Bedtime help needed

Christina - posted on 10/12/2010

Hayley,
My son is 15 months now and he too went down with a bottle at night and would wake up every few hours. I never knew what sleep was! He was so attached to his bottle I started out with small steps to ease him off a bottle at night, and no he would not take a binki/pacifier. During his day time nap I would put him down without a bottle he would cry anywhere from 20-40 mins but he would fall asleep. We did this for four weeks and it got easier, though he was still getting a bottle at night and even with night time diapers I was also changing his pajamas because he was wetting through them. So after four weeks the first night we decided to take away the bottle, he had a long day and was extra tired, he fussed a little but he was use to it from his naps which was key in helping adjust. He has been bottle free since 14 months and I FINALLY get to sleep 6-8 hours a night. I never thought I would be able to sleep again. I hope this helps and good luck to you!

Stephanie - posted on 09/24/2010

how old is she? if she's 1 yr or older, she doesn't need the drink and is just using it as comfort. ween her off by first switching to water, then to nothing at all. she will cry and cry for a night or two and then it will be over and you will be thankful.

Nikki - posted on 09/24/2010

I understand everything you are going through. My son was waking up between 2 and 4 times a night, and the only way he would go back to sleep was with a bottle. Sometimes it was just an ounce to get him back to sleep, but he had to have the bottle to go back to sleep (my son absolutly will not take a paci, it would just upset him more if I even tried to give him one). Then the lack of sleep was really starting to affect me emotionally, and I knew it was time to break him of this habit. I live in an apartment so I talked to my neighbor and told her that I was going to be taking the bottle away from him at night and to let me know if his crying was to loud for her. Well I started on a Saturday night and he woke up at his usual 10:30, and it took over an hour for him to go back to sleep. I sat outsde his door and cried and I paced the floor. It took every ounce of willpower not to make him a bottle to go back to sleep. But eventually he did go back to sleep. The nights got easier, I would just go in and rub his back and give him a kiss, and not take him out of his crib and within 10 minutes he would be back asleep. Then last night (12 days later) he slept through the night!!!! No more soaking wet diapers, no more changing the sheets in the middle of the night!! I always told myself before I had a baby that I would never ever let my baby cry it out. But that was before I spent the last 10 months waking up at least twice a night. My lack of sleep was starting to affect my parenting during the day. I just didn't have the energy to play with him the way he needs.

Best of luck with this journey. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do so far as a parent.

Tiphanny - posted on 09/23/2010

i am also having trouble but mines not dueing the night coz my daughter sleeps in my room but im trying soo hard to try and get her to sleep in her own room in a cot as she has just about out grown her bassenet and she is 8 months you just have to keep trying

Beckie - posted on 09/23/2010

i had the same prob n i asked around my daughter was 4 months at that point so my mother inlawe said just try a little bit of solids so i did n as she ate more n more she began to sleep longer she is now 7 months n sleeps from 7pm till 630 n sometimes she may wake up i just walk in give her, her dummy turn her music box on n walk out n i dont hear from her till 630 good luck

Lu - posted on 09/23/2010

Wow, dod you say she is 16 months? That would drive me crazy! My baby has been sleeping through the night since he was 8 weeks and he is 19 months now. I also have a 5 and a 6 year old. I have never put them to sleep with a bottle because of the increased risk of ear infections for babies and the increase problems with cavities for toddlers. Our only sleeping issue is that my 6 year old sucks her thumb to sleep. So I forced my next two children the plug everytime their fingers would go close to their mouths. I have also followed the "on becoming babywise" method with all three, which is why they were all sleeping through the night between 6-8 weeks. I believe they have a book about toddlers too. I think you have a lot of crying ahead of you but you definitely have to take away the bottle at night and stop the night feedings. Kids at this age should get enough to eat during the day. I took the bottle away when they turned 1 and replaced with a sippy cup. My 17 month old doesn't even know what a bottle is for anymore. You really have to do something soon though, because the longer you wait the harder it will be. You don't want to have a 9 year old that still need her bottle to go to sleep (yes, I knew one!) Good luck!

