12 Month Old Baby Wakes up to Nurse All Night Long

Hi P.,
I finally had to put my husband on night detail when my daughter was 13mo. She was up every 2 hours and knew that I would finally give in. However, the smart little one didn't really fuss long at all when Dad started getting up with her! The first night was a little rough (I think the poor man got up twice for about 10 min each, boo-hoo right...lol) and then the next couple nights it was just once each time. Then it was sleep-filled night! YEAH!
I don't know if this will work in your house but if it does I wish you sweet dreams! Good luck!

sorry- no easy answer for this as long as you continue to feed him during the night he will continue to get up. When you are ready you will have to let him cry it out. as 12 months he does not need to eat at night and you are the human pacifer. when he wakes up at night let him cry a bit and if worse comes to worse ask dad to go in.

Is it just that he is hungry? Is he taking enough cereal, baby food, smashed other food prior to bed time? I know one of our four children had a problem with waking several times during the night and someone simply said "she seems to just be hungry" and I made sure she had a larger meal prior to bedtime and it did the trick. Hope that helps!

Giving in to his whims is never the answer. You and hubby will loose a couple of nights sleep but you must stay firm and not let him dictate something that is his "wants" not his "needs".

hello P. he is of course just going through growing stage and the formula or breast milk is not filling enough so you can add now baby oatmeal or baby cereal to the milk or formula wich will fill him. also remeber if you are giving him formula, and adding baby cereal not alote, there is iron in that and it will constipate him, so what you do is go to store and get baby pear juice, and add about 1tsp or 1tbls of that in his formula or give it to him by itself. the baby pear juice is a natural laxative..I just had another mom who had baby constipated and did as I suggested with baby pear and the baby went after. If you have any other questions let me know.
Blessing's,
Rabbi L.
www.hamishkandavid.org

My son is 15 months and we have just barely gotten to the other side of this battle (slight relapse due to 4 teeth coming in at once- I thought I'd give in a little for that :))
The one thing that worked for us was putting a small sippy cup (with a partial silicone lid) in bed with him. He wakes up finds it and goes back to sleep. We ONLY PUT WATER in the sippy cup. I did do the cry it out thing 2 nights in a row which was REALLY hard but seemed to work as well. The sippy cup has entirely eliminated the crying though.

Oh I also only fill the sippy cup up about 1/2 way. After the first wet set of PJs waking him up at 3:30...kind of defeated the purpose. He sleeps from about 7:30 to 5:30 and then I do sometimes nurse him and put him in his crib to "read" for an hour until the rest of us get up. He ususally occupies himself well at that point. Also he self weaned himself from his pacifier a little after he got his first teeth.

Hope this helps! Karen

My babies nursed every two hours for the entire time they breastfed (and I breastfed them until they were almost 2 years old). Breastmilk just gets digested much faster by the body! People who only bottle feed do NOT get this. They think that babies can be put on schedules and you should resist their "demands." It all depends on what they are fed!!

Hi P.! I can't imagine how you must feel and how tired you must be! I have a 6-month old son and he was the same way until about a month ago. I know there is a difference in age between your son and mine, but I still thought this might help you. My son LOVES nursing, but like most babies I think a lot of it is just a "comfort-thing" for him. I had gotten in the habit of nursing him to sleep at night since he was born, but unfortunately if he fell asleep nursing the only way he'd stay asleep is if I let him sleep in my bed and he'd nurse ALL NIGHT LONG. Even if it was 3am and I tried to pull him off, he'd wake up! I started getting really frustrated with him because he wasn't sleeping well and I wasn't sleeping well, and I was tired of this routine all together. One night I refused to let him nurse to fall asleep and he was just screaming, so I shook him up a bottle of formula. He sucked it down and fell right to sleep. I think my milk just didn't fill him up enough at night. Now I nurse him 3-5 times a day, he gets cereal mixed with a fruit or vegetable 3 times a day, and a bottle of formula before bed at night. I think it is more convenient for me to nurse him to sleep at night sometimes because then I can just relax and read, watch TV, do my work, etc. while I'm nursing him. So I didn't really have to make much of an effort to get him to sleep. But now I feed him his bottle and then I either rock him or dance him to sleep. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes, sometimes it takes an hour, but once he falls asleep he's been sleeping from about 9-10pm until about 7-7:30am STRAIGHT THRU. So, even though nursing is great for you and your son, bonding, etc, it might be hurting you more than helping you at this point. I wish you all the best. Blessings, A. V

I remember this phase. It was so hard with my second. And I read all the books (I reccomend you do too to see what fits you best). Then I put them all down and followed my heart. I remember complaining to my husband "I feel like a failure that my child can't sleep through the night. She is just so needy!" And his responce never left me. He said "Maybe she is needy because she NEEDS something. And right now that something is you. It WILL be temporary." It was hard but when it was over I am so proud that I held my baby and hugged her. It was much easier and felt more natural than letting her "cry it out". Once I stopped being so hard on myself, I realized it could be our special time and actually tried to enjoy it. I certainly do not judge all my friends who got on the sleep schedule band wagon. As moms, we all just do our best from day to day. That's all we can do. My girls are 4 and 3 now and very independant and very good sleepers and nappers, all by their selves in their own rooms. Good luck. My heart goes out to you as I know this is such a hard time, physically and emotionally. You do need to make a change because right now isn't working for you. But don't be hard on yourself whatever you choose.

