8 Month Old and Sleeping

We used the Dr. Ferber method, at roughly 3 months old. Our ped said they don't need to feed at night once they are 12 lbs, or 3 months old. They just get used to the routine of waking at night and want the company. He has slept through the night 8pm-7am ever since (except when my MIL was over, but that's a different story alltogether).

It will take 3-7 days to extinguish this behavior, with full committment on your part. Be prepared for him to have shorter daytime naps once he starts actually having uninterrupted sleep at night. Be prepared that you might continue to wake up at 1:30, 3:30 and 5 for a few nights even after he begins sleeping through.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

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1) Don't add cereal to his bottle
2) Don't put a baby to sleep with a bottle of milk. (It not only hurts teeth, but it can also lead to ear problems. Water is better. Start diluting the milk again, until it is all water. And 3 nights is not nearly enough time to let them adjust. Give it time.

If you think he's hungry, make sure he eats enough solids during the day.

Finally, at 8 months, he is old enough to sleep through the night, but you have to let him (i.e., make him) do it on his own. Read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." This book will help you create an appropriate sleep schedule and give you methods to encourage your child to sleep on his own through the night. (He suggests cry-it-out (CIO) but also gives the option of a modified Ferber method for those not able to follow through on CIO.)

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Did you know that in child care kids this age are down to only 2 naps at most per day. Then in a couple of months the baby would start going to only one nap per day? When a child turns 1 they move up to the toddler room where they have a lot more structure and nap time is scheduled after lunch. This is a normal progression.

Even when children are not in child care it's a natural developmental stage for them to need less daytime sleep. At 8 months he needs to be at 2 naps and no more unless he is ill.

my daughter is almost 10 months and we went through this a couple months ago too. at the time she was still nursing and was waking up every couple hours and wanted to stay in bed with me. we decided to sleep train, putting her in her crib still awake, letting her cry herself to sleep. one thing we did was have my husband get up with her in the middle of the night and give her a bottle, so she learned that she wasn't going to get mommy all night long. it is pretty awful to listen to your child cry, but worth it when EVERYONE is sleeping better. it took her about a week to get used to it. a couple weeks ago she started refusing her nap and waking up a lot at night again. we just stayed very consistent, putting her in her crib at naptime even if she cried and didn't sleep. she came back around within a week or so. at night, i give her an 8 oz bottle before she goes to sleep at 7:30, then will feed her again if she wakes up around midnight or 1am. if she wakes up again within a couple hours, we just let her cry or settle herself, she is not hungry then. her basic schedule (same as when she was 8 months old) is wake up around 7/7:30, nap around 10am for an hour, then again around 1:30 for a couple hours. we don't do an evening nap because we are always doing stuff with her older sis, but she is ready for bed by 7:30. we never did any diluting of the bottle or cereal in the bottle. if they are growing and eating regularly during the day, bottle at bedtime, and maybe one more in the middle of the night, they are not hungry, they just need to learn to soothe themselves.

Put the baby on a sleep schedule. Do it over a weekend - it'll be about 3 days before it takes.

We were just where you are now (little man is a year). That 5p nap will slowly go away over the next couple months. We left that up to him.

Our little guy slept through the night at 4-5 months. It was not his decision, as he was very happy waking at 3am to get a snack. 3 nights of not getting him up and letting him self soothe (10-15 min)...and by the third night he woke and cried for about 30 seconds. Fourth night - (and since) - slept through the night.

We used the Babywise series, but there are plenty of sleep books out there.

I didn't read the other responses but I don't think he needs to eat everytime he wakes up. I think that he needs to be soothed in some other way, or learn to self sooth. Can you try patting him on the back or, whispering night night or what ever you say to him to go to sleep. Sounds like a habit to me, maybe try some other things. Giving him a lovey, or a snuggle and lay him right back down, say goodnight and walk out. That would work for my 2nd son but my first would just scream for me so, guess it depends on his personality.

You should NEVER add cereal to a bottle. At that age, he is most likely not waking up because he is hungry (as long as he is getting enough milk/solids during the day. 10oz before bedtime is more than enough I think). I would immediately take the 5:00 nap out, and move back the naps a bit if he is really tired by then. And extend the morning nap. My (now 11 month old) has only taken two 2hr naps per day for months now. He usually sleeps 8hrs before waking up at night. His bedtime is 8pm. He used to wake up every 2-3hrs (to nurse) but after I left him fuss it out, he has learned to put himself back to sleep. Is he teething? Ear ache/infection? Those have always caused more wake-ups as well.... good luck.

Add cereal (old folk call it Pablum).

Any time my 9 month old gets overtired, he has disrupted night sleep like that. It might help to put him to bed earlier, even though it sounds counter-intuitive. Try cutting out the 5 oclock nap and putting him down at 6 for the night. Also, maybe try really ramping up the solids too. That way you'll be sure he is getting enough calories during the day, and know that the supplemental bottle is mostly for comfort, and it will be easier to cut out when you're really ready to do so. He may not be ready to give up night feeds, (my little one is still getting up once a night at 1:30, and I'm gradually decreasing the ounces, which seems to be working.) If you think it's a growth spurt, then that's a different story. Good luck!!

i think it is just habit at this point. He does not need food at night, so he is not waking up hungry. The best thing I EVER did (and also one of the hardest) was to sleep train my kids via the Cry-it-out method - but I swear within 2-3 days each of my 2 boys was sleeping through the night. I would cut out the 5pm nap. Make sure he has plenty of food in his belly (bottle/jar food) give him a nice warm bath, do the bed time routine early (6:30-7pm) and put him down - since he skipped his nap, he will be tired and should fall asleep fairly easily/quickly (dont let him get too tired), then tell him you will see him in the morning. Dont return until morning. (Once he see's you, it starts over - because he "wins" the battle of wills; trust me it will wear you down at first, but when the whole family is sleeping through the night by next week it will all be worth it). Your 3 year old may need to sleep in a different location for a few nights, so the baby doesnt keep him up all night.

good luck!

Feed him, he's hungry. Feed him a full strength bottle, even in the middle of the night. I'll bet you anything that if you feed him a full strength bottle at 1:30 am, he will sleep well past 3:30 am.

My ped told us that at 6 months our son didn't need to eat during the night. Tell that to him! We tried that and had a few miserable nights. We started feeding him again and started sleeping again!

Also, you might try getting rid of the evening nap. 5:00 pm is really close to 7:00 pm. You might find he's ready for bed a little sooner ... or not. But it does sound like he's ready for a change there.

Good luck! He won't do this forever :-)

I would try getting rid of the 5 o'clock nap entirely and putting him to sleep earlier. Also, make sure that he is eating enough during the day. At this age, my son was having three meals a day and usually at least 3-4 bottles (which includes the one at bed time). He only woke up in the middle of the night at this time if he got sleep early and I put him to bed earlier then his normal bed time (which was around 7-8). Unless he sounded like he was in complete distress, I left him alone till he put himself back to sleep if he woke up in the middle of the night. I didn't start getting rid of the nighttime bottles till about 11 months. Then I transitioned to a cup with some water.