Kristen - posted on 09/23/2010

Im seeing a lot of really good post, i would def say a binky, trying the keeping her up a little longer, or a shorter nap, try rice/cereal in her bottle to thicken it, it will fill her up more quickly if shes just hungry at night!! to keep her from soaking through her jammies, double up her diapers at bedtime, cut one diaper to look like LOL a giant pad, and put in inside of her other diaper.... it will help promise :)

Maya - posted on 09/23/2010

Depends how old she is, but if she's gained weight well and at least 2 months old, try quietly going in w/a pacifier when she wakes - do it before she starts crying, don't make a sound or turn on the light, then if she takes it, tip toe out. That may hold her off another hour or so, repeat that next time she wakes. Once she's gone 5-6 hrs, feed her if she wakes, then repeat the pacifier trick for the other wakings. Do this every night and after a few nights she should wake fewer times. My 2nd daughter slept 12 hrs straight after the 3rd night when she was 6 mos and I tried this. All babies are different though. I don't think it would've worked w/my 1st.Eventually w/the first, I had to let her cry it out. Tough. If this is a recent change though, she could have an ear infection /teething/ not feel well.

Krista - posted on 09/23/2010

my daughter use to do the same thing. so, what i did was only let her take one nap in the day and pt her to bed between 8-9. and if she cried during the night i would just let her be and she would be fine within 10 min or less.

Amalea - posted on 09/23/2010

I have to agree with most of the moms, the bottle in bed can make her sick. idk how old she is, or if a binky would be a good substitute. If you do give her a bottle before bed, have you tried thickening the formula with rice cereal? it keeps them fuller longer. Try keeping her up a little bit later at night, send her to be one hour later tonight. Make her naps shorter during the day. Shell fuss and drive you nuts at first, but shell adapt to the changes quickly. Hopefully shell start sleeping longer through the night.

Kim - posted on 09/23/2010

hi can i just say that u can give ya lil one a bottle of milk at nite to go to sleep with coz i do it wiv ma lil one n as for the wakin up in the nite just let her cry che will soon get use to it n hopefuly start sleepin thro the nite it is hard i done it wiv ma lil one n nw she goes to bed at 7 wiv a bottle n she sleeps all the way thro until 7 8 i hope it all works out 4 u x

Casey - posted on 09/22/2010

i did the controlled crying thing with my son, i didnt give him a bottle instead i gave him water, which he had a bit of didnt like it so went to sleep, took me about 4 nights to get him used to this and now i have a baby that sleeps right through the night :-) maybe give it a go and see if that works?

Staci - posted on 09/22/2010

We use the cry it out method with my son, but he has gotten so accustomed to our bedtime routine that he doesn't cry anymore, he just rolls over and falls asleep (wonderful)! I have a couple ideas, try keeping her up later then 7, Carter falls asleep between 9-10 depending on how quickly he takes the bottle. We almost always start feeding him the bottle at 9. You could also try incorporating a bath before the bedtime bottle, use the lavender scented body wash and lotion. Also, we never let him sleep in the clothes he is currently wearing we always change him into comfy soft pjs. And my last thing comes from personal experience! Babies have a tendency to wake themselves up from a rolling over to couching, or maybe even a dream! They will almost always fall right back to sleep, I was like any other parent who was at my childs beck and call the second he got upset or started making noises, but try to give her 5 minutes and see if she puts herself back to sleep. Don't give her a bottle every time you get up with her, that much food is not necessary. You could also try running a fan or something that makes noise continuously through the night. Hope that is helpful for you and good luck!!

Christine - posted on 09/22/2010

I don't know how old she is...but it is sounding like it's time to switch from Bottles to Sippies. My daughter did the same thing and we just threw the bottles away and got sippies and that was that.

Heather - posted on 09/22/2010

Hey, frustrating i know! I've had to put in place the letting her cry it out method with my daughter. I know its really difficult and you feel totally aweful doing it, but it really does work!! it may take several attempts to get this method going, but stick with it and be strong, even get someone like a good friend or your mum to be with you the first few times you do it for some support so you don't let yourself give in. I agree with the pacifier, though i havent needed to use one for my girl, but it does sound like a better option than the bottle. good luck, and be strong! and never forget you are an awesome mum and just doing what is best for your baby :)

Lynn - posted on 09/22/2010

It’s called sleep training; at 12lbs they can physically sleep thru the night. Give her a soother instead of a bottle... it will take 3 nights of crying but soon she'll get out of the habit of waking up for a bottle. Also at 7pm get her to self sooth and fall asleep on her own, without a bottle; then when she wakes up during the night she knows how to fall asleep again without a bottle. She only knows now how to fall asleep with a bottle at 7pm so naturally she wants a bottle in the middle of the night too.

