Author Topic: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings  (Read 2241 times)

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Offline alicia1979

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14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« on: January 11, 2010, 14:00:17 pm »
Hi,

This is my first post....and write in the hope of getting some advice!

My little boy is almost 14 months old. He has never been a brilliant sleeper, but we go through phases of sleeping through the night etc. Recently (last 2 or 3 months), my son has become very restless in the evening....I often here him cry out, but then he goes back to sleep. He then wakes two or three times a night...often standing in his cot, screaming. In desperation, we often bring my son into bed with us as he seems to sleep soundly there....which then allows us to get some much needed sleep.

We have got into bad habits of rocking him to sleep in our arms....and by bringing him into our bed we are only making the situation worse!! But at 2am....when sleep deprived, all rationality goes out the window!!  :(

I would really appreciate some guidance on how to get out of these bad habits so that we all get proper sleep. My son has always struggled with teething and has just had two more pop through. I think teething and illness is what prompted me to rock him to sleep...and we haven't been able to break the habit! My son now knows that I will be there to settle him and get him to sleep.

So, I think I know what Ive done wrong...but don't know how to fix it! HELP!!!

Our typical routine (sometimes varies) is as follows:

7am wake. 240ml bottle of milk and play/books in our bed.

8.30am Breakfast followed by getting dressed and play/go out.

10am snack and drink

11.30am Lunch

12-1.30 ish Nap (Unless very tired, I rock him to sleep)

2pm snack and drink

4pm Dinner

6pm Bath/bed routine....story, massage, milk etc.

6.30-7pm Bed (depending on how easy he is to settle...sometimes wont go to sleep until 9pm)


Look forward to ANY advice!

Thanks in advance,

Alicia. x   :)

Offline anna*

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Re: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2010, 14:05:48 pm »
Hi and welcome to the boards! ;D

I think he's overtired. He's having very little sleep for his age - has he always been low sleep needs? I would try giving him a short nap - just 20-30 mins - at 10 or 10.30 and then a longer sleep after lunch. That way he won't be so overtired at bedtime and should sleep more peacefully. Once that's happening, then you can look at doing away with those props using WIWO or GW: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0





Offline frano

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Re: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2010, 14:10:18 pm »
Hi ALicia and welcome to BW

I know how easy  it is to AP when tired. Have a look at the pick up put down thread. This may suit your situation. It'll take some hard work from you and your DP but consistancy is they key so when you decide to make a change then in order not to confuse you lo you'll need to stick to your plan!

At least you know that your DS can sttn tho!  Hope you get some mre advice on her and just know that wew'll all be here to support you through the transition

Good Luck

Fran

Crossed posts with Anna, that sounds like great advice



Offline tabs

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Re: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2010, 10:37:17 am »
hey Alicia, just thought I'd pop over to encourage you on your thread since you encouraged me on mine! Your lo sounds quite like mine really! Obviously we both have some napping issues to get sorted! Will let you know if I find anything useful along the way, dd still isn't settling well in her cot but did sleep from 10.30 - 7 last night. (probably from exhaustion though :() She also has terrible trouble with her teeth...really plays havoc with any routine you have, doesn't it?

Offline Reeneeree

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Re: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2010, 08:40:29 am »
Hello! I can completely sympathise with your situation, as I'm in a very similar one!!

I've had some excellent advice from Nicole-Ava'smom on a thread I started and I think that you may find it useful too. Here's a link to my thread - http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=162738.0

Do have a look when you get a chance. Hope you manage to sort your LO's sleep patterns out very soon.

Offline alicia1979

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Re: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2010, 10:35:44 am »
Hi everyone and thanks so much for the advice so far!! It is so nice to know that others out there are struggling with sleeping babies too!! Although I wish we werent!!

Well,

The WIWO seems to make matters worse and I end up with a bright red, tear streaked little boy!! So last night....he fell asleeep or was very drowsy after his bottle, so putting him in bed was easy! (Not sure if its ok for him to fall asleep on bottle...but can't do a lot to stop it on a nursery day as he is home at 5pm ish and im not in control of daytime naps!?)

He slept until 3am...which is good going. When he woke, I left him for a few minutes. He wouldnt settle, so i picked him up for a cuddle. But diodn't rock like I normally do. Just said sshh, mummy's here. When he had calmed down, I put him back in his cot...he sat bolt upright straigh away and cried. So I repeated the picking up until he stayed lying down in cot....then I lay down next to cot with my head near his through the bars and continued the shh, sleepy time etc. It took half and hour, but he finally dropped off! AND i didnt rock him!!! Yay!

So three successes last night: Fell asleep at bedtime easily, albeit on the bottle, went back to sleep in night without having to be rocked and DIDNT come into our bed!!!

Need to keep it going. But worried about going to inlaws this weekend and travel cot! Fingers crossed!

Offline frano

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Re: 14 Month old difficulty settling in cot & night wakings
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2010, 19:45:36 pm »
WELL DONE. that must be really encouraging. Hope that tonight goes well too, just be consistent so that he knows what to expect when you come into the room. Great update, keep us posted