My 16 month old little girl has always been a good sleeper. Going to bed around 8:00 and now waking up untill 6:00 am up untill she got sick in Feb. She had a double ear infection and RSV that had her not feeling well for most of the month. Durring this time She would wake up during the night and in an effort to keep her hydrated I would sit with her while she had a sippy cup of milk or juice (I know a bad habit to start). My question is now that she is better how do I get her back to sleeping through the night. I have tried letting her cry it out but she gets so upset that she makes herslef sick, and we end up in worse shape then when we started. Any suggestions?
Thank you all for your advise. The basic theme is to let her cry it out. I have tried it for the last 2 night and it seems to be working. She is crying for shorter periods of time and I am not getting up as much durring the night. Hopefully we stay on the right track.
I have watched nanny 911 deal with this same subject and she just takes the child back to bed every time. I have seen her let the child cry. (That is so hard for a parent) Does she let you rock her? Some kind of white noise (humidifier, radio) works well too. Be consistent with whatever you decide.
first of all when she stirs, don't go right in. give her a chance to put herself back to sleep. then it's ok to go in and comfort, but keep it minimal. offer water, then go out of the room. you can keep doing this every 10 minutes while she cries. You do need to make sure there's not something really wrong. Sometimes I do get my kids up and comfort them if they are crying very hard, but make sure they are back in bed within 5 minutes. It may take a few days but if you stick to this she will learn. Be sure she is getting enough attention during the day, and if she is throwing up especially, learn some baby massage techniques and use them daily.
I am going through this right now. My 1 year old is teething something awful, and wakes up crying. The Tylenol doesn't seem to be helping this time, and the last 2 nights he has been waking up crying throughout the night. Luckily, he has been able to put himself back to sleep, and I have let him cry it out. I am really hoping that this isn't creating a "norm" for him, and that he will go back to his old routine REALLY soon.
I would try to get back to as much of your norm as possible. If she can't (or you can't) cry it out, try the soothing first. You know her cries and if she has worked herself up so much, soothing is fine. If she requests water or something to drink, give her water, not milk or juice. Have the sippy cup close so that you don't have to go get it for her. See if she will drink it sitting up, without you holding her. I would slowly wean this down, by waiting longer before you go in, until it is totally gone.
I have done this with all my kids, put a water bottle/sippy cup that doesn't leak, in bed with her. Tell her that when she wakes up at night she can drink a little bit and go back to sleep. I do this until they are ready for potty training, then I just gradually put less water in it at night, until there is just a few sips, so it doesn't hinder the training at night.
When she does wake up at night, wait about five ten min. if she can't settle herself down, go in and remind her about her water and help her find it. Don't get her out, but hug her and lay her back down. Gradually wait longer and do less each week, until she can do it by herself. She is waking out of habit, and you just have to give her other solutions that she can do herself. Make sure you talk to her and explain the plan every night. Even if you think she wont get it, you will be surprised how much she will understand.
Be consistent and gradual in what ever you decide.
Good luck,
E.
Make sure you DO NOT give her anything to drink during the night, not even water, that will bite you later when potty training and a bad habit to stop. Not to mention juice and milk during the night can cause decay and sugar in the juice can wire her out.
If you need to go in rub her back and tell her you love her and walk out, if she cries, as hard as it is that is truly the best method not to go back in. It is self conditioning and it happens so often after an illness. I went through the same thing with my daughter when she got her tonsils out as we had to set a timer for medication three times a night! It took a good month to get back on track after she was all better.
If you reenforce her waking with a drink or picking her up it will never stop. If you pick her up and rock her that will create another bad habit. Make sure she isn't teething either as that can cause miserable sleep, try motrin before bed if she is.
You can reassure her with words and rubbing her on the back and slowly do it less and less each time she wakes. I am not saying do not go to her but change up what you do, just keep it light and simple and leave her awake when you leave.
Eventually she will reset her clock to sleep again all night. At that age if she is getting one good nap during the day she should be getting a total of 15 hours total including bedtime, otherwise being overly tired will backfire too.
Good luck.
Hi. We had a similar problem, but we also co-sleep part of the night. If it was milk or juice you were giving her - that might add to it. Offer her only water at night. Dont rush right in and pick her up, but go in and pat or comfort her and say it's okay lay back down or ssh. And if she asks for something to drink give her water and put her right back. My dd wanted milk in the middle of the night all the time, after 3 days of water she stopped waking up. Good luck.
