Agh... Need more sleep.

Amber - posted on 12/15/2009

Just an update... ShiAnne is sleeping much better, I used the warm bath, lavender, music, and books at night, I also refill her bottle to 4 oz. before going to sleep so the first time she wakes up about 11 to 12 she goes right back to sleep.

Nicole - posted on 12/15/2009

Thanks - I will try the lavender!

Nicole - posted on 12/15/2009

I am right there with you Amber! Elizabeth is just about 11 months old - she wakes up and wants to play all the time in the middle of the night. I took away one nap and that didn't help. I Need help too - I am working and am like a zombie most days! I would appreciate any advice any of you have!!

Laura - posted on 12/14/2009

I wish I did! Be consistent! My daughter (now 9) was always the one to resist sleep, Funny thing is that even now when she's tired, she's a complete grump but still tries her hardest not to give in to sleep. We even caught her poking herself in the eyes to stay awake one night as a toddler. (I promise I'm not exaggerating). My son is the one who when tired, just lays down and he's out!!

For a while as a toddler we had my daughter get a doll dressed for bed, the doll read with us, said prayers with us, , , , , She tucked the doll in right before I tucked her in. Maybe it was just another routine, but that did help for a while.
Sometimes the overexhaustion hits a wall and they get back in a better routine!! Here's hoping that is the case!

Patricia - posted on 12/14/2009

Thanks Laura, any child or adult for that matter who has even hay fever can be aggravated by lavender or chamomile. Dani had always been a "put herself to bed" kind of child. She doesn't like sleeping in my bed and when I do have her with me she askes for her big girl bed. Her sleep is all messed up right now though. She was up till 2300 last night and I couldnt get her to go down for a nap today! She played in her room for almost 2 hours! Im just at a loss right now. Ive always kept a strict routine with her but she's fighting me all the way! Any advice?

Laura - posted on 12/14/2009

Both my kids had one of those crib side musical fisher price things. They make one that even has a remote that you can turn on or off from the doorway. Might take a few nights, but mine learned to use it to lull themselves back to sleep. Be careful of lavender, if your child has asthma, lavender can aggravate it!

Patricia - posted on 12/14/2009

Though my daughter is almost three and I have never really had a problem with her sleeping I have lately! I discovered she's getting her molars in! Is it a possibility your little one is still teething? All children get teeth at different times. Also try to warm up the formula and give her lavender baths at night. I also lotion Dani up with the lavender lotion too! There are these all natural supplements called "calms" you could try. Either that she's just not ready to sleep all the way through! Good luck!

Amber - posted on 12/14/2009

Thank you to everyone who answered I tried a few things, warm bath, lavender lotion, a little music, and a warm bottle and she only got up once for the last two nights.

Renae - posted on 12/13/2009

With my son, he has his dinner at night, has a warm bath with that Johnson Lavender Baby wash, then its a warm bottle with mummy and off to bed. I find if he hasnt had a bath he doesnt settle as quickly so the lavender must help. I hope this helps you :) Good Luck

Beth - posted on 12/12/2009

I found the early on with my little one I would pick her up the moment she stirred. I realized that if I let her alone for 2-5 minutes she would sometimes soothe herself back to sleep. That went for day and night time. Even if they wake with a startling cry. A hand on the chest helps. The top corner of a baby blanket next to their check or face sometimes helps conforts them. If I kept her up a bit more too she seemed to sleep better. Sometimes I found I would give her too much sleep time. Find out how much sleep your child needs for the age she is at and then see in a day how much sleep they are getting. Some babies nap lots and some less, but most get the same amount. Some are nappers and some are deep sleepers. They love to hear mommy sing. Music is wonderful. We tried a cd with a heart beat for my son and it drove us nuts. Find what their natural sleep cycle is and work with it not against it. Each child is different, but consistency is what they need the most. I am a deep sleeper and she has to really cry to stir me awake for night feedings.

Melissa - posted on 12/12/2009

sometimes my daughter (16 months) wakes up because she has kicked off her blankets and is cold. i dress her in 2 layers on cold nights and she doesn't wake up.



if she is waking up for formula/food try thickening the formula with cereal before bed. or giving her a more filling evening snack.

