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lemonlauren · 02-14-2009, 10:12 PM

We started out with the idea that Nikko would never be allowed on our bed, he would always sleep in his crate. But that NEVER worked - he always wanted to wake up to pee, or to play, or just to get attention. Uggh!

Finally one night after about a month and a half, I was so exhausted that instead of taking him outside to pee when he woke up, I just tried putting him into bed next to me. Like magic, he fell immediately back asleep and slept clear through to the morning.

So now, Nikko goes to bed in his crate, and my rule is that he has to stay in there sleeping for at least four hours (which he doesn't have any trouble with). And then if he wakes up after that, he gets to sleep with us for the remainder of the morning. I'm actually pretty happy with this solution so far... we get plenty of sleep, Nikko is happy, and it's nice to have a happy puppy gently waking us up in the morning, after we've had a full night of sleep.

I know this doesn't really help the OP, since it sounds like your baby sleeps with you for the whole night, but I just thought I'd share the way we do it. At the very least though, we NEVER play with him in the middle of the night - that's sleep time. Outside to pee or sleep are the only two options. It took a long time, but we finally figured each other out, and now Nikko can sleep for 8 hours... or if we take him out for a pee/poo sometime in the middle of the night, he can sleep up to 12 hours total!

Lauren & Nikko

02-14-2009, 10:12 PM	#11
lemonlauren YT Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Nevada Posts: 454	We started out with the idea that Nikko would never be allowed on our bed, he would always sleep in his crate. But that NEVER worked - he always wanted to wake up to pee, or to play, or just to get attention. Uggh! Finally one night after about a month and a half, I was so exhausted that instead of taking him outside to pee when he woke up, I just tried putting him into bed next to me. Like magic, he fell immediately back asleep and slept clear through to the morning. So now, Nikko goes to bed in his crate, and my rule is that he has to stay in there sleeping for at least four hours (which he doesn't have any trouble with). And then if he wakes up after that, he gets to sleep with us for the remainder of the morning. I'm actually pretty happy with this solution so far... we get plenty of sleep, Nikko is happy, and it's nice to have a happy puppy gently waking us up in the morning, after we've had a full night of sleep. I know this doesn't really help the OP, since it sounds like your baby sleeps with you for the whole night, but I just thought I'd share the way we do it. At the very least though, we NEVER play with him in the middle of the night - that's sleep time. Outside to pee or sleep are the only two options. It took a long time, but we finally figured each other out, and now Nikko can sleep for 8 hours... or if we take him out for a pee/poo sometime in the middle of the night, he can sleep up to 12 hours total! Lauren & Nikko Last edited by lemonlauren; 02-14-2009 at 10:15 PM.