ASHLEY - posted on 09/22/2010

I stopped my son's night feedings around ten months. We found that cold turkey was the easiest method. He was angry for about three days then just moved on. Being so wet could be making her uncomfortable and be waking her up so multiple night feedings could be adding to ur problem. Cutting back on naps can also make problems worse overtired babies have a harder time falling and/or staying asleep. make sure she gets about 2-3 hrs worth of naps during the day. My son usually gets two one hour or longer naps otherwise he is more difficult at bedtime. Also my son sleeps better if he has a good dinner. We do dinner between 5 and 6 he has a sippy of milk with dinner. After dinner we clean him up and put pj's on him. I lay him down between 8-830 without anything except his crib blanket. he usually sleeps till 730+ before ten months he woke for 2-3 night nursings. The bedtime doesn't matter really stick to ur schedule 7 everynight and just stay consistant she will adjust. How old is she should she still have a bottle? try putting water in it if you can't do cold turkey she will be less interested. also if she doesn't already take a pacifer don't start that! it will just be one more thing you have to break her of later. easier in the long run to do cold turkey it really works :)

Jennifer - posted on 09/22/2010

You may feel bad at first ...but only give her water ..tell her this is all mommy has ..out of sight out of mind..remove all juice or milk visible and let her know if she wants her cuppy or baba this is what she has to drink..she wont like the taste much and shell drink a tiny bit ..have the baba forcomfort and since she isntdrinking as much of it ...wont pee her bed much..ake her pee right before she goes to bedd :) hope this helps!

Lauren - posted on 09/22/2010

hey giver her a bottle to go to bed with but just let her have that bottle and a dummy most toddlers need a little comfort so they will look to a dummy or a bottle so give her 1 bottle befor she goes to bed nd thats it she might cry nd cry nd cry but she will get the idea in time nd u can sleep again lol bless ya give her a snuggle teddy if ya want my lil girl has her snuggle teddy nd her tummy and iv had no trouble :) and mabey cut down her naps in the day i let my lil girl have 1 hour in the day xx

Denise - posted on 09/22/2010

First of all Hayley well done on being able to get your daughter to go to sleep by herself. Alot of mums don't have that.

My daughter is 17 months her routine at this time is she has her tea about 4.30, then a bottle an hour later then an hour later dessert, then off to bed by 7pm.

First thing as alot of mum's have said, stop that bottle in the night, also stop her going to sleep with a bottle, as one mum pointed out it isn't good for their ears. Second thing is, if she wakes in the night, check her and I would even change her, maybe the nappy is too wet and uncomfortable.

The other thing to think about is there something else happening. Like she could be teething? If this is the case the pain could be waking her up. Another thing is, is she warm enough at night? This will wake her up continuiously. Also one thing to try is leave a piece of your clothing (that you have worn) in her bed, this my comfort her enough to sleep more at night. I would give her a dummy, she has gone all this time without one, and as a mum said you are swapping one thing for another.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Christina - posted on 09/22/2010

I agree that is a bit harsh!

Amy - posted on 09/21/2010

Again, how old is your little girl?

Marissa - posted on 09/21/2010

it depends on her age if she is still bran new she will require your attention for a few more months. if she is a little older try letting her cry herself back to sleep. it sounds mean but it is actually good for them. if she wakes up again get her a bottle and dry diaper and then the next time let her cry again. spread out her bottles throughout the night until she doesn't need any. the sooner she is off the bottle at night the better for her teeth anyway my kids never took bottles to bed

April - posted on 09/21/2010

My husband has a cousin that allowed their daughter to go to bed with a bottle and she now has problems with her teeth. She has silver caps on several of them so you may want to try the pacifier to get her to sleep. I wouldn't go into her room when she wakes up unless she is going to make herself sick with crying.

Amy - posted on 09/21/2010

Being able to sleep through the night from five weeks old is the exception, not the rule. Just saying. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until she was one year old.

Heather - posted on 09/21/2010

Maybe she's unable to soothe herself back to sleep b/c she's put to bed with a bottle? Sleep association. Could you try giving the bottle an hour or more before bed? Then giver her a paci to help her fall asleep?

I found the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child to be super helpful. Good luck, momma.

