My 17 month old keeps waking up at night?

Question

My 17 month old daughter has been waking up around 4am everyday for weeks. I've tried cuddling her, I've gotten her a drink of water, and lately, I've been just ignoring her and letting her cry it out. She cried (mosty whined) for about 2 hours this morning and I'm at my wits end! I don't know what to do! Now she's tired and throwing tantrums because she's not sleeping well... any suggestions as to why this is happening or what I can do to get her to sleep through the night. (Her bedtime is 8:30pm...is that too early?

Answer 1

Does she take naps during the day? If she takes more than 1 nap a day, try taking one away. Or, if she only takes 1 nap a day, try shortening it. 8:30 is not too early for a bedtime, she has to break HER cycle of waking at 4am. When she gets up that early I would check on her to make sure she's ok, make sure all her needs are met, then just let her cry it out. It won't last long. Children catch on quick, its harder on you to let her cry than it is her. Good luck.

Answer 2

First, 8:30 is NOT too early.

Make sure she has had a full day, and she is relaxed at bedtime. Read her a story, give her a warm bath, etc.

Try leaving a radio - on low - in her bedroom. You might try putting a fairy tale CD on repeat. That way, if she wakes up, she will realize that the world still exists and everything is ok. Keep the volume low, though!

Because she has been doing it for so long, her body may be too used to this pattern to give it up easily. A dose of Benadryl at bedtime for the next few days should help break the pattern.

When she does this, give her a few minutes to see if she can put herself back to sleep. If not, go in and pat her on the back and soothe her, but do NOT pick her up. (That will just encourage her to do it more frequently.) After a few days, just talk to her softly - don't make physical contact. That way, she's not going to freak out that Mommy has "abandoned" her, but she's not getting enough attention that it encourages the behavior.

Good luck! Take a nap!

Answer 3

So she is getting 7 and a half hours sleep at a shot. Is she taking a nap during the day too? I would think that 8:30pm is too soon if she is taking a nap of more than 2 1/2 hours during the day. I would try letting her stay up till 10pm and see how long she sleeps. I would never force her to stay up but just to find out if maybe she is going to bed before she is ready to sleep for the night. Hope this helps. Good Luck

Answer 4

Yes it is, my daughter goes to sleep around 5:00Pm or sometimes 6:00pm. She wakes up at 8:00 or 8:30. She has a snack and she has a bottle of milk. She plays a little Then she is ready to hit the sack around 10:00pm. I think it is wise to let your daughter fall asleep on her own. I know that sounds crazy but just think about it, We don't like to fall asleep too early because naturally we wake up during the night. Sometimes my daughter do wake up in the am and I simply give her some milk and lay next to her until she falls asleep. I hope her schedule changes so you can get some rest. Parenting is hard enough.

Answer 5

what's incorrect? She is 17 months previous. it is a huge time of change of their little bodies & minds. once you've had her regarded at and are not leaning in direction of an ailment, i'll head in direction of replacing her naps. i do not see no matter if she nonetheless naps 2 cases an afternoon or what her mattress time is, yet between 3 hundred and sixty 5 days and a three hundred and sixty 5 days she will be in a position to start up to drop one nap, so save that in ideas. also, i found (and function heard from others) that when a change is going on (i.e. getting to understand the potty, increasing their speech, or maybe getting to understand the thanks to leap) that toddlers coach indications of grumpiness. that is in basic terms about as if they body & ideas can in common words take care of a lot at a time and something else of the international is only a touch too a lot to handle. At 17 months, you nonetheless can communicate over such as your daughter. and she or he will listen even regardless of the reality that you imagine she isn't. Ask her if there is something you may do to help her. tell her you're apprehensive. and then relax and enable her take the lead. If the habit maintains or receives worse, you may attempt "The No-Cry Sleep answer; for toddlers" by technique of Elizabeth Pantley. That e book kept my ideas after I had a non sleeper. good success.

Answer 6

8:30 is a good bedtime. I would suggest eating a nice dinner... then taking a bath right before bed... the nice warm water seems to help the kids sleep better. Do you think that she might be hungry in the middle of the night that's why she wakes up?
is there a night light in the room? i would try taking that out. and not letting her watch anything scarry.

Answer 7

8:30 is fine. Try warm baths about an hour before bedtime and if she's still having a rough time (as well as yourself) give her a little bit of dimetap to help her sleep. (not too much, you don't want her growing an immunity to it) My 4th child had the same problem, i ended up buying a toy that had comforting sounds with waves and lights...it came in handy EVERY night. GL to you both :) If you both are still having problems take her to a doctor and check for sleep apnea...(sleeping disorder)

Answer 8

First, I agree with the first person, about the extra naps and all.
Just so you know, ignoring the whole thing should work roughly like this: Whatever amount of weeks you've been rewarding her waking up, you should expect half that amount of weeks to have to ignore it, at least by basic psych ground rules.
So if you got up with her every night for 8 weeks, expect to have to hear about this for another four weeks.
And don't ever give in, ever. You'll start it all up again.
Hopefully, I'm right in concept and wrong about the length of time! Just hang in there, Mom!

Answer 9

i behaved much worse than your daughter :) it looked like i needn't sleep, and cried. they thought i had nightmares. i don't think so.
consider her meals and her health. something may cause her aching when in bed. maybe her legs are sore, or she is intolerant to milk. have her drink more. don't have her sleep in the afternoon, or very little, and don't have her sleep with you. play with her in the evening, sing together, massage her feet. 8.30 maybe too early for her.

Answer 10

maybe you should try playing a relaxing lullaby, and if that doesn't work you might consider talking it over with her doctor.