Author Topic: should I wake to sleep?  (Read 956 times)

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Offline vibha

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should I wake to sleep?
« on: May 03, 2006, 13:06:34 pm »
hello ,
            just wondering if my 18 month old son is normal?
he is now just recovering from a bad cough and cold(flu)
but since he was about 14 months he has been waking up through the night partly because i jump to every whimper and also haven't stopped giving him a bottle at 5:00a.m :-[ (since he doesn't eat 3 proper meals i always feel he is hungry and guilty if i don't feed) but having said that i am ready to stop as this might be contributing to his wake up's???
anyways, he has a nap between 1 and 3 lasting 1.5 hours to 2

goes down before 7:30 and wakes up sometimes at 11:00 sometimes at 10:30( not the same everyday)
again around 1:00 which is happening 3 days in a row now
and again at 4:30 for milk and
wake up time 6:40 on the dot.

my question is how do i wake to sleep if i am not sure what time he will wake?
will it ever get better? ???
should i stop his milk at 5:00 although i am pretty sure he is hungry?and if so how do i make him eat more during the day?will it just up itself if i cut out his 5:00am milk?
thank you ..any advice appreciated. :)

vibha

Offline alyssa1

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Re: should I wake to sleep?
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2006, 15:26:08 pm »
What do you do when your son wakes up in the night?  It sounds like you rush into his room everytime you hear him - is that right?  It sounds like when he stirs in the night and wakes up a little bit he expects you to come running in, instead of trying to get back to sleep on his own.  Have you tried to wait and see if he will go back to sleep on his own?  We had to do this with my son (now 15 months) and when he would wake in the night, we would wait to see if he would go back to sleep on his own.  If he didn't, we would go in, lay him down, reassure him that it's ok and it's still night time and time to sleep and then we would leave.  After just a few nights, we were rid of the night wakings.  We always go back in if he needs us, but we always leave and never give a bottle in the night.
Maybe your son is confused that when he wakes at 5am he gets a bottle, but he doesn't get one any other times he wakes up.  I would really try to not give the bottle at all until he is awake in the morning.  He is probably waking up and thinking is this the time I get the bottle???  I would do wi/wo when he wakes up in the night but only go in if he needs you and give some wait time to let him settle on his own.

Offline vibha

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Re: should I wake to sleep?
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2006, 09:22:10 am »
hi,
     when he first started to wake up we used to rush in but of late we have stopped to see if he settles down....he just cries his eyes out and 2 out of 10 times he does settle down to sleep again.but other times i cannot stand his crying so i go in and recover him and stroke his head and wake out saying nighttime go to sleep...i have been doing this from about 3 months without any results ...night wakings are gettin worser ...and i think ur right about the milk....i should stop feeding him at 5:00a.m
maybe he is waking up for it...but what do i do ,should i just stop altogether or should i give him water?
thank u
vibha

Offline alyssa1

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Re: should I wake to sleep?
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2006, 18:40:47 pm »
We tried the watering it down and also cutting down on the amount until we were litteraly at 2 ounces, then we just stopped all together.  I would keep doing what you are doing.  Go in if you hear him really upset and awake - tell him it's still night time, put him down, leave the room - go back in after 10 sec. only if he is still crying and do the same thing.  I would try to aviod picking him up/rocking/talking etc.  I wouldn't leave him to cry.  I would do wi/wo with pd until he settles.  You could try getting him to bed at 7pm or ealier to catch up on missed sleep so that he's not overtired.  Are you finding he goes to bed overtired? 
I used to think my son was also hungry but at that age if they drink lots and eat somewhat well, he's most likely not.  I would cut down on the bottle until it's gone and also try to judge if he's overtired.  Overtired litte ones can lead to early morning wakes and lots of night wakings.

Offline vibha

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Re: should I wake to sleep?
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2006, 12:34:57 pm »
sorry for a late reply...
thank u for the advice ...
suddenly my DS has been ok through the night waking up around 9:30 and then only waking by himself at 6:00 for his milk and sleeping till 7:30 :D... i have cut it out by half the amount and its going fine for 2 days now
i just did the wi/wo method and he fell asleep without a whimper...so although he still wakes up on odd occasions its much better. :)
thank u for all the advice
cheers
vibha