Amy - posted on 09/21/2010

Is she still in a crib? How old is she? If she's on a bottle that she only really needs before bed, then I would let her cry it out. Yes, it's painful to hear, but each time it gets less and less. I used to leave my daughter to cry for fifteen minutes at a time, go in, let her know I love her, NOT pick her up, but gently touch her face and hair and maybe even sing a little song, then go away again. I found that in about a week she was able to stay asleep. The major thing is probably that she's actually looking for comfort. So yeah, try a soother or a special stuffed animal. It all depends on her age, but I also tried music and found that worked well. The big thing is to get her to not wake up looking for that fluid. No kid needs a bottle through the night unless they're dehydrated. Could try giving her more fluid during the day when she can be changed frequently and see how that goes. If all else fails, you may just have to go a few nights where she cries it out and learns that mommy is not always at her beck and call. You'll kill yourself if you keep getting up for her. Good luck!

Cheryl - posted on 09/21/2010

Keeping her up later will make this problem worse! If our son goes to bed over-tired he wakes up more overnight and that results in a very early wake up. We get him to bed at an early time and make sure he has good naps (well, we did - now he's almost 4 and naps are gone :( and he sleeps through beautifully. Often he stays asleep longer. I'm also not sure how old she is but if she's over a year I think it's time to stop the nighttime feeding. I certainly would get up all night long if I knew I could have a milkshake 9 times. :) Sounds like this has become a habit - if she wakes up she knows she gets a yummy treat. Try water at night or better yet, nothing at all. Wean her off of that habit all together. Make sure she gets good naps and get her to bed between 6 - 8pm. Also get the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weisbluth.

Renae - posted on 09/21/2010

Good luck with the CIO method Hayley. Let us know how you go. :)

Susanne - posted on 09/21/2010

stop the bottle, because she needs a bottle to fall asleep then every time she wakes in the night she needs the bottle again to drop off, if you stop letting her fall asleep with the bottle she wont need it at night

Nicola - posted on 09/21/2010

wow thats a bit harsh!

Louise - posted on 09/21/2010

um not to be mean but if plunket knew you wore giving her a bottle when shes in bed they would go mental there are so many things that could happen1 she could choke,2 it runs in to there ears,3 it rots there teeth and 4 you just shouldnt do it fullstop its a bad hapit to ever have done,you need to get her out of that bad habbit fast for her sake what would you do if you found her dead because she choked on her milk.....but she shouldnt need a bottle during the night she should be sleeping atleast 10hours or more now,maybe put her down for a later morning sleep and keep her up till you put her down at night then maybe she might not wake or ither you need to not get up to her and let her no that your not geting up to her,my sons been sleping through since he was 5 weeks old hes down at 7.30pm till 8.30am,but also there are these waterproff pants i brought for my son from babycity there about 20buxs but worth it.

Nicola - posted on 09/21/2010

if your baby is on solids i would possible give her some porridge at night so she stays fuller for longer, also babies often associate feelings with actions, she has now associated night time soothing with milk-i struggled with this too, when she wakes up try give her a pacifier or a blanket, you can also dilute her milk so that eventually it will just be water! if you leave her to cry for a short while eventually she will tire herself out and go back to sleep! good luck!

Christina - posted on 09/20/2010

how about trying a pacifier? plus if she is falling asleep with her bottle that is not good for her teeth. milk has sugar in it and the milk will cause major decay in her teeth. it will be hard to stop that routine but she has to stop.

Becky - posted on 09/20/2010

find a different way to put her to bed with out a bottle does she use a binky or cuddle toy or a lovie

Loni - posted on 09/20/2010

With all of my kids I stopped giving them naps so that when bedtime comes they don't ask for drinks but I did have to carry them to bed.

Alison - posted on 09/20/2010

We keep Travis on a whole bedtime routine, an hour before bed he gets a bottle, now food and milk (since he's just turned a year old), then we give him a bath, nightime lotion, put his PJ's, and read him a couple of stories. That routine helps him to fall asleep!

Paige - posted on 09/20/2010

How old is she? If she is over a year old, no more bottles because of the risk of getting decayed teeth. It is possible for you to have a hard time when weaning her off the bottle because, from your descripation, she really depends on the bottle to sleep. My daughter (15 mo old) hasnt had a nighttime bottle since July (less wet diapers by morning). She has only one (sometimes two) nap so she could sleep for a full night. I find Renae's advice very useful- why not trying that? I hope all goes well for both of you!

