8 Month Old Still up All Night

One thing that happens when baby starts to eat is the digestive track starts working more and that may cause discomfort, gas, new bowel movements. Its normal & will pass.
Baby is waking up too much & most likely not because they are hungry. Have you tried to coming in and rubbing their back? Pacifier? What happens if you don't go to baby at 8:30? Normally it would pass in 3-5 minutes and they go back to sleep.
I highly recommend Dr. Weissbluth's book as well.
Not a personal fan of cry it out technique but there are ways to cut it out or at least minimize all that waking! We are down to 2x from 4-5x!!
Also teething is probably happening too! This too will pass!
Best, J

J.,

I'm wondering where you got the information that your child is "nutritionally and developmentally" able to sleep thru the night? There is so much going on in an 8 month old's life. Just to name a few, growth spurs, teething, eating solids, separation anxiety.

If he is starting to eat well you may get some relief for a while but parents are always talking about how their children don't sleep at nght. My opinion is that it is normal for children to wake during the night and want the comfort of their parents and that we signed up for periods of exhaustion when we decided to become parents.

I am against the CIO method personally, I do hear that it can TEMPORARILY help with some sleep issues, however it does not cure the "problem". Your baby needs you, its inconvenient and exhausting, but keep doing the best you can.

Good luck,
R.

I am in this same boat!! I also LOVE Weissbluths book, but my 3rd is giving me trouble, The one thing I do that definitely helps (as in she only wakes once or twice when I do!!), is to put her to bed in a sleep sack. She will wake up cold and then not settle until I feed her (even when she is not hungry). When she is toasty she only wakes the once usually. I am all for sleep training, but she is my last and I am not ready to let my baby go yet- good luck with yours though!

Sweetie..gonna tell you like I told someone else...add a little rice cereal to his formula...only about a tsp...will give him a full feeling so he can sleep...If not enough...give him a damn baked potato> Kidding...He needs supplement like my girls did..don't sweat it..you'll know when its good and he's full.

I disagree about the solids and the separation anxiety as being the issues with sleeping. From my experience with my 7 children, I'd say what he needs is sleep training. I highly recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He does use the CIO method, but he has a very structured system for it, walking you through step by step and explaining the whole process really well. This book has solved EVERY sleep problem I've ever encountered. I had a couple children who didn't eat any solids until they were a year, but they slept great, thanks to this book. All my kids experienced some degree of separation anxiety also, but I was still able to keep their sleeping on track with the help of this book. And all my kids went to bed by 7pm until they were at least 5. At 8 months it was usually 6:30 or so, depending on what time naps occurred (usu. 2 a day at this age.). I hope that helps. The book is only about $10, so it's definitely money well spent. Good luck. Enjoy that baby -- what a fun age.

Something that I have read but not had to try myself is to switch over to juice for those night-time bottles, and slowly water the bottle down until its nothing but water. Then you put him to bed, and place the bottle in his crib in a spot that he can see it when he awakens. Since he is drinking water instead of forumla, the taste should eventually bore him and he will go back to sleep, or he will enjoy it and learn to get the bottle for himself so that you don't have to keep waking up every 2 or 3 hours. If you wanted, you could try giving him a pacifier when he awakens instead of the bottle and let him learn that you don't drink at night time. Hopefully the pacifier will be enough to soothe him back to sleep. I hope this helps.

Hi J.:

What is he eating? High sugar foods? How is the home environment? What is your current emotional health? All of these factors could play a part in your 8 month sleep patterns. Put an end to the long winded, exhaution and deliriousness - my office can assist you. See contact info below.

All the best,
N.
Maternity/Baby Care Practitioner
www.WholeCreations.com
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My dr told me by 6 months they no longer "need" nigh time feedings...but they ask for them out of habit. We did the crying out method with our son and it worked wonderfully. He started sleeping all night in about 3 days. I know it is very hard, but you need to follow your instincts about it. One of the best things we did when he would be in his "crying it out" time, was my husband -- not me -- would go in his room and put his hand on him or lay him back down and just say it's ok go back to sleep. Often they will continue to cry if they feel their crying is being ignored. So by going into the room you assure them you know they are crying but they are ok. This really worked, but I could not be the one to do it because he would cling to me!!! And whatever you do, DO NOT pick him up!!! :) If you do then it's all over! Our first night took about 45 minutes of crying, a little less each night after that then nothing more than a whimper. Can I also suggest keeping him up later? Making bedtime more like 8pm instead of 6:30 or 7. This way you can feed him around 8 and right to bed. :) I wish you well with it! I know how hard it is. Our son is now 19 months old and he started waking up during the night on occassion again, so it's a cycle some kids have! But hang in there.

J.
www.mygc.com/jfiegl

In your words, be hard core. He is a precious baby not a tyrant. Children are a blessing - we just need to aid them in learning that they are not the boss :)

I don't understand why you would consider letting him "cry it out without bottles" at such a young age. He is at the exact age where a baby is feeling separation anxiety. The separation anxiety phase is a necessary developmental stage during which it is your job to respond to your baby and make him reassured that he is secure. Ignoring this phase will result in a continuation/recurrence of the phase. I think you also need to consider the time of night that you are putting him to sleep. 6:30 pm is pretty early. I would wait until 8:30 pm for his bedtime if I were you. Also he is probably teething. So many different things are going on in his world for him right now, and he cannot verbalize what he wants you to do for him. I know it is difficult because you need sleep, but it is very common to be sleep-deprived in the baby's first year. Remember that a year from now, life will be totally different, and so will your baby's sleep habits.

It's gonna depend on your kid. My oldest was huge and therefore "should" have been able to sleep thru the night early on, but the whole weight reason always seemed a bit silly to me. He, too, had lots of food texture issues (still does at 5). I didn't nightwean him until he was almost 2. Eventhough he was a big kid, I figured that meant he needed *more* nutrition and he certainly wasn't getting it from food. It took until he was that old until *I* felt he was eating well enough and *I* was ready to cut down on the nursing.
He was also a kid that would gag and puke after crying hard for a few minutes, so that was an extra reason that kept me from considering cry it out.
If I had wanted to nightwean earlier I probably would have tried reflux meds, i'd strongly suggest going that route before you try cry it out with an easy gagger. Laying down can exacerbate reflux and the eating is comforting, if that's what's going on.
Then I had a totally different experience with my 2nd son. He was a great eater from when I introduced solids at 4 months. He was a good sleeper early on, but after getting sick he stayed with the night wakings. I kept hoping he'd go back to his old ways, but month after month he was waking every couple of hours so we finally put him in his own room, did cio, he cried (more like complained) for 5-10 minutes 2x the first 2 nights, then 1x then slept thru and was much happier for it! That was just after he turned 1.
So, you might just have to try some different things. See what works for your kid.
Good luck!

my son was waking beacuse he wasn't eating good all day once he starts eating 3 meal and the milk bottle he sleeps a lot better and all night.youn can let him cry about 5 min if he does not go back to sleep give him a bottle.