13 month old still wakes up several times a night. HELP!

[iluvry]

My first 2 children slept great as babies. I thought I was just a great baby whisperer. I was wrong-I think I was just lucky. My 3rd child is a happy baby during the day and wakes up @ 6:30 am, naps @ 10 am longish nap, then shorter nap in the afternoon, and bed @ 8 pm or so. (Same routine as my 2nd child who slept thru the night early on).

He always wakes up 1-3 times a night. We have been terrible and give him a bottle when he wakes up in the night (which we never did with first 2 kids), but it started out as a way to prevent him from crying and waking up the other kids. We also let him lay in our bed sometimes, so we've really messed things up because he is used to these 2 bad habits. I want to get him sleeping through the night in his own bed, and have thought of doing the cry it out method, but then the other 2 will wake up and climb into our bed. I am so tired of taking woken kids back to their beds.

My husband and I are exhausted and have no idea what to do. I also got diagnosed from my Dr. with thyroid issues which is making me feel even more tired. Can anyone help?

[mamaJulie]

Hi there! Welcome!

Does he go to sleep independently?

From what you wrote it sounds like he may have just had some random night wakings, but it's unfortunately become a habit. It sounds like you are ready to make the changes you need to get him sleeping better at night, so that will mean weaning the bottle at night.

You can come out of this!! My DD was waking up 4+ times a night and I nursed her every time up until a 2 weeks ago. I hate to hear her cry and I'm terrified of thinking that she is hungry so I basically resolved that I would just work on not feeding her for longer and longer periods during the night. This worked, and she didn't cry (because I was holding her) but she was also up for long periods and was tired during the day. She also started eating and sleeping better during the day.

An alternative would be to do PUPD with him, but there will be more crying and if he's sleeping independently you it's not really necessary.

I've read that people also night wean the bottle successfully by putting less ounces in the bottle or watering it down a bit each night - that's probably your best bet.

Do all 3 kids share a room? I have the AC on in my older DDs room that doubles as our white noise and that has really helped her sleep through some of the baby's NWs. The worst of changing your nights will probably take only a couple of days, so maybe you can do it over the weekend and your DH or a relative can help. Maybe your older kids can have a sleepover at grandmas or somewhere at that time?

HTH!