Any advice for an 18mo. who won

Sharon - posted on 06/21/2010

No it won't last forever. Make sure he has eaten and not hungry and dry and comfy. He can't sleep to full either though. He knows if he cries you come running. Stop running so quick. Let him cry a lil before checking in on him. Don't talk when you do check on him, just console him and put him back down. Only put him in the bed at sleepy time (making a routine and a dark quiet house) not to play or anything else and do it at the same time. It will take a few days but it is worth it oppose to not and being stuck getting up. My son did that and that is what I did. He now sleeps alone. I let him have a water bottle just in case he needs a drink though, sometimes.

Amy - posted on 06/14/2010

It took 3 days here. Don't cave in or it will only get worse. You have to steel yourselves & let him put himself back to sleep. The sooner the better.

(Because the last thing you want is a 5 year old who can't put himself back to sleep!! Trust me - I made that mistake and am still suffering almost every night. And, knowing now what I did wrong then, my twins have slept through since they were 7 months old.)

Jen - posted on 06/12/2010

let him cry it out, it sounds harsh, but both my kids were sleep trained after 3 nights of the CIO method. Best of luck.

Kristina - posted on 06/11/2010

My 18 month old was the same way until I couldn't do it anymore. What really helped was bedtime routine and 4Moms Goodnight Baby Sleep Trainer. It really helped. I was able to see how often he was awake, how long he cried and slept during the night. Good luck. Unfortunately its only going to get harder when he gets older if he doesn't learn to fall asleep on his own now.

Carla - posted on 06/10/2010

I agree with the girls, a few days of "missed sleep" is better than constantly waking in the night and getting poor sleep. Especially in the long run. We tried the Cry It Out Method and it honestly didn't work for our daughter so we tried Kim West's Method from her book, "The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight," and it worked almost instantly. It took a little over one week for her to be able to fall asleep on her own and sleep through the night (12hrs) and I think I only woke up at the most twice in the night to reinforce the sleep training. Who knows? The CIO Method may work for you or something else but just give sleep training a shot! :) Good luck!

Heather - posted on 06/09/2010

We've been doing Tracy Hogge's put-down method of sleep training for a week and a half now, and I am very pleased with the results! The first 4-5 days were exhausting but they are beginning to pay off. We give him his bath, and rock him with his bottle and his sleepy-time music and after he is finished with his bottle we lay him in his crib, if he sits up we lay him back down and eventually he falls asleep on his own. The first 4-5 nights it took almost an hour for him to fall asleep, and he cried and fussed a lot. The first 4-5 nights he also woke up once or twice through the night but we didn't pick him up, we just lay him back down and tell him its still time to sleep, again he fussed and cried and it took him a while to calm himself down and fall asleep, but after an hour or so he did. Now, a week and a half, he is putting himself to sleep in his crib, and sleeping through the night!!! He might wake up once during the night but hes putting himself back to sleep faster and faster, last night it only took him 10 min. and I know it will only get better!

Jodene - posted on 06/09/2010

I agree with the others, sleep training will take a lot less than 2 weeks. I haven't sleep trained my boy, but most of my friends have. It took max 4 nights for them to clue in.

At 18 months, you're dealing with the habits that have already formed, but also the control issue. They're desperate for autonomy over situations they can control. So you really should try hard to break that habit as soon as possible. I agree with the others - a few nights of crappy sleep while sleep training is much better than what you're getting now. Maybe try to work it for a long-weekend, so you can start on a Friday, and hopefully celebrate Monday night?

Tricia - posted on 06/09/2010

My son is 18 months old. He was sleeping at least 6 hours straight at 4 months old and now sleeps 10-11 hours straight at night. I believe he sleeps so long and so well in his crib for many reasons...we only use the crib for night sleeping (no naps or playing in the crib). He used to scream every time we put him in hisi crib when he was awake so we used to make him sleep in our arms and gently put him in the crib but the doctor told us he needed to learn to fall asleep on his own. So in April we started putting him in the crib awake and he did scream for an hour (hardest hour of our lives)...but he fell asleep! Everyday it got less and less and in about 2 weeks he was fine. Now in June he actually tries to wiggle out of our arms when he knows it's bed time and see's his crib. We put him in the crib with one toy and he falls asleep with the toy in his hand and sleeps 10 pm-9 am straight through for about 2 months now. He'll only wake up in the middle of the night if his diaper leaks which is very rare. I know it will be hard because you both work but it's better going through that tough 2 weeks then going through it for months or longer. It was a tough two weeks for us but WELL WORTH IT!!!! Now we can just put him in the crib and close the door and he doesn't cry and falls asleep within 5-10 minutes. When he does wake up in the 1-2 hours span that you say he does...let him cry five minutes, then the next time ten minutes and so on so little by little he will learn to comfort himself and fall back to sleep on his own. That's what we did and once in a while on those rare occasions that he does cry at 3 am we let him cry and within 20 minutes or less he falls back to sleep on his own. It's hard and it's tiring to do this kind of sleep training but in the end you will both be happier. Hope this helps and good luck :)

