working on 1-year-old's sleep - does it get worse before it gets better?

[sunwise]

Hi all - DH and I have started working with our 13 month old DS on his sleep. He has been a pretty frequent nightwaker since he hit his 4-month sleep regression. We are hoping to get him to reduce his nightwakings eventually!

So in order to (hopefully) decrease the nightwakings, we made some changes to his bedtime routine. Before, I used to nurse him down (or at least nurse him as much as he wanted, and then stay with him until he fell asleep). Then I would sleep with him in his bedroom and nurse him back to sleep everytime he woke up. Now, I am nursing him before bed, then leaving and letting DH stay until he falls asleep. And DH is now handling all nightwakings before 1am, and I am handling the ones after that. I am also trying to let DS sleep alone, so I have moved back into bed with DH (our room is just a few feet away from DS's room - our house is very small).

My question is this - we have done this for 3 nights now. (I know that we need to do it longer than that to draw any conclusions.) But DS has woken up a TON these 3 nights! If you have worked with your child on getting them to sleep better, when you found a strategy that worked, was that immediately evident? Should we stick this out and see if DS is just adjusting to the new routine? Or does it seem like this just isn't going to work?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Adaline'sMama]

Are you nursing him when he wakes up during those times? How much, for how long?

[sunwise]

During my "shift" (after 1am), yes I am nursing him every time he wakes up. I feel like it has probably been about 4-5 times the past few nights. (I tend not to count or look at the clock, because I feel more well-rested if I don't.) How long he nurses varies - sometimes it is only for a few seconds, other times he might nurse for 10 minutes or more (again, these are guesses since I'm not looking at the clock).

[Ginger Bean]

I think maybe 13 months isn't a good time for sleep training, because there's a common sleep regression/Wonder Weeks around this time.

But I know, I know -- when is it ever a good time?

My son is almost 13 months old, so he drives me crazy some nights. I plan to start gentle nightweaning when he's over 18months.

[sunwise]

Hmmm...I hadn't even thought of checking the Wonder Weeks to see if this was a good time to work on sleep! But you're right - it seems like there is never a really "good time"....if it's not a developmental leap, it's teething, or illness, or something else. In fact, DS has been working really hard on his walking recently. He's not a full-time walker yet, but he is spending a lot of his time practicing. I guess that can also lead to bad sleep.

Lots to think about...

[Redmom]

We actually use a similar "arrangement" with our nearly 10 month old, with my husband taking the first shift, then I take the second.

He was waking every 1-2 hours.  When he was 9 months, he suddenly started sleeping a 4-5 hour stretch each night (still with frequent wakings before and after that stretch).

In all honesty I don't think it had anything to do with our sleep arrangement, instead I think for whatever reason something clicked into place for him.

I've read many posts on www.askmoxie.org where parents say instead of having a 4 month and then a 9 month sleep regression, their 4 month sleep regression lasted until 9 months, so my theory is that is what happened to us.

I feel for you - sleep deprivation is the pits. I hope your little one sleep better!