Not Sleeping Through the Night Anymore!

D.,

My daughter did the same thing. She was teething. We gave her some orajel and she would go back to sleep. Good Luck.

Hi D. Do you think that he may be teething? That can cause him to wake up. If you try not to go in to him when he wakes up, how long does he cry? Is it a long time? If not, let him cry himself back to sleep without a bottle if possible. Does he just need reassuring? Go in and rub his back but don't take him out of the crib. They can get really used to that. If he's teething maybe a little tylenol could help or rubbing his gums with some teething medicine. Have you tried Humfries (sp) they are a holistic medicine for teething. They are really little and you put them in their mouth and they disolve and help to soothe their gums. Good luck, it's not easy. D.

my son is a big boy too, born at 22" 10.3 lbs...now he is 8 1/2 months and is 30", 23lbs. I find that when he is going thru a growth spurt his appetite just amazes me. Keeping him in a routine of dinner (including cereal still) followed by a bath and then bedtime with a bottle usually helps him sleep better. but he still wakes up for a bottle btwn 3 and 5 sometimes. good luck!

Hi D., my son is only going to be turning three months old, so we are not quite there yet. I just wanted to mention something regarding another response from a mom who suggested that you add cereal to your babies bottle to keep him fuller and help him sleep better. I researched this a bit online because I was thinking of doing this for my baby soon and what I found was that it can cause obesity. This can happen due to the fact that the baby will not stop sucking when he is full, he will just continue eating and it teaches them to do the same as they get older. You can check it out for yourself, I just googled cereal in bottle or something like that and found a few sites that contained this info. I'm sure it wouldn't harm you baby, I just wanted to make you aware of this.

Hi D.,

Has he recently started crawling or any other new "activity"? When my 3 year old was around 7 months we had the same problem. My pediatrician said that little ones will have sleep disturbances when they learn new things. He will outgrow it eventually but hard to deal with while it is happening. I have a 6 month old so I know it will be happening in out house soon too!

K. S

Your son may be going through seperation anxiety and when he wakes up he is looking for you. I have a 1 year old and went through some similar times. Teething can also cause him to wake up, even if you can't see the teeth they can be pushing under the gums. I hope things get better.

Hi there,
My (now 2 year old) daughter was the same way. She would wake up about 4 times in the night and it didn't matter if it was formula or water in her bottle. Her ped said it was a seperation thing and basically she just wanted me. When she was about 10 months old, I eventually had to let her just cry it out. It only took a few nights and she has been sleeping 12 hours a night ever since. I would check with your ped before doing this though, as your little guy might be too young to cry it out. I also agree with the others, don't put cereal in his bottle, it can cause more harm than good. Good luck, and just remember you aren't the only one one going through this. Yawn, we're all tired! My 7 month old boy has NEVER slept through the night!

Maybe you are seeing alot of repition in the responses.. But I have to say it again.
- It's a phase
- My son did that too
I swear to god, I got up 2-4 times a night for about 6 months straight.
The thing that put him to sleep, yes it was formula.
Once in awhile he would even fight that.
It will pass.
The only advice I can give you is...
Keep a level head and try not to get too frustrated, I know you are tired.
Keep a bottle for him on your nightstand ready with water, and pre measure out the powder formula in a dixie cup, so when he wakes up, you can combine, shake, and back to sleep.
Maybe it is a coincidence that his 4 front teeth came in over that period of time..
Sorry to say, you have to grin and bear it.
Also, I don't wanty to start any feud, but it is not recomended to put cereal in his bottle. Maybe a small serving right before the bed time formula bottle would help if indeed he is waking up hungry.
I found also, that since he was already up, (in the middle of the night)when I gave him a bottle, I took that opp to change him, so he could be as comfortable as possible.
The best advice anyone gave me was my mom, who said.. "well honey, that's what babies do"

D., Think about what,if anything, may have changed during the day? Has anything you used to do .. either stop or change? EX: What he's fed? When he's fed? Activities? Something new in the home? Usually our daytime events can affect nightime sleep habits. Something new he's been fed? Or time of day? etc. Food (bottle) can somtimes be a comfort (under stress? nightmares?). Well just a thought.. Sometimes it's as simple as that, right in front of our eyes. Check w/your doctor too. Good luck.

D. - Interesting that you say 7 months!! My son is almost 1 and did the SAME thing at 7 months...when I looked back at my calendar...the same thing happened to my 2 daughters around 7 months. I am not quite sure why other than they are a little more aware of getting or needing that attention in the middle of the night from mom and dad....also teething....and perhaps a growth spurt. It didn't last as long with the girls, but my son seemed to go back and forth between sleeping and not so much. We always just got up and fed him so long as he went right back down. As soon as he wanted to be UP at 2 AM, we let him cry it out. A trick that some have shared is beginning to water down the bottle. For a night give him 3 scoops of formula with 6 oz of water, then go to 2 scoops for a few nights, then 1 scoop and then eventually water. The idea is that they'll stop getting up if they think it isn't worth it. Some swear by it. Not sure if it really worked with our guy if the timing just seemed right. Good luck!

If your baby has a pacifier try giving him that.
I can usualy quiet my son with his when he wakes at 2 or 3 then he sleeps til at least six without needing a bottle.

It depends what time I put him down also.
7:30 vs 9:00 pm makes all the difference.

I was just there 2 months ago my daughter would wake up usually around 1am from 5 months - 8 months. I did two things I gave her dinner one hour and a half before bedtime and also gave her a bottle right before bed. This way I knew she couldn't be hungry when she woke up. Then we did the tough love method and let her cry it out. The first night was 45 minutes, they do eventually cry themselves to sleep this DOES NOT hurt them in fact crying is healthy for thier lungs. It gradually got better and now if she wakes up she puts herself to sleep. It also got better when she was able to turnover herself and sleep on her stomach. If you continue to go into his room and comfort him or give him a bottle he will always expect it and cry and cry and cry until you come in - the battle is letting them cry it out until they go to sleep. He will eventually realize mommy is not coming in and go back to sleep. I hope this helps.

my son did not sleep through the night untill he was about 18 months. he was hungry too, and wanted a bottle. it helped when he started eating more solid food.

Oh, I feel for you! My first son did the same thing and it lasted until he was 3 1/2. We were usually able to comfort him with a bottle and he would fall back to sleep. After he was no longer using bottles, it became a little tougher. We discovered he responded well to soothing music and having his back lightly rubbed until he dozed off. I think he just needed the comfort of knowing we were still there for him through the night. The good news is now he is a great sleeper. I hope your little one gets through this stage faster than mine!
Best of luck.

My daughter did the same thing at that age. Her ped suggested putting some baby cereal in her before bed bottle. The cereal made her belly fuller so she wouldn't wake up hungry in the middle of the night.