My 11&1/2 month old won't sleep!!?

Question

Can someone help me or give me a story related to mine. My baby is almost a year old and is STILL not sleeping through the night. On a good week, she may sleep 10 hours straight through the night three nights, but typically it only happens once a week. Every night she wakes up around the same time and it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to two and a half hours to put her back to sleep, and I am losing my mind. I thought it would have evened out by now, but I'm starting to wonder if I'LL ever get a full night's sleep. She goes to sleep quickly initially, with a five ounce bottle of formula, and this usually takes only twenty minutes. Four or five hours later she cries and I have to go in there and just hold her and give her a blanket with fringe to play with and a pacifier to go back to sleep. this can take awhile and USUALLY she'll sleep another five or six hours after this, but sometimes she wakes up AGAIN two hours later. We live in a house with people who work early in the morning so we are not allowed to let her cry it out. She sleeps fine in her crib for naps during the day, but when I'm trying to put her back to sleep at night, she wakes up and cries everytime I put her down, three times or so. Sorry this was long. I just wanted to know if anyone can help me, or give me a horror story about how this happened to them and now their four year old still won't sleep through the night or something I don't want to hear but will. PLease help!!

Answer 1

try cutting out one of her daytime naps, she may be getting too much sleep in the day and so she wakes at night. I would start there. that turned out to be the problem when my little ones weren't sleeping through the night.

Answer 2

I know how tired and frustrated you must be!  Hang in there!  Maybe check and see if she could be in some kind of pain like an ear infection or something.  Oh, and you might try using white noise.  The steady sound can sometimes help a baby stay asleep.  And experiment with lighting.  A lot of babies sleep better in absolute darkness, while others sleep better with a little or a lot of light.  My oldest daughter (age 5) doesn't sleep well unless she has a bright lamp or an overhead light on.

Here's my horror story:

My baby girl is now 10 months old.  Until she was 7 months, she didn't sleep much at all.  From the time she was born, she took a couple of little short naps during the day, the last nap ending anywhere between 4 and 6 pm.  She wouldn't got to sleep at night!  She thought she shouldn't go to sleep at all until about 3 am.  Sometimes she didn't go to sleep until 5 am.  It didn't matter what we did and we tried everything we could think of and everything others suggested we should try and she just would not go to sleep!  I really don't know how in the world I did it, but I made it through it.  I was a wreck though.  I was so tired all the time I looked a good ten years older than I am and I have gained a lot of weight.  I became very clumsy and forgetful.  I guess in that way I did lose my mind.  

What finally worked for us:

I was very reluctant to do this because everything I had read and heard said not to, but we started to put her to bed with a bottle at 7 months.  I know it will be bad for her teeth for her to fall asleep with the bottle in her mouth.  But, it worked when nothing else would.  We are now transitioning from formula in the bottle to just water.  She still wakes up in the night around 3:30, but I welcome the night wakings.  She usually goes right back to sleep with a bottle, but sometimes she thinks it's time to get up and start the day.  I am loving her sleep schedule now!  I still don't get as much sleep as I would like and she doesn't get as much as she is supposed to get, but this is heaven compared to the hellish first 7 months.

Good luck!  I hope she sleeps better for you soon!

Answer 3

The main thing to do is be patient. What is your babies schedule like? Are they with somebody else during the day? Is she getting enough naps? Are the naps all at the same time each day? You have to make sure that you develop a pattern with your baby, and they will follow it. It may be difficult, but you might want to let your baby cry herself to sleep for a few night. Don't go in and give her a pacifier. If you have to place two or three in her crib so she can find one and sooth herself. At her age it should be easy for her to find one. Is she dressed appropriately for night? if it's hot, could she have to much clothes on and visa-versa.

Also, is there any stress that she might be going through? She might be having a hard time somewhere else in her day and it could be causing her to not sleep. Don't be afraid to ask questions of those who are around her while you are not around. If you can, keep an activity log and share it with those who care for her when you are not around. Doing this will allow you to pinpoint what might be the problem.

