My son still isn't sleeping the whole night ?

Question

my son is 11 months and still gets up quit a few times at night. He ether wants a bottle or wants me to pat his back. I'm 35 weeks along and would love any advise to help change his bad habit before the baby comes. Please any advise would be greatly appreciated .

Answer 1

with my daughter we have a night time ritual we do every night.  it seems to calm her down & put her at ease so that she can sleep without being restless.  every child is different...It might take your child longer to sleep through the night!  or maybe he could be a light sleeper (just an off the wall suggestion)  

Answer 2

ignore him unless he gets hysterical.

or if he gets up three times, go to him twice.

Answer 3

I had massive problems with getting my 3 month old son to sleep.  He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again!  Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting Paul into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

If you want to take a look, the audio program is at http://www.babysleepsolution.com

Answer 4

babies sleep in the morning and tend to stay up more at night time  

Answer 5

Make sure that he gets all his nutritional needs met between the hours of getting up in the morning and bedtime to rule out genuine hunger.  Then water down the feed in the night and gradually reduce the quantity over a month or so.  Blackout the room so light isnt an issue.  restrict his daytime naps to under 2 hours total.  then when you go into him comfort him without taking him up.  Stay a little less long each time.  Eventually when its not worth his while to look for you he'll get the message and sleep through.  My heart goes out to you!  Try The Complete Sleep Guide for Contented Babies and Toddlers by Gina Ford as it has loads of other potential solutions.

Answer 6

my brother is the same age and he screams his brains out at 3 in the morning

Answer 7

You need to ween him off this.  Its going to be tough..... but it needs to be done..... especially if you have another one on the way soon.



At this age..... it is okay to let him cry alittle..... if he is not hysterical.

If he just wakes up..... let him fuss for a little bit..... and see if he goes back to sleep on his own.  If he knows that you will always come to him as soon as he wakes up...... he will continue to demandd that you come to him.

If he doesn't go back to sleep within 10 minutes of fussing..... then go and pick him up..... and pat his back..... but not until he falls back asleep.  Just for a few minutes..... and lay him back down still awake.... and walk away.  

Also..... you could try shortening his nap during the day.  this will cause him to be more tired throughout the night.

Another thing is..... does he have a comfort item.  If so..... when he wakes up...... just bring him his comfort item..... and walk away.  Then start putting him down to sleep with his comfort item..... and when he awakes he will grab it and go back to sleep.  When my son wakes I bring him a cold teething ring..... that is his comfort item.... and once he has it..... back to sleep he goes.  

Answer 8

My son is 3 and a half, and he still doesn't sleep all the way throughout the whole night.

I think some children are just wired that way.  

I feel for you, I really do, especially with another child on the way.

What time does your 11 month old go to sleep?  Maybe he's going down too early?

Is he over-stimulated before bed?

Check the Dr. Greene website, they may have some answers for you.

http://www.drgreene.com/

Answer 9

My 16 month old is the same way.  Babies/toddlers don't actually start sleeping all night long until they are closer to 3 years old.  Babies who "sleep through the night" really are just letting Mom sleep through the night.  All babies wake several times a night, but the ones that "sleep through the night" are able to put themselves back to sleep quickly and with out your help.

Teach your son some ways to put himself back to sleep.  Since sometimes he wants a bottle you could try leaving a bottle of water in his crib with him.  When you go to him have him help you find it so that he knows it is in his crib and that he can find it himself.  You pat his back, which means that he wants something to give him some comfort, so try using a stuffed animal.  For a week or so while you go pat his back give him a special comfort stuffed animal and snuggle it up to him.  After a while he should start associating that comfort with the toy so that eventually he can use it with out you to go back to sleep.

Answer 10

controlled crying works and your son will be sleeping through within a week, but its not for the faint hearted. If you look up the whole process in a book that you can refer back to you may find it a bit easier.good luck x

Answer 11

My daughter is exactly the same but when we go to bed she wakes up and we just tend to put her in the bed with us which I know is naughty and you obviously don't want to get into that habit. We're still trying to change this habit too so good luck to you.