How do you get your baby to sleep through the night?

So it is 4 o'freaking clock in the morning and I am so irritated I cannot go back to sleep.  I have a 21 month old that wakes up all night long and I am exhausted.  I can't remember the last time I had more than 5 hours of sleep.  I wanted to sleep soooo bad last night.  I was sooo tired after working all week and getting very little sleep and then he is wakeful all night.  I feel like smashing his head into the wall (I wouldn't do that, but I'm just so frustrated).  I have a 3 bedroom house and my older 2 kids have the other bedrooms and there is no extra room for him, so he is in our room right now.  We have tried the living room and the garage when it was warmer.  The garage worked best because we just closed the door and when he woke up we could not hear him and he eventually went back to sleep, but now he keeps the whole house up so we will bring him into bed with us and try to sooth him back to sleep, but he sleeps for 10 minutes, then cries "bobba, bobba," we give him the bottle, he goes back to sleep for 10 minutes, wakes up.... again and again till I can't go back to sleep any longer.  He won't eat hardly any food before going to bed so I know he is hungry, but how do you get a kid to eat?   He is very picky and everything we try he turns his face and shakes his head no.  Last night he ate a few blueberries, one tiny bite of yogurt and applesauce and a few handfuls of Kix with milk and maybe one bite of banana.  We put a variety of foods on his highchair tray, but he just won't eat! 

I just don't know what to do.  I am so tired I can't function during the day.  I am the breadwinner for the family and I have to be able to function.  Everything I enjoy in life is taken away because I'm too tired. 

Any suggestions? Sorry for the rambling, but that was cathartic!

No idea.

My story:

I've got a 7-month old who used to wake up every two hours, eat for 30 min and then take her time falling back asleep. I was so exhausted....I totally undrestand your feeling of frustration and even deep anger! It's terribly hard to function on no sleep...and you've got 2 teenagers! So anyway my daughter used to sleep in the bed with me, but it got to the point around 5 months where I couldn't do it anymore. We moved her into a crib in her own room and did let her cry it out for several days. I had my Mom come with me on day 1 to help b/c I didn't trust that me and my husband would be able to do it. It was hard, and eventually we were not able to continue. It just felt wrong....now we do a modified cry it out method...something similar to sleep training. Instead of just putting her down and walking away, now I hold her until she is super drowsy and then I put her down. That helped her learn to go the last bit and fall asleep out of my arms, in her crib. If she fusses, I don't pick her up, but I stand with her (in the dark) speaking really softly and rubbing her legs until she calms down. Sometimes she wont, and then I leave the room briefly....that usually works. It seems that sometimes I am actually keeping her awake, instead of helping.

I also have a very strict nap and bedtime ritual...for naps, it's: eat, change diaper, read a few stories until she seems ready (yawns, rubbing eyes, etc.), finish with "good night moon" (always), turn on a short classical music cd (the same one, every time), give her a blanket to hold, and then hold her for a few minutes. Bedtime is similar, but with a bath thrown in.

We're actually to the point that when she sees that "goodnight moon" book she'll start looking up at me, waiting for me to put her to bed.

With all that said, she still wakes up every 4 hours....certainly better than every 2...and she'll go to sleep on her own after eating. I don't have to rock her to sleep. Now that she's adjusted, I'm planning on making the next change where instead of feeding her at 3 or 4 am, I'll probably let her cry a bit...hopefully that way instead of her waking up three times a night, it'll just be 2.

we shall see!

Well I have a 22 month old who is still not sleeping through the night.  Unfortunately I can't really offer you any advice, as I am still suffering from her night waking cycle!  My daughter hasn't had a bottle since she was 13 months, eats like a horse, is as healthy as can be, and is very active during the day, yet still she perseveres.

I would love to say I have a point here haha, but I guess I really don't!  Just thought I'd empathize!

Well, I'm sorry to know there are so many of us sleep deprived moms out there, but it is nice to know I am not the only one in this predicament.  He is sleeping until 4 a.m. pretty regularly now.  I have made it a point to get to bed as early as possible, usually around 9:30.  I've been getting around 6 hours of sleep a night-not great, but survivable!  Good luck to all you other moms in this situation (and dads!).

Try Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Ferber.  It's a really good resource.