Cold Turkey. This will definitely be harder on you than your baby. I also recommend the spongy type earplugs available at any drug store. You will still be able to hear anything major, yet they will take the edge off of the crying. I am a side sleeper so I used to only put an earplug in my ear that was not on the pillow. I could still hear when the other kids needed me or any other bumps in the night. Good luck!

I'm in the same boat P.. My little girl is going to be 1 on the 21st. She still gets up at 1:30 and 5:30 to feed. But, you know what, I agree with following your heart. People make it sound like you'll be nursing forever because of what you're doing now. I don't think that will happen. This whole scheduling thing is the new trend these days, our parents generation didn't get into that and we're all fine. Do what is best for you and your son and like others have said, you're not alone! :)

I agree with Debbie. With us, my at the time 10 month old was eating good, dringking from a sippy - formula and breastmilk - getting a 4th meal (something with cereal or protein) before bed and still waking once or twice a night only to be satisfied by nursing. She also would not fall asleep without nursing. However when I pumped only got out about 2 ounces. I finally just had enough. I had to let her "cry it out". Wasnt hungry,not hurt etc... The first few nights were hard. That was 3 weeks ago and she has been sleeping about 10 hours straight at night. Some nights I lay her down and dont hear a peep before she is asleep, some nights she crys/fusses for a while. I just whisper that it is sleepy time and try to cuddle her in the dark room (some times it works better than others- if she wont let me I just lay her down) and then I lay her down say good night and am out the door. After a couple of days she didnt even go for my breasts anymore. If you want to quit, you just have to bite the bullet and do it. It is not easy, but you just nursed for a year and get up every 2 hours - wow - you can do hard things!
Good luck!

Are you sure you're not talking about my daughter? Lol. I feel the exact same way that you do. People have reassured me that no one has yet gone off to college nursing, yet that hardly makes me feel better! We do what we have to do to stay sane. I'm sorry I don't have any good advice for you (I wouldn't be in the same situation if I did!) but I wanted to let you know you are not alone. Good luck!

Have you talked to the pediatrician about when it would be good to start introducing other foods besides milk alone? A 12 Month old on breastmilk and formula alone? He may need more. Also Ask the sitter if she is putting cereal in the baby's formula. That keeps baby fuller longer and increases their appetite when it is time to eat again. Just drinking formula alone will keep them fuller than breastmilk because formula does not break down as quickly as breastmilk. If you add formula to that it is a recipe for disaster to a breastfeeding mom. .
He's crying like he's hungry because he probably is. If he keeps crying after feeding then it's ok to try the 'let them quiet themselves down' trick but if after eating he's out like a light...That's it he just wanted a bit more in his tummy.

I agree with the 2 other moms who responded before me. I would also like to add that if you nurse your child to sleep and then sneak out of his room, he will wake up in a couple of hours and need to be "pacified" back to sleep again. Make sure you put him to bed while he is awake and let him fall asleep on his own. It usually takes at least 3 nights to establish a new routine, and if your son is as stubborn as mine, it will take a little longer. When we started putting our son down to sleep he cried at first, but he finally got the hang of it. Good luck, and I hope you get some sleep!

To ease your mind he is completely capable of going through the night without nursing/feeding at this age. As a matter of fact he has been since about 4 months. At this point it is all about having "mommy time". Since you just went back to work he feels your absence and so has figured out a way to spend time with you. What a smart boy. Not good for you though. So you need to do two things try some complete one on one time with him. It only has to be 10-15 minutes a night. Put the timer on and make sure everyone else is aware and do not interrupt your time because the child will feel slighted. Also you will need to have him cry it out. Let him cry for 3 minutes then go in calm him down (DO NOT pick him up)maybe by rubbing his back or someting then when he is calm leave. He will immediatley start crying. You allow the crying for another 3 minutes then return calm him leave this next time you will allow him to cry for 5 minutes and repeat the calming down process you will continue this and keep extending the time you allow him to cry. He will either fall asleep or he will stop crying and eventually fall asleep. This is a tough process and will take 3 nights at least. I know it will be hard, but the pay off is huge. Do you see an end in sight now? No. So with this game plan at least you know you will go through it for a certain amount of nights but if you stay strong, consistent and follow through you will have this beat and be sleeping 7 hours before you know it.

Brace yourself for a few hard nights and let him cry. It will work and you will be able to function again and he will be much happier getting better sleep. He is old enough to have a cuddly item eg cuddly bear etc in his bed. I would give him the bear and then do a few days of cry it out.

I had the same problem when my daughter was about 5 months old...I became the human pacifier. Unfortuanately, the only thing that worked was...letting her cry. The pediatrician told me this and I tried it. You just have to tell yourself "he isn't hungry, he isn't hurt, he just wants Mom". It does rip your heart out to do nothing, but it worked and from that night on, it wasn't an issue. Make sure you nurse him and stop BEFORE he falls asleep. You can continue to hold him, but no nursing. My hubby and I did this process on a Friday night so he wouldn't be up all night with the crying and then have to go to work the next day. Our daughter cried for a long time and I picked her up after about 1/2 hour and held her for a short time and then put her down. It only took a few times before she fell asleep that night - for the whole night.

The first night is a doozy, but it worked for us and now she is a super happy and healthy 3 year-old. Good luck in whatever you do!

are you against giving him a pacifier? that may save you some sleep. good luck.