sleep routine gone haywire

[SophieD]

My daughter has slept all night from 10 weeks old but she is now 13 mths old and has started to wake up every night for about 5 weeks now wanting to play. Sometimes it takes her 3-4 hrs before we can get her back to sleep. Controlled crying hasn't worked as she is just not tired. Most times she'll only every go back to sleep when we bring her in to bed with us. She has also cut back to 1 sleep a day and she used to always have 2 so she's not sleeping too much during the day. It all started when she had her 12 mth needles (needles always throw her routine) but it doesn't usually take this long for her to get back to her routine. Has this happened to anyone else and if so, do you have any tips on what I can try?

[wilsmum]

hey there...my son is 16 months old and has always been a pretty good sleeper but i have found that he goes through patches (lasting a few weeks) of waking in the middle of the night which can be quite stressful. i used to get up and feed him back to sleep but i've toughened up (not tough enough to control cry though :rolleyes: ) but i find if i go in and pat him for a bit and then put him back down (sometimes takes a few attempts) that he will go back to sleep himself and then he'll start sleeping fine again. we also went from 2 sleeps to just 1, but i think that is natural.
i have started taking wil out more to the park etc to tire him out which seems to help!
good luck!!

[mamafelix]

Hi
Its so frustrating when you finally get used to how they sleep and then they change on you. :( Unfortunately I think its just part of parenting. You just have to adapt, although waking for long periods at night is very difficult I know!
If she sleeps well when she's in with you perhaps thats an option? I don't know how you (and your partner!) feel about co-sleeping but from personal experience it can make things so much easier at night! Especially since you can feed them back to sleep without really waking up, a lifesaver at 3am.
My little monkey is just 18 months, and yes he went from 2 sleeps to 1 at about 12 months, unfortunately at the moment he seems to be shifting to no sleeps during the day at all!! :eek:

[muso mama]

I know that babies of this age are often experiencing accelerated development and they sometimes like to "practise" their talking/walking etc at night. Their circadian (sleep) rhythms are different to adults and so may only be sleeping very lightly when we are sleeping deeply (i.e. nighttime) and so it takes little to rouse them from sleep to try out their fantastic new skills!
Both our children have done this at various stages and we try not to turn lights on, i always feed them back to sleep if they want, and if they end up being overtired (as is often the case ATM with our one year old) one of us puts her back to our chest, wrap our arms around her firmly but not too tight and hold her lovingly until she falls asleep again. (she will struggle and sometimes squeal in anger but not for long). We have never control cried our children as i believe it is wrong, it goes against most mother's (and fathers) natural instincts to offer comfort and (Australian) research suggest it can cause depression-like symptoms in children as young as 1....ok i will get off the soapbox now. :)
Good luck. I know it is an exhausting and trying time ..........
C

[michele]

I have found a great website the lady writes for Practicle parenting and she will help you with your baby's routine. she saved me. One night she stayed up all night just so she could talk to me and tell me what to do when my baby woke. She is trully a saint so if you need help you should contact her. her site is www.saveoursleep.com.au. Tizzie also says controlled crying is not the way togo.

[jakeysmum]

My son did this at 15 months of age. After many sleepless nights of sitting up half awake while he played etc.., my hubby and I decided to swap. He went in to resettle jacob and after only 3 nights, he started to sleep through again. My lovely bub was waking up to play with mummy!! Daddy on the other hand, did not pick him up or talk to him, he just repositioned bub then sat next to him patting him and saying "shhh Shhh" until he was quiet again. Bub decided that if the only person who was going to come in was boring old dad, then he might as well sleep through!! Hope this helps!