19 month old - will not sleep throught the night - HELP!!!
  Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 12:05 pm
Post subject: 19 month old - will not sleep throught the night - HELP!!! Hi,
I posted on here a few months ago to see if anyone was going through something similar to me and could offer advice. Update: My 19 and a half month old has been waking during the night, EVERY NIGHT, screaming/crying for the past 4 months. We've been back and forth to the doctors who can't find anything wrong. They thought it may have been colic at first but gripe water doesn't seem to help her sleep any better. I've spoken to someone from a sleep clinic and she suggested going in there every 3 minutes when she wakes up to reassure her that everything's ok and leave her to finally go back to sleep. This doesn't seem to be working and both my husband and i just don't know where else to turn. We both work full time and, not only is this lack of sleep starting to affect our jobs, it's also affecting our marriage. I just don't know how or when this will end but it's not looking good. I've been reading about parents giving their toddlers children's Benadryl to help them sleep through the night, even though it says not to use in children under 6. Has anyone ever done this? I feel like such a bad mother to even consider this, but I am willing to try anything now (as long as it's safe of course). I hope someone can help. I feel so on my own, I just don't know where else to turn. Thank you.xx Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 6:49 pm
Post subject: Don't ever give a child medicine that isn't suitable for them! Its for aged 6 and over for a reason! I know its difficult but sleep deprivation isn't a reason to drug your kid.
Have you tried controlled crying? My boys wouldnt sleep through the night til they were 14 months. It helped when they got their own room too as when i was sleeping in with them they knew if they carried on crying, i would get up. But i also did controlled crying as a way to get them to go to sleep in the first place and it does work. You just need to be strong and persevere x _________________ 
 Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:27 pm
Post subject: How long have you been doing the going in every three minutes and what do you do when you go in?
We did this with our dd when she was a young baby and it did work but it did take over two weeks to realy see a big improvement. The thing to remember is as little eye contact as you can and minimum physical contact, try to avoid picking up. But another thing you could try, which has helped our ds with self settling, is going in as soon as he cries and then patting him until he goes to sleep, not picking him up. Now we dont actually need to do this every time and he wil self settle quite often, just me kissing him and satiny good night. In the middle of the night, this method helped me cut out a milk feed. The ides is that they learn they are not gonna get picked up, but they are not fearful that you are gonna leave because you are there with them (through the tears and all, as there will be some) MingoMayo was recommended this method with her son and it has really worked for her too. Mandy xx _________________   Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:57 pm
Post subject: Just wondering if it could be night terrors? My little boy goes through phases of these and they normally occur between midnight and 3am. He's not really awake, doesn't talk, just screams. Going in there for a minute and trying to settle him and whisper seems to work for him.
You have my sympathy but I agree that I wouldn't give medicine meant for a 6 year old. If you are doing controlled crying then be really consistent however you decide to do it. I've never found classic controlled crying to work for my two as going in seems to disturb them more so tend to leave them to it once I've been in to check they are ok (obviously I haven't let them scream all night!!) x _________________ 
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