11 month old sleep issues?

Question

My daughter has never slept through the night regularly, a couple nights here and there.  From about 2 months old she averaged once or twice a night, usually once.  She has always napped well (until recently).  

I'm fine with her waking during the night and don't expect her to sleep through the night if she's not ready.  My problem is, at night, she has had no regular patterns for the last month and a half.  I never know what times she'll wake up, how many times or how easily she'll go back to sleep.

Her napping has also suffered.  She used to take two naps a day.  The first one usually about two hours and the second 45 minutes to an hour.  Now I cannot get her to take a second nap if my life depended on it, no matter how tired she is!  I have been pushing back her first nap to try to make it more in the middle of her day and put her to bed earlier.  This doesn't seem to be working very well either.  She is very tired a good two hours before bedtime.

Any suggestions or words of advice from anyone with experience would be very appreciated.

Mommyto2 · Accepted Answer

My daughter did the same thing around 8 months of age (waking up irregularly in the middle of the night)...but she was still taking 2 naps.

From what I have read, sleep deprived children (kept up later than they want/need to be up) actually sleep worse than if you would put them down when they are wanting to be put down.  You say she gets tired 2 hours before bedtime....what time is bedtime?  If her bedtime is 6pm, and shes tired at 4...i would let her take a nap.  Yes, she'll be up a little later, but then that possibly might improve her night sleep.  My daughter is 14 months old and still needs 2 naps..one in the morning (about 2 hours after waking) and one in the afternoon (3 hours after waking from nap #1)...and thankfully she rarely fights the naps.

As far as night sleep goes, what is she doing when she gets up? Is she talking, wanting to eat, or what?  If she is just wanting to play, I would say to leave a crib safe toy in her crib, see if she'll play with it, and possibly put herself back to sleep.  At 11 months old, most babies dont need to eat at night...so if you are feeding her, that would be the first thing that i would change.  Dont feed her when she gets up at night.  Feed her a bigger meal about an hour before bedtim, possibly a bottle at bedtime....and then stop the meals in the middle of the night.  Once she realizes she wont get a little snack in the middle of the night, she may decide its not worth it to get up.  Once youve tried that if it doesnt work, see if she'll just 'talk' herself back to sleep, even a little whining is okay...sometimes my daughter whines for 5-10 minutes to let some last minute energy out before putting herself to sleep.

Best of luck

msknowitall · Answer

It's very normal.. Some babies don't sleep throughout the night like others..

My daughter didn't fall asleep for the whole night until she was a couple months before her 2nd birthday.. Now she falls asleep at 9 and wakes up at 9.. sometimes i let her sleep longer.. 

Don't worry

Trick: If you want her to sleep longer in the night.. Cut back on the naps in the day..

Anonymous · Answer

If she is fighting sleep sometimes the best thing to do is let her cry herself to sleep. 
Giving her a bath before bedtime will help her relax and sleep longer.

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11 month old sleep issues?

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