How do I get my 15-month old son to sleep through the night?

Question

Help!! My son is my third child and you would think I would know better. To avoid waking the whole house at night I have always run to him when he crys, picked him up and gave him a bottle. Now I have created a monster!! I have never been one to let my children cry for any prolonged periods of time. How else can I break him?? I am in desperate need of an uninterupted nights sleep. He wakes 2-3 times between 7pm and 5am.

Answer 1

LET HIM CRY, ALSO GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO WORK ALL THAT ENERGY OUT, PAT A GAME, TAKE A BATH. WHAT EVER TO GET HIM TO WIND DOWN, I WOULD ALSO LET HIM STAY UP A LITTLER LATER.

Answer 2

I was the guardian of the midnight hour with our two so here's some ideas that might help.
Firstly if you have a partner try switching off every four hours. That'll give you each eight hours a night. 8,12,4,8 was what we chose. My wife fed them at 8pm and 4am, I feed them at 12am and 8 am. You could slide this to 9 or 10 if you are a night person.
Secondly, and this was the clincher, get two Tshirts to sleep in. Wear one for 4 days then swap it out with the other, place the now smelly shirt in the crib with the child. When the child wakes up the smells of mom will comfort the child and will likely send him/her back to sleep. Mostly we found that the child is looking for comfort which can be supplied via food cuddles or company. This is the only way that allows the child to sleep through without messing up the feeding schedules or the independancy development of the infant.
hope this helps.

Answer 3

The first thing I notice is that you should let him cry....crying is good for kids....they need to learn to put themselves back to sleep, now hes going to have to learn that and disrupt the family while he does....but thats ok,they have had 15 months of peace...now they can help by being nice while he learns to sleep all night. The second thing that struck me is that you might be putting him to bed too early.....perhaps he needs less naps during the day....you might try switching it up to 8 or 8:30. You might also use a dose of benadryl to help him sleep all night for one or two nights....once he has done it, or been too sleepy to cry much when he wakes he may reprogram his sleeping patterns. Do not think occasionally getting a break by giving benadryl is abusive, it is far more abusive to yell or be impatient with a baby. You might consider changing rooms so that his is the farthest or quietest room if you know what I mean.

Answer 4

I have a 15 month old too. I had the same problem.. this is what i did.. I use to put her to bed at 7 but she always woke up alot and got up really eartly so. I made here naps shorter and pushed back her bed time to 8 30. and before bed she gets a bottle and a bath and a snak. then i lay her down.. I did not like letting her cry too but that what i had to do. now she crise for like 5 min then she gives up and gose to sleep. also i know turn on a radio or tv so there is sound in her room. so its not to quite.. Best of luck

Answer 5

My son also have the same problem when he is 15 mth old after I adjust his sleeping time he can now sleep through the whole night. I let him sleep at 2pm in the afternoon for 1-2 hr then at night at about 8-9pm he will be very tired n sleepy then put him to sleep.

Answer 6

This may sound very hard to do, but just let him cry. He is crying in the first place because every time he does it you come running. I know you will feel horrible at first, like you are being mean, but he will get tired of it and go to sleep. And eventually he wont even cry at night cuz he will be used to being alone. I have 3 kids and i went through this with my first one. Being my first i jumped to get her every time she even made a noise and i noticed that is jsut made her more collicy and a little bit spoiled. You will just have to deal with the crying for now.

Answer 7

Our toddler boy at 10 months has been a perplexing sleeper for the previous couple of months now. We took him off the crib and sleep him with us now. specifically, his mom sleeps next to him - on the floor - whilst i sleep on a mattress far flung from them. this has helped straighten his schedule and he wakes up much less usually now. My presence probable disturbed him till now, yet now that's no longer a ingredient. we've additionally began ultimate the homestead windows and the doors interior the mattress room so there is minimum disturbance. yet another important factor we've completed is to place him all the way down to sleep no longer while is already asleep yet quite, while is merely falling asleep. that has helped stabilize him so he would not merely upward thrust up while something strikes. he's coming up a habit of drowsing on his very own this style. desire this enter helps and stable success.

Answer 8

Maybe you could try to put him down an hour later than normal. There is a chance that it would reset his internal clock and believe me all children have one. Spend that extra hour making sure he getting all of his energy out and a nice warm bath with cammomile should help too. Good Luck!!

Answer 9

My son is 13 months old, and he does the same thing. He is also our 3rd child. I can't stand it anymore!! Last night me and my husband went downstairs and slept on the floor because the baby shares our room. We are sooo tired. I blame it on his pacifier that he loses in his sleep. Good luck.

Answer 10

I think you should teach him how to self sooth himself back to sleep. Also, maybe you could push his bedtime back 30 minutes to 7:30 This will make him a little more tired and will probably make him sleep a little better.