Argh. We're so close to a good night's sleep... The baby (7 months old yesterday, but big for his age) goes to sleep like a charm at 7, no paci, no bottle, no rocking. I wake him at 10:30 or 11 PM for a nursing nightcap and put on a dry diaper, and he fades back to sleep without even a whimper.
But oh boy, come 3 AM, he is howling. He rolls back-to-front, but front-to-back only once in a blue moon. We've let him scream for up to an hour (I figure one night of crying for 2 years of healthy sleep is a fair trade-off) but to no avail; I finally do what we always end up doing at 3 am: turn him back over, give him a sip of water, and he goes right to sleep.
He can't turn over; he can't get water for himself; he can't put a paci in his own mouth, and he won't suck his fingers. We've tried a humidifier, but the room gets damp and gross and he still woke up.
All the cry-it-out stuff I read seems to focus on the first sleep cycle of the night, where we have zero troubles. What do I do at 3 AM?
Like the previous poster said, I wouldn't wake a sleeping baby. I think b/c you wake him, he is getting used to the lack of continuous sleep and constant feeding. There is no need for a bottle at 10pm if he gets plenty of formula throughout the day.
So let him sleep and see if he sleeps all the way through.
Good luck!
Hi Wendolyn,
I can't imagine waking up at 3 am every morning!! you must feel so frustrated. If the baby is sleeping, don't wake him up to eat. he's at an age where he should be able to make through the night without any food. I usually feed my daughter (almost 9 months) a bottle around 7:30 PM and she goes to bed after that with no problems. she usually sleeps through the night and has been since about 5 or 6 months old. so maybe you could try to feed him before he goes down then you wont feel like you have to wake him up to eat. even when my daughter wakes up in the night we dont feed her....we just try and calm her down and put her back to bed. your son needs to find a way to soothe himself and it seems like he can if he can fall aleep by himself initially. it may take time but he will sleep through the night at some point. good luck adn have a great holiday.
This is common. If I were you I would get up when he starts, turn him back over and then let him go back to sleep. The other thing you might consider is not waking him at 10 and pump so this way if he does get up during the night you could give him a bottle or even let him nurse. At 7 months my kids were sleeping through the night, except for my 3rd child (a son) who had health problems. I would put them down at 7:30 and they wouldn't get up until 6 or 7 the next morning, plus 2 naps during the day. My 3rd child had breathing issues due to an underdeveloped larynx so the meds he was on made him wired for sound so he doesn't count. Hope this helps.
Hugs,
T.
Why are you waking the baby up at 11:00? Let him sleep through until the morning especially if he is big for his age. Most babies at this age should be able to sleep 10-12 hours at night. Good Luck!
Why would you wake a sleeping 7 month old at 10:30.
NEVER wake a sleeping baby. You may be breaking his
sleep cycle. Therefore, he wakes up later on. He does
not need to be nursed at 10:30 at 7 months. Good luck.
I would suggest not waking him up for a feeding before you go to bed. By doing this you may be sabotaging his natural sleep rhythms and keeping him from a good night's sleep. I know you think it's buying you some sleep so he doesn't need to wake up in the middle of the night to eat, but obviously that is not working. It's perfectly acceptable for a 7 month old to wake at 3 am for a feeding. My son did that for months, and I changed him, fed him and put him back to bed. That's all you can do at his age. If he was a year old and still waking at 3am, then you would have a problem. And it pretty much always backfires to let them cry in the middle of the night, especially such a young baby. They get all worked up and don't sleep well the rest of the night. Eventually my son grew out of the 3 am feeding at about 9 months old with no intervention on my part. You also have to remember that he may be waking from teething pain, and breastfeeding is comforting, so this may be what you have to do. I would also not move him in with your older son. I would think it would disrupt your older son's sleep and then you would have two problems to contend with.
For us it always took three nights for any changes to occur. We let my daughter cry it out for three nights. The first night, she would scream for 30-60 minutes, the second night it was 15-30 minutes, the third night it was 5-10 minutes, and the fourth night she didn't wake up.
It's an ongoing process - we did this over and over and over, every few months...but it's worth it!
Believe me, we've all been through this!!!
Don't worry. This is a phase. As he gets more mobile, he won't need as much help. He'll figure out how to roll back eventually, and/or he'll learn to sleep on his belly. My son gave me two weeks of hell with this little issue. And I'm talking about 10 times a night! But he finally figured out the front to back roll, and then he got back into his normal sleeping pattern.
