8 Month Old Sleep Troubles - Portland,OR

Have you considered co-sleeping? That might allow you to tend to him without either of you having to get up fully. Also, is there a particular reason for the midnight bottle instead of giving him your breast?

You also said that he's teething. Anything else developmental happening? Crawling? Walking? Talking? Those can all seriously affect sleep patterns.

Have you tried the 5 s's by Dr Karp? They are great techniques that work - check out his website
http://www.happiestbaby.com/

there is also a you tube video on his technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ

good luck!

You mentioned that you are "careful not to nurse him to sleep". Is there a reason for that? I have never heard of anyone being advised NOT to do that; perhaps you might give it a try! Always worked for us.

Is the bottle formula? If so, it might not be sitting right with him. Otherwise, my guess is that you either need to wait him out or fully let him cry it out.
First of all, it doesn't sound like there's any reason to be careful not to let him nurse to sleep. The point with that (from no cry sleep solution as well as from all of the cio books) is that if they fall asleep on their own at bedtime then they are more likely to get themselves back to sleep when they wake at night. I'm sure it works for some, but it certainly didn't work for my kid and isn't making a difference for yours. Oh, and we also had rock solid bedtime routines--another magic sleep fixer that didn't do much for my kids.
Here's my experience with my 2 boys: older son co-slept and I night weaned him at 2 years. He very rarely went longer than 1 3-hour stretch. At 5 he'd still be co-sleeping every night if given the option, he's just that kind of person who sleeps better when he's close to someone. Some would say it's *because of* the early co-sleeping, but then there's my younger son.
He's almost 2.5y now. I mostly co-slept early on with him, then it was start off in the co-sleeper next to our bed until he woke. He slept longer and longer stretches, then got sick at 3-4 months and was waking every couple hours every night. Then, by 6 months, he wouldn't sleep next to me anymore--I kept trying but he was so restless until i'd put him in the crib. So with having to actually get up when he'd wake, I was hating night time by the time he was 8 months old. I read the books, but it seemed like falling asleep on their own was the big thing to do (and assumption that it must not be happening if they weren't sleeping thru the night) but my son had been doing that since 2 months. Just because he wouldn't fall asleep nursing, not because I wouldn't do it.
So at our 9 month appt my ped gave me a rather shocking suggestion (she knew my sleep woes with older son but never gave suggestions or comments b/c I never asked for, or wanted, it): She said put him in his own room, get him to sleep any old way, go in the first time he wakes up and tell him "i love you and will see you in the morning," and don't go back until 6am. She said he might cry off and on for 5 or 6 hours (not the "up to 30 minutes" that the cio experts like to spout and make it seem like it's easy if you do it right).
I couldn't bring myself to do, and couldn't and couldn't, and then decided to try it. When he was 13 month. There was no improvement and I was not enjoying my life, my kids at all b/c I was so sleep deprived. I was ready for a big ordeal, told myself I could change my mind at any time, we'd just see how it went. And I bought a video monitor so I wasn't paranoid that something was really wrong when he cried. I was prepared for him to be really clingy the next day, too.
So he wakes up after his usual 3 hours, cries (more like complains, it was definately not his freak out cry) for all of 10 minutes. Wakes a while later and cries for 5 minutes. Wakes up at 6:30, happier than ever and completely unaffected. Then next night was 5 min and 2 min, the next was 2 min, then done. I was shocked. But it just turned out that not only did he not want to sleep next to me, he didn't want to be in the same room. :-) He wanted his space.
In no time he was nursing and then i'd want to walk him around and sing/cuddle, but he'd just reach for the crib.
We've had to do it again a few times, like after illness or teething (he gets into habits very quickly, in all aspects of like). And he's always happier and better rested once he's sleeping thru the night. I never ever in a million years thought i'd let a child of mine cry it out, never really thought i'd use a crib even. Then I had a child that needed something other than what i'd planned.
Good luck with whatever you decide, I know it can be hard to think clearly when you're not getting the sleep you need!

I can't relate to this particular problem since my 3 kids have been pretty good sleepers (so far.....), but my niece was a diffeent story. She would sometimes wake 10-12 times per night at 8-9 months of age. My SIL read the "Healthy Baby Healthy Sleep Habits" book by Marc Weisbluth and found it very helpful. Many of my friends swear by it.

I hope things turn around for you soon.
K.

I would consider eliminating the morning nap. That will be hard because it is his primary nap. Then he will sleep very well during the afternoon. I would keep that to a minimum of 2 hours. Then keep him up (first) 15 minutes later than usual. Keep extending this time until he his going to sleep at nine. Keep him active during the evening so he will be tired physically at night.

Also, remember there are three things you can not make a child do: Eat, Sleep, and Poop or Pee. You can nudge him or her, which is what I have recommended here.

Good luck!

