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Submitted by: Baby Help Line

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Hi Riana! You situation with your baby staying awake at night is tough but quite common. Two of our own kids did the same in periods and I've talked to many other parents that experience the same. While this won't go on for ever even if you do nothing, there are a few tricks you can use to try and stop this behavior faster. First of all, <a href="http://www.easybabylife.com/baby-sleep-schedule.html">have a look at this baby sleep schedule.</a> See if your baby's sleep habits are more or less in line with the schedule. If your baby sleeps a lot more during the day, this can be a reason for his waking up in the middle of the night. If there's nothing to fix there, head over to both the sleep environment and how your baby falls asleep. Is the room really dark? Is he full when he goes to bed? Not too cold or too warm? Is there a risk that you disturb him when you go to bed? Some babies wake up because their parents start talking, put the lights on or snore loudly next to where they sleep. If all this is fine too, then consider how you put your baby to sleep. Maybe it is time to help him fall asleep on his own if he doesn't already? This is usually quite an effective way to help babies help themselves go back to sleep at night if they wake up. You can either use the stroller to rock him to sleep instead of in your arms or put him in his bed or in you bed lying next to him rather then having him in your arms. I'm not very fond of the cry-it-out method personally. There are other ways! Take it gradually and lift him up if he gets frustrated, help him calm down and then put him down again. If you do use the stroller (and if you have a safe stroller where he can't fall off), you can try keeping him in the stroller for a couple of nights. The second you hear that he starts waking up, start pushing the stroller back and forth to make him go back to sleep. This can be an effective way to break his nighttime habits. The great thing with this method is that you can take turns. When my son started waking up at 4 months old, I used the stroller. After 3 nights he slept for 8 hours without a sound. But he was quite used to falling asleep in the stroller, so that is the first step. For more ideas on how to help your baby sleep better, I'd really recommend <a href="http://www.easybabylife.com/baby-book-tips.html">The No-Cry Sleep Solution. You can read my review of it here.</a> Good luck! And let us know about your progress! /Paula

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