My 14 month old has started to wake up in the middle of the night crying. Last night he cried on and off for 1 1/2 hours! I don't know what to do to get him to sleep through the night all the time again. Thankfully he doesn't do it every night, but it's getting more and more frequent. He always has put himself to sleep at naps and nighttime, so it's not that he doesn't know how. He also started sleeping through the night at a few months old, so this is new.

I've tried rocking him to calm him down and then putting him in his crib, but he cries the minute I put him in his crib. I've tried rocking him to sleep and then putting him in his crib, but he wakes up and cries right away. I've tried patting his back while he's in the crib, but as soon as I stop, he starts to cry. I've even given him Motrin thinking it was his teeth, but it doesn't help. I've tried letting him cry it out, but that doesn't seem to be working either. He'll stop crying for a little while, but then start up again a few minutes later. Besides not getting any sleep myself, I feel really bad for my little guy.

What should I do?

Yeah...I was going to suggest his teeth...but you tried that! Hmm...I have a 15 month old...she is pretty good at sleeping the night through...took her over a year...but finally! She has an Ocean Wonders Aquarium that she loves! The music and the bubbles! When she would wake up in the middle of the night, I would find her binky and her blankie, lay her back down, turn her music on, and off to sleep she went. She was used to falling asleep w/ that stuff in the first place, so she associates those things w/ sleep..that helped.

At Target, I recently found something similar to the Ocean Wonders Aquarium...it's a little "stuffed" sea horse. His belly is soft plastic and when you push it, it lights up and plays music (I set her's on soft) for about 5 minutes! She LOVES IT! Which is great because she will be moving to a toddler bed within the year, plus when we travel, she misses her music. Plus, if it goes off and she is still awake, she turns it back on herself! I just try to make things relaxing and nice for her so she likes her bed.

Another couple things to wonder about: Does he get enough to eat before bed?! I would maybe give him some milk at night...not that you want to make that a habit, but maybe he is hitting a growth spurt and he is hungry. If that's the case, feed him more before bed. My daughter likes 1 slice of bread w/ a thin coat of peanut butter on it..folded. It fills her up. Also...so you think maybe he is either too hot or too cold at night?! I sometimes have that issue w/ my daughter during the changing seasons!

I hope some of that helps!

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Bekah
Co-founder and CEO of the NOVITZKE FAMILY INC.