Still Waking in the Night

We cosleep and breastfeed. I have a 2 1/2 year old that isn't a great sleeper and wakes frequently. He's now in his own bed since age two. I also have a 9 month old that cosleeps and nurses and sleeps like a champ. My husband is an awesome sleeper and I am not a great sleeper.

I honestly chalk it up to differences in the kiddos. I guess I honestly don't understand it when people expect their kids to sleep through the night when many adults don't. I am old enough to get up and go pee, get a drink of water, or just try and relax til I fall back asleep. My 2 1/2 year old can't be expected to do that especially when he's developing so quickly physically and mentally and the world is just a stimulating place. He still needs my help and will continue to for a few more years I suppose when it comes to sleeping.

I should add that I nightweaned at 18 months which helped a bit.

Good luck....I think it's just par for the course. We transitioned my son to his own bed right around two. He was ready to go then and we still wake up with him more often than not.

You know, sleeping through the night really is a developmental milestone.

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html

Different babies reach it at different times. You can no more "train" a baby to STTN than you can "train" her to talk.

Around 17 months, there is so much going on. It's a growth spurt time, language learning time, perfecting walking, learning TONS of different milestones. It can be an intense time for a child, and this can cause them to wake a little more than usual and nurse a little more than usual. They need the extra food for their growing bodies and the extra reassurance from Mama as they go through this intense period of change.

I would really discourage you from instituting any major changes during this intense period. She's got so much going on that seeing that things are steady from you will probably give her a good foundation of security so she can feel confident to grow and mature as she needs to.

In other words, it sounds like you're doing the right things already. Keep it up! This too shall pass before you know it.

OH me I am this mom! we co-sleep at night and nurse wayyy too much! my dd is 19 mo old and she wakes up a lot, she wants to nurse so she can fall back asleep and if i do nurse her she falls asleep fast, but I want her to sleep on her own esp since she will be two soon and I hope to have her willing to wean by then....ahh dreams LOL. I did like the no cry sleep solution and the sleep lady, but have not really done much from the book bc I did not feel they fit my DD bc we have other sleep issues as well. this is what we are currently doing and it is okay: I have started to nap her in her own toddler bed, in her room. this was not easy. first we started to nap her in our bed w/o me, I would lay down until she feel asleep then leave (big improvemnt from me having to stay the whole time) after that worked a bit we talked up her bed, made it look fun/cute whatever. we kept it in our room for a while so she would like it, get used to it and climb in and out of it. But she would not sleep in it, she would crawl up to our bed. I then moved it to her own room again letting her get used to it being in there too. then I finally tried to get her to sleep in it for naps, at first she fought me and I gave in as I did not want to force it and make it negative, after a while she did sleep in it for a short time and when she woke up I would put her in my bed for the rest of her nap...now finally she is napping in there for 1 1/2 hr nap w/o me all by herself: but by that I mean I have to read, rock, nurse and rub her back till she falls asleep: yes this is a pita and not ideal but w/ my DD if you push her you are in for a 'fight'. I am also a sahm which is imp to note bc I have the time to do all this. I dont know if this helped, but I think slower is better than rushing: oh and our next step would be to put her in there for bed, the same way for nap and to have my hubbie (not me bc she will just want to nurse) sleep in her room for a while till she gets used to it. when she wakes up though she will be allowed to come to bed w/ us for the rest of the night. doing this I feel will eventually end up to her sleeping there all ngiht long. making it a safe place so that she can go at her own pace works best for us;;;;not all. good luck xo

hey its really wonderful that you feed your baby till she is 17 month, but i feel pity for you because you may feel restless,i give you a suggestion which i do for my 11 month baby just give expressed or powdered milk what ever it is before an hour you go to sleep and leave her to play and then you feed when she is little tired surely she wil sleep continously for long time,try this out it wil surely help u

If you are co-sleeping, I assume that you are into attatchment parenting and have read Dr. Sears. He talks about how his wife, Martha, would handle night wakings while co-sleeping. When the baby wakes up, you just gently shush and pat and kind of console them back to sleep. Use a key phrase such as "no. no more nummy-nums. It's night night time." Or what ever you say. It takes longer and is hard to do especially at 3 am but it will be worth it in the end! Good luck!

Hi S.,
My daughter will be 18 months next week and I feel like you're describing us as well. We also co-sleep and I am also still breastfeeding. For the past several weeks (months) my daughter has been waking up 2x a night to nurse...usually after about 3 hours each time. I think it may be more out of comfort or because she's teething not necessarily because she's hungry. I'm not sure, but I'd also like to figure out a way to get her to sleep through the night especially since I am a working mom and I need my sleep. There was a time when she did sleep through the night but that was so long ago.