My son, who is 10 1/2 months old, has just entered into that first brutal separation anxiety phase. He has stopped being able to put himself back to sleep when he wakes at night - he just wants to be nursed as a pacifier, but he's not really hungry. So I'm thinking maybe a little toy or mobile in his crib might help him occupy himself and avoid some of the screaming... Does anyone have a crib toy that they like for their appx. 1 year old child?
Hi S.,
We have a fisher price soothe and glow seahorse. He's blue and his tummy lights up with a yellow glow when pressed and lullabies play for about 3-4 minutes. It's easy enough to press that our son (13 months) can turn it on himself. We can usually tell when he's rolling around at night in the crib because he will lay on it and it will go off. :) There are two volume settings though so you can turn it down if you want. HTH!
Hello,
Sorry to hear about your son. It is aggravating when they don't go to sleep on their own. I know it was hard for me to hear my daughter crying when she was learning to put herself to sleep. One thing that helped her is a fisher price aquarium that you attach to the crib. Here is a link for it: http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2341&e=detail&...
She absolutely loves it. She has had it since she was a newborn and she is 25 months now and she still cuts it on if she wakes up early from nap or in the mornings and she will just lay in there watching it until we come to get her. There have been nights when we hear the fish playing in the middle of the night and there is no crying. She just cuts it on and lets it put her back to sleep. I think this is better than a mobile because it's not something you have to worry about them being able to stand up and pull down on themselves. It attaches very firmly and we have never had any trouble with it coming off. Hope this helps!
I would suggest nursing him regardless. Breastfeeding is nature's pacifier and he may just need some extra skin to skin with you. A toy or mobile will not replace this but you could try them and see what he does. I had two stuffed teddy bears in Phoebe's crib that stayed there all the time and she knew they stayed in there so if she did wake up she would play with them if I wasn't able to get to her immediately. Any toy/stuffed animal should be fine as long as there are not small parts, basically anything he would usually be able to play with. Nursing him should be the first thing to try and if he doesn't go back to sleep then maybe he needs to come in your bed so that you can both get sleep.
My children enjoyed watching and listening to a Mickey Mouse mobile.
P. S
My son had a fisher price ocean wonders aquarium crib toy when he was a baby and I would recommend it. By the time he was one year old, he "used" it all the time. It has a few settings - lights, music and movement. We would often hear it playing music in the middle of the night and practically every morning. It also has a rolling ball on it and he played with that all the time. I think he used it pretty consistently until we broke down his crib to a bed when he turned 2. Now I have it in my 6 month old daughter's crib and she's starting to bat at it.
