Is this normal one-year-old behavior?

[KLM99]

We co-sleep with our almost 14mo (and always have), but lately he cannot sleep unless he's attached to my breast.  I can get him to go to sleep (nursing him) pretty easily around 7:30pm and then can put him on his mattress for about an hour or two.  He then wakes up and I can only get him to go back to sleep by lying down and nursing him and then staying there with him.  Then he wakes up every couple of hours and has to nurse to go back to sleep.  So he probably wakes 4-5 times a night.  I work full-time and am having trouble forming complete sentences during the day because I'm so tired!  Is this about what others with 12-18mos are experiencing?  I don't want to night-wean him, but seriously I feel like I'm losing it.  Support from others there if nothing else? :)

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

How long is this going on? My 17 month old will occasionally have a night like that, but it only lasts a couple of nights at most.

[Asiago]

My 13 month old has gone through spells like that, seeming to nurse all night long. 

[Chamomile Girl]

Yes, my kid is like this every night.  The only thing that keeps me sane is the fact my husband gets up early with him and lets me sleep (like...really sleep) for an hour or so.

[lemontree]

Sounds like my son.

More often than not we have nights like you describe.

When he is sick or teething it is worse.

He's 13.5 months.

Some nights are better than others though, so I DO believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sorry, no advice for you.  But I'm right here with you Mama!

[KLM99]

Thanks all - I do have a few nights where he only wakes up twice and he is actually starting to sleep longer for naps during the day, so I wonder if we'll pull out of this a bit in the next couple of months.  Here's hoping anyway... :(

[Bebe's Mom]

My DD is 14 months and does the same thing. We were cosleeping, and then I tried to night wean, ha! I am still trying to get her to sleep in her crib, but she generally comes into the bed with us at any time from 2:30-4 a.m. I have gotten her down to 2-3 night wakings, which is a vast improvement over 5-6 times a night. She is teething right now, which has thrown our night weaning right out the window. I took her to the dentist, and she told me that the molars are coming in, so I am going to wait until they come in and try again, probably in late January/early February. Usually she wakes up about two hours after I put her to bed, but I can get her back to sleep within 5 minutes of waking, she will start to fall asleep and then I put her back in the crib. She will generally fall asleep for about 3-4 hours after that. But with a cold and teething, she has pretty much been in the bed every night. argh.

[MayasMama88]

I have no advice, but I'm right there with ya. We've co-slept with 13 month old DD since she was a newborn: first she slept in her bassinet right beside the bed, and then at 3 months I moved her into bed with us. The last few weeks have been quite... QUITE... frustrating. I know she is getting 3 or 4 molars in, so that could be the majority of it, but it has not been a walk in the park. Just recently I pushed her crib (which she rarely ever slept in except for an occasional nap) right up against our bed (a full-size... had to get rid of our king size when we moved because it wouldn't fit in the truck), hoping that I can get her to sleep on her mattress, while still technically being in bed with us: As of yet, it has not worked. I think she can tell a difference in the firmness of the crib mattress vs. the regular mattress, and I have actually put myself halfway onto the crib mattress in an attempt to nurse her to sleep there. She's a smart cookie and catches on and will roll over and whine and grunt and get mad until she is right up next to me on the regular mattress. Some nights it is harder to get her to stay asleep and she will wake up every 15 - 30 minutes after putting her to bed until I eventually give up, go and lie down with her, and just fall asleep right beside her. The past couple of nights, she's actually done okay, and stays asleep for at least a few hours before waking up, but she still nurses 2 or 3 (or more) times a night. We had ONE night where she actually only "nursed" twice, if you could call it that: she rolled over, put my breast in her mouth, nibbled on it a little and then fell right back to sleep. It wasn't even enough to get my milk to let down.

So I definitely understand the frustration, and the desire perhaps to let loose a string of curse words at some points! But I know that this too shall pass, and it will for you, too. Hang in there, mama!

[MrsBone]

my ds didn't sleep through the night until just a few days ago..he's 23 months. We've coslept up until monday, and I've been working on getting him in his own bed. I weaned him a month ago though. That helped, but he'd still wake up once in the night. Now that he's in his own room, and weaned, he's sleeping through the night. Sorry mama, but it may just be like that until your kiddo is weaned or at least nightweaned. It was fairly easy for me to wean though b/c I'm pregnant and my milk dried up! :)

[beebalmmama]

My older son was like that. But never a great sleeper and was like that from the day he was born. He didn't sleep through the night until I night weaned him at 18 months. I only managed until then because I wasn't working and could sleep in a little in the morning and fortunately so would he.

My now 12 month old ds is waking 2-3 times a night. Still wanting to nurse most of those times too. He used to sleep a bit better up until about 9 months. I'm trying to get him back to 2 times a night, that was maneagable. I'm not sure what changed but now he cries out in his sleep a lot and he never used to.

[Asiago]

By the way, my 13 month old son nursed non-stop the the last two nights (plus had much longer day naps). Today, I noticed molars erupting, so I have a feeling that was the reason 

[Big D]

DH and I take night "shifts."  I get to sleep in my own bed in a separate room for about 4 hours a night so I can get some uninterrupted sleep.  We're also working on "The no-cry sleep solution" but it doesn't work if DS knows I'm in the room and I can't sleep if I can hear DH or DS awake.  We had actually gotten DS down to only nursing 3x a night instead of 10x or more.  And then of course he got an ear infection and we are starting over again.  He is 19 mos old.  I don't think they naturally stop wanting to be attached to the boob, I think you have to help them learn to sleep differently.  IME.