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  2. Mandy on

    I could definitely use this. My little girl used to sleep great, 6-7 hours at a time by 7 weeks but now at 9 weeks she has started waking up every hour or two in the night and won’t go back to sleep without nursing. I haven’t changed anything in our routine. I have no idea what’s going on!

    Reply
  6. Nichole on

    Need this consult for my 2 year old. We have new born twins and with all of them up at night makes it very difficult for mommy and daddy.
    Thanks for doing this contest 🙂

    Reply
  7. Carole on

    Although my little one generally sleeps well, we do run into a few hiccups once in a while. Lately he takes a little longer to fall asleep for his naps. Should I shorten them, and if yes, do they get shortened at the beginning (by putting him to down a little later) or at the end (by getting him up earlier). Not sure about this one.

    Reply
  8. Michelle on

    I would love to have help with sleep. My little one hit his rolling milestone and wants to practice, at all hours in the crib. Now has developed a habit of getting up at 3 am and can not get back to sleep.

    Reply
  9. Shana on

    3 kids. 4 yr old sleep walks/has night terrors 3-5x per week. 2.5 occasionally takes 2 hrs to fall asleep (if we miss the “window”, & my 5 month old will occasionally do a 4 hr stretch, but hardly naps either. Help!!!!

    Reply
  10. Kristen T on

    My daughter is struggling to self soothe. She throws her legs up jn the air and slams them down, and rubs her head from side to side. She also needs a fuzzy blanket and soother to get to sleep but I would like to wean her from those associations. And she is still waking during the night for a feed or two and she’s six months! I could really use a few minutes of your help and this contest would help us greatly! Thank you!

    Reply
  11. Rachel on

    Yes please!!! I can’t afford a sleep consult but really need one: my 8.5 month old wakes frequently overnight, then wakes early and takes inconsistent naps during the day.

    Reply
  12. Tania on

    I have a 6.5 month old little boy. We’ve come a LONG way since day one, he’s sleeping 11-12 hours per night with one waking, but we could use some pointers on changing sleep habits as he grows older.

    Reply
    • Jocelyn on

      Hit send too soon, must be the lack of sleep. Our biggest struggle right now is we can not get our four month old to sleep longer than an hour or two straight at night after hitting the three month growth spurt. We’d love to get some more solid hours of sleep, back to the four hour stretches we used to have.

      Reply
  14. Sara Harrison on

    We really could use this. We have a 7.5 month old daughter who refuses to go to sleep. I have been co-sleeping with her for about 2 months and have just decided that enough is enough and want her to sleep in her crib. The whole time she’s been sleeping with me she’s been napping in her crib. Now she refuses. We have tried to sit with her, tried a soother, I’ve left her to cry it out for over an hour and she still won’t go to sleep. She’s just figured out how to stand up in the crib and can’t get back down. So that’s another issue.

    Reply
  15. Cindy on

    I certainly could benefit from the Mothers Day competition… My little guy is almost 4mo old, and does not nap nor does he he sleep longer than 4hrs at a time in the night. I’m exhausted!!!

    Reply
  16. Laura on

    I need this because My 10 month old doesn’t sleep through the night. I can’t try the cry it out method because she shares a room with my 3 year old. (Also, I’m so tired, it took me a few tries to write this without massive amounts of spelling errors. lol)

    Reply
  17. Andrea A on

    My 1 year old has not once slept through the night, and I can count on 1 hand the number of times he’s slept for 5 hours straight. He was at the point where we could put him down as walk away and he would go to sleep, but things are regressing. After a string of teething and colds he’s now waking up every 1.5-2 hours and screams until I BF him. I’m returning to work very soon and am dreading how the lack of sleep will affect me and my ability to do my job.

    We need to figure out sleep!

    Reply
  18. Michelle on

    Because of you, our baby is a great sleeper!!! Thank you ever so much…

    We are moving soon and this free consult would be a great help! 🙂

    Reply
  19. rachel d'Antuono on

    I wqnt my baby to just use blankets not a.sleep sack but she kicks them off and the sleep sack seems like it would do beans to keep her warm anyways.

    Reply
  20. Bonnie on

    My 20 month old is generally an ok sleeper. Our challenge is the way he goes down – we currently use the fade away method but it takes a long time sometimes and I would like him to know how to go to sleep on his own now so that when we transition later to a toddler bed, he will be able to stay in it hopefully 🙂

    Reply
  24. Pamela C. on

    I would love this! My second child is 10 weeks old and has reflux. My first child was and is such a great sleeper. I’m having a hard time with my son in getting him to sleep ad stay asleep with the reflux. Any help or tips would be so helpful. Thank you!

