[MamaKoala]

We are desperate. our co-sleeping 15 month old ds awakens 5-7 times a night. My DH and I are going to kill each other, or get a divorce, we are so tired. I mean it.

We don't want to cry-it-out but we don't know what to do.

I advocate moving him to his crib and letting him cry unless he gets hysterical. Never did I think I would say this. But I am so tired I am nauseaos, sick, have lost 15 pounds, and can barely hold my business together. (these issues are NOT solely due to the sleeping issue, but they are definitely related.)

My dh wants a more gradual approach, letting our DS cry for 2-3 minutes for 1 week, then 5-8 minutes the next and so on. He also wants him to be in his crib only until a certain time (say 1 a.m. one night, 1:15 a.m. the next, and so on.) I want to be on my DH's side, but I am the one nursing my DS every time he gets up. And I can't do it anymore.

Please give us some advice.

Hillary

 

[Quirky]

Have you read The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley or Good Nights by Dr. Jay Gordon? Have you thought about implementing the night weaning plan Gordon lays out? If you run a search for nightweaning in this forum you'll probably find some descriptions from mamas who have done it.

Also, does your son eat a good meal not too long before bedtime, and have you tried giving him a sippy cup of water when he wakes up, to see if he's thirsty?

I hope someone else has some answers for you, and that you don't have to resort to CIO.

 

[kama'aina mama]

Maybe if you try trading off nights. One night you sleep on the sofa and DH comforts the baby in the bed. Maybe he could wake you one time to nurse but otherwise you get to REST and he parents your child. Your husband needs to learn some ways to help your son sleep. Then switch. You will get some sleep and feel more sane. Or take turns going to bed early or taking long naps. I am trying to think why a child that age would be so wakeful. Has he always been like this? Or has it increased recently?

 

[LeShea]

We finally did let sarah cry (not hysterically) in her crib some(5 min or so) for 2-3 nights and now she is sleeping in her crib alone with no problems so far. We get her to sleep on the boob or on daddy then move her....she wakes 2-3 times and hoots out 2-3 times and is back asleep before I can get to her...

I think it is up to the parents to make the final call on things but it sounds like you may be to the point we were........it was horrible near the end for us. She was flopping and nursing all night---for hours on end!