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Your sleep questions, answered!

This week we’ve teamed up with Lauren Olson, a child sleep expert, to answer your questions.

Helping families around the world with realistic and modern sleep solutions, Lauren is happy to answer anything to do with sleep struggles, naps, bedtimes, and more!

To submit your questions, either post below or message me (Ashleigh from Team Peanut privately.

We’ll be sharing the answers to the 10 most-asked questions on Wednesday, 16th September.

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my LO is 13 months now - only ever slept through on a surprise - generally one wake and back to sleep. the last few weeks has been beside herself crying and unsettled through the night. mostly not even eyes open. any suggestions?

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How long does 4 months regression lasts? And how to deal with it?

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My 18mth old will not go a night without waking up! What kind of routine do I need to implement to get her to soothe herself back to sleep?

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Should an 8 month old still require overnight feeding (ie at around 2-3 am?) getting enough calories in during the day- commando crawling (backwards) and cannot link sleep cycles (40 min max) during the day - unless exhausted. Some advice would be appreciated!

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Hi Lauren my 16 mth old son has been waking every night for the last month or so. I give him a bottle which he drinks at least 100mls. I don’t know why his waking all of a sudden. He won’t settle without it. He drinks and eats plenty during the day.

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My 16mo refuses to sleep alone, even if I am on the floor next to him. He wants to be WITH me, preferably in my bed. With another LO coming in Feb, I need to get my son in his own room, alone! Any suggestions?

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My daughter just turned 1 and for the last month or so has refused her cot and will only sleep with us. In that month she also decided to drop an overnight feed so we are down to one wake up which is awesome i just now need to get her in the cot somehow?

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How do I get my baby to settle in his cot? I rock him to sleep and sometimes that doesn’t even work. When I try to settle him in the cot he either plays for ages and then gets upset or screams straight away

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My 16 week old is very agitated while sleeping. Flights sleep screams and cries for hours before falling asleep and wakss up within few minutes. Needs me besidrs him while he sleeps. The process of putting him to sleep is the hardest. Pls help

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My 5month old has been crying and screaming while STILL sleeping. His cries have increased in intensity over the last few months. Because he is still sleeping, he does not respond to resettling techniques. It seems the only way to settle his, without waking, is by feeding. What does this mean and how can we over come this?

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Just had another baby, my first will be two in October. He can climb out of all cribs and pack and plays we have. So we removed a wall of one crib so he could have s big boy bed. He still won’t sleep in it and keeps sleeping by the bedroom door. He falls asleep banging on the door to be let out which he did when he climbed out of the cribs too. The little baby sleeps in our room and I think he’s jealous. Before I had the new baby he was wanting to sleep in his crib (hadn’t climbed out yet) and went down without a fuss. Even nap time he now won’t sleep unless it’s in our bed, even if we aren’t in it.
How can I make nap time and bedtime happen in his own bed again without a fuss??

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How do you know when your baby is ready to learn to self settle? My 12 week old doesn't do drowsy unless there is a lot of shushing and rocking involved and if I lie her down in her cot there are just wide eyes followed by tears. Also she must have a cry/scream before getting drowsy when rocking like she knows what's coming and starts fighting it - will she grow out of this? Thanks x

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I have a 3 week old and she suffers with trapped wind at night. She won’t sleep on her back as she is uncomfortable. We’ve tried infacol, colic bottles and massage. Any other ideas??

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How do I get my 1yo to self sooth to sleep? Naps and evening? He is exclusively breastfed

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I can’t get my baby to sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time at night. He is nearly 8 months old and is breastfed. He doesn’t self settle either

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My 22 month old has never been a great sleeper than all off a sudden wouldn’t sleep in her own room and I have to lay with her in my bed for her to go to sleep , leaving to cry doesn’t work she can go for ever and gets very stressed keep putting her back doesn’t work and sitting with her on her bed doesn’t work she can be very much sleep and the minute you move she is up ? How and when do I try and get her back in her own bed thanks xx

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Almost 11 month old wakes during the night takes a while to settle and only sleeps 30/45 mins 2 x for naps! Any advice

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Happy to sleep on their own at night but won’t nap independently even when put down just wakes up.

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My 1 year old is still waking through the night for feeds. He can take 6-8oz so i believe he’s wanting some form of feed, he certainly eats plenty through the day

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Hi Lauren! My baby is 12 weeks and has dropped his 1am feed. How do you suggest he would drop his 4am feed to sleep through!? Thank you!!