    Reply
  25. Suzanne on

    I need help with getting my 14 month old on a consistent nap schedule. He is waking up early in the morning so needs to go to sleep earlier for naps too. I am going back to work soon so it will only get worse. Yikes!!!

    Reply
  27. angela on

    I have a 9 month that has a nap in the morning for an hour and afternoon for 2 hours. she is up from her last nap at 5 and down for the night at about 9. Shen then sleeps for 2 hours and then is up every hour through out the night. She will only go back to sleep if breast feed at these times. We then wake at 7 am and don’t try to put her down again till nap time 9am. We have tried letting her cry it out and she just cries all night long. From this experience the longest period of sleep we got was 4 hours. Now that she is teething we don’t get that anymore and don’t think we could let her cry it out again for such little gains.

    Reply
  29. Jackie on

    Hi there. My biggest issue at the moment is too-short naps. My little guy is 10 months old. He sleeps well at night; other than the occassional cry/grunting-type noises, he sleeps between 11 and 12 hours. Naps, however, are a bit of a struggle. He used to nap for around 75 minutes twice a day, but now he rarely sleeps more than 30 minutes at a time. I was wondering if he’s perhaps ready to transition to 1 nap, but he seems quite tired mid-morning, which makes me think he still needs that morning nap. But I have no idea. A sleep consult would be helpful.

    Reply
  30. Jen on

    My biggest sleep struggle comes from my 10 month old twin babies. They are polar opposites from one another. She used to sleep through the night from a young age, he did frequent feedings; she was a great napper, him…not so much. The one thing they can agree on is they don’t sleep through the others cries. She came into our room to sleep in a play pen for a couple of days while we were to sleep train him. That was months ago and she’s still in our room! Now she’s waking up every hour or two! My singles were never this complicated.

    Reply
  31. Cailie on

    My almost 4 month old will not sleep for more then an hour stretch at a time. He is constantly waking up and wanting to nurse himself to sleep. He is exhausted & I’m exhausted. We need help getting him to sleep!

    Reply
  32. Michelle B. on

    With a 6 wk old, I’m eager to gain some insight on healthy sleep habits for my daughter. I’d love to win mini consult!

    Reply
  33. Jamie on

    I would love to win this because I know how amazing you are and what you helped us to accomplish – and I would love to give this as a gift to someone I know who needs it very much 😀

    Reply
  34. Cassie Evans on

    I could definitely use this as well! My 2.5 yr old used to be a great sleeper, now is constantly waking up and coming into our bed and wont seem to sleep anywhere else. She also goes to bed extremely late. Its just me who isn’t sleeping! We are also having another baby in July.

    Reply
  35. Amy on

    Boy could I use some help! I am stuck between a rock (my 25 month old twin girls) and a hard place (my 3.5 and 4.5 yr old boy and girl) at bed time. We transitioned the twins to toddler beds pretty early (19 months, crib jumpers) and struggled to get them into a good bedtime process after having been amazingly good sleepers from birth. They finally started to settle down and we moved house – and they have had a terrible time getting to sleep at night since (almost a month now!) Problem is I’m usually alone putting all 4 to bed, and their issues are disrupting bedtime for the older two – making for some very rough and cranky days and bedtimes for everyone. I would LOVE a consultation to help us through this tough time!

    Reply
  37. Marie Tracy on

    I like the jar of marbles idea. Any tips on how to do this with twins? My girls will be 3 in July. Not sure if we should do 2 sets with 4 jars?

    Reply
  38. Salma on

    Great tips. We are are going through this at our house right now and trying to figure it out with both our 5 year old and almost 3 year old.

    Reply
  39. Danielle on

    Such a great post. I’ve started weaning my 6 month old from the pacifier. I give him a little buddy to sleep with. He cries a bit at the strt if the nap so I out my hand on him or pat his bum a bit once he calms down I stop and he seems to fall asleep. Is this ok?

    Reply
  40. Tara on

    One question that has crossed my mind with my babies is when is it appropriate to introduce a stuffed animal, blanket, pillow, etc into the sleep environment? It is after 1 year? Also, there are crib mattresses which are firm for babies and softer for toddlers, but no explanation from the manufacturer of when the child can/should switch to a softer mattress (does toddler mean 1 year old/walking/18 months?). I always err on the side of caution, but I’d be interested in what you think about what age it is safe to make these changes.

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hi Tara! Yes you shouldn’t be introducing anything in your childs crib until the child is at least 1 years old. In terms of firmness of mattress I don’t think it’s necessary to change the crib mattress until the child is in a big kid bed 🙂 I hope that helps.