I'd keep going to get him, and turning him back over. You won't have to do it much longer. Also, consider getting rid of that 10:30 wake up. He's probably ready!
BTW no need to justify the whole "cry it out" attempt! Your description of your boys lets everyone know what a great mom you are. You clearly listen to your sons, and do everything you can to give them what they need! That = great mom in my book. :)
Hi There,
The first issue to address might be his ability to roll front to back. Most babies at this age should have mastered this skill, especially if they can get from back to front. Developmentally, it is easier for a child to get from front to back, and this skill used to come first. However, because we are told to put our babies to sleep on their backs now, Tummy Time is thrown to the wayside by some parents, not realizing the importance of it for proper development (helps strengthen neck and trunk muscles- needed for crawling, encourages more movement and helps to develop visual motor skills by allowing for more exploration etc.). Make sure he is getting enough time on his belly during the day to encourage more movement.
The other thing you mentioned is that you wake him to feed him late at night. I personally never understood why people wake a sleeping baby (past a month or 2 of age if they are growing normally). To me, that is like getting them in the habit of waking up to eat, even though they don't need it. A 7 month old who is growing normally should be able to sleep atleast 10 hours without eating (especially if they are not waking up on their own). I know that this is not the issue you are trying to address, but maybe he is just in the habit of waking several times at night, and once his is able to roll more consistantly on his own, he will figure out that he can get comfortable on his own and get back to sleep.
Good Luck!
We had the same issue, and I finally realized that she had trouble rolling from her front to her back in her crib, even though she could do it on the floor. So, we would just turn her over and she'd go right back to sleep, that way we weren't up for a long time as well as her, since she'd stop crying right away. At like 8 1/2 months, she started doing it on her own, and we didn't have to turn her over anymore. She still wakes up sometimes at like 3 or so, and I think she just feels the anxiety of being alone and wondering where we are, she starts crying. We hold her and comfort her for a couple of minutes, and then she's fine back in her crib again. I figure she's only going to be this age once, and it's so important to teach her we love her, to trust us, and feel comfortable with the world around her. So, as sleep deprived as I am, the trade off is worth it to me to give her a secure beginning. If it was effecting me more, it would be a different story, but just waking up once for a short while seems like no big deal. I can deal with losing sleep for a couple of years, she would be forever affected if her cries are not answered. Just give it time, it will eventually stop, especially since he's such a good sleeper in general. And, when you have to wake up at 3 am, look down and treasure the moment, it will be quickly fleeting, and at some point he won't want to be bothered with you.
No offense but are you serious. This is not even a big deal. If all you have to do is roll him back over and give him a binky/water, that takes 5 mins. At 7 mos my daughter still wasn't sleeping through the night. At 17 mos my daughter still wakes up at night for a binky she can't find. And I was still doing that for my son at 2. And all I have to do is go in plug her up and go back to bed. It takes 5 mins and I'm back to sleep. If all it takes you is 5 mins out of your sleep, is that really so difficult. Out of 8 hrs your missing 5 mins. For 7 mos your son is sleeping great. Can you keep the water in his room so it's already there when you go in. But until he learns to be comfortable on his tummy your going to have to go in and roll him over.
Hey Wendolyn,
I don't think the cry it out method would apply here as you said he already knows how to put himself to sleep he just can't get himself comfortable. My kids did the same thing I would try to go right away and flip them back over before they became wide awake. Maybe try that, just rub his back for a minute and not give him a drink. Eventually he will stop waking or learn how to flip himself over. I wouldn't let him cry he just needs to be made comfortable again. I think it is just a phase and it will pass. Giving him a drink can become a habit though so you may want to reconsider that. I have one question. Why are you waking him for a feeding at 11 o'clock? I never woke my kids up for a feeding at night. I am guessing it is so you can feed him before you go to bed so you won't be woken up in the middle of the night. Try not waking him up and see how long he sleeps without the night feeding. Unless he is underweight which you said he is not he really shouldn't need a night feeding. Good luck and Happy Holidays!!
Hi!
So, the cry it out method is or all times, not only the first cycle. We had the EXACT same problem and our Dr told us to have her cry it out at 3AM. The only thing is, when we had that problem our daughter was able to roll over. I promise this will all get better when he is able to do so.
Best of luck,
J.