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My 2 year old still wakes regularly, infact she wakes more than my newborn and still wants milk to get back to sleep. Is every kid just different or has she got into a bad habit of waking regularly because of the milk. What can I do to encourage her to sleep through the night and not rely on us been there next to her giving her milk etc

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My 19 month old girl has recently switched to her toddler bed and is refusing to let us leave the room and screams and cry’s so we don’t leave, she continuously gets out of bed if we aren’t there and we are struggling to get her to resume sleeping through the night, how can I get her to stay in her bed and let her fall asleep on her own?

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How do I get my 15 month old son to sleep later than 5.30am? Bedtime 6.45/7pm, mostly sleeps through and has one nap a day for 1hr 30m/2hrs. Won’t go back to sleep, tried rocking, laying next to him, milk etc

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Any advice around controlled crying? His night time sleep is much better and he self settled fairly quickly after only a couple of weeks but day time naps are something else and only work when he’s extremely tired, then only for the one sleep cycle.

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My 3 year old wakes at least once a night and will want a bottle she still has one through the night if she don’t she won’t go back to sleep or she will wake cause she’s lost her dummy how do I get her to sleep through? Thank you xx

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My 5.5 month old baby has recently started waking multiple times through the night, pretty much every half hour - 45 minutes, so every sleep cycle. Have tried different settling techniques but all have the same result. Sleep has been very unsettled since he turned 3.5 months ( he was sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches before this). What can we do to overcome this?

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Hey, my son will be a year old on Thursday. He's breastfed and still wakes up in the night for a feed. Sometimes it's at 12am, 2am even 3 or 4am. I've tried to just leave him to just have a little moan hoping he'll go back to sleep but he doesn't he really kicks off now he's older so makes it really hard. Not sure what I should do, haven't had a full night's sleep for a long while now 😆

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I have a 3 year old who climbs into bed with my partner and I every night anywhere between 11.30am and 5am. Do you have any suggestions for breaking this habit or is it something he will eventually grow out of? I have a feeling we have to take charge of this! Thank you.

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My 3 year old needs us to go in and settle him every time he wakes up, or we have to sit outside his room/on the stairs until he falls asleep. But often he calls out to us many times each night. How do we move away from this? We have a newborn on the way!! 😱

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My little boy is almost 15 months old and he has never slept a full night through. I’m due to go back to work in October and he will be staying with my mum one night per week. He is still breastfeeding and has never taken a bottle. I’m just worried he won’t settle when I’m not there. Is it normal for babies to not sleep at this age?

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My 7 month old guzzles milk at night, but not interested in the day. How can I switch this around? Still waking for 2 feeds at night and I need some sleep 😴

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My nearly 2 year old wakes up between half 4 and half 5 every day. And is clearly still tired but won’t go back to sleep. How do we get him to sleep in till a bit later?

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My little boy who is 13 months old still wont sleep throughout the night and is waken looking for bottles, how can i help him sleep throughout he has 3 good meals a day plus snacls threw out

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My 11 month old daughter wakes up about 10 times a night, she’s been breastfed since day one so I’m not sure if she’s now used to being fed to sleep.
We also bed share.
But I can’t cope anymore, it’s constant and I’m exhausted.
What can I do and is there any other way to settle her than feeding her and letting her cry it out?

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My 9 month old seems to have very short phases of sleeping through but then goes back to waking several times a night is this normal?

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My 17 week old doesn't really nap during the day but does appear to be sleeping whilst feeding from my boob. Is this possible? The less she naps during the day, the longer her feeds seem to be so I wonder if she is getting her zzzzs in this way 🤷‍♀️

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How can I ween my 20month old off her bottle feed during the night? We tried replacing with water but she continuously cried for over an hour before we caved in

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My bambino is 6 months old just turned and she used to sleep through the night like a little angel. Now she has stopped doing this, she wakes up every 2 hours and needs the boob to go back off. Some nights I can’t even get her in her cot so she ends up in bed with me and hubby on the couch! She doesn’t nap during the day unless I take her on a walk or sit with her on my lap allowing her to go on and off boob as she goes through what must be her sleep cycle.. please help me 😩😂 I cant remember the last time I actually had a nights sleep. (I have to call on friends and family to watch her so I can nap) I’ve read I need to get her to stop associating the boob with going to sleep but it’s hard! Please help xxxx

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How do I safe sleep in bed with my 4 month old

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My7week old will only sleep in a sling or on me during the day. What can I do to get them to sleep in a Moses basket by himself as he does at night? Thanks

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10 month old wakes in the night and takes between 1-2 hours to settle off. How can we get him off quicker or (more ideally!) not at all?