Hayley - posted on 09/20/2010

Thank you all for your good advice. I think I am going to give the controlled crying thing ago see how that turns out. I would have tried sending her to bed with water in a sippy cup but she drinks this during the day and is used to it so I'm not sure it would work. Also she does spill a lot which means she will be sleeping on a damp sheet and I don't want that.

Renae - posted on 09/19/2010

Hi Hayley,

I just read your post after my comments. I wouldn't try putting her to sleep without the bottle during the day until you are making progress at night. When breaking a dependence, it is best not to mess with the day naps until you have the night working.

If you are absolutely unable to settle her at night without giving her the bottle and she just cries like she did when you tried it during the day, then you may need to teach her a whole new way of going to sleep.

First though, have you tried just switching the milk for water? Sometimes that is all that is needed and they stop waking for it. It is worth a try as it will be much quicker than changing how she goes to sleep.

If the other things I have suggested dont work after giving them a good try, then you need her to relearn how to go to sleep in a different way. The way to do this is to first get her used to being put down in the cot awake and jiggled or patted to sleep. So you are going to be going backwards (helping her to sleep when she currently doesn't need you) before you go forwards. With this method you do need to do the same thing for night time and day time so its different to what I said before about getting the night working first. It will take 1-3 weeks for her to get used to being patted to sleep by you without the bottle. Once she is used to it, then you need to gradually pat less and less. So first you are patting until she is fast asleep. The next step is to pat until she is just asleep. Then the next step is to pat until she has just closed her eyes, then just as she is about to close her eyes. Then you time how long you are patting for (usually 10-15 minutes) and reduce it by 1-2 minutes for each step. Until you can put her down and walk away. By this time she will have totally forgotten about the bottle and learnt a new way to go to sleep. Make sure she is totally used to each step before moving on to the next step, which means 3-5 days per step. If at any time she cries, which she will do especially when you try to leave the room during the first 2 weeks, pick her up, calm her down completely and start all over again. Expect to have to start again up to 5 times. Consistency is the key. You must do the same thing every time she goes to sleep, even in the middle of the night. The whole process will take you between 4 and 12 weeks. Once she can go to sleep on her own without the bottle, she will sleep through the night.

If you absolutely cant manage the above no-cry method because you are too sleep deprived, which may be the case, you do have the option of leaving her to cry. In my opinion this should be a last resort. If you do leave her to cry, you need to stay outside the door the whole time and listen to her cries, not to torture yourself, but so that you can listen for a distress cry. Leaving a baby to cry until they fall asleep if often less stressful for the baby than periodically checking on them. When you check on them, you have to leave again, and every time you leave the baby goes through the initially distress of being left all over again and becomes more and more stressed. If you leave them alone, the distress will plateau after the first 15 minutes. Note I didn't say there would be no distress, I said just LESS distress. When interpreting cries, the number 1 thing you are listening for is pausing. You want to hear a 3-5 second pause (not just a split second to catch their breath but a distinct pause) every 30-60 seconds. If there are no pauses for more than 3 minutes, then the baby is overly distressed and usually has something wrong (dirty nappy, hungry, pain etc). You can expect her to cry for up to 1 hour the first couple of nights, the average is 45 minutes, minimum 20 minutes. When she wakes during the night she will cry for half the time she did at the start of the night. Do not go in at all, just listen to the cries and go if you hear a distressed cry (always answer a distressed cry). She should stop crying and sleep through the night in 6 nights. Day sleeps take longer, up to 4 weeks, but the crying greatly reduces after the first 2 weeks.

Rebekah - posted on 09/19/2010

SO TRUE: Quote from Renea "Overtired babies have difficulty moving between sleep cycles and wake more frequently. They also have trouble going to sleep. Reducing naps during the day and going to bed later usually makes night waking worse, not better. This is most strongly demonstrated by the fact that if you want a baby aged under 2 to sleep later in the morning, you put them to bed earlier at night and 98% of the time they will sleep in."

Rebekah - posted on 09/19/2010

And I agree with Michelle, my daughter (15 months old) wakes a couple times in the night (especially when she goes to bed too late, didn't get good daytime sleep, or is overly tired) and I do not go into her room. She'd have to cry for a long time and be teething or sick before I'd go into her room... and then I'd give her Tylenol, rock her for a couple minutes, and lay her down to fall asleep on her own.