      Reply
  42. Kelly Hamilton on

    PLease help! my 6 month old boy was sleeping quite well until he hit the three month mark and since then it has gone from bad to worse. We have been up the past four weeks from 10:00pm to 4:00 am….he’s crying himself to sleep and waking within 25 minutes. We haven’t had more than two hours of sleep a night in four weeks. It is miserable at our home and starting to wake my three and a half year old too. How do I go about getting a sleep consultant when I do not have Facebook or Twitter?

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      It’s important that we synch our sleep to our natural biological sleep rhythms. When we do this we are able to get proper restorative sleep. If we sleep against our biological clocks we sleep but aren’t able to get the deep sleep we need to properly rest and repair. So it’s important that the quality of sleep we get is just as important as the amount of sleep we get. I hope that helps. Thank you for commenting.

      Reply
  44. Kelsey on

    How do we find our baby’s rhythm?? I’ve been experimenting with bedtimes for my 6 mo old (5 months corrected) and I can’t seem to find the best bedtime for her. She used to have the best sleep when she went to bed at 9 but I moved it to 7/7:30 for a couple weeks and after suffering through awful sleeps I finally caved and moved it back.. Only now 9:00 is no good anymore either! Help!

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hi Kelsey! I always say bedtime depends on how daytime sleep went. I’m an early bedtime pusher 🙂 At 6 months of age I’d like to see bedtime anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 depending on how naps went.

      Reply
  45. NS on

    Alana, we have a newborn (6w) and a toddler (2y) at home. Most days it’s just my wife managing both alone, and it takes an hour or longer to get the newborn to nap (won’t close his eyes). We can’t really leave the toddler unsupervised so it’s hard to get our newborn into a quiet, toddler-free environment for naps. Any tips on that and how to get the newborn to close his eyes would be WONDERFUL!

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hello there! Congratulations! The good news is there are no rules at 6 weeks of age 🙂 As long as the baby has a safe sleep environment you can tell your wife to not put pressure on herself to create too many sleep rules. At 6 weeks of age baby needs to be consistently fed and rested and if mom has to help out with sleep at this age that’s okay. Have her connect with me once baby get’s a bit older. We start wokring with clients at 4 months of age and we can put a toddler free sleep plan together at that point 😉

      Reply
  46. Nina on

    I look for sleepy signs throughout the day and try to get my 3mo old to sleep within each 2-hour wakeful window. Am when ever we are home that sleep is in her crib. But I can’t figure out what her bedtime should be…we wind down at 7 with a bath and a long nursing season and she’s usually down by 8:30, but recently she has gone from sleeping 4-7 hours on the front end of the night to 2 hour stretches, waking all the time. Am I blowing it with bed time or is there another reason? (We also recently transitioned her from a rock and play to a bassinet. The rock and play used to keep her linking sleep cycles, but as she’s grown too big for it she was waking more so we thought it was time to try and get her to sleep flat.)

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hello there! I always say there are no rules at this age so try and take the pressure off a bit. You are already doing so great by creating a more consistent sleep environment, one that is more conducive to sleep, and focusing on the timing of sleep. You can’t quite look at the clock yet but at 3 months you are looking at a 7-8pm bedtime and what’s more important is not what time she goes down at but how long she stays awake per sleep cycle. Make sure to not stretch her out too long to avoid her becoming overtired. You got this mama! In a few weeks you can start to take more control 🙂

      Reply
  47. Sara on

    How long do you suggest leaving them after they wake up from only 45 mins. My 6.5 month old wakes up like clock work after 30-45 mins regularly and starts blowing bubbles and babbling like he’s wide awake. I just started CIO yesterday and he’s doing better than my first did. Only takes him 5-10mins to settle. Afternoon naps are taking longer to settle both days too and he wakes so soon makes getting to 7pm bedtime difficult. I know it’s still a fresh change for him but not sure how long to leave him before calling a longer nap off? Thanks for your help! Loved reading all the social common feed yesterday and that really helped me since it was also my day 1 on CIO.

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hi Sara! I’m so happy you enjoyed the feed. It was super fun 🙂 If you could try to leave him an extra 15-30 minutes after waking it will give him enough opportunity to try and fall back to sleep on his own. Good luck! It sounds like you are off to a great start 🙂

      Reply
  48. Exhausted new mom! on

    Hi Alana,
    I have a 5 month old with sleep problems. We started training around 3 month age and was going well until the 4 month wakeful period. Then we tried again and was going well until she got sick with cold/cough/vaccination and since then it’s never been easy.
    She used to nap around 10am,1pm and 4 pm, each nap about 30 minutes. Bedtime around 6:30-7pm until 6-7 am, with multiple waking about 4-5 times per night ( more between 7:30-10pm). Also, she loves sleeping on her tummy and find that until she finds a comfortable position, she keeps waking up.

