Sleep

Dear WholeFamily Counselor, I have an eight-month-old son who is bottle-fed. I have a problem getting him to sleep all the way though the night, and to take longer naps. I am also having problems getting him to drink more than four ounces at a time. He wants to eat four ounces or less and then wants more about an hour or two later. He only takes two to three naps of about 20-45 minutes each. I hear that they are supposed to be sleeping about two hours at a time.

When our son, Yosef, was four, we were having a very hard time getting him to sleep at night. He would get out of bed repeatedly with numerous requests or demand that one of us stay with him until he fell asleep -- which would usually take an hour or two. After several months of dedicating my entire evening to putting this child to sleep, I decided to try problem-solving -- one of the many fine ideas in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.

Q Dear WholeFamily Counselor, The last 3 months my husband and I have been letting our 2-year-old daughter sleep in our bedroom at night with us. Not with us, but on the floor. She doesn't want to sleep in her room (which is just one level down from our room) because she doesn't want to be away from us. She says she gets scared. We always assure her that there is nothing to be scared of. We used to be able to read to her and rock her to sleep to a lullaby tape, then lay her down in her bed.