9-Month Old Sleeps Sitting Up

A couple of things... First off, I highly recomend a book called Babywise. My 5 month old sleeps through the night now with a little crying in the middle of the night some nights, but goes right back to sleep. We've been using the book for the last three weeks and it's amazing. I do pump and feed a bottle with some rice cereal in it before bed as an added buffer. The nice thing about this is either one of us can feed her! Daddy is putting her to bed as I type.

Second, what about the possibility of acid reflux? My husband has it bad and I know it's much worse when lying down, which may explain him wanting to sleep sitting up. You might want to check with his Dr.

Oh, how I can sympathize. And first of all, I wish people weren't so quick to jump and say never let your baby cry and make you sound like a terrible mother for trying this method out. I have a 7.5 month old and up until recently I was only sleeping in 2-3 hour blocks throughout the night because I was getting up with her. I got to a point of total exhaustion (actually diagnosed by a DR.) and felt like if I didn't get some solid sleep, I would end up having a total breakdown and unable to take care of my two children. We have to remember that in order to be a good mom, we have to take care of ourselves too! I'm all for attached parenting, but sometimes you have to get a little bit firm and try and teach your baby to sleep. My baby will not sleep in bed with me - she just tosses and turns and cries...so her Crib is the only place she really sleeps. It sounds like you are doing the right thing...and as far as sleep position goes, I think that if your baby falls asleep that way and is actually asleep, then it's okay. If he were uncomfortable, he would wake up. It probably has to do with physical development too, that he's at an age where he is learning to crawl, situp, and even stand alone, so they tend to practice this behavior at night too. I exclusively nurse too and what finally worked for us was to just send my husband in instead of me, and after two nights, she figured it out. She's not totally sleeping through the night now, but it's much better...I'm now only going in once to feed her. Good Luck - I know it's hard - but you will get through it!

Hi S.,

If it were me I would never leave my baby crying for that long. You don't train kids, you teach them. He's not a dog. He obviously needs comfort and love. He doesn't like being by himself, he's a baby. Some babies need more than others.
I would take him into my bed and cuddle him. Security breeds security.
He will be in college one day and you wont have him to lie next to and cuddle.

A.

I have one that turns 21 today and a 10 year old.

I think because after crying for 10-15 minutes, he may have some mucus in his nose, and sitting up will help him breath easier. you may wanna try w/ elevating his head, like having a pillow underneath the mattress to raise his head a bit. For 9 months, i wouldn't put a pillow for him yet, just have a pillow underneath the mattress and see if that's help him.

Good luck w/ everything.

Hi S.,

Good for you for still nursing! =) My daughter is 17 months and I'm just weaning now - I understand what you mean about the baby ending up in your bed, too. My 3.5 year old son still wakes up sometimes at night to use the potty once and then will come to our bed to sleep. But as for your son, if he cries for 5-10 minutes, are you in the room or he's by himself? Maybe if you're in the room patting him, even if he keeps crying and trying to get up, you could keep putting him on his back (the slightly elevated mattress is a great idea, too - worked with my kid), and patting his tummy so he feels comfortable. Or, you could try using a "lovey" - like a stuffed animal - that you could hug with him, so that it has your scent? So that when you give it to him at naptimes or bedtimes, he associates it with sleeping and can hug that, but it also has your scent so he's comforted.

I totally sympathize with the lack of sleep! get some rest, super-mom! =)

Sitting sucks, try getting a cradle swing. The kind that swings side to side like a hammock.

Motion is what puts him to sleep, and with a better position you could get as much as 4-5 hours at a time or more depending on hunger. also feed him some solids before bed time.

I tap my child too sleep, in the ryhtm of say a heart beat, quite firm ly on her back, arm or leg.

It seems that if someone else is keeping the body moving, the being can let go for a while.

Good zzzs to you