Question:

How do I get me 19 month old son to sleep through the night?
Putting him to bed at night isn't too difficult. We have gotten into a routine of supper, family time, bath, wheel of fortune (he loves letters), and then bed, story, sleep...we play music quietly in his room at night, and he now has a night light. he gets a light snack with his show to fill him up, he has a cup of water in his crib, he doesn't get to watch much tv, and we even ask that people don't scare him so that he doesn't have nightmares. He even has a favorite stuffed kitty he takes to bed with him. It never fails, he gets up AT LEAST once a night. He doesn't need changing, or feeding, or anything, just consoling...but sometimes he goes right back to sleep and sometimes hes up for an hour or more. I REALLY need a good nights sleep. please help! He gets up every morning around 7am, and goes to bed around 9pm. We cut out one nap in the day, so he now only has one, about an hour. Tried cutting out both, then hes so over tired he won't go to bed, and still gets up (just more). He has NEVER had a bottle, so we don't want to start that now (he's almost 2) and if we let him have more than one nap during the day then he will definatly wake up in the night, 3 or more times. But he goes to bed REALLY well to start, it's just keeping him asleep that seems to be the problem.

Answers:

A-Best: When your son wakes up, just leave him in the crib alone. If he is not sick, hungry or needs changing don't bother him. He probably got use to that when he wakes up, you are going to be by his side, he might just want company. Don't talk to him or bother him for a few days and he will realize that every time I wake up mommy is not there.  

A: Well you can try to let him take small naps during the day, but not alot, that way you will have a not like before baby sleep but you feel much better.  

A: Get a chart and let him pick out some stickers that he likes. Then you tell him that if he stays in his crib all night without crying that he gets a sticker on his chart. Tell him that once he gets ten stickers, that he gets to help you make cookies or he gets a hotwheels car or a toy.  

A: Ugh ... I've been there! The fact that he sometimes goes right to sleep is encouraging. What do you do when he is up for an hour or more? My daughter did not stop until I stopped taking her out of her crib during those times. I was there and would rub her back, go away for a bit, come back if she still needed me, etc...It was a hard couple of nights but it took only two days and then we both slept much better - and as a result had better days together.  

A: give him a bottle?  

A: This is normal he is growing and the brain is also changing it is getting ready to be a little child now instead of a baby. My daughter was that way. She had night terrors and woke up like clock work every 3am screaming. this went on for about 6 months then just stopped. When she was 3 years old it started up again. I asked the doctor and he told me not to worry it was normal. Their little brains are growing and so are the bones and other things. It is a lot for a young body. They will grow the most at this age.  

A: You might try keeping him up a little later. Some kids just don't need as much sleep as others do. Mine use to wake up to and it was more to see if mom and dad were there. Take heart we've all been there.