[finallyamom0310]

DD is 22 months tomorrow, wow. Where has all the time gone? That said, I really would like to get her out of the crib by 2 and in to the toddler bed we bought her but I am very nervous about doing so. She isn't climbing out of the crib and I feel very lucky for that...so I know I don't have to rush. I also still have a tall lingerie chest that needs to be attached to the wall and the 6 drawer dresser too. I have been putting that off as she doesn't play in her room without me there so I can supervise.

Anyway, I am skeptical to change her over as she still doesn't sleep through the night every night. We have about one night a week that she makes it through. The rest of the nights, DD gets up at least once, stands in bed yelling "Mommy" in her I need you voice so I go running. I give her a hug, put her back in bed, put her music on and tell her it is time to go back to sleep. It usually works well and then we make it till 5 am ish.

I am not worried about her going to sleep in the bed as I still, don't flame me here, rock her to sleep most nights. DD may end up my only one so I am taking my time with the rocking.

Anyway, I guess what I am asking for advice on is how to get her consistently sleeping through the night so I can relax and get a full nights sleep myself? I have tried the cry to sleep method when I have tried too many times to put her back to sleep but feel I can't do that for my own sanity too much longer. It was different letting her cry before she called out for "Mommy".

Any suggestions?

[Stormster]

GET TOUGH!!! Seriously, you know how I feel. I think we are very much alike in our "pushoverness" but I do sense that I have to be a bit more stern with E and I have been.

She gets up because she knows you do! When you stop getting up she will too.

As for the rocking, i have no clue except more of the same. I think you need DH to rock YOU so you can get through a few nights of crying!

[finallyamom0310]

Yeah, I have thought about it too and thought about maybe just turning the monitor off and then I might be able to survive the night of crying. Then again, what if I miss something big. What a dilema!!!

[Stormster]

I haven't used a monitor since he's like 6 months old but then again his room is right across the hall. What are you listening for? Wouldn't you hear her cry? So when that mama thing happens it's in stereo in your room?
OMG you must be EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!!

[fisbaby]

I think mine is learning that if he just keeps crying eventually I'll get up ... I mean there's only so much I can take! Luckily it's definitely not an every night occurance!

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by finallyamom0310

DD is 22 months tomorrow, wow. Where has all the time gone? That said, I really would like to get her out of the crib by 2 and in to the toddler bed we bought her but I am very nervous about doing so. She isn't climbing out of the crib and I feel very lucky for that...so I know I don't have to rush. I also still have a tall lingerie chest that needs to be attached to the wall and the 6 drawer dresser too. I have been putting that off as she doesn't play in her room without me there so I can supervise.

Anyway, I am skeptical to change her over as she still doesn't sleep through the night every night. We have about one night a week that she makes it through. The rest of the nights, DD gets up at least once, stands in bed yelling "Mommy" in her I need you voice so I go running. I give her a hug, put her back in bed, put her music on and tell her it is time to go back to sleep. It usually works well and then we make it till 5 am ish.

I am not worried about her going to sleep in the bed as I still, don't flame me here, rock her to sleep most nights. DD may end up my only one so I am taking my time with the rocking.

Anyway, I guess what I am asking for advice on is how to get her consistently sleeping through the night so I can relax and get a full nights sleep myself? I have tried the cry to sleep method when I have tried too many times to put her back to sleep but feel I can't do that for my own sanity too much longer. It was different letting her cry before she called out for "Mommy".

Any suggestions?

Honestly? If she isn't crawling out or attempting to yet, I'd leave her. We did this with DD and she transitioned herself at 2 1/2. At 22 months we put the toddler bed up in her room (she tried to get out once and it freaked her out but it was the clue that we needed to get another bed!) and showed it to her, put her pretty quilt that fit on it, bought some cute pillows and that's where we read stories for six plus months. Then one day she wanted to sleep there for naps. And she never returned.

With DS, he jumped out before he was two. He is a climber anyway and it was dangerous. We just put his mattress on the floor (DD was still in the toddler bed and we didn't want to transition until we moved to our new home) with some of the mesh sides on the side and end. It worked really well until DD moved to a twin a few months ago. Now he is in the toddler with one of the mesh sides on it because he is such a wild sleeper!

He was alot harder since we had to train him that night time was not play time. But slowly we've worked through it and 9 out of 10 nights he stays in bed and pretty much goes to sleep on his own. I think it would have been easier had we waited to transition him until he was older. But it was too dangerous to let him jump out of the crib.

Whatever you do, make sure things are child proofed in your house.

[feelingreyt]

I don't blam you at all for rocking your dd to sleep. She's only little once!

HOWEVER, You seriously need some sleep. I don't know how far your room is from hers, but if you feel like she will be safe, turn off the monitor. She is probably just waking up out of sheer habit.

As for the bed issue: I'd leave her in the crib until she starts trying to climb out. Both my older children were about 2 when I put them in the "big" bed, but they were trying to get of the bed themselves.

[humanpitchpipe]

DS started climbing out of the crib at Christmas time. I tried the Toddler Bed for three nights and then I bought a crib tent. It has been the best thing I have ever purchased for him. I know how you feel about the crying and the calls for Mommy. DH and I have a 15 minute rule. If DS was still screaming after 15 minutes, then one of us would go in. It rarely got to that point - most of the time he fell asleep. I too use a monitor, but DH has to sleep with a fan running, so we would not hear DS crying, and his bedroom is far away from ours.

