My 9 month old has recently figured out how to get into a sitting postion while lying down in his crib. He's never been the greatest napper, but for the last month, he's been sleeping 10-12 hours a night straight. This, finally, after months of sleep training. His new skill is affecting his daytime and nighttime sleep now, and I'm not sure what to do. I used to be able to put him down drowsy but awake and he'd eventually fall asleep (sometimes after some fussing and crying) but now, he just immediately sits up. I'm not averse to letting him cry, but last night he was up for 2 hours and this morning, he cried for an hour straight before I went in and got him. I rocked him for less than 5 minutes and he was out. I don't know if the skill will eventually lose it's lustre for him and he'll stop getting up, or if he'll learn how to get back down. The crying is awful, and I feel as if I'm back at square one. I also feel that he could go for hours crying, and I still don't know if he'd eventually fall asleep. So, do I just let him cry and hope he'll eventually either start falling asleep sitting up or fall back down, or go in and put him in a lying down postion. When I try to lie him back down, he gets very, very upset, and his crying escalates. I'm at a loss here and need some advice!
This would be a situation where I would use CIO for sure. He's nine months old, that's plenty old enough for him to learn (or re-learn) self-soothe skills.
Before you do that, though, I would take him to the doc if you haven't already to check for ear infections. My daughters were always great sleepers, and any time they were having a hard time sleeping at night it was because they had ear infections.
yeah, I think newborns and younger babies are so much easier when it comes to sleep! you wrap them up nice and snug, lay them down, and they sleep (at least many of them do). but then when they learn new skills like sitting, standing, walking...sleep gets much worse.
i'm not sure i have the advice you want, but i rock my baby any time he/she won't fall asleep without crying. i'm not a CIO type of parent, so that might not fit with what you're comfortable with. my current baby was my best sleeper of them all. she'd snuggle in her blanket and dose off to sleep. it didn't really require any sleep training. but then she began to sit and it didn't work anymore. So, i rock her and she goes to sleep. that's still what I do. i enjoy the snuggle time. i've done this with my other three and haven't regretted it:-) though there are those days i'd wished they would just lay down and sleep! but i don't like to let them cry. and they aren't babies for very long...it's a time to treasure!
that all being said, i do think they learn to adjust to their new skills and would probably stop finding sitting to be so exciting. but likely the change will be that they learn to play for a little while and then fall asleep.
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This is so common. At this age, when they learn a new skill, it really can interfere with their sleep. Many babies have trouble sleeping when they learn to rollover or stand up. It's just a phase. He will grow out of it.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with rocking him to sleep. He will absolutely learn how to self-sooth, but right now he needs you. Babies often need to be parented to sleep. Please don't ever feel like you're doing the wrong thing when you meet your child's needs and help him fall asleep feeling safe and loved.
I would let him cry it out. It does get frustrating to hear them crying, but although their babies, they are very intelligent. They know that if they cry long enough, mommy will come to the rescue. Let him cry for 10 mins, go in, check on him and lay him back down. Do this every 10 mins. The longest my son lasted was 30 mins. I think your son is so overwhelmed by his new skill, he wants to sit up all the time. Wait until he starts standing up in the crib and throwing things!! Lol. That's gonna be fun! Lol. Don't worry about it too much. Stay consistent and patient with all that you do.
