Why won't my 11 month old son sleep through the night yet?

Question

He is weaned off breastmilk, happy, a good eater and except for teething, I can't think of any reason for him to not sleep through the night. He is a wonderful baby in every other area except for waking up during the night still, two or three times. I've tried everything I can think of to help him sleep. Help me!!!

Answer 1

Many babies don't sleep through the night before their first birthdays. Some continue even longer. Some *adults* don't sleep through the night (my 22 year old son has never slept all night!!), but they don't usually cry and wake their parents. At his age, when he wakes up, he needs help going back to sleep. What do you think is a better way to teach him to sleep:

1. Get really angry and scared. Scream your head off. Call for your parents and find out that they find it to be too much trouble to help you when you are in need. Eventually, get so exhausted from the effort, you fall into unconsciousness.

2. Learn to relax until you naturally drop off.

Certainly the second one is the one that will help him later in life!! So...when your son wakes at night, rock him, rub his back, sing to him...anything that helps him relax. He *will* learn to sleep eventually without waking you.

Answer 2

Do you have a regular nighttime wind down period before you put him down? Our daughter woke every 2 hours until 8 months when I started a routine. Every night at 6pm, I give her a bath (always dim lights). Then I give her some lotion and a nighttime diaper. Then I give her cereal with fruit, apple juice and a little cammomile tea (very weak). Then, we go upstairs and I read to her and nurse (you can give warmed formula). Then right when she rubs her eyes or yawns, I put her down. She went from sleeping 6 hours total a night to 11 hours in a couple of nights. We read the same book first every night because babies like predictibility. Babies need a transitional time between day and night. Otherwise, they think it's a nap and wake up every few hours. Also, a baby's sleep cycle is short so it helps to play music (a CD on repeat) or white noise all night long so that their ears hear consistent sounds all night.

She only wakes when she has gas or really bad teething pain which is rare because we have a routine for that too :)

When she is cutting teeth, we give her a dose of tylenol at 4:40pm so taht it kicks in at bedtime, then at bedtime, we give her 3 Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets and rub Hyland's Teething gel on her gums. Works great for us.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

DON'T give him melatonin as suggested by someone else. Too young ...... You didn't say what the daytime schedule is like which will make a difference ..... Wake him at an early time (between 7 & 8 for example), nap NO later than 1:30 p.m. for at least one hour, a nice warm bath between 7 and 7:30, and in bed by 8 . . . this is what worked for me with all three of my kids . . throughout the waking hours of the day, keep him active so he will be ready to retire for the night . . . a room needs to be cool to sleep in, too . . .
Don't use the crib as a time out place either - this confuses the child to thinking he is only in time out, not supposed to be sleeping, so he will more readily wake up

Answer 4

Put him to bed with you and as soon as he falls asleep put him back in his bed. Its sounds crazy but it should work.

Heres why: He will feel more safe laying next to mommy so he will most likely go into a deeper sleep instead of his light fitful sleeps in his own bed.

Your not conditioning him to be a co-sleeper because he will wake in his own bed....

I am not really into all that "routine" stuff. I am the kind of mom that takes the day as it comes to her. I roll with the punches. It is less stressful that way.

-dionna

Answer 5

Does he take long naps during the day? You might want to try keeping him up more during the day time. He might be having nightmares also. Good luck to you

Answer 6

give him melatonin maybe unless that is bad for babies