Help!! My sweet 11 month old boy has been waking up at least 3-4 times per night for the last 2 weeks, crying loudly and standing in his crib. Until now he has been sleeping well through the night. We've been doing the sleep training stuff we did with him at earlier difulct times, but he has not stopped this waking thing. We thought he might be getting his molars, so we gave him Motrin before bed, but he still gets up, and two weeks later, no molars. Oh, he did start walking this week too! What else could/should I be doing besides going in, patting him on back telling him he will be alright, and leting him cry for a few minutes? He does go back to bed within 2-3 minutes.
Thank you all so much for the advice and encouragement. I have tried a couple of the suggestions, Luke is still waking up 1-2 times per night, so it is improving. But now I feel much better about it and not like I am doing something wrong. I know he will continue to grow out of this phase- and probably into another new one!- LOL
Hi,
You are doing everything right! Keep up the good work- do not waver! When baby's learn a new skill or are teething, their sleep patterns change. (temporarily)
Dont take him out of his bedroom, no lights on, ect-
this stage will pass soon.
Is he hungry? May be he needs to be fed before he goes to sleep. another thing, may be if you let him cry the first time before going to him may be he will cry himself to sleep. it could be awhile until he gets teeth.
My soon to be 11 month old does it too. If you figure out what it is please let me know. It's driving me crazy.
Hi D.--Gee...he recently started walking...and there's a whole big world out there to explore....hmmmm...wonder if there is a connection there?....LOL
He just wants to get out & about I believe! Hang in there. Keep his bedtime routine consistent and keep up the good work. Do NOT do what we used to do (but our son wouldn't just go back to sleep) and we would drive him around the neighborhood like idiots til he fell back to sleep--sometimes 2-3 times per night - big mistake! It super-prolonged the problem. You're lightyears ahead of us already!
Hang in there and make sure to put that walking to good use and tire him out during the day! :) Good luck!
I highly recommend the book "no cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley - My baby is only 4 mths so I'm not that experienced yet myself - but I love this book and if you do exactly as she says it works! Just as your about to give up it starts working - you have to be patient with her system, it takes a week or two but I love it - its not an over night solutions which I know you need right now - but thought I'd throw this out there.
Hi D., I bet you are exhausted!
From my own experience it is very easy to get out of routine with our little ones. My son who will be 2 in July has gotten out of his bedtime routine on several different occasions. For us, waking p in the middle of the nigth started becoming routine, we had to do something too!
The best advice another Mom gave me was to tell them that when they go to bed they have to stay in there bed, if they wake up you will not put them back to sleep and they will have to do it themselves.
Your son might be a little youg for this but it has worked very well for my boyfriend and I. Also, you may want to stick to a bedtime and routine very solidly until he starts sleeping all night again.
Best of luck!
Hi D.,
It sounds like you are doing the right thing. He might be having dreams about walking - since that is a new experience for him. He could also be cutting his molars. My son didn't sleep through the night for 2 months when he first set of molars came in - and they take forever to finally break through the skin. Just comfort him as best you can and know that "this is just a phase" and "it too shall pass".
J.
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teething can take a while, grabbing his ears? something change in his life?
kids go through these things and then poof sleeping again.
Hi D.. Our 11 month old started doing roughly the same thing although he wasn't crying, just talking to himself. But I did notice that if I changed his diaper, he would calm down and fall back asleep. He was consistently waking around 4 am making it difficult for my husband and I to fall back asleep. Anyway, I started changing his diaper before we go to bed and it seemed to help him stay asleep through the night. As other moms have said, now that he is walking, being confined to his crib is no fun regardless of what time it is. Good luck. S.
Hey D.,
My son is 23 months and this still happens from time to time. It will pass. And the one contributor said it right that you can let them train YOU to come in as soon as they cry. Gotta teeter on the line of cry it out and point of no return meltdown.
Some kids don't have alot of pain with teeth others it's unbearable. I did the same thing you did re teeth, thinking it must be some coming in but he really didn't seem bothered by them.
Good luck!
J.
hello D.. i care for pediatrics at home also an RN. either your baby could be having night mares or could be hungry. feed more in the last bottle before bed can add rice cereal into the formula about 10ml. night mares too are common in this stage of life. if the baby cries for more than 5 mins. then go in to comfort and make sure everything will be ok. or again could be the common gas 0.3ml mylicon drops. good luck.
