how do you get your 18 month old to sleep at night?

Question

how do you get your 18 month old to sleep at night? our daughter has always been a finiky sleeper. we have a routine and she will sleep for about 5 hours alone, but then wakes up and if one of us doesn't join her in bed until she falls asleep again, she won't stop waking up. she is in a big girl bed because the crib was a disaster. any ideas? tips? crying it out never worked for her so don't say that. she can and will cry for the entire night. our routine is set. please help.

she sleeps fine for 5 hours, but then wakes up and needs reassurance to go back to sleep and stay there. what can i do to make her realize that she is ok in her own bed?

Answer 1

Personally, when our kids went through this stage, we gave them a "lovie". Not a pacifier or bottle or anything like that, but we let them pick out a special blanket or stuffed animal that stays in their beds all day. Then when its time to go to bed, we just would say "I think Freddie the Frog wants to spend some time with you", and off he would trot upstairs.
We did have the same problem as you with our second son, who would be fine until 2 or 3 in the morning, and then would get in bed withus and cry if we took him back to his own room. DO NOT LET HER IN YOUR BED, EVEN IF SHE CRIES!!! Once you give in, the child knows that after they hollar/scream for so long, they will get their way. When I got pregnant with my 3rd son, I knew we had to break our 2nd from joining us in bed before the baby came. So, it took a couple nights of screaming, buthe finally got the idea that we were NOT going to let him sleep in our bed, no matter how much he yelled. It will be a sleepless couple of nights, but so much better off in the long run. It also may help to let your daughter pick out a nightlight and a lovey to keep in her room.

Answer 2

she is crying for attetention, so stop giving it to her when she starts to cry. My son is almost 3 and he used to do the same thing. Just scream and cry until my wife would go in a baby him. So I started going in and sitting by the bed and simply saying " It's time for bed, close your eyes and go to sleep right now, I don't want to hear another sound outta this room or you will be in trouble, I love you and good night" If he started to cry again I would go in and and make him stand in the corner, in the dark, by himself, which he obviously didn't like. That went on for like 4 nights, and he eventually got the point that mommy isn't going to come in here and baby me when I cry anymore, I might as well stop so I don't have to stand in the corner. You say that your routine is already set, that is the problem, break the routine, it will take some adjusting time but she will eventually get the point. As long as they a safe, fed, dry, and clean, they are fine. Don't be affraid to tell her she is being bad, because if you don't she will never know the difference

Answer 3

I suppose you have got to appear a type of matters to support clear up this challenge. one million. Is it taking place whilst each night time? If so, your youngster has traditionally gotten right into a dependancy and its no longer fairly tied to something else. Letting them self-soothe again to sleep can support holiday the dependancy in as low as three days. two. Is the youngster consuming within the core of the night time? It's traditionally no longer nutritionally vital for an 18 month ancient to nonetheless be consuming within the core of the night time, attempt to wean him/her off this dependancy via supplying only a drink of water, after which encouraging the youngster to return to sleep. three. How is he/she dozing the leisure of the day. An 18 month ancient nonetheless demands eleven-14 hours of sleep in line with day, adding naps and midnight sleep. A youngster that is no longer getting adequate sleep with satirically have a more difficult time dozing, even if they're worn out.

Answer 4

soundproof the room and just let her wail. sooner or later, she'll get the message that night time is sleepy time. been there, done it with my 2 year old, and he was a bear to put to bed.
we get him close to droppin off by rocking on the shoulder for about 5-10 mins, then it's in the crib for the rest of the night. after about a month of screaming after getting put in the crib, he straightened up and got the message. ur girl will get it, just takes a bit of time. if nothing is wrong with her when u do a spot check, give her a kiss, and tell her its time to sleep. and close the door...train em to sleep with the door closed. a night light can help also.

Answer 5

You should have never layed down with her. The minute you layed down with her was the minute you created another problem for yourself. Because you did it once, she now wants and expects you to do it every night.

You need to lay her down and leave the room. If she wakes up, don't do anything. Let her sit in her room and cry. I know you said not to suggest that, but hear me out on this. Right now, she's waking up and knows "mom and dad are going to come in because I'm awake". You need to change that so she knows "I can lay awake and cry all I want..but mom and dad aren't going to come in so I might as well go back to sleep".

If you let her lay there awake, she will get bored. She will get bored and go back to sleep. Be consistent. That's all there is to it.

Answer 6

a nice warm bath in the tub.... let her play for a lil bit....i used calming milk lotion from baby magic, and johnsons bedtime moisture wash.... or something with chamomile & lavender together is great
it will relax her.... but baths before bedtime are good

Answer 7

Do NOT allow her to take any naps - then she'll be so tired she will sleep all night. Make sure you sort of 'rough house' with her, right before bedtime, and this will also wear her out so she'll sleep all night. I did this with mine, when they were small, and it sure helped; it wore me out too and slept really well.

Answer 8

Is she on a normal schedule? Up at the same time every morning? Nap time the same, etc? She needs to be on a set schedule.

Answer 9

I would suggest some of that johnson and johnson lavendar lotion with the purple top, and a warm bath...and warm milk..that should work

Answer 10

Consistency. If she is crying all night, take her to the pediatrician office and have her examined.