Night time

[Summer70]

I posted a while ago when Labrador pup was about 12 weeks & crying 2-3 times overnight. She’s now 19 weeks & still not sleeping through & we are now thoroughly fed up & exhausted. Sadly we are not enjoying her as we haven’t had a full nights sleep in 11 weeks. She goes to sleep fine after last wee at 11. Then cries & barks somewhere between 4-5. Sometimes she rushes out for a wee or poo & other times just meanders around the garden. We don’t touch her or speak to her & she goes back to sleep for an hour & starts yipping again. If it’s too early we go down & say settle down & she usually will for another half hour. I never get back to sleep after first wake up. Not keen on leaving her to cry as sometimes she does really need a poo & we have a son who just does not cope well on lack of sleep. We were so committed to having her & doing it well but feel broken. All other pups in her litter sleeping 11-7 since 12 weeks! Is this normal or should she be sleeping through too? Last meal 6pm & we take up her water at 8.30pm. Thanks for any advice.

We have a 6.5 month lab and his sleeping did take a while. He now sleeps reliably until 7/8 so you will get there. One thing we tried is to save some of his food and give it to him right before bed time in case he was walking up hungry. I'd also recommend blocking any light sources from the room if you haven't already done so. Good luck!

Mine was still whining in the night at 9 months old, it got to the point I could take no more and we were all exhausted. I gave in and let him sleep on my bed and that solved it. He now just sleeps outside the bedroom door. I don't think he could cope with being in the living room in his crate when we were all upstairs in bed.

Thanks for replying. I’m really not keen to have her in my room as I’m such a light sleeper. Is it acceptable do you think at this age to just ignore her? Happy to go down & start day at 6/6.30.

He is a baby. It’s just like having a human baby. It’s the same.

My puppy is 15 weeks at wakes at 5am every morning. He goes in crate at 11 pm and I was classing that as a fairly good night ?? Obviously would love to start the day at 6 ish and hoping as it gets colder and darker he will sleep in later. We don't give him breakfast until 6 ish and he will usually go back to sleep on the sofa for an hour. Hope the sleep deprivation eases up for you.

Puppy pads and try ignoring? Seems like there's a bit of a routine established now which may need to be broken. I never got up in the night with mine, he d been puppy pad trained but within a week or two he seemed to stop using them.

Our lab puppy is 7.5months now. She was exactly the same, I kept thinking why isn't she sleeping longer - sometimes she was desperate for the toilet, sometimes just a bit lonely! From 5-6 months it got very slowly better! Now she is somewhere in between 7-7.30 each day, has a toilet break then nap on the sofa together until 8.30ish! It will get better, every pup is different. One thing I would say is experiment with the timing of the last meal. We kept reading people giving their dinner at 4-5pm, when we did this she called us down for a toilet break at 4-5 am! When she has dinner at 6-6.30 she still has a toilet break before bed, but the next one is later the next morning

@RedHelenB My dogs were the same. I puppy pad trained them. Its so much easier.

Well I’m hoping we are fixed 🤞 We have gone back to crate sleeping, really keeping her awake in the evening with a late walk, training & fun games. Bed at 10.30 & totally ignoring her til 6.30. A bit of whining a couple of nights but last night was perfect. She’s not distressed at all when we go down & weirdly she’s calmer in the day! It could all change but hopefully sleep 💤 is restored! Thanks for your help & suggestions

Please leave her water down over night