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My 15 months old son will not sleep through the night!
He will wake up about an hour after I put him down need a cuddle back to sleep then maybe 2 hours after and until about 2 when I get fed up and being him to my bed! How do I stop this??

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I have a 3.5 year old who has always been a terrible sleeper. She wakes frequently in the night still but we are now down to about 5x per night however installed a camera in her room and she is restless or awake up to 15+ times a night she is always tired in the day and it does affect her concentration in pre school she will frequently trip over things during the day which I’m sure Is due to sleep deprivation when she comes out of pre schools she gets to the car and is either crying because she is sooo tired or falls asleep on the 5 minute car journey home. I don’t expect miracles but I’d like her to get better night time sleep as I am concerned this could really affect her going forward.

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My son is 13 weeks old and generally he won't go to sleep without being held/rocked/sang to. Is there nothing we can do to encourage him to go to sleep easier without walking around the house singing twinkle twinkle little star over and over! Thanks

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When do children fall asleep by themselves without sleep training and with just a regular bedtime routine?

I don't really want to sleep train my kids so I was wondering when do they learn this skill naturally.

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My daughter will be 3 in December, she has dropped her naps and generally is asleep by 6:30pm, but wakes up anywhere between 5 and 5:30am, I have tried using a gro clock, pushing her bedtime to 7 (she then wakes up earlier) any tips on how to get her to sleep a bit longer?

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My 3.5 year old is getting better at sleeping however he often still wakes in the night and sometimes we don’t know why, he likes a dummy and often we give it to him in the night when he stirs would we be better letting him have it before he goes to sleep maybe he will then sleep through ? He also has a beaker of milk before bed but can wake up wet and will need changing in the night do we stop the milk before bed? I am pregnant and would love to have his sleep problems sorted a bit before the restless nights of a newborn hit us.

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My LO is 4 months old and fights naps. She seems to sleep while being on the boob. Also will only sleep for 4 hours at night before waking up for a feed. Then down for two hours after.
I’ve tried to let her self settle but she kicks her legs and her cries get louder till I pick her up to feed.
It’s really difficult as I’m now sleeping in her room to not disturb my SO.

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Have a 14month old who has always been a late sleeper her father has adhd so his sleep pattern is usually late we have tried to get her down earlier but she just wakes up after a couple of hours and doesn't go back down

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How do I get my 17th month old to fall asleep on her own? Have tried so many different approaches, but as soon as we put her in her cot she screams to the point of making herself sick. Even if we are sat next to the cot holding her hand. We have to cuddle her to sleep and then put her down, with mixed success, if she wakes we have to start again 😣

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My LO every feed. Drs don’t seem to think it’s a problem the whole Muslim cloth gets soaked so much I’m using towels now. I’ve tried size O teats he gets really frustrated and still spills it out :(

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13

8 week immunisations

My 8 week old has his first set of injections tomorrow and I’m abit nervous. Does anyone have any advice for after the jabs? I know they get a temp after so have got some calpol to give just before hand. Should I put him to bed in less clothing to make sure he doesn’t get too hot? Any tips from your experience with first set of immunisations? Am I worrying more than I need to? 😅

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11 month old constantly standing in cot

Please tell me someone has some advice for this cause wow it’s trying. My almost 11 month old is fully on the move now and his new favourite thing is repeatedly pulling to stand in his cot. The problem is that he wears a sleep sack (mainly so his legs don’t get stuck between the bars tbh lol) so he’s not stable enough to lower himself down. So earlier he fell backwards and hit is head and now we feel like we can’t just leave him to it. Typically it’s his first full day at nursery tomorrow and my first day back at work IT’S LIKE HE KNOWS!!
Please tell me someone has some tips. Currently we are quietly placing him back on his back every time but he just keeps doing it! 🤣🤡

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11

Took 9 week old to a family party where there was loud music and she was next to the speaker for most of the time (about 3 hours). She slept through most of it. Do you think she has hearing loss from this?

Freaking out right now :(

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5

My seven year old

Is out of control. Her dad and I share 50/50 and when she comes to my house she is so mean. And idk what to do

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1

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Struggling in the 4 month regression

How are people getting out of the 4 month regression? I’ve been looking it up and it says I need to be trying to put him down drowsy but awake but this does not work for my LO. Every time we do this he ends up being wide awake and after almost an hour of trying we have to contact nap/rock to sleep. I want to avoid rocking to sleep because now when he wakes up in the night he needs to be rocked back to sleep which he never used to need.

Nights are constantly broken because we are up 2-3 times to rock him back to sleep. Please give me your tips on how to survive this and how to get out of this!! Constantly feel like I’m failing and doing something wrong

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1

7

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