why won't my baby boy sleep at night?

Chelsea - posted on 06/03/2009

Quoting Sarah:

I wouldn't expect any child to sleep through the night until they are over 12mths. Any mother that tells you that their child is - either has that one in a million child or is lying!

Well my 2 year old must have been one in a million, He slept throught night from 3 weeks old. He stopped sleeping through the night when we pulled him out of daycare at about 10 months old. Once he wasn't at daycare he wasn't getting enough stimulation during the day to wear him out enough. My 8 month old on the other hand has not slept through the night since he was born. My doctor told me that I was lucky with my oldest. And he will eventually sleep through the night. But now that he is on the bottle, and we are at home with my husband, my husband gets up with him and he doesn't take a bottle. He hates to have a wet diaper, so once that is changed then he goes right back to sleep. He doesn't have a regular sleep schedule during the day either. The only thing regular about him is when he wakes up @ 5:30am every morning. I try to put him down for a morning nap at around 10am, but he fights it. Good luck.

Ariel - posted on 06/03/2009

My daughter was a really tough kid to get to sleep, but my son has been incredibly easy. Not exactly one in a million, but amazingly good about bedtime. Is he old enough to start solids? If so, try doing a solid meal before bedtime it may be enough to hold him over for a longer stretch of the night. Also, try to make nighttime wakeups the most boring part of his day. No playing, only feeding a small amount, no lights on, and keep it quiet. If it's no fun to be up at night he may stop doing it as much. Keep the rocking to sleep brief, just enough to get him calm and sleepy, then put him in bed. Late night extra cuddles can motivate them to keep waking up at night too. His age is important because if he is under 3-4 months then he should be getting those extra nighttime feedings, but if he's older than that he is probably still doing it out of habit. You can try waking him up earlier in the morning too, it might reset his internal clock to sleep at night and not as much in the morning. Lastly, if he's just a bit fussy at night when he wakes, try not going in for a few minutes, he may put himself back to sleep. Just listen and when his cries get to a pitch that sounds like he's actually getting upset, not just calling out to see who answers, go in and calm him down.
It may help too to really take the time to rub his tummy and work out any gas bubbles he may have before laying him down. My son goes to sleep great most nights, but if he falls asleep before burping he will wake up an hour later crying, once the gas gets worked out he goes right back to sleep with no trouble.
BTW, your doc sounds like a jerk. No such thing as tough luck, all it takes is a little creative thinking to come up with a solution and it sounds like he/she just didn' want to take the time to be helpful. My doc gave me the same line when my son got very cranky at about 2.5 months old (said it was probably just colic and to wait it out), turns out it was because he had a tummyache because of a milk allergy.

Amber - posted on 06/03/2009

My son slept through the night very early and when we moved, he started waking up a few times a night, I made the mistake of getting up with him and feeding him. After a few weeks , I was exhausted and done with the waking up. So we did a little tough love thing, we let him cry. As long as your baby eats enough during the day, he will be fine, just a little upset. We did this and after 3 days, he was sleeping through the night. He cried less and less each night. I know it is really hard at first, but it worked and now he sleeps from 8:30 pm until about 7 am every day!

Shreyna - posted on 06/03/2009

I concure with the others. My son is 3 mo. For the last 2 mo. I was staying at my parents to visit with them while my husband was away in canada. He got use to sleeping in bed with me and falling asleep while nursing in bed. I would have him nap on his own without me so he wouldn't get too use to it. And with my family around he got use to being the center of attention. NOw that we are back home. He is starting to get back into a normal routine. I do have to let him cry himself to sleep sometime, especially in the begining. It would brake my heart to hear him cry and screem, but he need to learn to slepp on his own. It does take a while for everyone to get use to it, so you just have to be persistant. good luck. ps my little guy is pretty much sleeping on his own now and sleeps for 7 hrs, wakes up to eat, falls back to sleep and wakes up every 2-3 hrs after that until about 9 am

Cindy - posted on 06/03/2009

10-11am? HHmmm sounds like his clock is off. He's on a schedual, but it sucks for you.

