General Chat

Hi All,

Any tips from all you mums out there? My daughter has recently returned to her teaching post and on cue baby Alfie has started waking in the night and refusing to settle unless brought into mum and dad! While mum sees this as a temp solution to getting some sleep enabling her to face the day, dad seems to think let him cry for a while and wait and see over time if he gets the message!

Alfie goes to bed without much trouble, then wakes anytime after 11.30pm he is 10 months old.

Any tips or ideas guys?

Ann

Ann how does he go to bed
Is he fed off to sleep or is he put to bed awake
This is important before we can solve the problem

Hi,

I think his routine is that he has his bathtime then in his pj's and given his last bottle/story in his room then settled into his cot. I must say that Alfie is a very happy baby not prone to whinging etc during the day. At the moment till July I have Alfie 4 days a week, he has just had a bottle for me and gone to bed no bother.....he is at the moment snoring!

Annx

ok
thats good to know,some people feed there babies off to sleep so that when the babies wake up at night they have no idea how to go off to sleep on their own..
The fact that he goes of to bed on his own is a good thing as it makes things easier to solve.
Is there any chance he is getting cold at that time.
If he is well and he is warm I would go into his room once and settle him back under the covers and say night night Alfie its bed time and walk out.
he will probably cry but it will be fairly short lived.(dad is right on this one)
On the other hand if she takes him into her bed it will quickly become a habit that she will have to work hard and long on breaking so much kinder to let him cry it out a couple of times to get the message.
Edit PS it wil be interesting to see how he goes for you tonight

Tania is right, please don't let them form a habit of this! one or two broken nights now to solve the problem will be far better than the alternative - been there, done it, got the t-shirt and the wrinkles/bags to prove it!
Maz. XX

Hi All,

He does not stay overnight with me, but when I put him for a nap in the day he goes off no bother.

Iasked her the same question this morning re warmth.......he has a sleep suit and blanket, so she did not think this was a problem.....the other thing I thought of was a night light......his room is very dark when he wakes, is it possible that he feels frightened now he is a little older and going in with mum and dad solves that problem?

Annx

it could be Ann
It sounds like he is used to going to sleep on his own and in the past has been able to go off on his own when he woke up (we all wake at night and go back to sleep including babies) so he should be able to get back in to it fairly easily
A night light would do no harm and it might solve the problem.
The other thing of course with her going to work is he may be trying to ascertain she is still there at night,thats why I think she should go in to him once to ascertain all is ok and so that he can see she is there but after that he has to go off to sleep on his own.
he will soon get back into his old sleeping habits

Thanks for the tips, I am sure she will find the answer.....I also thought about giving him a little extra food before his bottle, maybe a small amount of porridge etc, but he wakes in the morning around 6 and is in no rush for his breakfast.....quite happy......so cant see that he is hungry, he has a special formula for night also.

Have just been looking on some of the baby forums, and compared with some of the babies sleeping problems this is a mild one!! I think the key is as you said, not to let it get out of hand by giving in.

Annx

mine did this, as I went back to work! typical! He was having two daytime naps, and the nursery started disturbing him, to make them shorter, he soon dropped the morning one, he just didn't need that much sleep! also don't give him a feed (bottle or anythign) when he wakes at night. I gave O some water sometimes, which he REALLY didn't want! edited to add, we also found the baby sleeping bags good, cos O is a wriggler and loses the covers, then got cold! (still does this, but covers himself back up)

I think its often coincidental. As Maternity leave ends, the babies go through a change in their routine, just at the most stressful time for us mums! and he could be a tad insecure! tell your daughter good luck, and assure her it'll pass really quickly....!

Thanks all for your replies, the little culprit has just gone home with mum as she got away earlier today........Nana is going to put her feet up with a nice cup of coffee!

Annx

uuuuummmmmm......
Is he with a child minder in the day then ???

Prehaps hes unhappy there ......for many reasons ..like dont like the change ...not enough food ...Boys are always hungry evena t this age ,.....

This is no fault of anyones just he MAY be unhappy

Prehaps hes sleeping to late in the afternoon .....

good luck ....

No not with a child minder, with me his nan, so no problems there, I think most children go through a sleep thing at some time in their early years. My son would sleep for England..........and theres is no change there and he's 26 now!

Ann