We just switched our daughter from a 2 nap to a 1 nap about 2 weeks ago. Although she occasionally wakes up standing in the middle of the night before the nap switch, all we had to do was put her down on her bed, and she'll be asleep again. But in the last few weeks, she had been waking up between 1am and 3am, again standing in her crib. We tried the Ferber method to go in to check her after 5 mins, then 10 mins, etc. But she just would not go back to sleep and will stand up right away once I leave the room. And recently, she will fight to stand when I try to lay her on the crib. And for her one nap, she would wake up after 45 mins or an hour, standing in her crib crying also. I looked at the baby monitor, there were a few times at night and during nap time, that she would first scream, then sit up in her crib and cricle around as if she was looking for something, then stood up in her crib and cried. I am not sure if she was dreaming or what the cause is. The only solution I have so far is to pick her up from her crib right after she cried, and go to our living room sofabed. Then she will roll off from me holding her and she will fall asleep on her own in a few minutes; and I will sleep next to her. Sometimes I felt she still wakes up, but not sure if she saw me next to her and fell back asleep or if she just likes the sofabed. But if I let her cry for awhile and then pick her up later, then it will take her more than 45 mins to go back to sleep. I am afraid that picking her up and sleeping in the sofabed with her will create a long term problem that she'll just don't want to sleep in her room anymore. She has no problem going to sleep in her crib. Just that after she wakes up, she just doesn't go back to sleep. We trained her when she was 10 monthes old when she wakes up a few times at night and needs to be held to sleep. But back then, she does not stand in the crib and we just use the Ferber method to check every 5 and 10 mins, and it worked after 3 nights. But with her standing, it seems like the method doesn't work anymore. So not sure if there are other problems. She also started walking on her own about a month back.
Finally, the problem was solved about two weeks ago. The key was an earlier bed time. I suppose that since it was cut to one nap, we need to push the bed time early since she is not making up the time in her one nap. On the first night, we put her to bed at 6:30pm, she woke up at night crying, we went in and tell her that we are not picking her up, and she needs to sit down, lay down to sleep. It took 45 mins before she would lay down by herself and then fall asleep. We went in about 4 times using the Ferber method. This persisted for 3 nights, then no more night wakening. And she would sleep from 6:30pm to around 7am, then sleeps around noon for a nap of an hour to a little less than two hours. But I think she was making up her lack of sleep in the beginning, so she slept until around 7am, now she normall awakes around 6am. But still between a total of 12 to a little more than 13 hours each day. And thank you for the mom's help who posted. Even though they might not be the exact solution I used, it is encouraging to know there are moms out there being supportive trying to help.
You didn't say why you changed her nap schedule, but you might want to back to the old schedule. THe old saying is "the more they sleep the more they sleep". Having said that the developmental milestone of walking often disrupts a child's sleep. Good luck!
By the time my son was 2 years old he was totally done with naps. If he was tired he would just lay down on the couch for a quick nap and he would be on his way again.
Consider cutting out the naps all together so he will sleep better at night. My son slept 12 hours for years. I still catch him getting extra sleep at age 19.
Good Luck
The biggest thing I learned when putting my two yr old down for naps was to not pick him up. Instead I would check on him at first after about 15 mins of crying then give him his blanket, tell him it's time to finish his nap, and then lay him down and let him cry another 15 mins, etc. I would say the first time he cried for a while but slowly I just increased the time I went back in there and now he'll sleep for a good two hours at nap time. I guess you could give her something that she can use to sooth herself. Of course it would have to be something you felt is safe but my son sleeps so wild the blanket most times then not ends up at the other end of the bed. Maybe that will help. Besides I think the toughest part is just hearing them cry, but they live :) GOOD LUCK
I think the only reliable method that works is Cry It OUt. It won't hurt her. Yes it will be a rough few days but then she will learn to fall back off to sleep on her own. In stead of going in to her, leave her. Yes she will cry and sometimes for a long time but she will eventually learn that she is supposed to be asleep and will go back to sleep. If you keep going and getting her, you will have years of trouble and it won't be good for her health or yours. Weisblut's book "Healthy sleep habits, happy baby" is very good and he points out that healthy sleep is really just as essential as healthy food and that means learning to sleep undisturbed in her own bed and you sleeping in yours. good luck.
Thanks for asking this question. I am having the same problem with my 18 month old waking up at night. I took her to the dr. yesterday, she's fine. I'm not sure what to do either. My 3 year old never went through this. If something works for us, I'll let you know :) Good Luck!
Think about possible returning to old schedule until she works naturally into a new one...My other thoughts that if she is waking so much....Could be teething or an ear infection. Those two issues tend to disrupt sleeping patterns at nap time and throughout the night.
I'm assuming that since she is walking she knows how to go down from the standing position. Can she do that in her crib? If not, just hold her legs and arms and go through the motions with her until she catches on. Thanks for giving me the name. I have always used the Ferber method for sleep problems, so I recommend that you stick with it for a little longer. Knowing that this too will pass, decide that there might be a night or two of lots of crying and use the method with some alterations. After 15 min go with 20, then 25, etc. Don't pick her up. Before you put her down for the night, give her a big hug and say in a serious tone, just as if she understands every word, "Tonight you have to go back to sleep if you wake up, no pick up" Then do it. Let her see you during one of the check ins so that she cries so hard that she gets exhausted and falls asleep. She will not want to repeat that, and the next night will cry less. You will have your good sleeper back again. She is a pretty late walker, talk to your Dr. about any possible connection between that and the sleep problem. IS she possibly sleep walking, I don't think so at such a young age. You are correct to worry about her forming a habit of the couch sleeping, and remember the twos and threes are coming up, you don't want to enter them with her already manipulating you.
This is very foriegn to me but I'll give you my 2 cents. Babies have lots of seperation anxiety at this age. When she's crawling around in her crib looking for something it is YOU! She sleeps better in the sofa bed because she is next to YOU. If you woke in your bed alone and cried out at night and your husband ignored you, would you feel safe and easily return to sleep? Babies need closeness and physical comfort. It's okay to pick your baby up, it's okay to sleep next to her. It's not a long term problem to have a child that is attached and wants to be with her mother. Children eventually sleep all night by themselves no matter what we do. A better book to read might be "Nighttime Parenting" by Dr. Jay Gordon. I think that's the titles anyway.