Try giving him some rice cereal before he goes to bed at night. Rocking him to sleep may sound like a chore, but those few minutes of comfort for him could provide you with hours of uninterrupted sleep. He's growing and his body is going through some changes. As far as nursing him to sleep, it maybe just what he needs, everybody is different, and what worked for your oldest child may not work for this baby. Be adaptable. Same with the naps during the day, and 75 minutes at a stretch is a good nap, and he's a busy boy in the afternoon, a short nap then will allow him to be really tired in the evening and hopefully sleep longer. How is he handling solid foods? Are there any foods that have caused him any discomfort, is he allergic or sensitive to any particular food? Because Dad works nights, he's sleeping during the day so keeping a quiet house for him is a priority and that's not always possible for with a baby/toddler in the house. To get on a sleep/work schedule that will work for all of you, Dad may have to come home and stay up until the afternoon when he goes to bed to get up around 10:30, 11 pm to go to work for the 'day'. If that schedule is followed, your baby could go down for his afternoon nap with Dad, even it means co-sleeping. My husband and I worked opposite shifts of one another, I worked 7:30 to 4pm and he worked 4pm until midnight, trading our kids at work. When he came home at night it was imperative that he go to bed right away to get his sleep and I stayed up until 11 pm to get the housework, homework and other stuff done. When I came home with the kids it was Momma and Kids time. My kids were sleeping through the night by the time they were 3 months old, but I nursed on demand all evening before bed and the focus was on them. This will pass, it's such a short period of time on the continum. The 5 yr old has his own room? That will provide them the sanctuary they need and keep a schedule for them that works, like bed by 8 pm and up by 7 am to be ready for school. When you go back to work, getting him ready for school will fall to Dad so you can be focused on you and work.
I wish you well and sweet dreams!!!

iMy son who is now two still doesn't sleep through the night. Actually I have been up since 4 since he decided he was awake and three hours later has gone back to sleep. You may want to see if he has allergies to some foods. i have noticed that when my son has a food reaction his sleep cycle gets really weird.

A couple people have suggested the co-sleeping which is what we do here. Have you tried having him in the same room just in a crib or bassinets? That may help since he will still be able to smell you. When i had to go to work with my youngest. My husband would take the shirt I had worn the previous day and put it next to the baby so he would smell me. It would keep him asleep longer when i wasn't there.. Which made sure that he had as much sleep as we could give him.

Good luck mama. i know it is hard. I also wanted to toss out the idea that maybe he has a developmental milestone being reached. I know that as mine start to hit one, their sleep goes to heck in a hand basket until they master it.

Don't bottle feed him. It seems to be a mild allergy that upsets him. He may be lactose intolerant.
Sometimes it doesn't show up in the daytime due to other food. Also the time he wakens is the liver hour in Chinese medicine and he may have an overstimulated liver due to the contents of the bottle.
3-5 am is the lung hour and he might be having an allergic reaction that makes him uncomfortable but you hear no wheezing or heavy breathing. Yet he cannot exhale.
Parents who have no allergies cannot image how much their child is suffering.
Other factors can be lack of fresh air. Pets in the bed.
One thing you can do is take him to a Chiropractor who can straighten out his spine. In an infant they hang him upside down until all the vertebrae are in their right place. It take a few minutes.

thats tough, especially since its so broken up. I usually co-sleep with my daughter and prior to that i was doing what you were doing,trying to get her to sleep in her bed. And when i would put her in her bed, she would wake up every couple hrs like your son is. But since i sleep w/ her and nurse her when she cries in the middle of the night, she doesnt have a chance to wake up to stay awake,she is soothed back to sleep by the nursing. Im not sure you want to have that be your answer (cosleeping), but it worked for me. My daughter will go to bed around 8-9,then sleep till midnight for a night nurse, then semi wake up for another nursing mid morning (but doesnt wake up just nurses) then stay asleep till about 7-8am.

Letting him cry-it out for 10-15 minutes does not count as trying the CIO method. WIth my son we did CIO when he was about 5 months and the first night he cried for 2 hours, then the next night 45 minutes and the next 20 minutes and now we have never had a problem since - he knows how to put himself back to sleep. He is now 2. I know listening to the crying can be painful but letting your child learn how to put themselves back to sleep is so good for them - and for you! That is my opinion and I know others disagree but a rested mommy and daddy and a rested toddler in our house are hard to argue with!!! Good luck.

My son did almost exactly the same thing until 9 1/2 months. He's almost 11 months now. We finally had to let him cry it out. It last about 15 minutes the first night. I put him down asleep, he woke up cried and then slept. Now I put him in his crib after our routine of jammies, etc. and he sleeps almost 13 hours. If he wakes at night we don't get him knowing that it is momentary and he will be back to sleep. We got to the point where we realized that he knew we would come and get him and it had turned into a game. They really don't need to eat at night, they just want the attention. I felt horrible like I was a bad mom or something, but he's fine, I'm fine and we all get sleep now. It's really hard at first, but it seriously took like 2 nights to completely change everything.

Have you tried bathing him before bed? The night time routine for my 10 wk old is bath, bottle and bed. I also did the same with my 4 year old when she was an infant but she also sucked her thumb which help her soothe herself back to sleep. It took about 4 weeks for both to adjust to this routine but by 7 weeks they both slept through the night. Which was great since I went back to work after the 8th week. Now I'm just having trouble with my 10 wk old sleeping during the day while she is with the sitter but I'm greatful that she sleeps at night and I'm not exhausted. I also use the lavendar shampoo and lotion and I use one of those aquarium music boxes that shuts off on it's own after about 10-15 mins. Good luck to you.

I have 3 girls and none of them have slept through the night before a year. I have just accepted that and find it easier to just nurse them for a couple of min and go back to bed than to try other forms of getting them to sleep and being awake for alot longer!
Blessings, K.