9 month old wont sleep thru the night and screams until someone comes in to pick him up!!!! I need HELP!!

[tiredmama512]

My 9 month old has been sick with colds (swine, 4 ear infections, bronchiolitis, stomach bug) so we have been so inconsistent with his sleep habits. When he is healthy he tends to only wake up once and doesnt need to be picked up or rocked back to sleep. But the past 2 months have been so tough on all of us. He is just getting over another cold (on day 11) but still has a really bad cough.

Here is a typical night when he doesnt feel well, which I feel like is ALWAYS! He goes down for the night around 7, I have to hold him and rock him a little until he is very sleepy, not asleep yet. Then I put him down and he cries for a few minutes then goes right to sleep. Around 10, he wakes up and stands up in his crib and screams until I go in to get him. My husband will try to go in but he screams even louder if its not me! So I end up having to go in and I try to just lay him down and rub his back but he cries more until I pick him up and hold him chest to chest. He falls asleep immediately and I have to hold him for a few minutes until he is really asleep. Then when I try to put him back down he will scream and the process starts right back up again...the standing up and screaming until I pick him up. This can go on anywhere from a half hour to three hours! Then he usually wakes up again around 3 and does the same thing! I need help because this is not working! We try really hard to let him cry it out but he cries so hard that he hyperventilates and makes himself spit up! We have tried the 10 min. then 15, 20 CIO method and that didnt work for us either. The longer we let him cry the longer it takes to soothe him back to sleep. Please help me...any books or advice will be helpful because, we have tried everything.  

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

The next best thing is to adhere to the guidelines in Richard Ferber's book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problem, though my advice above is what I would do (and actually what I did with my own children).

[tiredmama512]

Oh man, not sure if I can do that cold turkey since he still isnt feeling 100%. I respect your advice so what's the next best thing?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

To be frank, if you can bring yourself to do it, I favor biting the bullet and not  going in. Going in at intervals just postpones the ineviatble and reinforces the notion that you'll be coming.

[tiredmama512]

Okay I will try it again. Can you please do me a favor and let me know what you recommend doing exactly as far as 10 min. 15 min. I will have tonight be night 1 so how do I start??

Thank you!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Assuming he is in good health, it's importasnt that you stick with the method you have learned about. There are no shortcuts to this. Every time you go in and hold him, rock him, etc., you are 'teaching' him to do the very thing that troubles you. Your son will change to the degree that you can change. You already know about the method - now you have to stick to it.