12 month old waking at 4am

[mollieboo]

Hi, my 12 month old has been a great 11 hours a night sleeper until now. Recently though he's been waking at 4am and won't settle until he's had a bottle and comes into our bed (he's in his own room). He'll then sleep till around 7.30am but it's pretty tiring and not a great habit to get into! Anyone else been through this and have any advice please?...

How long has it been that you've been giving him a bottle and then bringing him into your bed?

Hello, around two weeks.

2 weeks isn't very long. You could just be firm and don't give the bottle and stay by the cot to settle baby back to sleep.

It's not the easy option. The easy option is just giving the bottle and bringing into your bed. But if you want baby sleeping independantly you need to be consistant and be orepard to give the time (and lack of sleep) in the middle of the night, for longer term gain.

At 12 months baby might be cutting molar teeth and this could be the cause of lighter sleeping. You don't necessarily need to medicate for this, just be aware of it as a reason.

Another option, that wouldn't be quite as server but making progress would be to have a travel cot up in your room. Then when he needs to come in your room at least he's learning that he's in a seperate cot not cosleeping.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, that sounds like good advice, I think I need to break the cycle by not giving in but it's hard when you're so tired at 4am! He actually slept 12 hours last night, he did 1 cry at 4am but went back to sleep, it was amazing!