8 Months Today and Still Gets up in the Middle of the Night

Babies are physiologically made to sleep in REM throughout the night in order for brain reparation. All day long they are bombarded with a million new sensations, pictures, words, motions, sounds, movements, etc etc etc etc. During naps they are so PHYSICALLY exhausted so they sleep in DEEP sleep. At night though, their brain puts their body in REM or light sleep. That is the only sleep in which their brains can repair, sort out new information and build new cells. Any noise, even their own breathing, can wake them from this. It's unfortunate but it is how they develop!

Also, babies are more comfortable with mom and or dad because during the day you give them comfort and reassurance. At night, alone in their crib, they don't get that which is why it is so difficult for them to get back to sleep after the inevitable waking. My husband and our son share a bed at night, it's their time to bond, snuggle etc as I am home all day with him. This way, I get a good nights sleep and daddy and baby spend much needed time together (even if they're just sleeping!).

Remember, it won't last forever and you're DEFINITELY not alone!

4 moms found this helpful

That is normal.

9 months is approaching... and that is also a growth-spurt time in a baby. every 3 months, is a growth-spurt period in a baby.

For the 1st year of life, feeding on-demand, is still very important... they are growing/developing so much....

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my almost 18 mo still gets up every once in awhile is she cutting teeth? if she is hungery feed her she knows her body. it will taper and one night she will not wake for a feeding and you will wake at like 4am in a panic and check on her and she will be sleeping soundly. You on the other hand will have to adjust to not having to get up which is a real treat. this time shall pass. be patient not all children are the same and know to follow the rule book on sleeping.

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Please don't forget the 1st year is the most time for growth (physical, mental and emotional) and infants will need a lot of nutrition (even if it's synthetic nutrition) to get them on their way.

I'm 31 and I STILL wake up 1-3 times a night to use the bathroom, get a drink or heard a noise. That's not mentioning the occasional nightmare. If adults are unable to sleep thru the night, why are you expecting and INFANT to be able to? She's probably all alone in her dark room, wondering where Mommy is, hungry/wet/lonely... she's an infant.

1 mom found this helpful

Both of my children were the same way. With my son, who is now two and a half, I stressed and kept a sleep journal and tried to let him cry and he still got up twice a night, and then once a night (@ 4:00) until he was probably @ 18 months. The end result was that I was laying in bed stressing trying to let him cry and writing in a journal.I also tried to feed him GIANT dinners.

My daughter, who is 11 months,is the exact same way. Except, I just get up and feed her and go back to sleep. At 8 months, she was getting up once or twice - a few weeks ago, she started getting up 3 times! but I think it was because she was sick, because now she is just getting up once (@ 4:00). I can get up feed her,go back to sleep and barely remember it happening.

With both of my kids, they phased the night time wake ups out on their own - three became two and then two became one and then the one got later and later (3 -4 -5).

Even though I tried everything all of the sleep books recommended (go to bed earlier! go to bed later! feed big dinners! put them down drowsy but awake! no music! music!) with my son, and did nothing other than what my daughter wanted (nursing in the middle of the night) their sleep patterns are virtually identical.

If you have a significant other to help, I suggest going to bed @ 9:00 and having your partner take the 11:00. Thats what my husband and I did, and it worked out ok - he stayed up and watched tv, I went to bed,and then he slept in in the morning and I got up. I got @ 5-6 hours of uninterupted sleep that way.

I know it doesnt help much, but eventually she will sleep all night long. Your baby sounds totally normal, and your are doing great. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Yeah, it took more than 8 months for my 2nd daughter to sleep through the night. They will when they are ready.

Have you tried keeping her up later?

Could you start on rice cereal? Are they afraid she is allergic to that?

And a work on understanding my son is almost 8 months old, eats solids and some table foods and still gets up one or two times a night. GOOD LUCK MOMMA! HANG IN THERE!

All kids are different. My son is 3.5 and still wakes up sometimes. I have a friend with 4 kids and each one had different sleep styles. I haven't slept more than 5 full nights in a row in almost 4 years - ah, the joys of motherhood! LOL :)

Mine woke up 2 times a night until 10.5 months. Then, on the recommendation of my pediatrician, I bit the bullet and just stopped feeding him at night time. The first night was very hard. He cried from the time he first woke up until morning. (I was there, and I comforted him, but I wouldn't feed him). The next night and every night thereafter (barring illness or teething) he slept through the night. I think he just got in a rhythm of waking up, and one night of torture for both of us broke it. I understand you might not be willing to go that route, but really, for us it was the best thing. He was happy the next day (and every day after) and I got more rest.

My daughter is 11 months old and does the same thing. This is just how some babies work. You can do it!

I'd love to see your answers - I am in the same boat! Mine is 5 1/2 months old, 20 pounds, sleeps about 3 hours the first chunk of the night, then it can be anywhere from 1-3 hours at a time the rest of the night! He is also on hypoallergenic formula - Similac Alimentum because he was even sensitive to the Nutramigen! We tried rice cereal to fill him up at night, and it didn't do a thing.

Both of my sons started sleeping through the night by 8 weeks of age. I did not feed them by demand I used a schedule. I really think that feeding a baby BEFORE they are at the point of crying out because they are hungry makes them more content and does not teach them the habit of crying for food. I made sure they had plenty to eat during the day to make up for the lost nighttime feedings and weaned them off. If she getting something when she wakes up that's incentive enough for her to do it. i would suggest feeding her more per feeding during the day and also would recommend some cereal for dinner with her formula to help her feel more satisfied.
C.

a 6 hr stretch is considered sleeping through the night. A lot of babies do not sleep the night until well after a year.

