Parents of babies - how do you handle baby's night wakings?

[NJfoodie]

This is something I was wondering about since we will be sailing in a month and our little guy (who will be 14 months) is not yet sleeping through the night. He consistently wakes around 3-4am crying. Although we will be working on sleep training at home in hopes that he will sleep through until a more reasonable morning hour before we leave next month, I have no idea how successful we'll be, or if being in a different environment will throw him off. I don't want it to be disruptive to our cabin neighbors but I'm sure we all know there will be times when our little ones are just not happy and want the world to know it. In the last couple months, ours happened to pick 3am as his witching hour. Do you disregard all sleep training and selfsoothing tactics used at home in order to get them to quiet down quickly? (ie nevermind ferber, cry-it-out, etc and just give him the pacifier/bottle/whatever he wants) Should we talk to our neighbors when we board to apologize in advance?

[SuperCoolOne]

I would not let a baby cry it out on a cruise ship, or in a hotel setting.

 

If all else fails, you could always take the baby out for a walk on deck where there are very few people out and about.

[cruisinmisstee]

Both of my boys were HORRIBLE sleepers (my youngest still is and yes his new wake up time is 3:30am:confused:). But for some reason on the ship we didn't have that problem (probably the motion of the ocean:D).

 

The rooms are pretty much soundproof so I wouldn't warn the neighbors ahead of time, just wait and see what happens. If he does wake up, I would try to soothe him back to sleep so that you both can get some rest to enjoy the day ahead.

 

Don't stress about it. Enjoy.

[Julienatul]

When my DD was 7 mo and we sailed for the first time, she was still waking consistently through the night but you will find on a cruise ship, the gentle rocking motion sometimes helps them sleep through. On the cruise she woke only once and at home had woken every night prior to that. When she did we kept a bottle of powdered formula handy to quickly soothe/quiet her. On a cruise you must be mindful of the cabins nearby and do whatever to quiet your child. Although on our Carnival Miracle cruise this last Dec with DS 12mo, my parents were in the cabin next door and could not hear him at all when he screamed himself to sleep for naptime during the day.Perhaps they have made the cabins more soundproof?

[geegee1]

When our youngest was 7 months old we took her on Royals' EOS. At the time of the cruise she barely began sleeping through the night. The one time she did wake up in the middle of the night I put her in the stroller, gave her a pacifier and walked her around the ship until she fell asleep again.

[sas80]

Honestly, at 14 months your child should be sleeping soundly thru the night. You're going to hate me for saying this but, the only reason your child is waking in the middle of the night is because you always come and get him.

 

It's reflexive... "i'm awake, if I cry mommy or daddy will come and put me back down"

 

Time for nerves of steel. You have one month. Let the kid cry it out.

[RoadTripFanatic]

I would not let a baby cry it out on a cruise ship, or in a hotel setting.

 

If all else fails, you could always take the baby out for a walk on deck where there are very few people out and about.

 

I agree. There are people around you who would like to sleep through the night. We understand but we want our sleep on vacation too! :) Said in the nicest way possible. Vacation is not the time to let them "cry it out."

Also if you do take them outside do take them to public decks and not stateroom hall ways.

Also the rooms are not soundproof.

You can hear everything that happens outside of your stateroom doors. Sometimes you can hear what is going on next door. I had one "neighbor" ask me one day if everything was ok. She had heard my 2 year old crying one afternoon and almost stopped in to see if she could help.

[rolloman]

I agree the rooms are far from sound proof. Whatever you do at home to soothe him back to sleep you should do on the cruise. My little one during one specific cruise was waking up around 4 am to 5 am, we knew ahead of time when this happend she really only wanted a bottle and then would go back to sleep. This is the main reason we took ready to drink in the bottle formula, with disposable nipples. Kid woke up, twisted the cap off the bottle, put a nipple on said bottle, stuck it in the kids mouth, 15 minutes later problem solved, everyone back to sleep. On the last cruise she typically was awake at 630 to 7:00 A.M., I would put her in the stroller and take her for a walk around the promenade deck and then up to the buffet for breakfast when it opened.

[SuperCoolOne]

This wasn't the question. while most 14 month olds are sleeping through the night, not all are.

And the change in routine could make it worse instead of better. The poster was asking for ideas on how to alleviate the situation, not on their parenting style.

 

 

Honestly, at 14 months your child should be sleeping soundly thru the night. You're going to hate me for saying this but, the only reason your child is waking in the middle of the night is because you always come and get him.

 

It's reflexive... "i'm awake, if I cry mommy or daddy will come and put me back down"

 

Time for nerves of steel. You have one month. Let the kid cry it out.