D.,
Well let me tell you that 1 year molars take more than 2 weeks to come in. Teeth that are coming down and aren't even through the gum are still painful. I swear my son has been living on motrin and tylenol for the last 6 months of his life (ok maybe not that much) but teething is so painful. Hang in there and try switching from tylenol and motrin every other time. Also, maybe there is an underlying issue? Take him for a check up just to be sure... maybe reflux? My son has been drooling (14 months old) for weeks and his molars are just now breaking through...
Good Luck!
Chris
I would say it's probably a combination of his new ability to explore his world and maybe some teething. My advice would be to be consistant with your sleep training. We like to call it sleep training maintaince. Our son cries out everyonce in a while for one reason or another but I have learned which cries are ones mommy needs to give him a pat on the back and which ones he can work out on his own in a few minutes. It's trial and error. Just be consistant and goodluck!
hi D.. well its at least good to hear that luke is going back to sleep with in a few minutes of waking. count your blessings there! my daughter started doing that at about a year of age too. it was weird b/c i felt like i was getting up with an infant all over again after she had slept through the night for months! shes now 17 months and honestly, she gets up almost at least once a night since a year of age. this is a touchy subject, and everyone will have their own opinion. i myself, will listen first and if she doesnt settle back down i will go in and check. sometimes she literally screams, not cries, but actually shreiks like shes just having a night mare or something and goes right back to sleep. other times she cries for a more lengthy time and i will go in and check her. once in a while her diaper will have leaked, or she has had many colds and coughs and runny noses... so there is usually always a reason linked to her waking up... even if it is that she just plain doesnt feel well. it did help when she had a cold to place a phone book under the one side of her crib mattress. it just slightly elevated her head then when she slept and she didnt get up through the night when i did that. i dont do too much for teething other than popsicles and cold snacks through the day. if she is really inconsolable then i will use orajel but she hates that sooooo much if i used it in the middle of the night she would have herself all worked up and not go back to sleep then b/c she hates the taste. i dont beat myself up too much about going to her. thats just waht i need to do for myself to make sure that shes ok. once i rule everything out and know that ive done what i can for her, then i have had to let her cry it out a few times in the night. hope you find a solution to your night time dilemma.
I think that after two weeks of this, he is expecting you to come in when he cries. You need to stop going in. He needs to cry himself back to sleep. Once you do this for a few nights, he should go back to sleeping through the night.
Minie always woke when they were working on a new skill. 11months is prime time - especially if he just started walking. They are so busy trying and learning new things that they just don't have time to sleep as much as they really need to. It's frustrating, but I always found it to eventually stop naturally once they mastered the new skill. Of course at that age, new skills are coming weekly so a new one is always right around the corner. One thing I've sometimes done to minimize the affect on me is to tuck a small toy or books in the corner of the crib ... so it's not distracting at bedtime, but they find it when they wake up and then they can entertain themselves and often fall back asleep on their own without disrupting my sleep repeatedly.
Hi D.:
Congratulations on becoming new parents! It's truly a blessing and the most rewarding responsibility. I have found that for teething, olive oil works great! First, clean his gums with a soft wash cloth, then gently rub extra virgin cold pressed olive oil on his gums, especially at bedtime. May God continue to guide you as you go through the different milestones of parenthood.
Hi D.! I'm a pediatric nurse and mom of 3. I think I can help reassure you that what is going on is very normal!!! Whenever a child approaches or completes a growth or develpopmental milestone (like WALKING) their "normal" internal clock routine gets interrupted.
Starting to walk is a VERY important milestone, congratulations! He cannot help it right now he HAS to walk and be upright. It is such a strong instinct he just has to do it all the time, even if it disrupts his sleep (or more accurately, your sleep! LOL!).
Hang in there and he will settle back down, but it may be awhile. Make sure that during the day he has plenty of walking room and practice so that he can be nice and tired at night!! Good luck.
We had the same type of issue with your good little sleeper too. We did what you are doing & he out grew the little habit. Thank God! Our son always slept through the night and then started waking up several times and calling Mama. I went in & he wanted to get out & then Daddy started going in and rubbing his back & getting him back to sleep. This lasted for a few weeks or so and then he started waking up 1x a night and we'd tell him that it was still night time and he needed to go back to sleep until the sun came up. Then, he could come see us and have some cherrios. He has been sleeping very well now and on occassion he'll wake up once and go back to sleep. Good luck!
