8 1/2 Month Old Wakes up 3-4 Times at Night...

I don't have much advice for you but wanted to say my little guy didn't sleep through the night til he was around 15 months old. I know everyone tells you they should be but every kid is different. Hopefully she'll soon work it out and you both can get some rest again.

S.,

All children are different and I have had to accept that about my son. He woke up three to four times a night until he was about 11 months then it was just twice a night and now at 14 months he wakes up once a night. I nursed him until he was a year and used nursing to relax him for sleep at night. Now that he isn't nursing he still wakes, he doesn't take a bottle or pacifier...he just wakes up. I pick him up and hold him for a little while and he goes back to sleep. My son just isnt' one of those babies who sleep through the night and some kids don't for quite some time. I do suggest you try different techniques to see if you can make the situation better for you but please don't think you are doing something wrong or there is something wrong with your little one if she keeps this routine....it will get better. From one tired mommy to another...hang in there! LOL

There is no "should be" with babies. They are all different. And they all go through stages.

My Oldest started sleeping through the night at 8months My second was still waking 3x's a night until he was 16months and my new baby only wakes once per night at 11wks old.

Meet her needs, she'll adjust soon.

As for waking because of a wet diaper. Have you tried using an overnight diaper? Those are more absorbant and may keep her feeling dryer longer.

I cloth diaper so I just stuff a pocket dipe and put a couple of layers of fleece against the skin to help keep their bottoms dry.

S., hang in there momma. Some babies aren't sleeping through the night at this point. I have a 16 month old and he still wakes up once or twice. I find that nursing him is a quick way to get hime back to sleep.

Everyone puts so much pressure on us moms by asking if the baby is sleeping through the night. Each baby will get there, but not always as fast as we'd expect.

"I know but she is hungry and she is not going to go to sleep that way...and I really am not up for making her cry herself to sleep feeling hungry. " You are doing the right things!

Hi,
My daughter did this for about 6 months and I finally said enough is enough at about 9 or 10 months old! I got good night time diapers and stopped nurseing her in the night. It had became a habit to wake up and I was letting her keep this bad habit. I started giving her a cup of water and only snuggling with her for a few minutes at the side of the crib. I stopped going to the rocker or my bed. After a few nights she realized I wasn't going to nurse her and she stopped waking up. Just before bed I made sure she ate a good meal of cereal and other baby foods and nursed her as long as she wanted.
At 8 1/2 monthes your daughter should be able to go 8+ hours without eating, unless there are medical problems. I don't think she's feeling hungry, it's more of a comfort to nurse then a hungry need in the middle of the night. I'm not saying you need to just suddenly stop nursing in the night but gradually over a week take the feedings away. Offer a sippy cup of water instead of nursing. I think you'll be suprised how easy she adjusts after a few days.
Since it is your first baby, you may become engorged for a few days since you are cutting back on the night nursing. What always helped me was to pump or to take a warm shower and let it release in the shower. After a few days, maybe 5, your body should cut back on the night production and adjust to your new schedule.

My son wasn't sleeping through the night either, and he was almost 9 months. His Dr. told me he is waking up because he is used to it. Not because he was hungry!! He said to give him a water bottle when he woke up, and after he realized that was all he was going to get, that he would sleep all night. I did the water bottle once, and now he sleeps all night. Longer than he should even!! He'll sometimes sleep from 9-8, and I have to wake HIM up to eat breakfast!!!

I have 11 month old twins that would get up 3x in the middle of the night until they were about 8/9 months old wanting to eat. I knew that they didn't need to eat and that they were getting enough in the day to hold them over at night. I finally just let them cry it out one night and that was that. They have been sleeping all night with no bottles or diaper changes and we are also getting some sleep at night too. It was hard to let them cry it out, but in the end one night of that was better then still getting up with them every night!

Both my boys did that at about 4 months. My doctor said that at about 4 months they for the first time understand routine in their body clocks. So they wake up to feed just as you feed them during the day. So even after sleeping through the night (mine also did early) they can start waking. Now she has really gotten used to waking, so it's routine, just like if you trained yourslef to wake at a certain time every morning. She isn't really that hungry, she just thinks she needs to be. I had to let my boys scream. It only took one night with one and two with the other. It was a miserable night or two, but well worth it to have me be a happier Mom and happier wife. We need our sleep too. Not to mention, my boys were much better rested and happier too. Hope that helps. I have found, Everyday is a challenge with kids, and everything is a guessing game...what a tough and rewarding job!!!

Hi S. -

I hear you on the not wanting to let her cry it out...I am the same way, I just can't do it! That being said, she is physically able to go through the night without eating (or at least minimizing feeds to no more than 1-2 feeds per night). It sounds like her eating may be more of a habit than true hunger -- she knows that when she gets up there is a diaper change and eating involved...so now she is expecting it. One another suggestion, if she is not extremely wet (and did not have a bowel movement), I would try skipping the diaper change at some or most of the feeds so she doesn't wake so much.

