Has ANYONE got a 1 yr old (or close) baby who sleeps 7-7?

[riab]

I'm desperatly seeking the advice and reassurnace of someone who has a baby/young toddler who sleeps 11-12 hours in their own cot. I don't even mind a dream feed at 10.30pm if that gets him going through til 7am.

I havn't had more than 3 or 4 hrs sleep since december and I'm on the verge of getting fired from my job and failing my law exams. I've read all the posts I can find and I keep getting the impression that PU/PD doens't work because all I can find are other parents whose babies/toddlers don't sleep!

[mattandcindy]

I'm not sure I can be of much help but here goes....
Are you breast or bottle feeding? If you are bottle feeding check out this post:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=46907.0
She had a lot of success weaning from the night feeds.
What does your little one's schedule look like? If you post it you may be able to get some more detailed responses
It is my impression that babies at 1 year old don't eat from hunger but habit so it is a matter of breaking the habit.
If you are breastfeeding I don't have much advice as I bottle fed.
How much is your little one eating during the day? Could it be that he/she is used to getting fed at night and is not eating/drinking much during the day? In that case you really need to work on getting complete feedings in during the day?

In any case, so sorry your little one isn't sleeping through the night, it makes everything so much harder.
Hopefully we can help you change that around!

BTW, my little one is 14 months and sleeps 11.5-12 hrs at night, so hopefully I can help!

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

I can second Cindy with what she said.  And my little guy does sleep from about 7 or 7:30 p.m. till 6:30 or 7 a.m., so it is possible!  That doesn't mean we don't have our fair share of nightwakings, but they are usually sickness or teething related...

So it is possible! 

Hopefully you can post some more info and we can see what's going on with your lo!

[Jo-FrasersMum]

Hi

I would have to say my 1 yo does NOT sleep 11 or 12 hours, but after a lot of work we usually get about 10 hr stints.

I agree with the others - give us some information and we'll see if we can give you some suggestions.

I would be particularly interested in HOW your LO falls asleep at the beginning of the night

Cheers
Jo

[teezee]

we get about 8pm-7am here!

[riab]

Okay here's our daily schedule. This is a 'good' day obviuosly there are days/nights when it all goes horribly wrong.

7am (can be 6.45-7.15) wake up. 7oz Milk and play in living room, usually chews on our toast and fruit/ yogurt as well
9/9.15am - 10am nap (he usually sleeps fine for 45mins-1hr)
10-11.30am activity, I try and make sure he gets outside for some fresh air, he isn't walking yet but I encourage crawling around th eplayground, crawling races inside etc.
11.30am lunch: he usually has about 5-7 tablespoons of a protien based savoury dish, something like liver and vegetables, plus some cut up veg  etc as figner food. 4-6oz milk
12.30/1pm -2/2.30 nap
pm activity as morning
4.30pm tea, 5-7 tablespoons of savoury carbohydrate based dish, pasta and sauce, baked potato etc.
5.30pm bath and wind down
6pm 7oz milk and story
6.15/6.30pm bed
10.30pm late feed - 2-7oz milk
11.30pm back to sleep

He does tend to fall asleep on his bottle at bedtimes but we try and stir him before putting him down so he goes into his cot sleepy but not asleep. He resettles himself quite well at naps and also in the night about half the time. He has a blankie which we wrap round him and he is very good at picking up a corner and snuggling hismelf down to sleep with it totally independantly.
 
We reintroduced a late feed at 9 montbhs (previuosly dropped at 6 months) because he was a very fussy eater and we thought he was waking from hunger. That has improved things in that he goes 12-6/7am about half the time now. The problem is the completly unpredictable nature of any nighttime wkaings, he can wake at 9pm and go straight back to sleep, he can wake at 2.30am and be awake and screaming for 2 solid hours (with one of us in there holding/Patting him). PLus I wake up at 3am anyway as I'm so convinced he will wake up.

He's gaining weight bang on his centile line, is a happy little boy (except when we have the nighttime screams) and in general the better he sleeps the better he sleeps if that makes sense, ie a day when he got up at 7am, slept 1 hr then 1 11/2-2 hrs and ate well he will sleep well at night.

I think exercise helps but he does tend to get overtired and then bang around the room.

[notenoughshelfspace]

I have had a 7-7 sleeper since she was 8 weeks old; the schedule looks ok to me but my little one eats way more than yours. At every meal she has  around 180g of solids followed by dessert and finger food as well.  SO I would look into that; milk at this age is not as satisfying as 'real' food so  I would really try upping that and see if that helps.

