how can i get my DS to settle back to sleep during the night????

[sandybee1]

my DS is 11.5 months and he will go to sleep in his cot by himself with no problems. But he still wakes up maybe once or twice duing the night (occasionally he will sleep through). When he wakes he will scream and stand up in the cot until myeslf or my DH go into him. We will give him his dummy and he will usually lie back down and go to sleep once he has seen us. Does anyone have any advice on how to get him to settle himself? Should we just leave him to cry it out? (I must admit when he wakes at 2am and i have to get up for work at 6.30 it feels easier to just get up and see to him rather then have him crying for god knows how long!!!)

mine went through this stage - part of separation anxiety i was told and just needed to know that you are there - it's a pain for a little while, but he grew through it - we just kept going in, settling him back in his cot, told him we loved him and then left - our son only took a couple of weeks and was then ok again sleeping through

If my dd is properly crying and not just moaning, I will always go to her quickly. I pick her up and give her a quick cuddle and then lay her back down. Depending on how upset she is, it can take one quick cuddle or 10-20 minutes of picking up and putting back down till she settles.

She doesnt wake often in the night so I know that she isnt just crying for the hell of it but that something (even if I dont know what!) has disturbed her.

I have never left her to cry for longer than a minute or so and she is a great sleeper the vast majority of the time.

thanks for the advice guys, he woke twice last night - the first time went alseep straight away. Then he woke an hour later and wouldn't go back down. I think he is starting to play up when i go in as he knows if he keeps crying i will eventually give in and either pick him up or take him into our bed (sometimes if it's been a bad night i start to panic about the lack of sleep and having to get up for work and i give in!!). However last night i finally got him to lie back down and when i left the room he started crying again so i just left him and he cried for about a minute or two and then went back to sleep - so i think i just need to be tougher. I'll try this tactic again tonight......fingers crossed