My suggestion would be to gradually increase the time between her feeds and/or shorten the actual feedings. For example, if you feed her at 9 and she is up at 11 wanting to eat, I would try rocking her a bit or whatever method you use to calm her. Once she is calm, try returning her to her crib. If she cries, pick her up and do the the same. Maybe just try to get another 15 - 20 minutes initially before you feed her. And increase the time b/t feeds as you see fit. I know this will be hard for you initially because it keeps you up longer. Once the time b/t them increases I would try shortening the actual feed. If she usually eats for 10 minutes per time, try 8, then 6 and so on after the feed, try her pacifier if she still seems to want to suck. If she refuses to latch off or is really upset, you can try putting her back on and counting to 10, then latching her off again and continue this until she is ok with it. These are all things I have read or heard about and have tried a few myself with success. It all depends on the way you prefer to make changes. Some like to do things at a slower pace, some prefer to move things along faster!

Everyone and every baby is/are different, but I have noticed with my son gradual changes are best...baby steps!

I recently read the Baby Whisperer book by Tracy Hogg. I really liked it because I thought she was realistic and down-to earth in her approaches as she recommends nurturing and independence, without leaving your child to figure out the world alone. She addresses the very thing you are talking about!

Good luck!

my 8 1/2 month old daughter just recently started waking up in the middle of the night. she has slept through the night since she was about 12 weeks old. now, no matte what time we put her to bed, she is up around 230am. i change her and give her a bottle and put her back in bed(if her dad does it, she is up all night trying to get him to play). usually, if we ignore her and pretend to be asleep, she goes back to sleep too.

Babies like a routine. Right now your daughter is doing what she knows best and that is get up, eat, change diaper, go back to bed. Eating is a habit, just like with adults. I don't believe she is hungry, my girls would take a bottle at anytime I offered it to them because it was a comfort thing. You will not be able to change her routine all at once or she will just cry all night. Take steps....continue to do things exactly the same but skip the eating part. Then (use desitin cream to prevent any rash) and stop changing her diapers at night. Then stop talking to her when she gets up (there should be no stimulation) she needs to know that it is night time. Once you can get her used to not eating, not changing her diaper, and no talking, start letting her put herself back to sleep in her crib ( you will need to stay in the room until she falls back asleep)but just sit there, that's it. Eventually she will wake up and know that she is not going to get out of bed and you are not going to stimulate her so she will not be having any mommy time and she will learn to put herself back to sleep. The way a baby falls asleep is the way that they expect to wake up and if everything is different (such as being in a crib and not mom's arms) they will be upset and cry so your untimate goal should be to get her to fall asleep in her crib on her own. Good luck :)Stick with a plan and it will work ( don't give in because babies are extrememly smart and know how to read you better than you can read yourself)They will test the waters and go as far as you let them go.

Hi S. -

My pediatrician told me that by six months babies no longer need to eat at night (they're getting plenty of nutrition during their daytime and evening feedings). She said that if they're still waking up to eat, it's because they're simply used to doing so and not because they're actually hungry. She advised us to wean our son off of his night feedings because the longer we continued to feed him at night (after he turned six months old) the harder it would be for us to get him to sleep through the night. We followed her instructions and our son, who is now eight months old, eats right before he goes to bed at 8pm and then sleeps until 7:30am when he's up and ready for breakfast. It was tough at first, but using gradual extinction worked for us. Good luck!

Hi S.,
I agree with Rachalle, she isn't waking up because she is hungry. She probably just likes the comfort of Mommy. It's up to you if and when you want this to stop. With my son I first started going in and not feeding him but would rock him. Then after a week or so I would go in and rub his back for a bit and then went back to bed. He would cry for a bit after I left (maybe 5 minutes or so) but it only took 2 nights and he slept through the night. He learned to go back to sleep on his own. He is now almost 4 and sleeps great. I also have a 16 month old that I have been lucky with. He loves to sleep and happily goes to bed. If you like to read check out the book "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child". It is a really good book and helped me out alot when I had my first child. Good luck.
Chris

I have a 10 month old and she went throught he same thing at about 7 months, she was sleeping through the night and then started getting up once, twice and we got up to 5 times a night. She was always hungry, she wanted to nurse and then would go right back to sleep. I started increasing her solids during the day and when I started doing that we started cutting down on the number of times she would get up during the night. We are down to only once a night now and it is usually between 4 and 5:30 and she will nurse and then go right back to sleep. But in order to get her to eat more during the day I had to cut down the night nursing. So she would usually nurse for 5 min. on each side so I just started cutting back, I would only let her nurse for 4 minutes on each side each time we got up then 3 min the next night. Eventually she would eat mroe during the day and needed less at night. I hope my experience helps. Good luck, I know gettingup that much can be rough especially when you know they can sleep through the night. -E.

My daughter was also breast fed and woke up during the night for at least 8 months. However her wakings were not as frequent as your daughter.

I never changed wet diapers overnight. It just wakes you and the baby up- as someone else suggested- buy huggies overnight diapers- (they are only sold at toysrus and babiesrus)

the diapers are very absorbant and will not leak. My duaghter does not get rashes and does fine in one onvernight diaper for the 12 hours that she is asleep.

Your daughter needs to learn to fall asleep on her own without you nursing and rocking her to sleep.

I started teaching my duaghter to fall asleep by herself at 4 weeks. I put her in her bassinets and gave her the pacifier and rocked the basssinet, or rubbed her head or patted her back.. I did not get her used to mommy rocking her to sleep.

Now that your daughter has the habit of being held and rocked and nursed to sleep you have a harder task to break this habit.

I suggest getting the book healthy sleep happy child.

It is written by a pediatrician and I found it very helpful.

If your daughter is of aveage size and eating solidfood and nursing druing the day- she should be able to sleep at least a 5-6 hour block at night without food.