13 month old daughter?

Question

My 13 month old will not go to sleep unless we rock her...I am trying to just let her cry, but I am scared for that. What should I do?

Answer 1

She's gotta learn to tough it out. You can check on her every so often, but eventually she'll learn if you just let her keep on crying. I know it sucks to listen to that, but it's gotta be. She's gotta learn.

Answer 2

Hi there. We are going through the same thing with our son (14 months now) . We have been rocking him since day 1. He is now sleeping unassisted. I read to him in the rocking chair for 15 minutes, get up, turn out the light, tell him he is going to take a nap, and I will see him when he wakes up. Then I lay him down, and I leave.

The trick of it is, he usually will put himself back too sleep after waking up in the middle of the night. If your daughter is able to do this without you going in, you are golden. If not, you might have a little more trouble.

At 13 months I think they understand more than we think they do! She will figure out that it's bedtime, esp. if you establish a nightly routine. After my son's 5 p.m. dinner, he plays for an hour and 1/2, then a bath. After bath is milk, and after milk is brush teeth. At 7:45 we go in and read books until 8, and then it's lights out.

They need a good routine. My friend has a 14-month old and for two nights now he wakes up at midnight, and the baby does not go back to bed until 5 a.m. She says she doesn't mind, that they both take a nice nap, but to me that is a DISASTER!

One more side note, my Dr. told me that the window on correcting poor sleep behavior closes at 15 months. He said that after that he doesn't even really counsel parents on sleep, because the sleep patterns are formed by then. I don't know how much I believe about that, but it sounds like it makes sense.

Good luck to you and your family. I love rocking my son, but I like that he is learning to put himself asleep.

Anyway, if you need more help email me!

Answer 3

I'm having the same problem with my 14 month old. I"ve always held him, while he drank a bottle at bed and nap time, then i'd carry him into his room, lay him down, and turn on his mobile, which I still do, and yes I still use the mobile. Lately for about two weeks, he's been screamig and crying for anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours. It's really hard to hear him like that, and nothing I do works. Not rocking, singing or talking works because he thinks i'm playing with him. I'm not going to give up our bedtime tradition until he is ready. I've stopped getting so upset over him crying, because when he wakes up the next morning he is waiting for me with a big HI and a kiss. so I know there arn't any hard feelings. I read on babycenter.com that al ot of children around this age do this at bedtime because of seperation anxiety, and also because they are so excited to be learning new things they don't want to fall asleep, they want to practice new skills.

I would continue to rock her. She is familiar with that, and someday she'll grow out of it, but I think there is nothing wrong with it. A bed time routine like that is great for winding down and enjoying the last few minutes of her awake time.

Answer 4

Do you rock her until she falls asleep? I don't think rocking's bad in itself, there will come a day when she doesn't want to be rocked so cherish it now. I'd suggest rocking her then lay her down while she's still awake, but peaceful. Tell her it's bedtime, say good night, kisses, prayers, etc. and leave the room. She may cry but that won't hurt her. After a few nights she should be confident enough to fall asleep without crying for you.

Answer 5

I know letting them "cry it out is scary" but sometimes you have to do it. With my first i didn't sleep for 2 1/2 years! b/c i felt horrible for letting him cry it out, but with my second i just couldn't do that again, so i let her cry it out. The first few days was hard but now she's perfectly fine now when i know she's tired i can just put her in her crib and she puts her self to sleep! i love that. I started to do that when she was 11 months old now she sleeps great.

Answer 6

let her cry if she holds out for more than 15 minutes go check on her reassure her and give her a good night kiss repeat as necessary

Answer 7

stop holding her and she will come out of it nay how