My ten- months old baby never sleeps at night or in the day?

Question

I have a 2 yr old baby as well who has no sleep problems. I feed them at the same time, bath them at the same time, and put them to bed at the same time. She eats well and is developing well. What do I do? I find that I am tired all the time as I do not get enough sleep and the above does not matter whether she is in her cot or my bed, Am desperate, please help!

Answer 1

Maybe she needs more activity to tire her out a bit more?

I know you are already tired and obviously have your hands full with your two year old (poor you - sending a hug) so the idea of having to spend more time entertaining your little girl may not sound like much fun.

Does she have much tummy time? My six month old seems to get tired faster when she has been doing things to use all those growing muscles. I put her on the floor with toys all around her and she moves around trying to grab them etc. She also ends up moving backwards and kicks her legs alot in an attempt to get somewhere.

Not everybody likes Jolly Jumpers because of safety issues, but look into one and see what you think. I could not find any safety problems other the obvious one of NOT leaving your baby unattended.

If you little girl enjoys the Jumper she will bounce for ages which gives you a break from carrying her or holding her or having to actually entertain her. This should definitely tire her out a bit more too.

If she crawls already, maybe you could encourage her to crawl to things in at attempt to tire her out a bit more too?

There is nothing worse that feeling as tired as you do so I sincerely hope something works for you soon :-)

Answer 2

Poor you!

First of all, seek advice from Health Visitor, and to check for any underlying causes.

Otherwise you have 3 options:-
1) controlled crying (crying it out)
2) living with it (attachment parenting?)
3) finding the middle ground

You should be able to find books about all of the above, under different guises

I couldn't face option 1 or 2 when we had sleep problems (although not as drastic as yours), and bought The No-Cry Sleep Solution, by Elizabeth Pantley. It has lots of little ideas that add up, and means you can pick the ones that suit you. There are no quick fixes, and it requires some effort on your part - but there are very few tears!

In the mean time, rope in your mum or a close friend to give you a break for at least a few hours, off if not a whole night, and on a regular basis if possible.

It WILL pass, although it doesn't feel like it now.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

Answer 3

I hate to say this but letting him cry it out is the only option to eliminate the problem at this age. Usually after a few days when no one responds he will get the idea. Everytime someone responds to his cries he is getting the message that crying works and he will continue as long as he knows that. Whats worse is that the longer you let it continue, the more of a habit it will become and therefore harder to break. I understand having to get up early, I have been there but after a short time the nights will be peaceful. Just have patience. It is best to end it now and it will be well worth it. As noted above by another individual a bedtime routine is very important. Make sure of course that he is not hungary before bed. All children are different and night waking is not a must for babies of this age as stated by an individual below. Remember that in their first months they were feeding throughout the night and have gotten into a habit of "night waking". You simply need to break the habit when the night feeds are no longer necessary.

Answer 4

Some children don't sleep, I know its hard, I lived off 3 hours sleep a night and held down a full time job when one of mine was younger. If your child is happy and developing well I would try not to worry too much. In the end your 10 month old will sleep. You could try the Doctor if you really are at your witts end.

Answer 5

is your daughter teething?
my son is 10 almost 11 months old and he never had a sleeping problem until now he wont get to sleep until late and when he does its only for a few hours at a time, but he is teething its his fourth tooth but it has been giving him trouble and me too because i get no sleep.
he will only sleep if im there next to him which is kinda annoying sometimes because i am due in 2 weeks to give birth again and i feel sooo tired.
if your daughter is teething youll probably find that a teething gel just before she goes to bed may help. or a bit of panadol or what ever baby medicine u have might help too>
that was the advice given by doctor and it helps me other than that i cant help sorry

Answer 6

Hello there, its nice to know that im not the only one that has a similar problem.

I have a 8 month old baby who has a 20 min knap after dinner then is awake until 8-9pm sleep fur up to 2 hrs then wakes up screaming. I have recently started giving him cool boiled water instead of milk or juice in the night, not picking him up, he is in his own room in his cot and we have just bought a baby monitor that sense when your baby wakes up, this plays music to your baby until fallen back to sleep - meaning we dont have to get up as often as we did as the music soothes and helps him drift back off.

They could be many reasons why she doesnt sleep, some babies just dont settle into a routine for a long time, some do. My son is still yet to get into one but were progressing all the time.

Good luck x

Answer 7

have you spoken to your g.p or health visitor about this, My son was the same he would sleep 1 hour out of 24 and i was at my wits end, i felt a faliure but i spoke to my health visitor and gp, i was given a medicene called fennigan for him it was brilliant and i soon got him into a routine. Do you keep picking your baby up when it cries or wont sleep, if so you need to stop, let it know that bed time is sleep time and he/she will not attention. I know its hard but it will get easier, you could also check what is in the foods e numbers etc, and fizzy pops are the worst along with smarties, they make children hyperactive.
Good luck.

Answer 8

My little boy was exactly the same at that age, he would wake up at all times in the night i resorted to giving him milk (even though i knew he wasn't hungry) but then realised that that was what he was waking up for so i decided to just give him a bottle of luke warm water....it took about a week for him to realise that that was all he was getting and i've never had a problem since. i did also also leave a bottle of water in his cot. Some babies are different...try it and see...it may work or may not. but i am really sorry for you because sleep deprovation is a bloody awful thing.

Answer 9

Well, one way to "knock" your toddler out is Nyquil. A good 5 cups should do it. (Actual cups, mind you, not medicine cups)... If you think this is too drastic, you can dilute it with Mountain Dew or any overly sugary substance. My mother did this to me as a child, and I have grown up fine.

If you're willing to take a more drastic measure, ditch the kids and try ostriches. They're easy children to take care of, and half of the time, they're concealed within an egg. (How convenient!) So you can watch the goriest movies on television and still have them in the room!

I wish you the best of luck.


Hugs and kisses,
Chikkin' A

Answer 10

I had a baby who cry-ed most of the day and the night with colic.
(witch lasted till he was about 12 months old) it was no joke, but after the colic had gone he was left with a sleeping problem as a result, i made up my mind one night (cause i was a zombie!!) enough was enough and when he woke i did not take him in to our bed and waited with him while he feel asleep and again and again...... in the end it payed off.
God bless been there.