminate a 3 am feeding by cutting the amount down each night. Our daughter is perfectly healthy other than not sleeping or liking her crib.
My husband and I both work so the lack of sleep is really hitting us hard! It's affecting work and every aspect of our life. Any thoughts, tips, suggestions? The three of us are all tired.
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Q
Hartford, CT
I am a 39 year old first time Mom with a 18 month old in a toddler bed. She used to sleep through the night then she started teething I felt bad and would cuddle and rock her. Now she is no longer in pain but wakes up 4 or more times per night and goes to the door and crys. Any ideas to make this stop? I don't give her eye contact or coddling anymore I just quietly walk her back to bed cover her and then she goes right back to sleep only to repeat the cycle 2-3 hours later. Help I desperately need a full nights uninterrupted sleep. Is this just seperation anxiety?
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Q
Indianapolis, IN
I am having trouble trying to get my daughter to sleep in her own room. She is 2 1/2 and has always slept in our bed. I just had another baby and I am sleeping on the couch, because there is not room for all of us! I just don't want to kick her out and make her resent her brother or me! Just wanted to know any good ways to get her to want to sleep by herself!
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Q
Seattle, WA
My 3 month old son does not nap very well during the day. Yesterday the longest nap that he took was about 30 minutes. I thought that would mean that he would sleep good last night. Instead he woke up once an hour. He does co-sleep right now but he wakes up if I lay him down in his own bed. Usually he falls asleep while breastfeeding. I definatly do not want to attempt having him "cry it out" this young. Any suggestions to get him to sleep more will be apreciated.
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Q
New York, NY
Hi all!
My son is now 13 months old. He has been waking up SCREAMING in the middle of the night at least 4 times. He calms quickly after we pick him up (litterally less than a minute) and then pushes off of us and wants to go back to his crib and goes back to sleep no problem...until the next time he wakes up. He's done this the past few nights until about midnight and then he's fine until 6-6:30am. He is currently cutting 4 teeth but that isn't the issue in the middle of the night...he isn't showing any signs of pain when he wakes up. Anyone know anything about night terrors? That's the only think I could come up with. Any help or possible answers would be SOOOOOOO helpful!
thanks so much!
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Q
San Francisco, CA
For the longest time, our son was able to sleep in his own bed. Now all of a sudden something has changed and I don't know what.
Where to begin ...
Naps currently are in his bed but they only last for an hour. They are a struggle too. It takes him at least an hour to even fall asleep. I had switched him from two naps to one. I am in and out of his room, carrying him, swaying him and trying everywhere to get him to sleep. He wakes up automatically after an hour.
For bedtime, unfortunately, he is now only able to sleep in our bed and I really want to not form this habit. It also takes him an hour to fall asleep as well. I don't understand why he's not able to sleep anymore in his own bed. Plus, it seems like he's forgotten how to self soothe himself. He has a blankie and has weaned himself off a pacifier and I can't get him to sleep. He'll cry for a very long time to the point where he does that screeching scream where I think he's really not happy and I end up going in and comforting him. When I do comforted him, he'll still cry in my arms no matter what I do. Friends have said that he knows that we will come and rescue him and that we really shouldn't give in. Is that true?? How long should I let him cry for though?? I heard if they cry too long, certain things get released in the brain and it's not good for them.
What am I doing wrong?? What can I do?? Do you think he feels confined in a crib and that the bars scare him and feels safe when it's an open crib?? I don't know, just an idea that I just thought off. Anyhow, I really don't want him sleeping in our bed but sometimes I'm just so tired that I just end up giving in. Please help!
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