BellaOnline Forums Family Attachment Parenting Need Sleep

I'm having a problem with my 1 1/2 year old. He's getting up between 2 & 3 am every night. This has been going on for months and I'm now at a point where I will try anything. I've tried the warm milk, I've tried just letting him cry, but that turns into an hour of screaming and wakes up my 3 year old, I've tried rocking him but as soon as I lay him down he's up sceaming. What do I do to get him to sleep all night long, any advice????

Hmm...is he teething? Are you still nursing? Maybe it's something you ate?

My little one still wakes and she's 20 months. So waking only once isn't so bad in my eyes! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

In my experience (I have 5 kids) they wake up more when they are in the midst of a developmental and/or emotional spurt. There is a lot going on in the head of a 1 1/2 yr okd.

Have you mentioned this to your doc? It could be a sign of anything from sinus stuffies to milk intolerance too.

Both my 2 & 3 yr olds still wake several times a night.

meg

Have you had a check up recently? My daughter would have horrid ear infections that never bothered her during the day but woke her up several times at night. I never knew until at the peds office for a check up and she found fluid in her ears. It was a chronic condition and the laying down caused the pressure to build and eventually she would wake up.

Thanks everyone, I have a feeling it must be just one of those things. He was recently to a dr for a virus and checked over, but this getting up has been going on for a while. It did dawn on me yesterday that maybe he doesn't want to be in a crib anymore. So since my daughter was spending the night at my sisters, I put up the safety rail and let him sleep in her bed.....and....he slept all night. Now it could be a fluke, so we're going to try it again tonight and see. It'll be a nice treat for my daughter to sleep in my bed tonight too. Thank again.

One of ours had the same schedule as yours for a while. She was waking up congested from allergies! Once the allergies were addressed at age two and the stuffiness subsided, she slept (thankfully) better. I'm sending you loads of sympathy, been there...done that!

This is an old thread but I am surprised that no one talks about taking your child into your bed. Co-sleeping often solves these kinds of difficulties. It did for our family. All the bad stories about co-sleeping are simply not true. Children become more independent and self-reliant not less, because they learn that
what they feel inside is right and worth following. So, they learn to listen to themselves, which is self-reliance. I know older kids who used to sleep with their parents and they are terrific sleepers and very independent people.

Anyway, I just thought you should try the kindest, funnest and, to me, most obvious. Your child will stop waking up at night after a week or so, when he realizes that you are always there.

So many parents use co-sleeping as a last resort because once you go there, some babies refuse to go back to their crib. Our oldest was one of those, but you know I still wouldn't do anything different. There are a few drawbacks, but none that I can think of (my opinion, don't flame) that would be worth a night of lost sleep!

I would never have believed how one new mother who confessed to bringing her infant into the bed got blasted at a mom's group recently. I was amazed! I can't see where the attitude is coming from. I'm for anything within reason that means peace and harmony for the household and a little extra rest for stressed out moms falls in that category. What is the reason for concern? That our babies will become attached to us? When did that become such a bad thing?

I have been experiencing this problem ever since my son was born. Good, do I need sleep or what? The hubby's sleeping in another room as he's commuting but it never crosses his mind I could use a good night sleep at least on a weekend night.

Anyway, I am so off balance because of this, especially because I am home working mom and it has started to affect my work.

The son wakes up at least three times a night, lately it's been just to drink some water and go back to bed but I also need to change him at least once,.......and it is tiring.

Sometimes husbands DO forget. Especially if he is sleeping in another room - it may just never cross his mind.

Tell him point blank - "I need a full night's sleep. I cannot function right now."

This is his baby, too. He needs to be helping out more. I understand that if he is driving during the week that uninterrupted sleep is very important. But if you fall asleep one day while something is on the stove, or while you are bathing the baby, or while YOU are driving to the grocery store (most car accidents happen within 10 miles of the home) - then him being well rested is going to be very little comfort.

Mothers need sleep.