Rebekah - posted on 09/19/2010

16/13 months old and waking 9-10 times a night?!?! You are a better woman than I am! How on earth are you surviving on that little amount of sleep?! I think I'd go insane... actually, I KNOW I'd go insane. My daughter was waking once a night at 12 months old (to nurse) and I had to let her put herself back to sleep because I couldn't handle only getting 6 consecutive hours of sleep. It's not fair to either of you to be getting such poor sleep... and its soooo unhealthy for you BOTH. Check out the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."

At this point, you've taught her that as soon as she wakes in the night, she'll get a bottle to put her back to sleep. So unless you'd like to continue this habit until she's 2-3 I'd start teaching her something else. You could use some controlled crying (5 min, console, 10 min, console, 15 min, console, etc.), straight crying-it-out, or you could substitute something else for a while (like rock her or pat her back), but you'll have to be consistent (as consistent as you have been with the bottle habit). Will she fuss? Yes. Will she protest b/c she doesn't understand? Yes. But, you are her mother and you know what is best for her... and it's not a bottle every hour in the night. She needs sleep, and so do you. Good luck!

Gabrielle - posted on 09/19/2010

I had exactly the same problem. The best way to get her out of waking up lots at night is to not give her a bottle. As she is expecting the milk she will wake up for it, that doesnt mean that she needs it. So i stopped the milk at night and give her a dummy instead. She woke up the first and second nights for the milk but she had cooled boiled water instead. From that day on she didnt keep waking up through the night. Make sure she has what she needs before bed and when shes dopwn if she wakes upo give her water and a dummy. x

Yvonne - posted on 09/19/2010

I must confess that putting a little one to bed with a bottle is not something i have ever done as i myself as a mother and a foster carer don't feel its a good thing(but i do have a few friends who always do it)and when my daughter was little we didn't have bottles that didn't leak everywhere so i didn't want to change sheets every day.
I do agree very much with Renae though, only i would try water in a spouted cup, she may be waking because she's thirsty,so a little drink may help with all the other things that Renae suggested.
Good luck hope your sleepless nights don't last too much longer.xx

Marnie - posted on 09/19/2010

try using liquid calm breur for a week in her bottle for night time this helps put her back into a good rutine this helps them sleep through and not wake up during the night you get it from your local pharmacy or healthfood store all the best works well for my little man

Hayley - posted on 09/19/2010

My little girl is 16 months (13 months corrected age) and won't take a dummy. I've tried getting her to nap with no bottle to see how she likes it but it did not work she just cried and wouldn't nap at all, so I don't know how well that would work for her going to sleep.

Sammie - posted on 09/18/2010

Im the same with my little girl, shes 11 months old, she has a bottle with me before shes gets in her cot, then i put her in her cot and she goes to sleep by herself, but she can wake up anywhere between 2-8 times at night, i just got used to giving her the bottle because it would send her straight back to sleep, i still live at home with my mum and and brothers, so i dont think it would be fair to leave her to cry as it would wake everyone else up, and they have to be up early for work, so im not sure how to stop her from having a bottle during the night and to keep her quiet, also my mum says its not a bad thing, she says shes waking up because shes hungry, and the extra milk will do her good, its not too much of a hassle for me to get out of bed and get her a bottle, but it would be nice if we could get through the night without waking up loads of times :)

Sarah - posted on 09/18/2010

I had that same problem with my daughter. The trick with getting her to fall asleep on her own seemed to be putting her to bed with her bottle, worked like a charm until she wanted more bottles during the night, same as yours. I finally decided I would bite the bullet and ween her from that need. It was a rough couple of nights but she finally got used to going to sleep without her bottle, infact she became quite the thumb sucker at that point. It seemed to work, she stopped waking up in the night, so the problem did seem to be the bottle at bedtime.

Renae - posted on 09/18/2010

I am feeling compelled to make a couple more comments... :)

Giving her a paci is simply replacing the dependence with something else, not curing her of it. Trading the bottle off for something else will probably not fix your problem.

Also, until 3-4 years old, babies sleep better during the night when they have had their full sleep requirement during the day. Overtired babies have difficulty moving between sleep cycles and wake more frequently. They also have trouble going to sleep. Reducing naps during the day and going to bed later usually makes night waking worse, not better. This is most strongly demonstrated by the fact that if you want a baby aged under 2 to sleep later in the morning, you put them to bed earlier at night and 98% of the time they will sleep in.