As for allergies instead of thinking she may be allergic to this or that take her to a pediatric allergist and get her tested! She is not too young my sister's children were both tested around 6 months when they started solids and my youngest was first tested at 9 months old. If she is infact allergic to milk feeding her nutramigen is useless because it contains Casien which is from milk. If she does test positive you need to remove ALL dairy and she may sleep better. We did not find out my youngest was allergic to dairy until 9 months old and he started sleeping much better only waking once during the night only a few days after we removed all dairy from his diet.

My son did not sleep 7-7 until he was 3! He stopped waking to eat at 18 months.

Sleep is a habit. She has formed the habit to wake at those times. So, to get her to sleep, you have to help her break the habit.

Two things that worked for me:
1. start gradually reducing the amount of formula you give her at wakings, and start teaching her how to drink out of a cup.
2. when you have radically reduced how much you give her, try the "5 minutes" startle. Set your alarm for 5 minutes before you think she will wake, and go in her room and startle her enough to get her to roll over and reset her sleep cycle.

It will take you a few weeks to a month, depending, to break her of the 11 waking, and then start in on the 3:30 waking. So only work on getting her to sleep through one waking at a time. I found that after a week or so, my son won't need to be nursed, but he will still wake for a moment, cry out, and then roll over and go back to sleep. So do give her a few minutes (2), before running in there.

By the time you start working on the 3:30 waking, if you've taught her to drink out of a cup, after reducing the formula down, you can just offer water. After a few nights, they usually stop waking because they don't want water. (I know you could just offer water in a bottle, but I think it's important to wean them to a cup by 12 months for dental reasons, and find that 8 months is a good age to start teaching cup usage. It also encourages "big girl" behavior and will help with day time weaning when you are ready to do that).

My daughter didn't sleep through the night until 18 months! Be patient. Your daughter is big...my kids were only 18lbs. at 1 year, so maybe she is hungry, esp. since she's not getting table food. Is there any table food at all, or baby food, that you can give her? If she's waking like clockwork it could be a habit. I am against letting babies cry it out. Evaluate what you are doing when she wakes but it's either causing the problem or not helping to fix it. There are various methods you can research online.

My son is 3 and still doesn't sleep throught the night.....doesn't get up to eat just wakes frequently. Good luck....

A babysitter. (And I'm not joking about that). Or a coparent at least 1 day a week.

If you're not a single mom I'd strongly suggest trading "days" with your partner. AKA you get to sleep until you wake up 1 day a week, and so do they. I threw a holy FIT at 9mo because I hadn't slept through much less slept myself OUT in 9mo. Hubby got a 2 day weekend and I got a ZERO day weekend. So I gave him a choice... either we both got a 1 day weekend or he was going to have to pony up for the looney bin. We'd switched to formula at that point, but I still did night feedings (see below), because my husband gets violent when awakened from sleep. But then I got to sleep myself out. The first month or two I slept sometimes as late as 1- 3pm. Then it switched downward as I got some of my reserves back to be between 10am & noon. GOD I cannot even express how my general sanity was save by being able to catch up on sleep once a week and even just *knowing* come Sat I could sleep myself out.

If she's waking up hungry, there's nothing you can do short of surgically enlarging her stomach or slowing down her growth.

HOWEVER at 8mo, she could probably be handed a bottle, have her diaper changed, and have you stumble back to bed while she feeds herself and falls back to sleep. Just keep a bottle ready to go in the fridge and you only have to wake up for about 90 seconds. Zap it, test it, hand it, change diaper, kiss, bed, sleep.

My son was a fast grower as well (By 2 he was well over 3' tall, so he should be between 6'3 & 6'6 as an adult). Right around a year he quit waking up twice and shifted to once. He was still getting his primary source of nutrition from formula at that point. I just made sure I didn't go to bed until he'd woken up. Sometime as a toddler (2ish? 3ish?) he switched to only waking up "starvin'o'the'hunger during growth spurts. At age 8 YEARS he still wakes up to eat a full meal.

We're wealthy enough to have food to support his body's natural growth cycles, so we're lucky enough to be able to feed him when he wakes... unlike millions of children who wake and wake and wake because they're hungry but can't be fed. Or those other millions who have to go into "starvation cycles" (aka dieting which slows the metabolism and means that nurtrients are converted to fat instead of bone and muscle and nerves... LOOK MA! Baby's first diet!) at only a few months old. We have food, though, so kiddo gets to eat.

My son slept straight hours for the first time when he was 14 months old! At 8 months 11-5 sounds pretty darn good to me. Sorry no advice here accept, make sure you head to sleep IMMEDIATELY after that first waking.

Good luck, mama.

T.

Here are a few sleeping suggestions that could help you to change your LO's routine or room ambiance that may get her sleeping better..hope it helps:

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/sleep?utm_campaign=t...

I hate to tell you this, but my son didn't sleep through the night consistently until well after he was 9 months old. My daughter, on the other hand, started sleeping through the night (8 hours) at 5 weeks old and 10 hours per night at 8 weeks old. They're all so different! I would try giving her a bottle (or better yet, a sippy cup) with water in it, instead of formula, when she wakes up at 11. If she's eating plenty during the day, then she is waking out of habit, not necessity. And I truly believe that at that age, there is no need to eat in the middle of the night. I might continue to feed her at the 3:30 am wake up (at least for now), but I think if you stop feeding her at 11, she might stop waking up. It will likely be a battle at first, but if you keep giving her the water, she will realize it isn't worth getting up for and it should break the habit. Hope this helps!

umm have you tried putting a little cereal in her formula? that is what the doc recommended we do. However, my son NEVER ever slept thru the night. when I hear these stories of a baby doing as such, I am always like what?? really?? ahahahha anyway, my son was up almost every 2 to 3 hours... and wanted to eat... we just went with the flow and got up.. knowing of course, that eventually it would end... hang in there. I know you are tired... but it will pass.. :)