Helping Our 11 Month Old to Sleep Through the Night.

Hi T.,

Well here are the 1st things I would check:

1) teething, see if she has some teeth coming in. My 15 month old just cut her 1 yr molars. Try giving her some of those Hylands Teething tablets and/or Motrin before going to bed. Also check in her mouth if she is cutting more teeth or cutting teeth her gums will be swollen and puffy.

2) Is she getting enough to eat. Try giving her a snack an hour before bedtime. And along with her eveing cup or bottle.

3) Is she cold or hot ? dress her with another layer if her room feels cold or take off a layer if her room feels hot. My daughter likes to sleep in a onesis t-shirt and a blanket sleeper.

You might try 1 or all of these at the sametime.

My 11 mnth was doing the exact same thing but for about 8 mnths and I so needed my sleep. So, I found this website and followed the steps ( I printed the steps and carried them around everywhere I went). I sat the family down and told them what I was doing so we were all on the same page and with in 3 nights Mason was sleeping from 7:00-6:00 now for a couple extra days he would only wake up once but I kept to the steps and now it has been almost been 3 mnths of him sleeping all night long without a sound. I feel so much better. Please check out this link.

http://www.askbaby.com/Baby-sleep-training.htm

scroll down to Control Crying. It was not hard at all, you just have to get your mind set and keep busy. It was so worth it. Mason also takes 2...2hr naps for me, it has changed my life and we all sleep better. My 9 year old says Wow you just lay Mason down and he goes to sleep......that's a great feeling that a 9 year old is impressed. Good Luck and you can do it.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Try giving her a bath as late as you can & rub her down really good like a massage...they have a night time rub & bath that could help you with this problem & maske sure she's fed & dry. Good luck to you!

She is probably teething. I am currently going through this with my 5 month old daughter. Last night I gave her some teething tablets. They worked great and we ALL got a good nights sleep. Good luck.

Hi, I have two daughters 3 and 17 months. My 17 month baby still gets up almost every night. She plays alot by herself in her crib. Something you might want to get checked is her ears. Every time that she has gotten up at night she is usually happy or sometimes not depending where we are at with the ear infection. Hope this helps!!

i know doctor's say not to put cereal in the bottle's until they are 6 month's and you are past that stage so try it if that is her problem she wake's up hungry.If this is not an issue i would personaly wait a few weeek's and if it persist than call your doctor.

HI T.,

I went through this with all three of my kids. Some culprits could be changes in daily routine, overstimulation by not enough naptime during the day, and even napping too much or too late in the day. Also, my daughter just went through a phase like this only she would scream, cry, fuss and fidget all night. She had a raging double ear infection. After we got that cleared up, she got back to normal, somewhat. What I did in the past was see if anything had been done different, had they been eating new foods that could be upsetting them, had their routine changed? IF I could answer no to all those, my dr. told me to let them stay in their crib and fuss themselves back to sleep. Yes, it's hard. He said make sure there's nothing in the crib that can overstimulate them at night and let them cry and fuss until they go back to sleep. The first few nights I had to do this with each child, I cried too. But, it did get easier and they eventually started sleeping back through the night. I don't know what your situation is, so I don't know if this will help you or not!

I have an 11 month old daughter and I finally got her to sleep through the night. She is our 3rd child but the most difficult sleeper by far! Here was the advice I got: Make sure you always lay her down drowsy but not asleep, which I did but she still woke up, then they suggested giving her a snack an hour before bedtime along with more table food during the day. That has seemed to help the most. I think they hit a growth spurt around this time and maybe she is just more hungry! Or, is she sick, ?ear infection?. Hope things get better, life is hard with no sleep!!!!!

Hi you could have a set time for him to go to bed, and also you could fix him a warm bottle of milk. and you can rock him to sleep by putting your fingers through his hair, and rubbing down his back very slow. and you could get him a lamp with shapes that light's up his room. It's a lot of ways to get your kids to sleep, take it for me i know well i hope that this helps you take care.

I am curious if you've tried simply ignoring her for a period of time. I've read, and from my experience, believe, that sometimes it's like they'll wake up just to get that response from a parent & as long as she continues to get it, she'll continue to wake, creating (as you implied) a wearisome habit, neither good for her or you guys. You're absolutely right that she & you two NEED your 'deep' sleep. I am a parent of two (2yr old & 3 wk old) & do childcare for a living. Again, I would just suggest seeing how she does after a couple of nights of not even being "Sh-Sh"ed back to sleep; I'm betting (esp. b/c she DOES need that sleep & is most likely tired enough that ) she'll will go back to sleep on her own.