    Another issue is that she will NOT sleep in the crib on her own, wants to feed and rocked before she sleeps and of course wants it the same way when she wakes up. Her naps are usually in my arms and the minute I put her down, she’s up!!

    Please help!!

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hello there! The first thing I want to tell you is that you are not alone mama. These are such common sleep issues that so many parents experience. Is she just 4 months? I would like to see a few tweaks to her timings in terms of naps and bedtime etc. Also at her age, unless she can roll on her tummy herself I have to recommend back sleep only. It’s important to follow the ABC’s of safe sleep. Alone, on the Backs, and in their Cribs. Having her practice the skill of sleeping independently takes time and allowing her the opportunity to fall asleep without being fed or rocked is where we need to choose the method of sleep training that works for you and be consistent with it. Have you considered working with a sleep consultant? One of our consultants would be more than happy to help you put a plan together and support you through it. Hang in there mama. You are doing great!

      Reply
  49. Ari on

    My 9 month old baby has always been a bad napper. Up until he was 7 months old he never took more than 30 minutes at a time, and always had to be so soothed to sleep (rocking, swing, stroller, etc). Then he dropped his third nap and hit a miraculous stretch where he started taking two 1-1.5 hour naps a day at 9am and 2pm. He still needed to be soothed to sleep but it happened quickly so I didn’t mind rocking and patting him. That all ended recently. Naps have gone back to being a horrible battle to achieve, and they’re often shorter which I think is starting to affect his night sleep as well. He used to go 7pm to 6-ish am (still with 1 or 2 night feeds) and now he’s waking at 5am. The funny thing is bedtime is super easy, he goes down quietly and awake and falls asleep well until he wakes to feed somewhere around 3 or 4am. But my arms and back are killing me from trying to rock him to sleep during the day, and sleep training (we did controlled crying) worked at night but has been a disaster during the day. He just sits himself up in his crib and cries and cries. I feel like I’ve tried everything. How do I fix this?

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hello there! If you look through our baby sleep posts you can find a great post on lengthening naps that may help you. Hang in there. Naps are tough but not impossible. Consistency is key and making sure you don’t give up 🙂

      Reply
  50. Jason on

    Hi… Great article. We’re starting to have some real trouble at bedtime with our 3 year old. Would love to read part 1 and 2, however the links don’t work…

    Reply
  51. Heather on

    I am struggling with my two year old staying in bed. He slept great in his crib down at 7 left the room slept for 10-11 hours. Now since moving him to his toddler bed he is up 2-3x a night getting up and sometimes staying up for 2-3 hours! I’m an exhausted mom who needs help

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hi Heather! We have some great posts under our Toddler Sleep section that should help you. Please feel free to give them a read and I’m sure some of the information there will help make your nights easier. Hang in there mama! – Alanna

      Reply
  52. Anita on

    Hi Alana,

    My 8 month seems to be going through the sleep regression. She is down to two naps during the day but I was wondering what your advice on how long these naps should be is and whether there is a time past which you advise that she should not sleep. For example today we put her down for her second nap at 2pm and she only fell asleep at 3 so we let her sleep until 4.30. Tonight she went to sleep as usual at about 715 but woke up at about 9 and hasn’t slept since. Any advice greatly appreciated.

    Anita

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hi Anita! I would like to see your schedule shifted earlier. Naps and bedtimes. You are looking at at least an hour per nap with 1.5 hours being our goal. Be consistent with the times of her naps and then flexible with bedtime depending on how she slept throughout the day, meaning you can make bedtime earlier if not be. Not later 🙂 – Alanna

      Reply
  53. Mari on

    Hi
    My 8 month baby used to sleep 5-8
    Hours without waking at 2-4 months after the 4th month she wakes up at 1,3,&5 am To eat I put her to bed at 8-8:30. She naps for 30 mins if I’m lucky 3 times a day. I’m exhausted and don’t know how to wean her off the night feedings I’ve tried the cry it out method but feel awful just listening to her cry so much! Please help

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hello Mari! From what you’ve written I have a feeling some tweaks to her daytime sleep may need to happen. In turn that can help her sleep through the night. You are looking at 2 naps a day and I would really like to see her bedtime much earlier. By 8 p.m. she is likely overtired and will have more restless sleep throughout the night. Remember it’s not just about choosing the method. Check out our 4 part sleep training series under our Baby Sleep section that may help you 🙂 – Alanna

      Reply
  54. lily on

    Hi! My son is 9 months almost 10 and has always co-slept. we have started placing him in his crib and have had a pretty consistent routine which includes putting him to bed by 730/8. However, he wakes up constantly, crying non-stop and will not self soothe. During the day he takes one nap at daycare and by the time we get home it is too late for a second nap before bed, otherwise he is up at 2 ready to play! During the weekends, he does better with two naps and sleeps a little better in his crib. Help! I don’t like the idea of CIO, and im usually up rocking him back to sleep but as soon as I put him in his crib..hes up!.

