14 month old not sleeping through the night, opinions?

The One Doctor

Hi all,

Our 14 month old daughter doesn't sleep through the night and never has with the exception of a few nights here and there (maybe 20 nights in total). Last night, for example, she slept for 7 hours straight, which is good going.

She's usually asleep by 7.45-8 (recently changed from 8.15-8.30). She gets a bottle to get her to sleep, always has. When she wakes up (usually at 12.30) I give her a bottle, and then again at maybe 4am.

Actually, looking at the above it's obvious where I went wrong. I started feeding her to sleep virtually from birth (she was combination fed). I'll stop that from tonight. Meanwhile, any other advice?

bp

I used a sleep consultant for a similar situation (but younger). She helped me teach baby to sleep and wean off the night time bottle.

Not sure if I can give names but based in cork

ForstalDave

How wet is the nappy when she wakes our son used to wake up because it was wet(not full though) when we adjusted his feeds abit it started sleeping through the night

Dobbit

For the nighttime bottles we reduced the amount by an oz every 3 nights until it was obviously he was waking out of habit and not hunger.

We also sleep trained with the Ferber method (crying with timed check ins), which is not for everyone but worked well for us. If that's not for you, you could try putting a chair in her room, sitting in there when she wakes so she doesn't get upset, and then moving it closer to the door each night until you're out of the room, haven't done it personally but I've heard it works well for others.

Lucuma

We stopped night feeds at 4 months, you're still doing them at 14 months, I'm a bit surprised at that.

I've heard of it for breastfed babies maybe but I'd say for bottle fed I would think 2 night feeds at 14 months is very unusual.

jlm29

I would try giving something extra to eat before bed, and then either reduce the amount of milk in the bottles, or else offer bottles of water (if you think it's habit rather than hunger). She will soon realise it isn't worth waking up for them.

LegacyUser

Children don't just wake up because they are hungry you know. At over a year old, it's quite possible she is waking feeling frightened and afraid or plain old lonely.

This is especially through if she's never (or very rarely) slept alone all night.

If it was me, I'd put her in with you so you both get a good night's sleep. It's a dead cert she won't be looking for a bottle at any time, quickly ruling out hunger. Try it for one night, she will sleep all night long guaranteed.

We have two children, both slept with Mum until about 2. They both went to their own beds without any problems. Our door is always open to them and they know this.....they rarely appear before 7am.

The One Doctor

Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr wrote: »

Children don't just wake up because they are hungry you know. At over a year old, it's quite possible she is waking feeling frightened and afraid or plain old lonely.

This is especially through if she's never (or very rarely) slept alone all night.

If it was me, I'd put her in with you so you both get a good night's sleep. It's a dead cert she won't be looking for a bottle at any time, quickly ruling out hunger. Try it for one night, she will sleep all night long guaranteed.

We tried her sleeping with us many times, she tossed and turned and we all got very little sleep.

From my research, children wake a lot during the night (studies were done with night cameras in bedrooms, the majority of kids woke 10 times or more per night), but the majority go straight back to sleep. I'm sure it's something obvious that I'm doing or not doing.

I'm currently trying to dissociate the bottle from sleeping, i.e I'm putting her to sleep in her cot without a bottle. It has improved things a bit so next I'll start watering down her bottle.

Thanks for all the constructive advice so far.

Lucuma

yeah we give 18 mo her bedtime milk in a sippy cup after she's been changed for bed but she's still walking around the place. We couldn't give it in the cot coz her teeth have to be brushed after the milk so it's milk, then brush teeth, then into the cot

Dolbert

I suspected that our guy was waking for comfort more than anything so one night we decided to leave him and see what happened. Lo and behold after a couple of minutes he went back to sleep and from the next night on slept through, like it just clicked. I'm not saying it'll be as easy as that but it's a possibility.

LegacyUser

They say ten mins is a key time for them to resettle.But if she can't resettle herself without the bottle, you will have to give her a chance to learn how.We do use a soother, but ours also has teddy, and a fleece blanket which are sleeping necessities, just from them being in the bed with her from when she was small (she's 20 months now).It took a while though, she was about 16 months before she actively looked for these items to sleep.I just kept putting them in and telling her here's teddy and here's your blanket and soother- now she looks for them.

You could try something similar as you reduce the bottle-giving her teddy or something as part of going to sleep (if you dont already).Wakings during the night, do the same thing.Over and over.With ours, I didn't do cry it out, but I went into her every ten mins if she woke and basically resettled her with blanket and bear and soother.After a few nights, she was fine.It still happens mind you, you can have a few nights of a phase, but once your response is consistent, thats the key.

And yes-it's torturous lying awake at 2am counting out ten min slots but for the sake of a few nights, its worth it.

Dolbert

Would she take water from her bottle? That way you could put her down with it and there wouldn't be an issue with milk pooling in her mouth

Pessimist

Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr wrote: »

Children don't just wake up because they are hungry you know. At over a year old, it's quite possible she is waking feeling frightened and afraid or plain old lonely.

This is especially through if she's never (or very rarely) slept alone all night.

If it was me, I'd put her in with you so you both get a good night's sleep. It's a dead cert she won't be looking for a bottle at any time, quickly ruling out hunger. Try it for one night, she will sleep all night long guaranteed.

We have two children, both slept with Mum until about 2. They both went to their own beds without any problems. Our door is always open to them and they know this.....they rarely appear before 7am.

Are you meant to co-sleep, or in this case bed share, with a baby that's not breastfed though? I thought under 18 months the baby should only sleep next to breastfeeding mother or alone in their own cot?
Sorry, I honestly don't know as only come from breastfeeding background and don't want to give poor advice.

Saying that, from listening to bottle-feeding friends, could you try giving water instead of the bottle? Or reading a story, singing lullaby, rubbing back, to try to get little one back to sleep without the bottle? I think the bottle could be bad for tooth decay at night. And once the baby is settling without a bottle, you may find they stop waking up.

okedoke

I could have written the op a few weeks ago. Same story with our 16 month old. He was late going onto solid food (i.e. not-liquidised) but once he did, he immediately started sleeping through the night. Assuming he is getting more from the solid food than he was previously (timing always be a coincidence though).

tinkerbell

Pessimist wrote: »

Are you meant to co-sleep, or in this case bed share, with a baby that's not breastfed though? I thought under 18 months the baby should only sleep next to breastfeeding mother or alone in their own cot?
Sorry, I honestly don't know as only come from breastfeeding background and don't want to give poor advice.

Saying that, from listening to bottle-feeding friends, could you try giving water instead of the bottle? Or reading a story, singing lullaby, rubbing back, to try to get little one back to sleep without the bottle? I think the bottle could be bad for tooth decay at night. And once the baby is settling without a bottle, you may find they stop waking up.

The Safe Sleep Seven (from LLL):

If a mother is:
1. A non-smoker
2. Sober
3. Breastfeeding

And her baby is:
4. Healthy
5. On his back
6. Lightly dressed and unswaddled

And they:
7. share a safe surface

Then the baby’s risk of SIDS is no greater than in a crib, and any breathing hazards have been hugely reduced.

LegacyUser

tinkerbell wrote: »

The Safe Sleep Seven (from LLL):

If a mother is:
1. A non-smoker
2. Sober
3. Breastfeeding

And her baby is:
4. Healthy
5. On his back
6. Lightly dressed and unswaddled

And they:
7. share a safe surface

Then the baby’s risk of SIDS is no greater than in a crib, and any breathing hazards have been hugely reduced.

I ignore what all of these groups say. I'm a reasonably intelligent adult, I know when my child is safe or not. I need the "safe seven" as much as I need the green cross code