[nvrdunn]

I am going with my 7 month old. He gets up 1-2 times a night. I breastfeed but will suppliment occasionally with a bottle. I am planning on bringing a nightlight into the room so I can nurse or feed him in the bed. If he is really crying and I cant console him, I will try to take him for a walk or out on the balcony to calm down.

[bplazo]

I agree with the posters who said to take the baby out of the room and into a public area that early in the morning. The rooms are not soundproof and I am sure that your neighbors would not be happy about be woken up early in the morning.

 

You might be lucky and your baby will be so tired from doing activities all day that he will sleep later.

[javma]

We just crusied with an 11 month old who generally sleeps through the night. However, on the cruise, he would not be able to self-soothe to get back to sleep, and would scream when he realized he was in unfamilar surroundings. So, all "at home" approaches went out the window, and in the interest of peace and quiet for all, we gave a bottle or took him to bed with us if a quick rocking and pacifier didn't do the trick. Still working on undoing it (we have been home less than a week), but we'll get back to normal sleep soon, I am sure.

[sandytoes03]

I am going with my 7 month old. He gets up 1-2 times a night. I breastfeed but will suppliment occasionally with a bottle. I am planning on bringing a nightlight into the room so I can nurse or feed him in the bed. If he is really crying and I cant console him, I will try to take him for a walk or out on the balcony to calm down.

 

What times? I ask because some people will be out and enjoying their balconies "in the middle of the night".

[gerif]

I am going with my 7 month old. He gets up 1-2 times a night. I breastfeed but will suppliment occasionally with a bottle. I am planning on bringing a nightlight into the room so I can nurse or feed him in the bed. If he is really crying and I cant console him, I will try to take him for a walk or out on the balcony to calm down.

 

Definitely not the balcony - they are not at all soundproof and will wake neighbors above and below as well as next door. You need to go to a public deck asap.

[nvrdunn]

well we live in CA and so our time difference to Western Carribean is going to be different. But at home his times up are around 2 am and 5:30 am. If people are enjoying the balconies, I can then decide to go inside. It might be too could out for him anyways. Will know soon enough ;)

[sas80]

This wasn't the question. while most 14 month olds are sleeping through the night, not all are.

And the change in routine could make it worse instead of better. The poster was asking for ideas on how to alleviate the situation, not on their parenting style.

 

And one way to 'alleviate the situation' would be to sleep train the kid in the month they have before they cruise.

 

In fact you are off base. The original post did mention that they are working on sleep training.

[sas80]

In all actuality there is nothing you can do if your child wont sleep thru the night. Keep working on sleep training at home. If he does wake up on the ship just be aware that people in the rooms closest to you will be able to hear him cry and act accordingly (as respectful as possible).

 

OP, you seem to already be concerned with the ramifications of the situation on your neighbors so I am sure that you will be respectful on the cruise.

 

I still encourage you to develop nerves of steel and let him cry it out at night. However, I do recognize that many people just dont have the temperament that I have.

 

Good Luck & Happy Sailing

[NJfoodie]

Thanks for the responses! I think my question was kind of along the lines of for the sake of my neighbors whether to give in to whatever the baby wants in the middle of the night to go back to sleep whereas at home, we would resist giving him a bottle or letting him sleep with us, etc, and just deal with the consequences of having to retrain him when we get home, or do you still follow the same rules as at home?

 

I am hoping he'll get the hang of sleeping longer over the next few weeks (one week into ferber and we are not getting anywhere) but even if we do get him sleeping better, I would not be surprised if being in a different environment throws him off, or heaven help me if he hits a bout of teething. We are planning to stick to his normal schedule as closely as possible for meals and activities - it's a limitation we already expected for our vacation since he fusses so much less overall and falls asleep easily when he gets to bed around 7pm. Maybe I'll be one of the lucky parents for whom the rocking of the ship will result in baby sleeping well...I can always hope!

[NJfoodie]

I agree with the posters who said to take the baby out of the room and into a public area that early in the morning. The rooms are not soundproof and I am sure that your neighbors would not be happy about be woken up early in the morning.

 

You might be lucky and your baby will be so tired from doing activities all day that he will sleep later.

 

Good point about getting out onto an "unoccupied" deck - we'll have neighbors in all directions on our deck with staterooms above and below, but are near the elevator/stairs. We should be able to get him out to the lido deck pretty quickly if I have to pace with him outside.

