15 month not slept thru since he was 5 months, i'm a zombie! help!

[pleasegivemeacuddle]

Hiya, any help/ideas welcome..ds slept through the night every night up till he was 5 months when he started waking up sometimes 1 or 2 but sometimes to 5 or 6 times a night, he's not hungry as i offer him a bottle and he refuses, he rarely needs his nappy changed so i dont think its anything to do with that and i'm just stumped. Sometimes he's crying sometimes he just thinks its playtime. His bedtime routine has been the same since 3 months so i really need a few tips..pleeease!!

Oh no! Would you consider controlled crying?

I have tried a few times but I've managed about 3 whole mins before I run in and give cuddles lol I dont think I'm cut out for it especially being on my own I just dont have the self control!!

Sometimes tho he's not even crying, he'll be stood up and banging the wall, I've taken all his toys out and he just uses his fist. Some1 suggested moving the cot to the center of the room but his room isnt exactly spacious and cant get to the drawers or wardrobe if i do that!

please tell me theres a magic trick i dont know about??!!

I never thought I would, but started cc last night. DD same age as yours and very similar sleep issues. Fell asleep after 6 minutes at bedtime, 10 minutes during the night and 2 minute at 4 am. Slept till 7.15. Tonight was asleep with less than 2 minutes crying. I cannot believe it. Just think it was the right time. I've always ignored suggestions to try this, but all of a sudden it became right for us. Good luck with whatever you try.

Must be hard being on your own, but the cc technique really works if you can see it through. You can tweak it a bit to suit you- I had to go in and pick DD up, but just did it really really briefly and then made sure I left her a bit longer each time- so it was something like 2 mins, 4 mins, 6 mins.. and I think I never had to leave her more than 10 minutes.

It's best if you can read about the technique (Dr Christopher Green in Toddler Taming for example, he is the one who "invented it!" as it's important to do it well for it to work.

Also, the good new is that the older the child the quicker it takes, should take about 3 or 4 days I think at your son's age, and certainly no more than a week. We had to do it for our DD at 8 months. She went from being a dreadful sleeper to a brilliant one. Phew!

Another possibility is pick up put down, although that may not work if he's not crying... (Google "pick up put down baby whisperer")

It doesn't involve so much crying which suited me - I had used CC before with success, but after an extended period of illness DD would scream till she was sick so I had to try something else. PUPD worked.

please, I feel your pain . I have a 14mth old who has slept through about 3 nights since he was born . Now back at work and only just holding it together.

We've tried CC on a couple of occasions and it worked for a while but not we're back to square one.

Hope someone can help you.

thank you for ure success stories, glad they worked out for you!!

it does make me wanna have a proper bash at it, tho a majority of the time he just thinks its play time and not screams/cries like tonight for example, his bedtime was 2 hours ago and he's sat wide awake playing like its the middle of the day!!??

knitting I know what you mean about the back to work thing, i'm only part time and am constantly late coz i just cant open my eyes when the alarm goes off!

ps i will google the PUPD thing now!!

I'm only part time too, thankfully!

Does he still sleep in the day? Reducing daytime naps doesn't always work, but he doesn't sound tired. Do you have a very calming bedtime routine? Again, not always the answer but I know what it means to be desperate - esp when I have friends with six month olds that sleep better!

I've a 16 month old who's a very bad sleeper. Wakes up from 1 -6 times a night but has been improving recently. We've started CC and it works. It's hard but I do think it works. Sounds awful but try not to listen to crying. Go downstairs, put on headphones etc! Or go in and say it's sleepy time, we see it as teaching her to sleep independently. It is hard but worth it!!

Do you ever bring him into bed with you? We have been doing this just to get some sleep but trying to stop it.

I tried skipping a nap a few months ago but I then couldn't get him to last till bed time and he was either a irritable git or falling asleep in his highchair when trying to give him dinner(was v. cute tho!)

I have tried giving him shorter naps too but he grizzles all day if woken up and he's normally such a happy cheeky lil sod it seems such a shame to ruin it!

His bedtime routine involves down time, bath (even got the johnsons bath stuff) bottle, bed with lil melody quietly on in background. I dont read him a bedtime story coz he thinks i'm there to play and wont lay down no matter where i sit, tried reading it with him on my lap on the rocking chair but he was more interested in tearing out the pages so figured i'll wait till he can appreciate it.

bump!

I have to update you on my success with DD. 3 nights now of CC. Except she didn't cry at all last night, just went to sleep. Woke at 5.30 and rolled over when I went into her. Slept till 7.15am. Has just gone for a nap. No crying at all. I'm totally astounded. Naps have been completely unpredictable for months, I've only ever had stretches of 2-4 hours unbroken sleep since she was 5 months, despite lovely bedtime routines etc.
I did tweak the CC so I could cope with it - leaving her a minute at first then a minute extra each time (rather than the 2 minutes suggested by Dr Green). And I wouldn't have gone over 10 minutes. I pick her up too, like PP said. At the 5.30 waking though, she pushed away from me and pointed to her cot! I felt a bit rejected! Also, I'm spending half the night awake as I'm so used to being up. But I feel fantastic!

congratulations! i'm so envious!!

lol so does any 1 have any tips if he's not crying when he wakes, say like this morning when he woke up at 3 thinking it was playtime and didnt go back to sleep till 5.50 by which point i'm tearing my hair out and bloody lucky its my day off as i feel like a dead weight!!

If he's not crying then can you just leave him and see if he goes back to sleep?

I cant really leave him to get on with it as he stands up and bangs on the wall which its freaking loud as its a wanky little flat, I've had upstairs complain one morning because of it! He also stands and yells at the top of his voice random gibberish (its quite cute if it wasnt stupid o'clock! And he can only actually say 2 words) which is difficult to sleep through! I feel like i have to intervene as he'll have half the building up otherwise!

I cant help feeling like half the reason he does it now is habbit as he's done it for so long, is there any safe sort of sleep aids i could use to break the cycle or is that the sort of question where social services would wanna get involved??!!

Ahhhh, I see. When DD was doing that I'd go back in, lie her down and say 'It's sleep time.' She'd get up, I'd lie her down and say 'It's sleep time.' etc. She'd get bored eventually because I wasn't interacting with her as such.

I still do stories with my DD before bed (and have done since she was little), but I've got books like 'That's not my...' and books with flaps which we read in the rocker and help her wind down. Because they're card pages, she can't tear them!

Ah, I see your problem. But... perhaps it's worth short term pain- even annoying the neighbours, for long term gain? You could even put a note through their door explaining what you're doing?

I know it's bloomin' loud and annoying, but perhaps they could all buy ear plugs for a week and by then your little boy will have given up as he realises IT'S NOT WORKING!!!!!

I was very lucky as we had DD in a loft room when we were doing the CC!

It also takes a bit of bravery to leave them when they are really yelling and stamping as you can think they might hurt themselves.. but THEY DON'T.

Hard, though... do you have a friendly relative with a bigger flat/house where you could go to get the sleep sorted?

Thank you for all your responses btw every1!

my family are, well less than supportive so I wouldnt dare ask, I'd prob get a impolite answer back! lol

Galena that sounds like a plan to try (with the boring just lay back downs) as i've given up now and when he wakes up to play i just get him up nowdays and pray he'll get sleepy!! lol

thank god for MN!!