[mommieof2cuties]

I would make her a big girl room, make everything toddler proof, and get a baby gate. Cry it out is the only way that works, we have a cam in each childs room so we can see without hearing. That might help you. Also mine cry loud enough, that we hear them without anything... It will be hard, but you need to make bedtime and nighttime, sleeptime. Very important for everyone! Wish you the best! ((HUGS)) Summer

[cborsa7]

Well, you are not going to like my advice. As long as you are rocking her until she is all the way to sleep she will probably continue to wake. We went through the local Hospitals sleep center program after our son was home 2 months per our pediatricians advice. It was an excellent experience for all of us as we learned a lot. I totally understand your view on crying. I would however really recommend the book Solving your child's sleep problems, regardless of the method you use. It explains sleep patterns and the need to train sleep properly in children. It may give you better perspective on what's happening and ways you can avoid this for your family in which ever method you choose for you.

Our son was a rock me to sleep child. At first, this worked great and then he would wake every couple hours. The process would start again, rock, sleep, wake again. Once we broke this habit he has slept through the night with no issues 7-7. When he wakes, which is normal for all children, HE puts himself back to sleep. To this day if I rock until he is fully asleep he wakes and cries until I rock to sleep again, and again.

Our process now is to go up early enough to rock and have snuggle time until he is drowsy, not a sleep. Once drowsy I lay him down, tuck him in and off he goes. This process took us 3 nights to perfect. Anyway, I highly recommend the book, if nothing else to give you ideas to try and find a solution. I would also try to find a solution before the toddler bed. I couldn't imagine once they are mobile trying to regulate sleep patterns.

Good luck, hope it works out for you!

[OnTheJourney]

I don't flame you for rocking her to sleep, but it does make it harder for the child to know how to go back to sleep when they wake in the night. Also, waking gets to be a huge habit and their little internal clocks get "set". My advice if you are willing, start teaching her to go to sleep by herself. there are many methods, from the cry-it-out to the no-cry (google them for more info). Find one that works and stick to it. Once she is going to sleep by herself, the night time waking may just go away. If not, push her 5-10 extra minutes if possible before going to her and then follow your same method for her going to sleep on her own.

As for the toddler bed - sleep experts recommend children stay in their crib until a) it is no longer safe because of climbing or b) they are potty training. My DS started diving out at 22 months and we had no choice but to put him in a bed. This happened to be 3 days before his sister was born) The first 2 months were He**! No sleep for anyone! The next 2 were a little better, only up 2-3 times a night and naps got to up to an hour! (did I mention he used to sleep 12-14 hours a night and nap 2-4 hours!) 6.5 months later, it is better but he still gets up once at night and only naps about 1.5 hours. He is still over tired and cranky because of it half the time.

My DD who is 6.5 months is staying in her crib until college! I am keeping her in sleep sacks and putting a lid on it if I have to! lol kidding, but there is no way I would ever voluntarily take a child from their crib and put them in a bed after my expeirience with DS. Now of course, each child if different, this is only my experience and opinion!

[cborsa7]

A word about the crying it out method because it gets a bad wrap and a lot misunderstand the process.

Again, I really suggest the book, solve your child's sleep problems. It explains this method step by step, it is so not just letting them cry. If you follow it strictly, you will be surprised how this works, and you HAVE to be consistent or you are back to day 1. Our transition was honestly 3 days, best 3 days I ever invested in. It is not easy day 1. We followed the centers advice but did tweak the program to suit our families needs. We use a crib soother/music player and we also have a fan for white noise because he wakes easily.

Again, I wish you success with whatever works for your family!

[finallyamom0310]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have tried the cry it out method a few times but seem everytime she gets sick we revert back. I had a doctor once tell me that when a child spikes a fever it will wake them up. I guess that is why I still go in, she has been sick on average once a month, so I fear when she wakes it is due to fever.

As for the rocking, I don't put her all the way to sleep. It is more of our routine to fully settle down for the night. She is so gung ho on everything she does that even story time doesn't fully settle her down. Once the lights are off, we rock and I tell her a pretend story about her as her eyes start to close. When she is almost asleep, I put her in the crib and leave. I have tried letting her go to sleep without rocking but those nights she ended up 5 times a night. I know I need to teach her to go to sleep on her own but which first? Sleep through the night or go to sleep on her own?

I did have a weird weekend with her though. Saturday night she got up only once and I didn't hug her or anything as she was still sitting in the bed when I got down there. I just told her to go back to sleep, tucked her in, started her lullabies and she made it till 5 am. Then yesterday she looked exhausted still after her nap so I put her to bed early, 7:30 pm and she made it through the night till 5 am. Maybe she isn't getting enough sleep like E. My husband is at class tonight so I am going to put her to bed early again tonight to see what happens.

[Fran27]

Originally Posted by finallyamom0310

I know I need to teach her to go to sleep on her own but which first? Sleep through the night or go to sleep on her own?

The only way they really sleep through the night IMO is if they know how to fall asleep on their own. Otherwise, every time they wake up (which happens pretty regularly for mine at least), they don't know how to fall asleep on their own again, and cry.

[feelingreyt]

Originally Posted by Fran27

The only way they really sleep through the night IMO is if they know how to fall asleep on their own. Otherwise, every time they wake up (which happens pretty regularly for mine at least), they don't know how to fall asleep on their own again, and cry.

More often than not we rock our 17 month old to sleep at bedtime and he sleeps through the night every night. The only times he wakes up is if he's sick.

He can go to sleep on his own. For his naps I usually let him fall asleep in his crib. Either way, he is an execellent sleepr.