Ange - posted on 06/09/2010

Isabelle is just now 18 months and she has been in her own room sleeping through the night for the past 5 months. we started putting her down in her crib while it was in our room. I do not have a rocking chair in her room so that was the only place I could nurse was our bed. when we finally moved her crib into her room it was difficult for a few nights. We did the cry it out, controlled crying technique. we would let her cry for a few minutes go in lay her down then we did that for a little while and finally just let her cry till she fell asleep. Right now we still do a bottle and snuggles before bed. if she doesn't fall asleep within about 5 minutes after her bottle we put her in her crib and rub her back for a few minutes and eventually she will fall asleep. taking a nap and bed time are the hardest parts of her day because she doesn't want to go to sleep. She thinks she'll miss something. So if both dad and I are home we are both in the room. She is more likely to go down that way. If it's the separation then try moving the crib into your room for a little while to show him it's not a bad to sleep by your self. then after that you just have to be stronger than them. He will forgive you I promise :-D

Priscilla - posted on 06/08/2010

Just don't give up! I did the 5...10...15 minutes technic and it work very well within 2-3 nights...for at the time our baby was just 7 months...but the longer you'll wait the harder it will get! Also ask your husband for support...agree on the technic you'll be using...it really helps!
Good luck! You can do it!

Katie - posted on 06/05/2010

We moved Elijah's bed into our room on our floor next to our bed, it has worked wonders for all of us. He sleeps at least 6 hours in his bed and in the morning he likes to crawl into bed with us for a little while. He had learned how to crawl out of his crib and he didn't like it to begin with. Good luck, you can do it!

Madelaine - posted on 06/04/2010

You absolutely have to bite the bullet and teach him to sleep on his own - for the sake of your own health and sanity!! I found Dr Weissbluth's book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child extremely helpful throughout the last 18 months (see link). http://www.rabooks.com.au/product_info.p... What I liked is that he gave different options on how to approach the "crying out", depending on how much you were able to stand! Good luck and hang in there - we are all exhausted to some extent and even though it doesn't feel that way at 4 in the morning, you are NOT alone!

SAM - posted on 06/03/2010

You could try the controlled crying technique. Give him a lovely bath, a warm cup or bottle of milk and then settle him down in his crib. If he cries don't rush to him straight away, leave him for 5 mins then go in, lie him down and say goodnight. Then leave the room. If he cries leave it for longer, maybe 10 mins then go to him, but don't pick him up. Keep doing this, leaving it longer between the times you go in. it can take a few days but it does work!! I left it til my son was just a little older than yours then I just bit the bullet, and although it was hard for a few days we all have a good nights sleep!!

Heather - posted on 06/03/2010

we tried CIO before when he was 11months and it killed us! he had so much separation anxiety that we swore we would never do it again. We tried CIO for a week back then. We bit the bullet this week and are trying Tracy Hogg's "put-down" method. Every time he stands up in his crib, we lay him back down and tell him, "Its night-night time, I love you, go to sleep." When he wakes up in the middle of the night we go into him, but we don't pick him up, we just lay him back down and tell him to go back to sleep. The first night was great, the second night he slept 11 hours straight, and last night he woke up at 2am and would not go back to sleep until 5! He is a very strong-willed child! And just kept fighting sleep! I'm hoping this works, I'll keep you updated.

Kimmi - posted on 06/02/2010

I was having the same trouble with my son. I finally had enough...I made sure he had a bath and we would read with his sippie cup of milk. When that was done I put him in his crib and closed the door behind me. It was really hard and I think the first night he cried for just over an hour. He woke up a few times in the night crying as well and I just left him, and he made himself fall back asleep. It only took 2-3 days, as long as you do not go to him. Good luck!

Nicole - posted on 05/31/2010

Sleep training took 4 days here. She slept through the night on the 4Th night and only fussed for a few when I put her down. If you want to get GREAT sleep in just a few days then bite the bullet and go for it. Your not getting good sleep now so a few days wont be so bad. You HAVE to be consistent though. He is going to know if you get him that if he cries enough you will and it will be harder. Stay strong and in just a few days you wont regret it. My daughter just asked me to put her down for a nap and get so excited to see her crib. It takes a little longer to get to that point but they will STTN in just a few days.