 

We're very lucky DS is overall a happy baby who is great when we're out - he's smiles and waves at everyone, loves exploring, will behave pretty well for a baby when eating out as long as its a reasonable length of time, etc. But since we're guilty in our pre-baby days of being frustrated at parents not tending to their kids when they were screaming or at least trying to sooth crying babies while at a restaurant, we try to be as considerate as we can and take him outside or wherever he will cause the least annoyance if he's fussing.

[RoadTripFanatic]

Thanks for the responses! I think my question was kind of along the lines of for the sake of my neighbors whether to give in to whatever the baby wants in the middle of the night to go back to sleep whereas at home, we would resist giving him a bottle or letting him sleep with us, etc, and just deal with the consequences of having to retrain him when we get home, or do you still follow the same rules as at home?

 

!

 

To answer that you do not follow the same rules at home. You don't want him to cry it out at the expense of those around you. Your neighbors will be grateful to get to sleep on their vacation. :)

[ucsbgirl]

We cruised this past Jan. with our then 9 month old, and current almost 14 month old (who still doesn't sleep through the night) OUr little guy hated sleeping on the cruise, totally threw him off. The first two nights he slept great, even better than at home. Then it when down hill. The good news? OUr next door cabin neighbors did not hear him AT ALL. We handled it several ways, letting him sleep in our bed. Taking him for walks on the deks at 5 am, etc. We still had a great time! Enjoy and don't stress about sleep training. There is plenty of time for sleep when the baby naps!

[javma]

Sas80, I just have to respond to you...

 

This thread is NOT about sleep training. The OP was not asking that question. If you are a sleep expert, then you know that even the best sleeping kids may not do as well in unfamiliar surroundings, and may wake up when they have never done so before. Trust me, I have extensive firsthand experience in this area.

 

Telling the OP to tough it out for the month beforehand to eliminate the night wakings now may have no effect once the baby gets on the ship. The here issue is how to deal with the wakings when they do happen, and many posters have given great advice. And your repeated inistence on sleep training before the trip as the THE solution is frankly obnoxious. The question is how to deal with it on the ship if/when it happens, and there have been many helpful reponses here to the question that was asked.

 

And if you are wondering why I am typing this at 4:00 AM, it's because my formerly great sleeping 11 month old son has been CIO on and off since 2:40 AM, as we are getting him back on schedule after developing new night wakings on our 4/17 trip (see my previous post). So I get it, but you do what you need to do on the ship to ensure peace and quiet for all, and deal with it when you get home. Period.

[sas80]

Sas80, I just have to respond to you...

 

This thread is NOT about sleep training. The OP was not asking that question. If you are a sleep expert, then you know that even the best sleeping kids may not do as well in unfamiliar surroundings, and may wake up when they have never done so before. Trust me, I have extensive firsthand experience in this area.

 

Telling the OP to tough it out for the month beforehand to eliminate the night wakings now may have no effect once the baby gets on the ship. The here issue is how to deal with the wakings when they do happen, and many posters have given great advice. And your repeated inistence on sleep training before the trip as the THE solution is frankly obnoxious. The question is how to deal with it on the ship if/when it happens, and there have been many helpful reponses here to the question that was asked.

 

And if you are wondering why I am typing this at 4:00 AM, it's because my formerly great sleeping 11 month old son has been CIO on and off since 2:40 AM, as we are getting him back on schedule after developing new night wakings on our 4/17 trip (see my previous post). So I get it, but you do what you need to do on the ship to ensure peace and quiet for all, and deal with it when you get home. Period.

 

 

Your post is ridiculous and way off base but I m not going to dignify your completely erroneous statements by responding to them individually. I do understand that babies sleeping thru the night, and breastfeeding for that matter, are sensitive topics. I'm going to assume that you have misdirected your stress about your child waking up in the middle of the night at me, and leave it at that.

 

Have a great day.

[MrsZee]

Lol. Has anyone else ever noticed that when you see "have a great day" on an Internet forum, that you can almost see the writer spitting it out. Like, "have a great day and EFF YOU!" Lol. Just a silly observation... carry on.

[quagmire0]

Our DD was 6mo when we brought her on a cruise. She had been ok sleeping through the night until then, but she also got sick the very night before the cruise. So, she was having trouble sleeping through the night. We actually had the TV on static, running as white noise throughout the night. Needless to say, she woke up several times crying.

 

Hotels and cruise ships aren't really places to sleep train your baby. You do need to show some respect for those around you. We definitely broke many of our sleep rules while on vacation (got up immediately when she started crying, pacified her, held her until she got back to sleep). The good news is that, if you have a solid routine at home, it will only take her a day or two to get back into rhythm when you get back. Basically, you can take a week off and not blow up everything you've spent months to work on. So don't let the added pressure make you think you have to let her 'cry it out'.