Baby Wakes Up For 1-2 Hours Every Night!!!

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Baby Wakes Up For 1-2 Hours Every Night!!!

by Yeimun
(Toronto, Canada)

Hi! I have a 15 month-old son. He still doesn't sleep through the night. He goes to bed at 9:00pm and will wake up around 2:00am. Then, he refuses to go back to sleep and he will stay awake for about 2 hours before he goes back to sleep again. This happens everyday!! Please can somebody help me!!

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Baby Wakes Up For 1-2 Hours Every Night!!!

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Nov 04, 2010

Sleep like a baby
by: Viptopics

My baby is 15 months and except for when she has a tooth coming in she sleeps through the night. Here is my schedule:
I wake her between 6am-7am
I put her down for her 1st nap at 9:15am
I wake her at 11:30am
I put her down for her 2nd nap at 3:15pm
I wake her at 4:30pm
I put her to bed at 7:30pm

I believe babies at this age need 2 naps. The maximum awake time should be 3-4 hours. I watch my baby for eye rubbing, clumsiness or puffy eyes. As soon as I see a sign I put her in her crib.
I hope this helps.
Jodi

Nov 05, 2010

Wakeful baby
by: Baby Help Line (Christine)

Oh poor you! You must be exhausted!

What happens when your baby wakes at 2 am? Do you talk to him or put on any lights? Does he cry - or is he just awake? Almost all of my children have gone through phases of being awake at some point during the night and I hear them babbling or playing in their cribs, so it's not unusual for babies to wake... the problem is when they want you to wake too!

If you do interact with him at all, then he probably feels that it's worth his while to wake up - whereas if he doesn't receive any attention, he may stop altogether. I know it's difficult if he's actually crying. I would recommend keeping the lights off and not talking AT ALL - and instead just patting him for a few seconds so that he knows you're there, then leaving him for several minutes. Then, if he's still crying, you can return and do the same thing again. That way, you're not providing any stimulation, but at least he has the reassurance of knowing you're there.

It's also important to provide as much stimulation as you can throughout the day, taking him outside as much as possible to reinforce the idea of being awake in the daylight, asleep in the dark. If you need ideas on what to do together with your baby, have a look at our baby activity tips here.

If he has any long naps in the day, make them shorter or fewer. It can be tempting to let babies have a long daytime nap - especially when you're as tired as you must be - but it creates a vicious circle where they then wake more at night! Take a glance at this baby sleep schedule month by month and see if there are any adaptions you would like to try.

Check your little one's diet - try to ensure none of the foods he eats contain additives such as food coloring, which has been shown to increase hyperactivity in children and could possibly contribute to night waking.

I've always found a musical crib toy invaluable for getting my little ones to sleep - I put it on every time I put them to bed, so it becomes a signal for 'sleep time'. It might help to get into the pattern of using one - by the time my children are around your son's age, they have switched it on themselves at night to soothe themselves back to sleep (we have one of those light up aquariums that just need a tap to turn on).

Also - if you think he may be a light sleeper and waking in response to noise, consider creating white noise to help him stay asleep. We use a box fan for this and it works wonders :)

I do hope that one of these suggestions helps - let us know how you get on.

Christine Albury

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