Our 11 month old (gestational age is 9 1/2 mos as he was 6 wks premature) has been a very good sleeper since about 4 months. Typically falling to sleep very easily with his paci and then sleeping at nights 11-12 hours (and doing an hour nap in the morning and afternoon). He had a very bad cold 2 wks ago and began not being able to go to sleep on his own. DH and I would need to rock him in our arms and 2 nights we had to put him in our bed (really don't want to do that for many reasons) as that was the only way he would settle down. Now he is 100% healthy again (and does not appear to be teething) but still not falling asleep well - needing to rock him until he's asleep in our arms. He goes down around 6:30 or 7pm and now he is also waking around 11pm for seemingly no reason and we are having an even harder time getting him to back to sleep then. Just ~3 wks ago he did start crawling and pulling himself up and I've read that difficulties might happen then w/sleeping b/c the world seems so much more exciting to them now that they can get around. But we don't know what to do. Tried to let him cry it out (as hard as that was) last Saturday at 11pm when he woke up again after reading the Weissbluth book, but that didn't work as he was finally settling down after 45 min then he fell twice in his crib. First time head only hit the mattress so that was OK but 2nd time his head hit the wooden crib so of course that hurt. I can't advocate something where he is going to hurt himself but don't want him to rely on us rocking him to sleep and last night even that didn't work as time and again he would wake up 2 min after we put him sleeping in the crib. Please give us some ideas.
During the waking hours, teach him how to 'sit down' on his own. Sing the ring around the rosie song and when you get to the "we all fall down" part, gently bend his knees and lower him to the floor.
First of all, it seems you are really doing a good job trying different methods to help your son learn how to go asleep again. We went through almost exactly the same situation at 11 months with my son who had gotten sick, so we "helped" him get to sleep at night, even had him in our bed 1 or 2 times, then we realized we had created a situation where he relied on this, even once he was healthy.
Here is the "bad" news, we had to let him cry it out. :( Babies are very smart and he knew when he would cry (boy did it sound heart-wrenching!) OR bump his own head on the crib on purpose, then cry more, it would make us come. We had previously used the CIO method when he was about 4 months old and it worked, so it was back to square one.
Here is the good news, it only took two nights of CIO for him to get back to normal, yay! I would suggest rocking him to calm him down, but then make sure you put him in the crib when he is super drowsy, but not quite asleep (hello Dr. Weissbluth) - he'll probably still cry, but at least he won't be jolted awake after falling asleep in your warm arms.
If he wakes up a few hours later (ours did the same thing) RESIST THE URGE to go in there, let him cry back to sleep. Stick with it, as much as it hurts to hear your baby cry, you know you're doing the right thing to help him fall asleep on his own again.
Best Wishes!
I had an issue with sleeping as well and found the book "Baby Wise" to be very helpful. It states that after a cold and "special treat's" like sleeping with mom n dad, you are basically weaning again. So sitting in a chair in the dark in the nursery so he doesn't feel so alone, and moving the chair further away. It also states that there should be intervals when you actually speak to the child and that increases in duration as well, like after one minute, then two then five and five again but only a few brief short phrases, like "it's time for nigh night" It was hard to do for me as well but you don't want to have to deal with it for the next two years either. Anyway good luck to you and maybe the book will explain better than I can the sleep thing.
I wish you luck as I am looking for the same advice. (I am a SAHM, married for 4.5 yrs with a 2 yr old and 8 mos old).
My 8 mos old (who was sleeping 11 hours thru the night) was recently VERY congested and sleeping (at night) like a newborn again - waking up every 2 hours (because she couldn't breathe). Now that she is better, she goes to sleep at her normal bedtime, but wakes up 1 hr later and we also tried to let her cry (like Weissbluth says), but I couldn't stand it after 45 minutes. I went in to rock her back to sleep and it took 45 minutes for her to fall asleep before I put her in the crib. I am hoping maybe it is still getting used to the time change or just getting used to "staying" asleep on their own again (since being sick). Hopefully, this will work itself out. GOOD LUCK!
You may have to tweek his bedtime a little. Perhaps he needs later or earlier a little bit. I say earlier because with crawling he is a bit more tired so either he is overtired when going to be or he is older and doesn't need to go to bed as early as he has been. You know him best. Also because of crawler he may have really tired legs and so that may be waking him up as well. Sometimes a little tylenol will help him. He is becoming more aware of everything and that adds to the difficulty of falling asleep for him. He did develop a little bit of a bad habit with the cold however. You will have to do a little tough love and let him cry just for a little bit at a time. I would let him cry for a little bit, 2 minutes and then go in reassure him lay him back down and then leave. If you believe he is going to continue to hurt himself don't leave him more than that to cry, but do not pick him up. Just keep laying him down. This will take up to an hour, especially because you won't be extending the time of leaving him cry. After three to four nights he will get that you won't be picking him up and rocking him and he will be able to go to bed. You need to stay consistent with whatever plan you do come up with and don't break down even when you think it isn't working, just keep pressing on and he will get it. Some kids are more stubborn than others so it will take a little longer. Good Luck!
