The Late, Late Show

[Jessica at Parenting.com]

What do you do when your baby goes to sleep just fine, but doesn't stay asleep?

In the June / July issue of Babytalk magazine, moms discuss their middle-of-the-night sleep solutions. Some go straight for the bottle, or put them in a baby swing, or even turn on the television.

In a perfect world, you'd put your drowsy baby in their crib, sing a short song, rub their back, and they'd be out like a light. But how often does that really happen?

So, let's hear from you! What do you do when your baby wakes up at 2am?

Reply to this message to share your story!

[jaxon1015]

My son is 10 months old and up until this week, has been a sound sleeper through the night. Now, he wakes in the middle of the night screaming like someone just chopped off his leg. Of course, I go into his room panicky that something is wrong...nope, he just wants to play, because he's wide awake. I rock him, sing to him, play music and even try the cry-it-out method...nothing working. I eventually resort to the bottle, and he's actually hungry...a full 7oz. But, still not tired. I even pass him off to his father, who can tolerate a crying fussy baby at 2am. He just laughs it off. Good, you laugh, I'll sleep. Eventually, he falls asleep, my son not my husband...we go to put him in his crib, and like magic, he's wide awake and the process starts again...without the bottle this time. Finally, I've decided that it's now 3:30am, my husband is in the shower getting ready for work, and I have to manage the baby alone now...not that I haven't done it before, but when you've have 6 months of actual sleep, it's like adjusting when a newborn comes home, again. I'm cranky and so is the baby. Finally I just decide the cry-it-out method will work. 3 minutes of crying...presto!!! out like a light! now, that i'm wide awake at 4am, do i get up and do some stuff around the house or toss and turn...maybe i'll try the cry-it-out method on myself next time.

[cdato20]

At 1 year, my son still wasn't sleeping all night-or even very much at night. I couldn't find a pattern to his waking either. Sometimes he cried, sometimes he didn't, sometimes he was hungry, sometimes not. I was just a sucker for a crying baby. When he was 13m, I finally decided that the not sleeping at night thing was ridiculous. He was not sleeping any longer at that point than he had when I brought him home from the hospital. Surely I had humored him long enough. I looked at him and told him that when it was dark we were supposed to sleep, and we would wake up and play when it was light. I put him in his crib at 8 o'clock, and I did not go back until sunrise. Yes, he cried a lot that first week, but he got over it, and we are all much better people for it.

[craftyashley]

My twins got into the habit of throwing the binkies out of their cribs and crying. If that wasn't enough, they'd throw their lovey blanket and cry. I got so tired of marching into their room and re-distributing binkies and blankies, I kind of lost it. I took all binkies, blankies, etc. and put them on the dresser and left the room. They cried (pretty hard!) for about 45 mins. I then walked in, gave all the items back, and heard nothing the rest of the night, or nights since then. They think twice before tossing the binkie overboard, for fear it may not be returned in the prompt manner they had become accustomed!