getting your child to sleep through the night...

http://www.babycenter.com/0_6-major-sleep-mistakes-parents-make-8212-and-how-to-avoid-th_10303189.bc
(you'll have to copy the address and paste it to your browser to go to the article)

I read this article last week and it has changed our lives! Jackson is 2 and a half and still wakes up every night in the middle of the night. It got so bad at one point that we were just letting him climb into our bed when he would wake up, just so we could get some sleep. He's tried all sorts of things to get out of bed, "I want to eat", "watch a movie?" , " I'm scared". He also was a nightmare to try to put to bed. He would never stay in his bed, and when he was in his crib he was just cry and cry, one time we let him cry for almost 4 hours! that didn't work. Anyway, we finally figured out what works for him (at least for now!). We let him fall asleep with his light on and then once he falls asleep we turn it off. He has always had a night light, so when I read this article we were hesitant to take his night light away, it seemed mean. But now when he wakes up in the middle of the night, it's pitch black and so he doesn't wake up full. He will whine a little bit and then one of us will go in his room and help him find his plug or put his blanket back on him and he goes right back to sleep! He hasn't gotten up out of bed in the middle of the night for a week and and half. And the last 2 nights we put him to bed at 7 instead of 8, and he has slept for 12 hours! It's a whole new world of sleep for us! Just thought I'd share in case there was anyone else trying to find ways to get their baby to sleep...