Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

Mommies..any advice...Here goes my story. My 14 month son naps wonderful from 1-3:30, he goes to sleep with me rocking him in the chair and giving him a bottle, he is out within 5 minutes. I put him in the crib......hours later he is up ! NOW, i would pick him up, rock him, feed him water if i have trouble putting him to sleep, i try to put him down, and he screams and points to the door. Now this takes about an hour for me to do ( i am constantly putting him in his crib and he pops up screaming).......if it is really bad, i bring him in bed with us b/c my hubby wakes up at 4:00 for work and i work.....i bought that book by dr. weisbluth..."healthy sleep habits". I tried extinction...letting him cry it out and fall asleep (yeah ok, didnt work) he was crying for 1 hour, didnt fall back to sleep, i put him in our bed. Now i am on a strict bedtime routine (bath, reading with dim lights and bottle)........me and my husband find it extremely stressful letting him cry it out during the night, so we decided to do what is BEST FOR US...instead of reading these damn books. If he wakes, we are putting him in our bed...the end.....now mind you...he has 4 teeth coming in...is this keeping him up ? b/c according to that damn book i am reading...teething doesnt cause babies to wake up.....

Any advice GALS ????????? sorry so long, i am just venting

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

First of all, I disagree that teething doesn't wake them up. I think it makes them hurt, and that wakes them.
When dd is teething we give her motrin for the pain and she sleeps much better.

It sounds like you already made up your mind to put him in your bed if he wakes, so what advice do you need?

I also have a 14 month old, and she isn't sleeping through the night yet, but we used CIO to get her in her crib, which has worked (pretty much).

BTW, dd slept in our bed every night up until 3 weeks ago, and the only problem I had with it was that she wouldn't nap. If she was napping like your son, I would have left her in bed.
Good luck!

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

I definitly think it is teething. I would give him motrin and see what happens. 4 teeth on a child is alot at one time

I think the books are great for refences and to help guide you. The best way I noticed the book to work was to intergrat the book into our life.

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

definitely could be teething.....we have been going through this. She's 12 months, her 2 top eye teeth cut through and then she started waking more....turns out one more on the bottom has cut through and I had no idea. Motrin has been a lifesaver at night, we're down to 1 or 2 outbursts which we let her cry through and it never lasts more than a few minutes (this AM was a rare case....she turned her lights on and was WIDE awake at 5:30am....I changed her, turned out her lights and she was out in 5 minutes).

Also, this age is PRIME for seperation anxiety...yes, even if you are a SAHM. They wake to see if you are there, and when they realize you are not, they cry. This is peak time and can continue till 18 months or so.

Try teething tablets or motrin (it's ibeprofen which is an anti-inflammatory--reduces swelling (the gums) which is what could be bothering him)

Also, is he uncomfy? hot, cold, is the air too dry and he's drying out??

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

I fed my daughter once in the middle of the night until she was 21 months. Worked for me until the point I was ready for a change. Now for the past month she sleeps straight through most of the time, and when she wakes I let her self soothe.

So, you are not alone with a 14 month old who is night waking, and you are not alone in feeling that the magic answers just don't work for your baby.

But maybe I can give you hope that this won't be forever -- that at some point something will change to allow you all some uninterupted sleep!!

Note: You haven't really tried the extinction method. That requires waiting as long as it takes for him to go back to sleep. If you ever decide to go that route again, you really have to give it a chance to work -- which means multiple nights of not picking him up no matter how long it takes.

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

Exactly....i read the book, got some great advice out of it , but integrated it into our lifes...we did what is best for us

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

So it basically just changed after awhile ? without you doing anything ? That is what my mother keeps telling me.

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

Thanks for your reply....what does CIO mean ?

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

I have a book suggestion that worked WONDERS for me with my now-3-year-old. I know, ANOTHER book, but this one has some great advice in it: The No-Cry-Sleep-Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.

Saved my life and my marriage at that point!
Good luck... btdt and it STINKS

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

I hate to say this, but if you are rocking to sleep, he's not learning how to fall asleep on his own and this is a crutial point for a child to fall back asleep if they wake in the night.

We use CIO, as well, for when there's nothing wrong (no sickness, or anything major changed)

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

My son is 13 months and I do rock him to sleep every night, same way as you with the bottle. He usually falls asleep within 15 min. He also was not sleeping thru the night until 3 weeks ago. I finally couldnt take it anymore and so whenever he woke during the night, I just had to ignore him. I let him CIO. The first night it lasted an hour and a half.. (not straight thru, he would stop and start, also not full fledged sobbing) and i would not go in. He finally fell asleep from exhaustion. Slept the remainder of the night. And ever since, he has been sleeping from 8/8:30pm until 9am straight. He has a few nights here and there where he wakes, stands up, cries for 10 min, and lays back down and goes to sleep again. Its tough, but like someone else said, you've pretty much made up your mind on what to do. Good luck.!

Message edited 1/26/2007 8:45:41 PM.

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

I just bought this book yesterday....what method that she discussed worked well for you ? what are you thought and opinions about the book ? So far I am TOTALLY against CIO....

Re: Waking up during the night at 14 months...i tried every method

I was totally against CIO too, but at 15 months my DH and I had enough. We were doing them no good constantly going in when one cried. They did not know how to put themselves to sleep. I blame us for that. So 2 weeks ago we decided that was it, we weren't going in anymore. ( I have twins and they share a room, btw) They cried for a good hour the first 2 nights - then it got less. Now we are down to seconds. If one wakes up and cries, it only lasts a few seconds and they go back to sleep - If the other happens to wake up as well, then it takes a little longer, but it is working. They know that they need to just go back to sleep, and surprisingly they do.
I keep telling myself that it is for their own good - they need to learn to put themselves to sleep.