    Reply
    • Alanna on

      Hello! From the information you have given me it looks like there needs to be some adjustments to your sons sleep schedule and daytime sleep. At 10 months we definitely want at least 2 naps a day so if you could I would encourage daycare to offer that as well. I know it’s tough sometimes but he needs this daytime sleep and by getting more rest during the day he will actually sleep better at night, which he shows us when he has the two naps on the weekend. I would also like to see an earlier bedtime whenever possible. Remember, the better rested he goes to sleep the better he’ll sleep throughout the night. This 4 part series on sleep training may help you – https://goodnightsleepsite.com/blog/2016/01/05/baby-sleep-environment/. Thank you for connecting!

      Reply
  55. Jenessa on

    I’m desperate, my 10.5 month old has been sleeping through the night for many months but for the last week he has been waking up every night. We used to be able to just give him his pacifier back and he was back asleep but note he just stands in his crib and cries until we pick him up. We usually will give him a bottle thinking maybe he is hungry but even after that he won’t lay down. He just stands up and cries until we rock him to sleep. He doesn’t need to be rocked for naps or when we first put him down. I’m so tired and my husband and I are incredibly frustrated.

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hello! Thank you for connecting. You mentioned that he had been doing well prior to the issues you are having now so the good news is that we know he has the skill. Babies can regress in sleep for many reasons especially if he is going through any kind of developmental milestone as my article discusses. It sounds like there have been some inconsistencies in how the wakings have been handled and my recommendations would be to get right back on track and keep giving him the opportunity to fall asleep on his own as we know he can do. At his age he doesn’t need that feed throughout the night and because he can do it on his own for naps and at bedtime he definitely can do it throughout the night. I know it’s tough but you guys can do this 🙂 If you need further help please reach out to one of our consultants at http://www.goodnightsleepsite.com.

      Reply
  56. brandie on

    Hi. We are in the middle of dealing with this. I removed the slats at the bottom of the crib so his mattress is against the floor. He still breaks out!! So now I’ve sewn a piece of fabric between the legs of his footy pj’s (that I put on backwards so he doesn’t remove them). He can open his legs and walk but not enough to get that leg over the crib rail. 🙂

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hello! Thank you so much for responding. We don’t recommend adjust the crib as you did for saftey purposes. Once you adjust the piece of furniture against the true craftsmanship of the manufacturer you remove the certified safety standards of the crib. A sleep sac can work great as the child can no longer kick their leg over but if it’s to the point where safety becomes an issue as he is consistently climbing over it may be time to make the switch. One of our consultants would be more than happy to help you – http://www.goodnightsleepsite.com.

      Reply
  57. Hayley on

    My little one is 5 months – can roll swaddled if he really tries and we use blankets tucked tight beside him to stop him from rolling BUT he has a strong reflex, is obsessed with his hands and rolling when not swaddled is his favourite activity… So when he wakes from his nap after 30-45 mins in a swaddle transition (zippidee) he immediately rolls. How do I manage transitioning him out of the swaddle and keep him sleeping safely on his back?

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Hayley! As a sleep professional I have to recommend a safe sleep environment and at your son’s age it’s important to remove everything from his crib. His crib should be empty with just a saftey certified mattress and fitted crib sheet. By 4 months of age I recommend to remove the swaddle as this is when they start moving around and rolling over as your son is doing now. We need his arms free and we definitely don’t want him still swaddled and rolling over with blankets tucked beside him. Rolling over is a wonderful developmental milestone that he has to master and I want you to encourage it rather than prevent it. I know it’s scary but don’t worry. At his age once he can naturally roll on his tummy himself he can position his head as he needs to. Continue to place him on his back and have plenty of tummy time practice throughout the day. If he rolls on his tummy try not to roll him back over. He’ll get used to sleeping on his tummy. He can do it 🙂

      Reply
  58. Katie on

    My 10.5 month old has always been a great sleeper, naps and night. He goes down at 6.45/7.15, he chats then falls asleep until 6.30:7am. In the last two weeks his naps have increased to a 2 hour nap and a 30/45 min nap at 4pm. we have had night wakings where he wants a bottle which we give him but then he refuses to sleep, he screams as soon as he is in his cot, we know he is tired as he will fall asleep on us. He is inconsolable so we bring him into our bed and he wants to play! He is teething (his top two) but is it time to cry it out?

