Hi Ladies.

I need help!! I have a 10 month old DD. I'm co-sleeping with her which I love. I also nurse her to sleep. This has worked for us till now; but lately she's refusing to go to sleep until 11 PM. I don't know how to get her to go down earlier. She also started biting me when I try to nurse her to sleep and I'm in pain to the point where I dread every nursing session.
I don't believe in CIO so that's not an option. Any other suggestions???

Is there any indication she's sleepy? You could just live with it - it will likely change in a few weeks anyway. IME, when kids are hitting big milestones, their sleep goes out the door. My ds13mo is just starting to stand w/o holding anything and since he started that, he won't nap for more than 30 min during the day and won't fall asleep until after 9...good times...this, too, shall pass.


If she's kvetchy, teething is always an option even if you don't feel anything popping through yet.

And the biting sucks. Ds is biting me at least once a day (on each side!) right now. :hug2

She's not sleepy or kvetchy at all. She doesn't sleep well during the day and she gets sooo wild at night.

I'm just concerned that she's not getting enough sleep and I'm worried it's going to affect her in some way...

Very unlikely that there's any long-term impact here.

People are way more resilient than that. And way more unpredictable.

It's not like you're waking her up at 7am to go to school. She'll get the sleep she needs, when she needs it.

I find making people go to sleep very frustrating, so I've tried to avoid it, in all stages.

So far (20 yrs and 7 kids), that policy has saved me many battles.

My approach with babies and toddlers (after learning the hard way) is to just wait until they're good and tired - maybe a bath & book will help induce that sleepiness, maybe just turn off all (most) of the lights in the house and read by a small lamp - and basically, "ignore" the baby (I mean, don't interact, but if she needs to nurse, or snuggle with you, do). This is the least tear-free method and also allows you to just go about your evening regardless of whether she's asleep or not.

And if you're desperate for time alone with your spouse, I'm a fan of driving them to sleep (providing she will transfer...) in cases of dire need. I'd be doing this all the time if I wouldn't have to haul 4 kids in afterward.

1. If she's not sleeping during the day and getting wild at night, she may be over-tired. She could be fighting the sleep so hard that she winds herself up and can't easily settle.

If that's the case, the solution is actually MORE sleep. As soon as you see the baby rub her eyes - put her down.

2. Is there any light or noise that might distract her? It took me years to realize that this was part of the reason my oldest child was having sleep issues.

3. Is she distracted by you? This happened with my youngest. I was all set to co-sleep, as I did with his sisters, but realized that he fell asleep faster by himself. When I was around, he'd get distracted and stay awake, which made him cranky.

4. If she's biting, she may not be hungry, since babies can't really bite and suck at the same time. Try to get her to sleep in ways other than nursing, at least part of the time.