DS is still NOT STTN

pianist1989

How can I help him to start? He is a little peanut... at his 12 month checkup he was 27" and 15.10. He gets up 1-2x a night and each time nurses very well, he isn't just sucking to soothe back to sleep. Would trying to get him to eat more during the day help? He is suddenly a very picky eater. The only 3 things that I can be sure that he will eat are yogurt, spaghetti and pizza (healthy, I know :-)  ). He used to eat anything that I put in front of him so I'm not sure what happened. Any ideas on how to get him to sleep better or eat more would be very much appreciated!!!!

Echowysp

Some kids STTN early, some don't until almost 2.  My son just started consistently right before 3 and my daughter used to, but stopped due to teething.  It will happen when he's ready and if he's still eating a lot at night, he might be going through a growth spurt. 

 You will get a lot of "Do CIO! Kids their age shouldn't be up at night!" from The Bump, but I'd suggest The No-Cry Sleep Solution to wean him from night nursing, if that's what you're interested in.   He's still super young, so I'd still feed him IMO.

IEtoLA

DD didn't sleep through the night until about 15 months.  She just gradually started on her own.  What helped for us was moving her sippy of milk to the beginning of her bedtime routine.  

kkfeb04

DS sleeps mostly through the night even at almost 21 months.  He will wake up because of a bad dream or something.  We stopped giving him milk around 14 months and that is when he started sleeping much better.  He sleeps from 10 pm (we just can't get him to go down sooner) to about 7:30 but lately he's been getting up around 3 am.  He'll go back to sleep if you lay him back down.  We also give him a sippy of water in his crib.

I don't think it's the size that matters, FWIW, DS was 14 lbs 7 oz and 27" at 4 months old waking up 3-4 times a night to nurse.  At 12 months he was 20 lbs 32".  He didn't really take table food until he was about 13 months old.  He would turn his nose up and now he basically eats everything you put in front of him as long as it's not green.

Ireland05

Mine still doesn't STTN, and he's 22 months. I agree with the pp that some babies STTN early and some don't. We are hoping that E will sleep better soon. We are working with him, and it's getting better overall, though some nights are still a mess.

Under.the.Rose

I'm having the same issues... My little guy still isn't STTN and some days all he wants to eat is crackers or yogurt melts! He's not nursing during the night anymore but he's often hungry/thirsty when he wakes up and will eat/drink if I offer him a sippy of water and some apple sauce.

He's next to impossible to settle down for bed (unless he falls asleep next to me in bed) and still wakes up once or twice during the night and it's tough to get him to sleep. The few times I've successfully transferred him to his crib while sleeping, he's slept very well... twice he STTN but we haven't been able to make that happen consistently despite doing the exact same things every night.

Currently we're trying the crib mattress on the floor of his room... lying down beside him til he falls asleep and exiting the room. That way we don't have to move him once he falls asleep and he gets the sensation of falling asleep in our bed, which has been working for him. His room has a baby gate across the door and is baby proofed so if he wakes up, he's fine. Last night was the first time trying this and it didn't go well... mostly because he wasn't sleepy at all. He wouldn't even settle in bed with us! Hopefully tonight will be more "normal" and hopefully it works! I don't really want to do the lying on the floor thing long-term, but I'm hoping it'll get him used to sleeping in his room without the crying for hours that happens if he's in his crib. 

I wish I had some solution! I agree with pp's that all we can do is our best to help them/be consistent but sometimes they're just not ready to STTN yet!  Good luck.

epona3

DD started sleeping through the night around 12 mo., and she is a little peanut, too.

Out situation was a little different, though: She was only getting up once at night, and not really nursing much. What helped us get her to STTN was having DH get up with her and soothe her back to sleep. If I got up with her, she wanted to nurse and would throw a fit if I didn't let her. With DH, she would usually go back to sleep in about 5 - 10 minutes, and stay asleep until around 6. After about a month of this, she was STTN.

Maybe you could try that with one of the feedings, and see what happens? If he's getting up and seems hungry, I would also be hesitant to cut out both nursing sessions. Could you try feeding him a solid snack before bed and seeing if that keeps him full longer?

Not STTN sucks, so I hope it gets better soon!

Kingston54

I feel like nothing could have been done differently.  Just took time.  LO started STTN on a regular basis around 14 months.

Arielle27

The only way we got DS to eat more in the day was by refusing him food at night. Took two nights and he suddenly started eating much more in the day and never again cried for food at night. But he has always been a very big boy and this was when he was just 6 months old.

nosoup4u

Ugh, I have nothing but empathy! DS2 is the crappiest sleeper ever anymore. He just screams (and I mean SCREAMS) if I don't nurse him at night. I'm okay with night weaning him, but I am going to wait until he understands language better. We've had some success with me nursing him until he's dozing, and then my DH gets him in the crib and goes in until about 3-4 am, and then I sleep with DS2 the rest of the night. Have you tried only having DH do night times with him?

If you're worried about his weight/growth, I don't think I'd night wean either. Feed him butter, lard, olive oil, avocados. Yogurt smoothies are really good, because you can put peanut butter and a little fruit in them. My older son would drink those when he was picky about other foods. Does he like eggs or meat or salmon? Sometimes toddlers will eat smoked salmon, as it's so salty.

FWIW, my older son finally started sleeping through the night when he was about two, and moved into a "big kid" bed. He still woke up once or twice, but it eventually got easier and easier to get him to fall back asleep (like, just a pat and shush when we went in, rather than nursing or cuddling or rocking). Hang in there!!!