9 Month Old and Sleep

Yep, I'm there too! My 8 almost 9 month old was sleeping through on a fairly consistent basis, and then we all got sick and it seemed to mess up the peaceful sleeping. Good luck!

I have 2 kids.... I exclusively breastfed until they self-weaned.
I never used "methods" for them to sleep or nap. I went by my child's cues and personality.
I rode it out... naturally.
Both my kids, started sleeping through the night at about 2 years old. This is often the age they do this.

And yes, at 9 months they DO still wake at night. Bear in mind, that 9 months of age is a "growth-spurt" time... and your baby is probably real hungry. They eat/feed more at growth-spurts because they are growing and changing developmentally & cognitively so much. And, feedings become more frequent because intake has to keep pace with their growing. If not, they will not be getting enough intake.

I would make sure, that you are producing enough milk. Otherwise, even if you feed baby... they will not be getting enough intake.

And yes, for the 1st year of life, you still need to feed on-demand. This is per our Pediatrician as well. It is a building-block time for nutrition/development.

"Sleeping through the night" for a baby, means sleeping 5-6 hours. It is not in adult terms of sleeping 8+ hours straight.

Teething is another thing that affects a baby's sleep and wakes them more often.

My kids, always woke more when they were hitting growth-spurts or developmental changes and hitting milestones. This is normal.

all the best,
Susan

Hi, R.,
It's not what you want to hear, but I never did get my breastfed son to sleep through until at about 16 months I just let him cry it out one night. It was a couple of agonizing hours till daylight and then I went in and fed him. I knew he wasn't hungry at that age. Then the next night he cried only a short time and went back to sleep and that was it.
I know how hard it is to let the baby cry but just try it.
Good luck,
Mama S.

I have a little one who will be 9 months next week. She wakes at least 2 times a night to nurse, sometimes three. We share sleep, following safe co-sleeping guidelines. I find I enjoy the closeness and the special times. Since we sleep together, I wake up easily as her sleep changes to wakefulness and can snuggle her and nurse her back to sleep. Her big sister nursed several times a night until I night-weaned her when she was three. Their waking has never bothered me. I guess I never expected it to be any different. I don't sleep through the night anyway, so I can't really expect it of them. If you aren't already co-sleeping, try that so that you two can get in the same rhythm and can sleep and wake together. If you aren't comfortable with co-sleeping, try keeping the baby's bed as close to yours as possible.

All the best!
K. L.

I have done breastfeeding at night on demand with all of my kids (I have four). I work full-time, and my kids adjusted to breastfeed more then normal at night. I co-slept with each of them until they were 1.5 - 2 years old. I breastfed them until 1-1.5 years old. They started sleeping thru the night between 2 and 3 years old. My 2 1/2 year old still wakes up once a night on most nights. I was never a big fan of sleep training, I just went with the flow. My body has adjusted to handling broken sleep pretty well, I can still go to work, and take care of everyone.

Um yeah one wiped out member of that group myself.
Not fond of cio at all and hoping things get better soon.

laura what cereal?

I do not know if you would consider this a "method", but when my boys used to wake at night I would wait 5 minutes to see if they went back to sleep on their own or if they were truly hungry. They always went back to sleep on their own and have been sleeping through the night since they were 1 month old. If your child is truly hungry at night, all I could suggest to help you get through is that maybe Daddy could make sure you get a little nap in the afternoons.

My daughter is 10 months old and is still nursing like a champ. She nurses on demand and still gets up at night at least once to nurse. I have noticed that if I feed her some cereal before she goes down at night she will sleep through the night. Good Luck! Things will get better.

My son is 2 now, but he was not sleeping through the night at 9 months. I didn't try any sleep training, because when he woke up in the night, he was hungry! eventually, his need to feed in the middle of the night became less frequent, and by the time he weaned (15 months) he was sleeping through the night. He still sometimes wakes in the middle of the night, particularly when he's about to have a growth spurt, and he'll have a snack and go back to sleep.
It's a rough time for you, I know, but it does get better. Waking up to feed him was tough, but it was the right decision for us. Do what you feel is best for you and your child. You're doing a great job!