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Katie! I think there needs to be more consistency within the plan you are using. He’s confused as each night is different. I’ve provided some information and posts in other comments within this thread that may help you. At his age I would love to see more of a consistent sleep environment and to remove all night feeds. Cry it out isn’t the only method. I list some popular methods that I use with my families that can work well. I can’t promise no crying but it’s important to choose the method that you are most comfortable using and that your child responds to best – http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/alanna-mcginn-a-good-nights-sleep/20160131/sleep-training-methods-101

      Reply
  59. Lane on

    Hello.. not sure this will find you in time before tonight! Tonight will make night #7 of my sleep training my 8 1/2 month old daughter.. ever since she was born she has been a sleep fighter and just a nightmare at bedtime. I decided it was finally time to start sleep training because it was taking hours of rocking, walking around with her and everything to try and get her to sleep. So Friday we started.. and Friday I laid her down and she cried maybe 45 mins and was asleep and slept all night.. Saturday night #2 she cried maybe 15 mins when I laid her down and she was out but woke at 11 to have a bottle then back down/no crying but up at 3:50 and cried til 4:50 then asleep til 7am.. Sunday night #3 she went down no crying and woke at 11 for her 1 night feed and went right back to sleep no crying and slept til 7.. Monday night #4 she went down no crying and slept til 11 for her 1 night feed then back asleep til 7am… ok now this is where it gets hard/confusing.. Tuesday night #5 and last night Wednesday night #6 she went down no crying and got up for her 11:00 feeding but instead of going right back to bed like she had done the previous 4 nights before she cried for almost 1 hr.. from 11:10 after I walked out from giving her her bottle til 12.. why in the last 2 nights of sleep training has she started this and will this end SOON?

    Also.. the sleep training method we used was the extinction where you do NOT go in at all.. except we go in once if its been 30 mins but thats it because I found it makes it worse when we go in. Thanks

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Lane! As I mentioned to another poster the method isn’t the only solution. Check out my sleep training series as these posts may help you – https://goodnightsleepsite.com/blog/category/babysleep/sleep-training-series/. That being said at 8.5 months, provided baby is doing well and growing and thriving as she should be she doesn’t need that feed anymore and that is what is causing her confusion and delaying the process. At this age I would like to see you remove all feeds throughout the night and instead use your method of choice. You got this mama!

      Reply
  60. Jeanne on

    I have a 9 1/2 month old who had a nasty 4 month regression but sleep trained beautifully and has been sleeping through the night like a rock ever since. Until now. The laSt 3 days she wakes up throughout the night. Her nap schedule had gotten a little wonky, that 3rd nap was getting later every day so I eliminated it. Now she’s taking 2 naps for about a total of 3-3.5 hours a day. But I’m up right now at midnight because she woke up crying and awake as can be. I went in, held her, then put her back down. She’s still making a lot of noise in her crib but no tears yet.
    I know I need to give her time and things will go back to normal but what am I supposed to do when she wakes up in the middle of the night? Leave her to cry it out? Probably not feed or rock her, right? Husband gets up at 4:30 am for work so I’m kind of on my own, plus yesterday she got up at 4 am. I’m tired.

    Reply
  61. Camellia on

    Hey there! My 10.5 month old sleeps really well at night. Bedtime is at 7pm and he sleeps until usually 6:30am. Sometimes he might wake earlier and I’ll nurse him and he’ll wake later in the morning, but recently he’s been sleeping through more and more.
    He usually naps twice a day for 1-2hrs each for a max of 3hrs for the day. But for the last week or so the second nap has turn into a 30min nap. I was able to deal with it, but then last week for two days in a row, the first and second nap were only 30min. I was forced to have him sleep in the carrier, because he was so exhausted. I thought it was a sleep regression, but on the weekend when my husband did all the naps, he went back to sleeping over 1hr. Again, starting Monday…second nap is 30min. Could it be separation anxiety? Anything I can do? Or just deal with it? The issue is that he wakes and is still tired and cranky. Then the rest of the day is messed up. I should mention he’s starting to learn how to walk and during all this, his night sleep has not been affected. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  62. Chelsea on

    My 21 month old has always been an AWESOME sleeper and has just descovered climbing out of his crib. He also already wears a sleep sac and his bed is on the lowest level. I’m not ready for a toddler bed. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Chelsea! The article provides you with some great ones. We want to make sure your toddler is safe and the best way to try and keep them safely in their crib a little while longer is to be firm and quick to stop him from climbing out. The more consistent and firm you are with this he should get the message. If he doesn’t unfortunately it may be time to make that switch. Stay on top of it and hopefully you can delay that transistion a little while longer.

