Dear Kay,
I have a 14 month old who I am
fostering(he is also my great nephew)he's been here 6 months. He is not
sleeping through the night,he takes a bottle to go to sleep, we are
trying to wean him from but he has always waken a lot at night. We try
to let him cry or fuss but he is very stubborn and will do this for
sometimes 2 hours. He is in our room in a crib and I think that does not
make matters better but we really have nowhere else to put him, we both
work( I at home) and have 4 children in school so we lose the sleep
along with our youngest who is in room nest to ours. how can we change
or help this situation????
Donna
Dear Donna;
I have an easy
solution. Stop letting him cry. Pick him up and either rock him to sleep
or let him get into bed with you until he goes to sleep then put him back in his own bed. Another
solution is to do a full massage. A nightly routine will do much to get
him calm enough to go to sleep.
I suggest quietly playing with
him about 90 minutes before bedtime, then move to a bath, next a night
time story, a massage and he should be ready for sleep. Also make sure
the room temperature is not too warm we all sleep better when we are
slightly cooler (not cold). Start this routine and I bet in no time you are getting more sleep.
Also
he isn't being stubborn he wants you to soothe him. He is asking to
have a need for comfort to be met. Try and not use negative labels for
what is a totally normal response from a child.
If he still does
not sleep through the night check the environment to make sure some
noise is not arousing him. If he has eaten something that gives him gas,
if he is waking because he is hungry (children's stomachs are only as
big as their fists).
You have your hands full and are doing a wonderful thing, don't forget to enjoy him and yourself.
Best Wishes!
M Kay Keller
