sleeping habits gone bad!!!! Please help me

Shannintipton - posted on 07/28/2011

This post is sort of old so I am going to close it. Thanks. :)

Denikka - posted on 07/28/2011

I know this may not be popular, but it may just be that she's waking up and wants you.
Sleeping through the night is actually considered to be sleeping from 12am through to 5am. Babies sleep is different from an adults, they cycle through the different types of sleep at a different rate and spend more time in a light sleep when it's easier for the slightest thing to wake them up, from light to noise to an itch :P

I am an attachment parent and I follow some of what Dr. Sears says. One of my favorite quotes is that a need that gets fulfilled is a need that goes away and won't reappear or manifest in a different way later. It could just be that your daughter needs you at that time of night, and there's nothing wrong with going to her and resettling her.
My son is 28 months old and will usually wake up once a night and come into my room. I get up with him and bring him back to bed, tuck him in and sit with him until he falls back to sleep. Usually no more than 15 minutes.

It really depends on your parenting methods, just know that there's nothing wrong with your daughter waking up, it could just be her sleep cycle, and there's nothing wrong with snuggling down with her or rocking her to get her to go back to sleep. Good luck :)

Anita - posted on 06/15/2009

Unfortuneately you have got into a habit of rocking her to sleep and your little one only knows to go to sleep when you rock her. You need to start kicking this habbit and stop the rocking and teach her to learn to self soothe and fall asleep herself...She is old enough to understand what your trying to do if you are willing to put in the time and effort..in order to teach her to self soothe you need to be determined, you need to be consistant and need to be patient...

There are different ways to teach your child to settle and re-settle...If you have the chance I woiuld like you to take the time to look at www.babywhisperer.com

The methods they use worked wonders for me and my child and it may work for you

At the age your child is at now you need to look at the PU/PD and WI/WO method (with the aid of shhh and pat) for toddlers (PU=pick up PD=put down WI=walk in WO=walk out)

Katie - posted on 06/14/2009

She is dependent on you rocking her to sleep! You have to stop or it will never change. Lay her down in her bed awake but drowsy - and let her learn to fall asleep on her own. Once we did this with our daughter she is a sleeping champ. We tell her goodnight, lay her in her crib, she usually looks up at us and watches up walk out of the room, sometimes fusses for a minute or two, but then, goes to sleep. It is not easy - you will have a week or so of crying when you do this, but if you stick with it, she WILL begin to self-soothe and put herself to sleep instead of needing you to rock her to sleep every time she wakes up. GOOD LUCK!

Andrea - posted on 06/14/2009

she is obviously waking (and will continue to wake most likely) until you stop rocking her to sleep. you need to make sure she starts falling asleep in the conditions she'll wake up at night in- ie- in her crib.

we used the ferber method at 9 months with my son- who also had to be rocked to sleep over & over all night long. we put him down awake in his crib & came back at increasing intervals to check on him until he went to sleep. the first night was long, but by the 3rd day he was going to sleep on his own- i would lay him down & he would talk & babble in his crib until he fell asleep. within a week he was stretching out his sleep & within 2 weeks he was sleeping through the night.

Janell - posted on 06/14/2009

all 4 of my kids didnt sleep through the night. i would be up until 5 or 6 in the morning only to have to get up at 7 to send my oldest to school. i started to lay them down for their nap early. eat lunch at 11 and down at noon. i would leave them in their rooms for 2 hours praying that they would sleep and the a very busy afternoon. i would feed them an early supper at about 4:30 or 5 and take them out to the park until 8:30. then it was home and in the tub. by the time 9:30 rolled around they were in bed and sleeping by 10. no more waking up through the night.

Stacy - posted on 06/13/2009

My son was the same way too. He just hit 13 months and just started sleeping thru the night. I breastfed him though until he was about 11 months...and he just kept up the cycle wanting a bottle. Well, it got old having to get up, feed him, rock him, make sure his pants were changed...then my mom asked me how is the nap schedule during the day. I changed it to one longer nap...like 2-3 hours...but only 1 nap. It was a struggle, but after the first week...he was so tired by bedtime, that he just gave up getting up in the middle of the night. 6hours of consecutive sleep is amazing by the way! HA HA Good luck!!

Ami - posted on 06/13/2009

our daughter was the same up til bout 3-4 months ago.

from the start i used to put her to sleep by breastfeeding her, and held her till she feel asleep. being a new mum i never even tried to let her settle on her own, wanting to cuddle her all the time. when we moved house a few months ago it got worse, she would wake up as soon as i laid her down in her cot. after alot of sleepless night i gave in and she just came to bed with us. this suited us for a while as we were getting SOME sleep, but she was getting bigger and kicked and moved around lots (lots of head butts). so we decided that something had to be done before it was too late.

i started control crying... the hardest and most heartbreaking experience of my whole life! but after just over a week (and many tears later, from both of us) she was putting herself to sleep AND STAYING ASLEEP ALL NIGHT! i couldnt believe that i worked.

we still have some bad nights, due to teething ect, which is really normal, but all in all im really glad we did it and stuck to it. great feeling to have ur bed back! hope this has helped a lil.

Amy - posted on 06/12/2009

your not alone. We had similar events with my son. we just kept trying different things...in the end we ended up using a "family bed" and he sleeps the best he ever has, but at 5 he still has a wild imagination at night and wakes up from time to time (minimal) help to fall asleep because we're right there to help him. I don't have an answer to solve your problem, other than try not to get discouraged, and do whatever it takes to get the most sleep you can. She will grow older and things will get better.