      Reply
  63. Chelsea L. on

    I have an almost 9 month old who I believe is being affected by a growth spurt/sleep regression that started 2.5weeks ago. She has always been so easy to put to sleep from a young age she learnt to put herself to sleep so I alway just put her in her crib and she just went to sleep. Now for naps she will not go to sleep without being rocked to sleep!! I don’t want to make a bad habit but if I don’t rock her she literally will go all day without a nap. And her naps are only 30 min where they use to be at least 1.5-2hrs. Thankfully at night she is still sleeping 11hr no wake ups but I don’t know what to do. I’ve heard this regression can last 4-6weeks do I wait it out or just leave her in her crib until she sleeps (she doesn’t cry she is just so occupied with the world around her).
    Thank you in advance!

    Reply
  64. Claudine on

    Hi! I have a 81/2 months old baby boy. We have cut down our naps from 3 to 2 about 2weeks ago and everything went perfectly. He’s a good nap sleeper, going down by himself and sleeping between 1 1/2 – 2 hours every time. Our problem are during the night. He goes down to bed at around 7pm, by himself without any problems. Then he wakes up at around 10:30pm for a breastfeed and goes right back to sleep without trouble. I usually have to give him back his pacifier around 2am. BUT then at around 3:30-4 am he’s up crying or wide awake… He usually really try to go back to sleep but can’t… That can last for a good 1 hour… He usually will fall back to sleep with my help – rocking him back to sleep (after 1 hour of trying by himself) until he wakes up for the day, between 5:30-6:30am … Are we in a sleep regression phase? Should I stop rocking him back to sleep since I never did this before? Should I put him down earlier for bed? Should I stop the last breastfeeding session at 10:30pm?

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Claudine. It sounds like your day time is going great and we know he has the skill of falling asleep on his own so many of our big sleep training hurdles are behind us. That’s fantastic. I would like to see you allow him the opportunity of settling himself at night as we know he can do it. If he’s working on something that is causing his sleep to regress a bit we want to make sure we aren’t picking up new habits during this phase. Practicing an earlier bedtime and allowing him to practice the skill of falling asleep on his own are definitely two steps you can take. Good luck!

      Reply
  65. Sabrina on

    Sometimes my daughter misses we afternoon nap. I try to put her to bed earlier when that happens. However when I do put her down for her bedtime she falls asleep right away but when I do put her in her crib she wakes 30 mins later. How do I get her to settle down and not cry for another 30 mins.

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Sabrina. Great job on making bedtime earlier if the afternoon nap is missed. That is very important. It’s also really important to make sure that her sleep needs are being met consistently throughout the day. So let’s really focus on being consistent in offering her that afternoon nap. Also you may want to look at how you are responding to that 30 minute wake up. I’m not sure how old your daughter is but if she is old enough to start a more formal sleep training plan you may want to think about choosing the right method that works for your family and use that when she wakes. Good luck!

      Reply
  66. Lisa on

    Good afternoon. I have a 15 month old that most of the time has slept thru the night since 3 months. My problem is getting her to actual bed at night. After daycare we start the night time routine around 7.30/8. But no matter how many books and songs, she won’t fall asleep until about 9. When we put her then in the crib she screams. I have tried the cry it out method, this happens then each night. Can u please offer some advice.

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hello Lisa. At this age and with the transition of daycare and possibly the 2 to one nap, we often see bedtime battles occur. You are not alone in this struggle. I know it may be difficult with your work schedule etc but during this transition it’s really important to move bedtime earlier until she adjusts to all the changes. It appears that she is going down to bed overtired, which is why it is taking her longer to sleep at night. Even if you can manage 30 minutes earlier you may see a difference in how she accepts bedtime. Be patient and good luck.

      Reply
  67. Jolie Tin on

    Hi Alanna!

    My daughter is almost 8 months old and has always been a difficult sleeper. She usually wakes up around 5-530 am and her first nap is around 715 am where she will sleep for about 1hr and 15 minutes. Then she naps again at about 1215 but will only sleep for about 45 minutes. She will not take a 3rd nap no matter how tired she is. And I try to put her down for the night at 630 pm with with one feed between 930 and 1030 pm. But lately she’s been waking up a couple of hours later freaking out and has to be rocked back to sleep. We just don’t know what to do!

    Thanks you in adance for your advice.

    Reply
  68. karra on

    This describes my baby and is nice to know it’ll pass. Can I ask why it doesn’t seem like many ppl experience this with their baby? Not one person I know from friends or family have any idea what I’m talking about and how hard it is. They act like it’s me and I’m making things worse. Is this something that’s just rare?