Karen - posted on 12/12/2009

I fully understand your need for sleep. My eldest daughter had colic, reflux and numerous food intolerances so sleep was a major issue. There is a new book out by Sheyne Rowley called Dream Baby. I have read just about every book there is on getting babies to sleep and this is the one I would recommend. She doesn't just have one method that she insists will work for every baby. Trust me there are many experts out there who claim that their method will get any baby to sleep and it is so not true. I love Sheyne's holistic approach. She looks at the whole day, your communication with your baby and any issues you need to address there. I found that her methods not only improved my childrens' sleep but made them happier during the day too.

Renae - posted on 12/12/2009

To teach her to go to sleep and sleep through the night you have several options. No-cry methods and crying methods. Crying methods are most effective, have higher success rates and work quickly. No cry methods are gentle and require some time and patience.



If you use a crying method I recommend you use crying it out with cry interpretation. I am not an advocate of control crying or any method where you go in and check on them as each time you go into them, you must leave again, and when you leave they go through the initial distress of being left all over again and it makes the baby more and more distressed. If you use a crying method and leave her to figure out she is supposed to go to sleep and do some research on cry interpretation and listen to her cries so that you know if she needs you, you can cry it out without distressing your baby. This method is very effective and is usually not nearly as bad as mum's expected.



The most common no-cry option is gradual withdrawal. This is where you gradually withdraw the baby from needing your help to go to sleep. This has an 80% success rate and takes 2-4 weeks.



Another no-cry method is that of UK baby whisperer Tracey Hogg, called Pick-up/Put-down. She has a website with a support forum for people using the method.



There is lots of info out there if you google any of the above methods. You are also more than welcome to contact me for info or instructions on anything I have said (if I include it all this post will be too long).

Lisa - posted on 12/12/2009

I'm not sure on advice but i may give you hope. My son is now 2yr 7mths but as an early infant his sleep was horrific!!! He had colic, reflux, lactose intolerance.......it seemed never ending and after a year we were getting desperate! We tried everything from night lights, sleeping on the floor next to him till he was asleep & controlled crying (thats a hard 1!!), the problem was we'd made a rod for our own backs cause we used to put him to bed asleep so when he woke through night he panicked! We found that biting the bullet for 2-3 weeks of taking him up to bed awake, after a hot bath, with a warm mug of milk and making a routine of tucking him in and letting him pick a story, although hard at first cause he'd keep calling us back, did eventually work and now he looks forward to the tucking in/story routine and sleeps great from 7.30 ish to about 6.30 ish. It's hard but you need to stick with whatever method you use or they just get more confused. Good luck, hope you work it out.

Melissa - posted on 12/12/2009

my daughters the same way, i would love some advice!!

Katherine - posted on 12/12/2009

Agree 100% with Safia Haddam. Sleeping is a learned habit. we all come to partial awakening through the night and if she has learned to rely on something out of her control to fall asleep she may not know how to do so on her own. I also recommend those books.

Melissa - posted on 12/12/2009

Give her some warm milk before she goes to bed, my mom always said it makes them tired and relaxes them. And lavender baths help to. Or since she is still on formula, give her rice cereal in it and see if she likes it. It helped with my nephew.

Amber - posted on 12/12/2009

She wakes up two to three times a night. Once in a while every two weeks I might get a full night with one time waking up.

Safia - posted on 12/12/2009

I think it all depends, what do you mean by sleeping through the night? I think it's normal to wake up once or twice a week for toddlers, but do you mean she gets up constantly?

From what I've learned, it is not an eating issue, even us adults get hungry if we're up at night, it's all about learning how to fall asleep on our own. I read two books that saved my sanity "baby whisperer" and "healthy sleeping habits, happy baby" depending on which method you want to use.

Hang in there... we all go crazy without sleep, and the older they get the harder it becomes

Kristen - posted on 12/12/2009

my daughter has been sleeping through the night since she was born but for about a week she would wake up every 2-3 hours. I stopped putting her down for her latest nap of the day and just put her to bed a little earlier and it worked....

hope you figure it out! its so hard without sleep

Amber - posted on 12/12/2009

I use a fan for noise and she has a glow worm she knows how to press to light up, and I use lavender bedtie lotion by Johnson and Johnson most nights.

Fiona - posted on 12/12/2009

Does she have a night light or music in her room - these sometimes help. Also, I've heard lavender baths just before bed might help.

Good luck!