Hi T.,

Try bathing your wonderful bundle of joy in a soothing warm bath using the Johnson & Johnson Lavender (sleepy time) products. There's a bath wash and lotion, get both.
(http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/product.do?id=5) Afterwards, play a some soothing jazz or classical music to help maintain sleep. Think of music like for yoga or search for baby classical products. I think there's some good ones by Baby Einstein. (http://www.babyeinstein.com/en/products/product_list/?sta...)

I am a big believer in aromatheraphy and I KNOW lavender to be soothing and relaxing. It'll work.

As for you and hubby, there's an Aveeno product line that has a lotion and body wash called Stress Relief with calms & relaxes with lavender, chamomile & ylang-ylang. Its in a light tan bottle with purple cap. I use nothing else and sleep like a baby at night.

I'm a single mom with a 15 year old daughter. She just started using my Aveeno products and loves it. We also have a wind-down routine of only jazz or classical music at night starting at 10pm. We've changed the time over the years (use to be 8pm when she was smaller) but she still welcomes this practice and is always well rested for school.

I buy my Aveeno from Target or Wal-Mart and I've seen the baby bedtime products at both stores as well.

Be Well,
T. J.

Hi! I am a grandmother of 5. Your daughter is a cutie. All she need is the mother touch that I gave my grandkids. At night just before she goes to bed give her a nice warm bath. dry her off, put on her underware and lay her on her back and put a towel ower her so that she won't get cold. Get the lotion rub her chest and stomach then her legs. tell her to turn over, rub her back and look at her face and you will see her eyes getting sleepie. Your touch of love calms your child down and they are able to sleep good at nicht because they feel safe.

Hi T.,

Our daughter coslept until she was about 16 months old, but from around her first birthday we would put her in her own bed and then I would bring her to our room when she woke up in the middle of the night. Only recently did my husband admit that he thought I had been to quick to pick her up and that I hadn't given her an opportunity to learn to soothe herself to sleep. In retrospect, I agree with him completely. That doesn't mean that I would have agreed at that time, though!

We have learned several things throughout the process of helping her learn to sleep through the night in her own bed. I tried sitting with her, sleeping with her (that was rough in that tiny toddler bed!) and laying on the floor next to the bed. I tried sitting in the rocker at the foot of her bed, sitting on the floor next to the door... but I learned that if I am present or if I even talk to her then she fights harder. We go through our routine - turn on the lullabies, read, pray and then I give her a kiss and leave immediately. This has been the way it has to be from late infancy and into toddlerhood.

Good luck!

T.:

I am the mother of three daughters also and understand how you feel. I hope the suggestions below are helpful. Best wishes.

How many naps does the baby take during the day and how close are they to the actual bed time? Nap times may need to be adjusted.

What about a bed-time snack? Something light like two apples slices or a couple peanut butter crackers may help.

Wanna play? Your sweet girl may just need a little more activity during the day to help her sleep at night.

Let's read. My girls loved to hear their favorite stories before bed (2 or 3). It helped all of us unwind. Book suggestions: The Big Block of Chocolate or Jalopy. Very cute books. A favorite Bible story also works.

I asume that she is not giving you any indication of being ill, like a fever or the like. I have been lucky and my girls only usually wake for pain or because of a bad dream. Do you play music for her while she is going to sleep? That really helped our girls. We have been playing the same CD every night since my oldest was 6 mo old. I think it is good because they always have that even if I go away. They also can sing all of the songs now. It is really quite cute. If they do wake in the middle of the night, I fix the problem, turn on the CD and go back to bed. usually that fixes it. I really can't say much though, I still let our two yo have a sippy of water for night. I stopped that with our oldest between 2 1/2 and three. I hope I helped.

Do you let her sleep during the day? If so don't let her sleep more than her 30-1hr nap during the day. Get her on your schedule. During the night do you get up evertime she wakes up crying? Try not responding everytime. Check to see if she needs anything but otherwise let her cry herself back to sleep, this'll get her on your schedule and used to not waking up wanting you so much.