Also, I'd be very worried to give a baby with a fringe on it. If the fringes are intertwined or long enough, she could them off and possibly choke. I don't mean to scare you, but a plain blanket is always best.

Best of luck, and remember it will always pass.

  

Answer 4

I hope this helps.  My 11&3/4 month old just learned to put himself back to sleep in the night by accident/force.  I didn't want to let him ever cry it out, so I always got up in the night and went to him and nursed him and brought him to bed with me to spend the rest of the night.  It was so automatic for me to go get him I often did not even remember going to get him at all.  It was as if he just showed up in my bed in the morning!  One night I accidently turned the monitor off.  I'm sure he woke in the night and wanted to be comforted back to sleep.  He just had to do it himself because I didn't hear him.  The next night when he woke up I wanted to see if he could put himself back to sleep and he needed comforting, but I put him back to sleep in his bed and did not bring him to bed with me.  The next time he woke up, I let him put himself back to sleep.  He only cried for a little while, then was out.  He spent about 2 weeks crying, but only for 2 or 3 minutes and I noticed that he was not even awake, just a habit of crying out when his sleep cycle was lighter.  Now when he wakes he does not even cry out and generally he would rather I did not pick him up.  I know noone in your house wants to hear the baby cry, but try to let the baby put herself back to sleep on that first waking cycle when everyone else is still awake.  Even if it takes a couple of weeks or a month, it will be worth it when your little angel is sleeping through the night peacefully

Answer 5

I think it's a combination of the baby's personality & technique.  My daughter slowly went from 6 hrs. as an infant to 10 -11 hrs. as a preschooler, but I've trained my son since 3 mons. & he still wakes up at night (he's nursing still at 2 yrs. old).  With my daughter I let her cry it out when I put her in the crib initially (we can't do it w/ him b/c he's in our bed) b/c she had her own room & when she woke up once in a while, I would pat her, but never pick her up.

I think just try patting her back and soothing her w/ your voice instead of picking her up.  Then slowly she will learn to soothe herself.  Good luck!

Answer 6

Sorry but it's biologically normal for babies this age to wake at night.  Sleeping through the night every night is the exception rather than the rule.

Are you against bringing her to bed with you?  Maybe not initially but after the first 5 or six hours?  It might help you get more sleep.  What about swaddling her?  i know she is old, but my 8 month old sleeps much better swaddled.  She may also have to pee, believe it or not.  You can try making a 'sss' sound to encourage her to pee and she may fall asleep sooner.  

Try the book 'No Cry Sleep Solution' or 'Sleepless in America' your library will have them.  

Answer 7

I'm sitting here listening to my 7 month old cry. Tonight is the beginning of not just bringing him in to nurse if he cries for more than 10 seconds. It's wearing me out as well. He thinks the kitchen is open every three hours at night as well as the day. My older two children slept through the night by two months so I can't figure this little one out!! Maybe try consoling her from next to the crib so she won't wake back up when you put her down. I'm so worn out also and wish I had a great answer.  I want you to know  that you are not alone. We will wake up one day in the morning and rejoice. Ahhhh. After 5 minutes of comfort and 15 of screaming he is finally settling down.  

Answer 8

"We live in a house with people who work early in the morning so we are not allowed to let her cry it out"

Hmm. Good. Sad that it takes external pressure for you to not neglect your kid, but, good.

It is normal for an 11.5mo to wake in the night.

It is also normal for babies to sleep with their mothers, and to nurse. By choosing to use bottles, pacifiers, and separate beds, you've chosen a much more difficult route for yourself. Sorry that's not much help, but. Sleeping alone is not what babies are designed to do; it would probably be much easier and mean a lot more sleep for all concerned if you just cuddled her back to sleep in your own bed.

My 1yo still wakes nightly, but she nurses and goes straight back out. All I have to do is roll over; hardly something to complain about.