How do I get my 21 month old to sleep through the night and break him from having to be rocked to sleep?

Question

I am 7 months preggers and have 21 month old who does not sleep through the night yet. He'll wake up mostly once but it not unusual when he wakes up twice. The only time he sleeps through the night is if he's in bed with my hubby and I. He doesn't oppose sleeping in his own bed at all, he just prefers that someone is laying next to him. Here it is July and I'm due in the begining of October and I want to have him broken by his 2nd birthday (which is also in the begining of October). I haven't tried anything because I didn't know exactly what to do or where to start. Please help.

Answer 1

Oh hon..this can be easily fixed. All you need is a little will power. You need to sleep train him. Do all your normal nightly routine, bath,story..whatever your normal things are...then tell him it is time for him to go to sleep. Then you go lay him in his bed and then give him a kiss..mommy loves you etc...and walk away. If he gets out of bed then you go put him right back in. Repeating the same thing over and over....*Its Tommy's bedtime now*.....now...once he is in bed you go away....but stay where you can hear him (or turn the monitor on) and you wait. If after 5 minutes he's not asleep you go back in and put him back down and tell him again its time top go to bed. I'm sure he'll cry and throw a fit, but you have to be strong and not give in and rock him. And then you keep doing this....only extend the time...to 10 minutes, then next time 15 mintues before going back in. Don't wait longer than 15 minutes though, especially if he is really crying, but do wait the 15 minutes as long as you can hear him crying and know he's not toooo upset he'll choke or something. Now this will work. I've never heard of it NOT working..and if you stick with it religously he'll be falling alseep on his own within a week. Now when he wakes up in the middle of the night...do the process all over...take him back in, tell him its time for bed..kisses and goodnight..walk away...short and sweet.

I learned about this method when my oldest was about a year and a half old...he trained in 3 days. I trained my other three boys by about 1 yr old and they all trained even faster with only 2 days crying before the miracle happened and they just fell asleep.

See..what you need to do is train him to comfort himself and fall asleep himself, and honestly its probably the most important thing a child can learn, in my opinion anyway.. We, as adults, know how poor sleep habits effect our daily lives...so we need to teach out children good habits while they are younge.

NOTE: Whatever you do..DO NOT substitute the rocking for some other cruch, like laying in his bed with him..thats just another habit you're going to have to break and its a hard one...

Anyway, sorry it got so long but this does really work, and I"ve sooo been there done that hon and I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 2

Well you have two choices...either give up and let him sleep with you or stand your ground and let him cry for a few nights. Trust me the second option will not hurt him...it is just inconvenient to you. Letting him sleep in your bed seems to be a small thing but you are also teaching him that if he cries enough or has a tantrum that he will get what he wants. If there is nothing wrong with him then crying won't harm him...it sounds much worse than it is as you will realize when you go and pick him up...I bet he stops crying. So it is a power struggle thing...and believe me you had better win now because when you are trying to straighten him out when he is 10, 14 or 16 and he is having tantrums to get his own way you will be glad you taught him he can't always have what he wants. Stick to your guns and get together with your husband and present a united front. He won't cry forever i guarantee it. Sitting near his crib works only if you don't talk to him or look at him. At first it will escalate as he tries any way he can to get your attention but eventually he will sleep and you can move out of his room a little at a time.

Answer 3

My 16 month old is the same way. I'm 8 months pregnant and both of my kids still want to sleep with me. I recently moved to a twin bed so now they can't fit. :) Actually, sometimes they still find a way.

But what I did is put their beds on each side of my bed. That way they are still really close to me, close enough to hold my hand - yet they aren't "in bed" with me. Slowly move the bed farther and farther away. Let him know that he's a "big boy" and you're taking "big boy steps" with the bed. I really think that he's going to regress and want to sleep in your bed when the new baby gets here though, most kids do that.

Good luck either way. :)

Answer 4

All kids go threw that, that's how my 6 and 4 year old were when I moved from Puerto Rico 2 years ago and still living with there father they each had there own bed and and there own room and we would let them fall asleep first and then take them to their room's but they always managed to get into our bed in the middle of the night it is just a stage they go threw give it time you will see it will pay off sooner or later now they both sleep in their own room's all by them selfs thank god ........ Good Luck

Answer 5

hopefully you aren't giving him any milk or juice when he does wake up in the middle of the night. if so, stop immediately and only give him water. and what the other girl said, tell him he's a big boy now and that you love him, but it's his room and you need to sleep with daddy and you'll see him in the morning. walk out, close the door. if he runs out of the room, just keep putting him back in his bed without saying anything, it might take an hour or 2 of all this, but it works. if he's still in a crib, just let him cry. good luck

Answer 6

Put him in his own bed,let him lay there until he goes to sleep without rocking him. when he wakes up make sure he goes back to sleep in his own bed,pat or rub his back a couple of times. Get started right away so he will not hold it against the baby. It might take awhile but be persistent and don't give in.

Answer 7

put him down in his bed every time he starts getting tired.

There will be crying, and a lot of it since this should have been done 19 months ago.

Don't worry you are not a bad mom, you love your baby but you have spoiled him. Now you are going to have to be strong and let him cry sometimes. But it will get to the point when he will go to bed alone without your help.

two months is cutting it close though. THe longer you wait the longer it takes.

Answer 8

I say ROCK that baby anyway...they are not babies forever and one day they will be all grown up and you will wish you are rockin that baby....I know you about to have another but trust me it will all work out because I have a little girl that I had to rock to sleep and she slept with me for a long time and she was 24mts when I had her sister and when I would rock the baby I would tell her Mommy has to rock the baby and she would go on her way and go get in her bed. Plus they share a room!! I say do what you want.

Answer 9

A short nap in the day time. Let him sleep for about one hour,and wake him up after that. Then around 9:00 p.m. take him a bath - water always soothe my son and made him sleepy. Good Luck and congrats on number #2. Looks like you'll have your hands full.

Answer 10

This is hard.....but my husband and i got through it!

Let him CRY! My daughter used to get up 2x a night and I would even nurse her back to sleep at 23months.
finally I said enough spoke to my doctor about letting her cry..He said put her down say Good Night ...Leave the Room.....and let her cry!!

For how long I asked he smiled and said 3hrs if need be.....and do you know the first night she only cried for 25 minutes(Of course this was hard on myself and husband) ..I had to go outside

The next night 15 minutes...and better after the second week.

Now We put her to bed say goodnight and that's it!!

When he wakes in the middle of night don't run to him let him cry for at least 15-20minutes(if it sounds like he's wet change him)

You'll be happy and sleep better to and it sounds like you are going to need your sleep!