    Reply
  69. Maria on

    We have just started sleep training and bedtime is going great. She doesn’t really cry. Goes to sleep and wakes up for a scheduled feed at 4/430 and then sleeps till between 630&730. Naps on the other hand she seems to be crying a lot for and then taking short naps. In fairness we have just started, but is this normal? I feel like she can’t just keep having an hour of daytime sleep. I’ve been putting her down about 2 hours after morning wake up and second nap is about 3 hours after morning nap wake up. Yesterday she cried off and on for 50 minutes so we took her out and tried again 30 min later (this is what I had read to do) then she cried off and on for 30 minutes and slept for 30. She seemed really tired so we ended up putting her down for nap 2 after 2.5 hours. She cried for 20 (more so at/after check ins) and then again only slept for 30. Again, I know it’s early but I just wanted to know if it’s normal/ am I doing it right.

    Also, my daughter is 6months.

    Sorry for the novel! Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Maria! Naps unfortunatley can take awhile. When we are working with our clients we are following naps for up to two weeks to make sure the schedule and process are consistent. It’s so important in the first weeks. Keep up your great work and I know it’s hard, and we would be happy to help, but stay consistent with her routine and schedule and continue to give her the opportunity to do it on her own and she’ll get there. All the best!

      Reply
  70. Lillian Schaeffer on

    I like how you suggested trying to imitate the daycare napping environment at home. My daughter is going to be starting daycare, and I’m worried about her being able to sleep in strange place. I’ll definitely ask about the napping environment, and I’ll try to replicate it at home to give her some consistency, and hopefully that will help.

    Reply
  71. Dawn Maguire on

    My little guy is 5 months and use to always only sleep 30 min exactly (more recent they are occasionally getting a little longer) but he always wakes up sooo happy. He doesn’t cry. He will just lay there and coo and talk to himself (I’ve let him do this for up to an hour) If I go pop his soother back in then that’s when I can occasionally get him back down for an hour. When he wakes up happy though I always question why or if he needs to be encouraged to go back down.

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Dawn! It sounds like you guys are doing great! If he goes down well and everyone’s happy you can keep things as is for now but if you notice that this habit continues and this disrupted sleep begins to affect his mood during the day and causes disrupted sleep at night you may want to consider getting rid of the pacifier so he can start to fall asleep on his own.

      Reply
  72. Maria on

    We sleep trained my daughter at 6 months. She did great. We had a good night time routine in place and so we didn’t really have to let her cry for bed, she started putting herself to sleep and weaning off the night feed. Naps took a little longer to get consistent but not a ton of crying to get there. We were getting 12-13 hours at night time and 2-1.5 hour naps during th day. Fast forward about 3 months and for the last couple of weeks her sleep started being all over the place. I would put her down at regular times but she would often outright refuse naps even after being in her crib for an hr/1.5 (sometimes crying, sometimes enjoying herself), sometimes she stuck to her regular routine, others not. Last week she started teething and of course we had a vacation booked with a 3 hour time difference for this week. Her sleep is a mess! I don’t know what to do 🙁 I’m trying not to put her to sleep myself but have had to resort to it a couple of times in the last 2 days- once the night before our trip and last night since we were in a new place and she was just screaming. She can hold out sleep for a LONG time. On the airplane she didn’t sleep for 8 hours cause there were too many distractions :(. I know last nights poor sleep was most likely because she’s overtired and in an unfamiliar place and the time change (lots working against us) so after my novel my question is do I not stress so much on our vacation and just go back to basics when we get home or do I continue to “push back” while we’re here and endure the tears. Right now she still hasn’t gone down for a nap- 3.5 hours after wake up – we put her in at 2.5 and at her normal nap time at home (“her choice”- she’s in the play pen).

    I had wanted to come to your snugglebugz chat but we’re still away.

    Signed,
    Please help!

    Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Diane! If you click on the link you’ll be asked to fill out a form and once you complete that your download will be emailed to you. Check your junk mail if you don’t receive it. Thank you for listening!

      Reply
    • Alanna McGinn on

      Hi Diane! If you click on the link you’ll be asked to fill out a form and once you complete that your download will be emailed to you. Check your junk mail if you don’t receive it. Thank you for listening!

      Reply
  74. Rosaline on

    so excited to have these tools available! The community spirit around parenting is really incredible.

    I’m trying to download the 4 key baby sleep tools but am not able to? (no link?)

    Thanks for your help!

    Reply
  75. Diane Martelli on

    Hi can you please send me this episodes downloads along with the 4 keys to sleep please

    I can’t ever access the downloads

    Appreciate it

    Reply
  76. Ella Lauren on

    All the tips are really useful. As you suggested some foods which should prefer for better sleep, I think banana is really helpful for sleep improvements. it helps to relax the muscles in your body with a neuroprotective effect.

    Thank you for sharing this informative post!

    Reply