Teach Baby to Sleep Through the Night (Again)

The scene wasn't pretty. It was 4 A.M. and my 11-month-old son and I had been awake for hours. I'd tried everything to get him settled: rocking, singing, feeding, and even bringing him into our bed, where he excitedly climbed over his dad as if we were having an impromptu family cuddle puddle. When he began crying for what seemed like the tenth time in a few hours, I broke down too. Harper had been sleeping through the night for months. How could this be happening? Was it possible that my proudest parenting achievement had completely come undone?

Here's what I didn't know at the time: It's 100 percent normal for babies who have been snoozing blissfully for eight to 12 hours each night to suddenly go through some bad patches. "Once your child is sleeping through the night, never expect that it will last forever," warns Parents advisor Jodi Mindell, Ph.D., author of Sleeping Through the Night.

With that in mind, we've identified the most common reasons that star sleepers tend to wake up -- and asked experts to offer solutions for each dilemma.

Wake-Up Call: Developmental Milestones
Sara Moe, mom of 8-month-old Finn and 3-year-old Dashiell, from Los Angeles, remembers that both her children woke up in the middle of the night during the weeks when they were learning to crawl. "I would go in and find them on their knees, still half asleep, utterly confused about how they got that way," she says.

That's not uncommon. One of the biggest disruptions to slumber time is that your little one is working hard on mastering a new skill -- seemingly all night long. A baby learning to roll onto her tummy may have trouble finding her way back to her original position. When she begins to sit up later, you might find her crying because she hasn't figured out how to lie back down. Another biggie is walking: Research shows that a kid can get so excited about this milestone that she literally can't sleep, says Dr. Mindell.

Sleep-better solution: Spend time practicing the new skill with your kid during the day. "Let your baby move around a lot, and try to avoid excessive stroller or car-seat time," says sleep consultant Jennifer Waldburger, coauthor of The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep. When your little one wakes up because she's stuck in a new position, help her lie down again but don't linger -- you don't want this to become a game.