What age were your children when they slept through the night? (Warning: Long!)

[GiantUnderCrackers]

My dd (now 1) has never slept through the night. She wakes at least twice, I can calm her (she will cry out for me and then it quickly turns to proper crying), put her back down quite quickly drowsy but not necessarily asleep (within 5 mins) and she sleeps again until she wakes at some point. She won't let DH do this though. I am on my knees from lack of sleep. The maximum I get at the moment is 4-5 hours a night. The room is dark, not too hot/cold, she doesn't have night feeds, she eats well in the day and has two naps of up to an hour each morning and afternoon (she has these in her cot in her room quite happily). She seems to just want me when she wakes. I have gone through is she thirsty/hungry/wet/done a poo/teething/poorly etc etc. We have tried controlled crying. She can keep this up all night, and for a number of nights. My DH thinks this ought to work and it doesn't (we have done it to the book). I now find it too distressing - not a big fan anyway but anything to try to get her to be happy and sleep through. Now not doing it though as it didn't seem to work . We have tried soft music as background noise. We have tried staying near her in her room and gradually moving out over the course of a number of nights. Comforting her but not going to her at the first cry. All these things and more for a number of weeks each. Please don't get me wrong, I have not left her to cry without her knowing I am there and getting her distressed. She has a good bedtime routine at the same time each night, with a fun bath time and cuddles and books and playing in her room quite happily. She is in bed easily with no fuss by 7pm. I have been so tired recently that in the early morning she does have a cuddle with me and it is the only way I can get some more rest. She is a happy bunny and a cheeky happy soul during the day!!

It is the night waking which is the killer. Last night was just the worst. She woke every hour and a half and started the day at 4.30am and I got ready for work at 6am. I can't function at my full time job. I am exhausted. I feel like I live in a dream world. I am hyper emotional but try to hide it at work. I need your advice on how to get her happy to sleep through and by that I mean until the early morning - 5am would do! If I can't crack this I am likely to get fired or have an accident or a break down due to lack of sleep! Can you give me any advice please? Is anyone else in the same situation? Help!

oh rockdoctor, cow's milk allergy/ intolerance can wreak havoc with their sleep. DS's sleep was (briefly!) transformed when we removed cow's milk from his diet.

Deffo try cutting out all dairy AND soy for a short period and see if it has any effect, I reckon. Not for a prolonged period without dietician advice tho.

Oh, it sounds so familiar, OP! I could almost have written your post about my DS, we've tried everything.

He is now 19 months and has the occasional fortnight when he sleeps really well, and we think 'yes! This is it! He's going to sleep through all the time!'... and then he goes back to his usual waking between 1-4 times in the night. Most often for a quick cuddle and then back to sleep, he's only really awake for longer periods when he's ill, but it's all the interruptions to your own sleep that are really hard.

A friend with a slightly older child had a similar situation and found that her DD slept much better when, age 2.5, they got rid of her dummies and moved her from her cot to her bed... but I'm not brave enough to try that at 19 months!

The only thing that occasionally works for us is the remote controlled lullaby function on his baby monitor - he still wakes up, but the tunes can be switched on from the parent unit, so we keep that in our bedroom (on mute!) and can switch the tunes on without getting out of bed.

sorry, not much advice there - but lots of sympathy!

Don't give rice milk to children - the levels of natural arsenic in it can build up - thats advice given to us by paediatricians and dieticians and backed up by internet research. We use Oatly and Almond Milk - dairy intolerance here as well.

DS - two weeks
DD - two years