8 Month Old Will Not Sleep More than 3-4 Hours at a Time (Night)

I've gone through this and it does get better and no you don't have to stop cosleeping or nursing at night. My son is 14 mos, we still cosleep and nurse (can't get him to take a pacifier either) and we're getting some decent sleep. Teething was a major contributor in the non sleeping, we did a dose of motrin at bedtime because that's when the teeth bothered him the most. If he wakes up before you are going to bed, have your husband try to soothe him back to sleep. Let him nurse when you are getting in bed to sleep to give you a stretch of sleep. If he wakes up with in a couple of hours you can see if your husband can get him back to sleep, although this is easier if you're in another room.
Your breasts are on a supply & demand production so I wouldn't pump them at night, maybe just hand express to ease the pressure. As your son nurses less at night, your milk supply will adjust.
Read Dr. Sears articles on sleep problems and you might find some really good ideas that don't mean having to stop cosleeping. www.askdrsears.com

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Hi L.,

First let me just say that I have recently been there and feel for you! My highest recommendation is to read "the no cry sleep solution" by Eliabeth Pantley. I think you will find some ideas that work for you. If you gradually lenthen his times between nursings at night, your body will adjust after a few days. You might be able to hand express, just enough to make you comfortable, but not so much that your body just produces more milk. I have found that we have had to break the suck to sleep association for which Pantley has some ideas. We are still working on it, but it is much better. The other thing that worked was having baby sleep with Daddy. No milk, but lots of comfort.

Good Luck,

C.

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Hi L.,
You may or may not like my suggestions, but I'll put them out there for you to decide. I am a mother of two (a 3+ girl and a 22 mo-old boy). Many of our friends have experienced the same results we have. We actually found that our kids both slept way better when we put them in their own crib in their own rooms. At first, we were very hesitant to do this and had to work through the crying-it-out for a few minutes, but, until we did this, we weren't getting much sleep. Also, I was blessed with an abundance of milk and had similar experiences with the fullness. What I've learned: you've really got to cut at least two of those night-time feedings. This will be uncomfortable at first, but your milk production will eventually adjust. When I figured out that my son was just, basically, using me as a pacifier (as you described, too), I figured (I checked with lactation specialists and books as well) he really didn't NEED to nurse. This helped to cut back on his nightly feedings. Finally, we all make noises to some extent when we sleep, we toss and turn, wake and fall back asleep. It's the same for a baby and it is constantly changing.
I hope this helps in some small way. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions.
Good luck,
L. =0)

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I continued to nurse my son in the middle of the night until he was 2. He really seemed to need the night feedings until at least 18 months old. This time passes fast, give you baby what he needs.

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Hi L.,

I could relate to you. Once my daughter reached 12 months she began sleeping through the night. Thank goodness! I thought that I would never see the light but it finally happened and it feels so good. My daughter is now 14 months and she weaned off my breast on her own. She is full of energy and a very happy baby.

When she was younger, I remember feeling like a zombie because she would wake me up every two to three hours at night. I co-slept for fear of anything happening to her (SIDS). I also breastfed which was very convenient. My breast would be so full that I too couldn't wait for her to wake up just so that I could get some relief. Every child is different. The one thing I learned especially being a first time mom is that things will get better it just takes time.

Good luck,
M.

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For me the answer to you question is in the statement, "we co-sleep." Get him into his own bed and wean him from comfort eating during the night. At 8 months if he is eating enough during the day, he doesn't need the night feedings. Good luck!

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Dr. Ferber's book helped us get our son to learn how to self-sooth himself back to sleep. I forget the full name of the book, but if you search Dr. Ferber, you should find it. It works to help understand routines and habits and sleep cycles.
It was hard for our son to go a full night without a bottle - but we'd slowly move the feeding 15 minutes, then a half hour, then an hour and then... sleeping a full night! You'll find good info for moving him to his own bed and how to deal with self-soothing to sleep for that. Now when our son passes his crib, he reaches for it when he's tired. No joke.

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L.,
I have a 9 1/2 month old son and until recently, was going through the same thing. We tried the cry it out method and it worked for a short period of time, until my son caught a cold and reverted to his old ways. Tried it again, with not as much success. Then we decided to only send in my husband and that it was okay to pick him up until he calmed down. I usually let my husband sleep at night since he's the one that has to get up and go to work. However, every time I went in the room, the only way our son would calm down is if he got to nurse. My husband started going in on a Thursday night and would hold our son til he calmed, then put him back in bed. He'd usually cry then and we'd let him for 5-10 minutes, then my husband would do the same thing. It took 3-4 nights of this (thank goodness it was over a weekend) but eventually our son has begun to sleep from 8 pm-6 am. He still occasionally wakes in the night, but has been able to put himself back to sleep within a few minutes. Not saying that this is your answer, but it worked for us. Keep trying til you find something that works for your family!

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