I'm exactly in your boat! My little guy loves his Mommy's milk. He does take a pacifier so sometimes he fusses b/c he can't find it so I wait about 5 mins to see if he soothes himself. If not, I go to him before he gets worked up (he shares a room with his older sister who is 4). Right now, I'm putting him to bed at 7pm, he wakes up around midnite for a feeding (though sometimes he'll stretch it to 2am) and then again at 5am. He usually will hang out in his crib until his sister wakes up around 6:30am. Technically sleeping 5 hrs is sleeping through the night so I suppose it isn't bad that I'm only getting up twice. Eventually, if that midnite feeding turns into a 2am feeding, I may see if I can stretch him out further to the 5am feeding. We'll see. For now, I agree that they are only little for so long and responding to their demands is important. That said, my son is a terrible napper and I have resorted to letting him cry to fall asleep - he never cries more than 5-10 mins. Helping him to get good sleep and be well rested is also important for his development (if it were up to him, he would only take two half-hour naps a day!). Best of luck - you are not alone!!

R.
You are on the right path I have BF all 5 of my kids and yes it does get better. They are only little for a short time and before you know they are going to school. Good Luck! I promise it will get better and some nights will be great and others not so great just keep telling yourself that this won't last forever and if you are home with the baby take a little 20 snooze in the afternoon too it will do wonders.
J.

It looks like you already got a lot of great responses. I have been there. My daughter, who is now 3 and a half and a great sleeper was the same. She woke several times a night even after I stopped breastfeeding (around 9 months) and was still waking for a bottle once a night after her first birthday. We did eventually have to do some tough love at bedtime but I waited until she was 18 months old because I wanted to make sure she understood what was happening. I also wanted to do it before we were potty training because I didn't want to deal with accidents.

I have a one year old boy now as well. He is a much better sleeper. In hindsight, my daughter mostly just wanted someone there with her. When my son cries and wakes up at night it is because he is either hungry, teething, or sick. My daughter just wanted to be held. The minute I picked her up she would calm down and go back to sleep, but laying her in her crib was really difficult. I had to do it perfectly or she would wake up and cry again. Looking back I miss being able to sit and hold her while she was sleeping, but I know at the time I was exhausted and crabby : )

All I can say is that it does get better. If you are comfortable sleeping with her, it makes it a lot easier. I didn't want to sleep with her in our bed, but we got a very comfortable lazy boy chair that we put in her room and on the bad nights I would fall asleep in the chair with her. My husband would do this everytime he got up with her. At first I was really nervous about it, but at some point I had to sleep.

Good Luck,
D.

good thing you got specific or youd have a ton of CIO coming at you...OK so my daughter was a terrible sleeper. It will get better! your child is teething and going through a lot of changes. I cosleep because it makes my life easier, but by now i am sure you have figured out what works for you. You can try looking at it a different way...its th emost time you will EVER get to spend with your wee one ...they arent going to be 15 wanting to seek your comfort in the middle of the night. There will come a point where you may decide enough is enough and try to comfort your child without nursing, but most likely that is going to be too h*** o* both of you. Rught now your baby is too young. Please read some things on baby sleep. Go to Dr. Sears website where he explains how babys sleep. It will make you feel better. Also there is The No Cry Sleep Solution for Babies if you wan tto train without CIO. Just take some advice from a mama that has been there: nurse your baby, its bettter for both of you, soon you will be sleeping, wasting time worrying about it is time you will never get back. And GREAT JOB still nursing!!!!! (between teeth their sleep improves and soon all the teeth will be out!)

How about trying some weaning? My daughter got up 3-4 times a night until I did this with her around 9 months.It took us 2 months, but by 11 months, she was sleeping 12 hours. I just got my 5 month old son to wake up one less time with it...and there is NO CRYING.

Get a timer. Pick a feeding, the first one most likely, and time how many minutes he nurses. The next night, give him a half a minute or a minute less. And then keep lessening it until he doesn't wake. The waking/eating is a habit, so the idea is to break the habit for food at that hour. Ideally, you will also feed him a few minutes later each night, so what you are doing is pushing the habit for food back a bit. So a 10 wake becomes the 12 wake, etc.

It took me a week to break my son of his 10pm waking. The night he did, he also only got me up once during a 12 hour period. He was tired, and he needed the continuous sleep.