T.,
I hear ya! Our almost 7 month old was doing much better - only getting up once at night - and this week has regressed and has been waking up every hour or two. She has already cut two teeth so I'm thinking she has another one coming in. Could your daughter be teething? I saw some people recommending the teething tablets, but when I asked my pediatrician about them, he said they can contain some harmful herbs, so you might want to check first. Or is she about to accomplish a new trick like cruising/walking?
It sounds like if she's only slept through the night twice it may be a bigger issue than just a developmental stage though. We used the Sleep Lady method (Good Night, Sleep Tight: The Sleep Lady's Gentle Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep, Stay Asleep and Wake Up Happy) and it seems to work pretty well - not as tough as crying it out, but still helping her learn to self-soothe. We also run a humidifier through the night since it's winter and as a side effect, she seems to sleep better with the white noise it provides. I know that's technically considered a sleep crutch, but it does seem to help her fall back to sleep most of the time.
When she wakes up, how long do you let her fuss? I usually let mine go for about 10 minutes and if she hasn't gotten back to sleep I go to her, but probably 75% of the time, she will fall back to sleep on her own in that time. This is better for her, but not much for me as I lay awake listening to her and then stay alert for probably 10 more minutes making sure she's really asleep! But it helps her learn to do it on her own. I just keep telling myself that even though I sometimes feel like I can't go on without a good night's sleep, this too will pass. Hang in there! Best of luck!

Hi T.! Sleep deprivation is the worst isn't it?!?!? It sounds like it's just a stage (teething, needing to be reassured, going through a new developmental stage...) But, in any case, I always recomend a book called THE NO-CRY SLEEP SOLUTION by ELIZABETH PLANTLEY. It helped me tremendously by giving wonderful suggestions and information supported by research. It explains that baby's sleep patterns are dictacted by their developmental processes and that most of the time they aren't trying to be 'manipulative'or 'whiny' but that they are actually just developing in a natural/normal way. Anyway, the book has wonderful suggestions for easing baby back to sleep in a variety of situations! It worked great for us!! Best of luck to your family!
Sleeping soundly,
K.

Try giving her some luke warm milk before she lay down for bed you can also try that johnson johnson bed time bath and lotion it did wonders for my set of twins

Hi T.,
I don't know what your daily routine is...but be careful canceling naps. Babies get over stimulated and can't sleep well. Have you taken away any naps recently? Childrens awake lives play themselves out at night. Have you changed schedules? or is she getting ready to walk? These major milestones cause separation anxiety and sleep disturbances. I would agree with your one reply..don't go in unless she really needs you. let her put herself back to sleep. I also agree with a little ny-ty-nite snack. my favorite with my kids is warm milk..just a little bit though:) Most important don't give her good attention when she wakes up (in the middle of the night)... don't reward the behavior you don't want..I think laying her on her tummy and giving her a shshsh and patting her back like you do is a great idea...my husband and I have a joke between us we always would say..."don't look at her!" b/c we would melt and pick them up:)
Good luck...this too shall end...until you have another:)

Here is a thought I had last night. Is your child getting enought play time during the day to wear her out. Since its winter we dont normally play ourside as much so maybe she not active enought to make her tired. Just a thought.

My other idea is playing a soft music in her room at night. I had a child that was in the hospital for several weeks and when I brought him home the house was to quiet at night so we left a radio on every night then slowly turned the volume down. It helped him. Just another thought I had.

My youngest is 6 weeks now and I am waiting for a full night of sleep.

Hi T.,
I am a nursing Mom and my first thought is that she has hit an appetite spurt and needs to be nursed more. Someone mentioned a snack before bed and that may help. HOWEVER, don't forget to watch out for peanut butter, big ALLERGY TRIGGER! The word is NO peanut butter or honey before One Year old.
Also, Jolene has a good word. Many times my little one will go back to sleep if I wait her out. Sometimes she is just fussing around. After a bit, it may be apparent that she truly is hungry or wet. So, of course, we take care of things and usually she will fall asleep nursing and be good for at least a few more hours.

I am a Wife, and Mom of 2 rambunctious boys 4 and 3, and one beautiful daughter 8 1/2 months.

Hi T.! Few things come to mind. How much does she drink before bedtime? Maybe the wet diaper bothers her. Also, does she eat before she goes to bed? We always gave the kids some cereal or baby food before bedtime. Does she cry when she wakes up? If she's fussing a little, I would wait before I'd go into the room to see if she soothes herself back to sleep. I'd wait at least 5 minutes and if she doesn't quiet down I'd go in, make sure she's OK and leave - I would't talk to her or or interact with her much. I hope this helps.