You might want to try re-set his clock. If you can black out his room for sleeping it will help. It's going to be tough.

You need to decide what the perfect schedual is for your likeing. Our home for instance...



I wake the boys at 8am unless they wake me before that. (But not before 7am)

At 10am our 10 month old goes down for his morning nap until 12.

At 2pm both boys are sent for the afternoon naps.

At 4pm they are both ready for another adventure.

At 5pm Supper for the little one.

At 7pm It's bedtime for the youngest

At 8pm it's bedtime for the oldest.

Done. Sounds easy right...NOPE !!!!

Oldest used to go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6am and then crash and recharge all day when ever. I was exhausted, so I put my foot down. I started to put him to bed at night 15 minutes earlier for a week, then 15 mins earlier, and so on. I started to put my foot down as to what his activities were at 2pm. It was hard on both of us.



The little one has been a great kid with scheduals. We only have to get up at 11pm to refuel his bottle and he's really good. He might need a bum change at 4am, but that's not every day.



You need your rest. And you need to be sneaky. If your little one watches tv before bed (I know you are cuddling), invest in a DVD player and a DVD of whatever program he falls asleep in your arms watching. Then you can trick him into not knowing what time it really is. This is where the blacked out room comes in handy. If he's not a TV bum, you're lucky.

(Try to brush his teeth, read a book, and then a good night kiss, then put him in bed and close the door. I know you love the cuddle but he will need to be independant too. Unless little one is under 6 months. I'm not cold hearted, I miss my cuddle time and I love every hug. You don't have to do this part it's just something to think about when Babe is coming up to 1 year old.)



Good luck.

Lauren - posted on 06/03/2009

I have used this technique with both of my children and they were sleeping through the night at six weeks. (My daughter who is three months goes to bed at 8:45 and doesn't wake up until between 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM) What you need to do first is make sure your son is on a regular feeding schedule throughout the day so that his metabolism can be regulated. After feedings, he needs to be awake for a while and then laid down for a nap. Lay him down without any rocking (this habit of needing to be rocked to sleep can actually keep him from sleeping well, can you believe it!) and let him cry his energy out a little. If after fifteen minutes he has not calmed down, you can go in his room and rub his tummy/or back, sing to him, etc. to try and calm him down, but don't pick him up just yet. Leave him again to try to go to sleep on his own, and hopefully he will. If not, then you can try holding him again, but only for a few minutes. After his last feeding of the day, don't keep him awake, just quietly put him right back to bed with the same technique as nap time. This doesn't work on the first try, so you might have to suffer through some crying for a while, but once it does, your son will be sleeping through the night and you can be a happy mama. I hope this helps! :) (P.S. My son is 2 1/2 and my daughter is 3 months and they are both happy little ones because they get their sleep, and I can only pray that this can happen for other moms too!)

Amanda - posted on 06/03/2009

depends on age, my daughter was like that. at around 4 months i decided to be meen and give her water at nite and let her cry herself back to sleep. it took a few weeks and shes slept though the nite ever since, now shes 2.5 yrs

Sarah - posted on 06/03/2009

I wouldn't expect any child to sleep through the night until they are over 12mths. Any mother that tells you that their child is - either has that one in a million child or is lying!

Laura - posted on 06/03/2009

my son is a pants sleeper to. he goes bed at 7pm after a bottle then wakes at 10-11pm for another 8oz bottle and then again at about 3am for another bottle! he then gets up at 5am. i also have a 2yr old who sleeps great but it is hard work and i am knakered all time. hv suggested water but he wakes up an hour later wanting the milk! i hope it will end soon. how old ur son??

Natasha - posted on 06/03/2009

how old is he? and has he always done this or is it new?

Natasha - posted on 06/03/2009

how old is he? and has he always done this or is it new?