[mattandcindy]

Here are the things that came to mind for me when reading your schedule:

1. Food-I definitely agree that your little guy should be getting most of his calories from food right now, especially if he is over one year. Milk should be used for thrist and to make sure he is properly hydrated but not as his main source of nutrition.

2. Schedule-I noticed that your little guy goes 2 hrs from wake up to 1st nap and about 2 hrs from first nap til second nap but then goes 4+ hours from 2nd nap until bedtime. Could he be overtired by bedtime? Also, are you waking him for a feed at 10:30pm? Have you tried not to do this?

3. Screaming-You say he wakes up sometimes screaming? Could he be teething or be having pain from something else? I know when Abigail wakes from teething or ear infection it is more a scream. A bottle will pacify her but this isn't why she is awake. If she wakes from hunger, she cries but it isn't a scream. Does that make sense? Have you ever tried tylenol/motrin instead of feeding? Also, with the night wakings being so inconsistent, I would attribute it more to some sort of pain rather than hunger. It is my understanding when they are waking out of habit or hunger that they are pretty consistent about when they wake during the night?

4. Finally-My BIL and SIL have a daughter who just wakes up at night. She cries some and then puts herself back to sleep. She has always been like this and is 2.5 years old. Some kids just wake up at night...

Anyway, don't know if any of that helps. Will look forward to hearing from you to see if things are getting better.

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

What jumps out at me is similar to what the others are saying:

 - his food intake seems very low to me.  I assume your ds is just under a year old, or thereabouts?  My ds was eating much much more than what you describe at 12 months.  And he was still on bottles, and he had about 7 ozs times 4 bottles a day.  Granted he didn't always take it all, but I would offer it.  I agree that your ds should be getting his calories from food mostly, not from milk like previously.  Try to get him to eat more during the day, so that he's getting more during the day, and he may not wake out of hunger in the night.

 - I also would try stretching his awake time between wakeup & his am nap, and between his wakeup from his am nap & his pm nap.  At 12 months, my ds was waking around 6:30 / 7 am, and going down for am nap around 10 am, and pm nap around 2  / 2:30 pm (depending on when he woke from his a.m. nap). 

 - I also think that his bedtime is early.  We have gradually moved our ds's bedtime earlier, since he wasn't getting enough sleep (he was having very short 2 naps a day - a precursor for me moving to 1 nap), so I started putting him to bed earlier since he would still wake at the same time each morning = which equaled more sleep!  But at 12 months, I think our ds's bedtime was about 7:30 pm.

Hope some of this makes any sense!  Let us know how you get along.

[Wife and Mummy.]

i agree he needs to eat allot more,milk does nothing at this age.my first girl who is now nearly 4 has slept the 7 till 7 routine since she was 9 weeks old however my 2nd girl who is nearly 3 has never slept through night so I'm still waiting to get a decent night sleep i work too and I'm always shattered sometimes im in bed asleep before 8pm.hope things get better soon.SAM.xxxx

[riab]

Food:
Well I've tried getting him to eat more and he just screams, clamps his teeth together and shakes his head wildly. I've been trying this since he was 5 months old! He is only 21lb at nearly 13 months and he has been putting on weight fine on his growth chart.

My HV says its hunger so I tried watering down his milk feeds and I never give him milk before a meal so it doesn't fill him up.

I'd love him to eat more slids and not as much milk, on average he has about 25oz of milk a day and I'd like to cut it down to 15oz.

HOWEVER, surely if it was hunger he would always want/drain the bottle? He doesn't always finish his milk bottles either. I'm not sure how to get him to eat more when he is obviously getting enough calories and he flat out refuses to eat half the time.
Shoudl I just refuse to give him milk?

Pain:
He has had one cold after another with 3 bouts of sickness as well since december, I know that influences his sleep and he is pretty much having a dose of calpol every bedtime. In the night if he is screaming I check, nappy, too hot/too cold, then offer water/milk, then if he is still screaming and he is inconsolable (ie not stopping screaming when i cuddle him) then I figure it might be pain so give him calpol. I don't want to give him MORE drugs than he already has - shoudl i get the Dr to check him out?

Naps:
This is the pattern that has worked well and the one I'd like to go for. Unfortunatly if he wakes in the night he sleeps til 7/7.30am which sets the whole thing out.
wake up 6amish nap 9amish (3 hrs)
wake up 10am nap 12.45/1pm (trying to move this to 1pm so its 3 hrs again)
wake up 2.30pm bedtime 6pm (3 1/2 hours)

Should I just wake him up at 6am every morning to get the routine on track?