BlogFrog

This may not be a very popular answer but the only thing that worked for me when my 2 year old started waking in the middle of the night was to let her cry it out. After about a week she learned that I wasn't going to come in there and she stopped waking up.

Oh hon, I feel your pain!!

My daughter was sleeping 6-8 hours through the night as a 6 week old newborn. Hardly ever had trouble with her sleeping, only when she was sick.

So, by some act of karma, I was blessed with a son next that would not sleep through the night without waking until he was 2 and a 1/2 years old!

It turned out that my son had many sensory issues. His body could not go to sleep well nor stay asleep. We finally got him to stay asleep with lots of sensory input... deep pressure massage and brushing and joint compressions.

But, as for your sweet 16 month old, I think you need to get to the root of the problem.

Why do you think she's waking up?

-Is she really hungry/ thirsty? Then try increasing her calories throughout the day. Maybe a big snack before bed?

-Is she just lonely or scared? Does she share a room with a sibling? Is there a night light on? Maybe just going in there to rock her or pat her back might comfort her.

-Is she sick? Ear infection? Reflux? Any kind of pain?

Good luck and I hope its a short lived phase!

OOooh. I wish I could help!! I hope someone can. I was really blessed in this area, but it was nothing that I did.

I'm not at all an expert here... Is she verbal yet? Can she understand if you tell her when you put her to bed that she can not have any water until the next morning? Does she drink a whole lot during the day? Do you think she is actually thirsty or is she playing you? 

I've been guilty of leaving bottles of water in my child's bed so when he woke up, he could just find it and go right back to sleep ;) My youngest is 2 and he still doesn't sleep through the night.

WOW!  Thanks for the input so far!! 

 

To clarify a bit more -  Abby is awesome :-)  She is a very happy baby during the day.  Takes a 1 1/2 - 2 hour long nap each day starting at 11:30am.  If I wake her up before she wakes up on her own she is the crabbiest baby you'd want to meet!

By 6:30pm she is literally falling asleep.  She wakes up each morning by 7am. 

She eats like a HORSE!  Of all my children, she has the best appetite. 

She sleeps in her own room - with a nightlight.  I've tried it without - and either way she falls asleep super super easily. 

I really don't think she is hungry - I just think she was so used to waking up to nurse and then waking up for a bottle - that it's become a habit.  I had done the same with all my children but by 6-8 months they had all started sleeping through the night.

I'm very much OK with the ferber method -  letting them cry it out.  BUT - there are 4 other kids sleeping upstairs here and I know 2 of them would wake up for sure if I let her cry...  

THANKS again everyone!!  I'm very open for suggestions and new ideas!   

At this age, it might be just a habit and while with the lack of sleep and 4 other kids I would do anything and give anything just to keep her quiet. However, maybe it would help if you continued giving her that water, but decreasing the amount. If she gets 4 oz-give her that for 2 days, then for the next night give her 3 oz and then each following night give her just 1 oz down to a half. At that point its not thirst and its just habit. I'd not give her one. Once she doesn't get the 'satifaction" and attention she's looking for she'll soothe herself. Any attention is good attention, even if its bad attention for them in the middle of the night. That being said, I'd probably rule out that it isn't any underlying issue like teething or ear issues. But... if all is good.. thats what I'd do. May work, may not... but trying it can't hurt and you just might get some sleep really soon!

Hang in there sleepy mama... it will get better, at least I'll pray it does for you.

Hmmm...   bottles of water in the crib you say...   you can BET your butt I'm trying THAT ONE tonight!

We did the cry it out... It took 4 nights and the 1st was so bad I went downstairs to sleep in the guest room where I could not hear her. It worked but its hard on the mommy and daddy!

This is the weirdest thing, and to this day I still sort of don't believe it, but my younger son finally started sleeping through the night only when we put him in the same room as his brother.  I had held off for months on putting them in the same room, figuring that the baby would just wake up the older one, but actually the opposite happened.  I mean, the very first night we put him in there with his brother was the very first night he slept through the night.  Maybe my older son set a good example or something.

If you have 5 kids, I doubt that your daughter has her own room, but if she does, you might try putting her in with another of your children and seeing if it's magic like it was for me.