9 Month Old Not Sleeping Through the Night - Riverside,IL

Hi B.,
I see you got some good advice already. My son was like that until 8-9 mo old. Then I offered him water instead of formula and he prefered water, I guess he was just thirsty at night. I was leaving the water bottle for him on the bed side table next to the crib and he would wake up, reach for the bottle between the bars, drink, and go back to bed. His crib is at my bedside so I can see everything. He is just very independent.
Now his almost 3 and still occasionaly wakes up for water at night, especialy if he had something salty for dinner. So I always keep glass of water next to his crib and help him if he askes.

Good luck.

At our 2 month appointment to the doctor she said that our son had reached a weight where he doesn't need to have those middle of the night feedings. He was a big boy though 8 lbs at birth and 12 at 2 months. He would still wake up at 12 3 and 5 to eat for a while but I was told it was just habit now, he isn't hungry he is just waking because that is what he has known for the past 2 or 3 months. We just started swaddling him up again, or what ever comfort puts your baby to sleep, and he would fall right back to sleep within seconds. It took a week or so for him to finally get that he doesn't need to wake up at those times and for the past 4 months or so he has been sleeping without waking at all. Good luck!

She might be waking up up because she hears you and it disturbs her sleep (as well as being used to being fed, even if she doesn't need to be.) We thought we'd have our baby in our room for at least a few months, but actually transitioned him at 5 weeks because he just slept better and longer in his own crib in his own room! Just recently we went on vacation and had to share a room with him sleeping in a pack 'n play for a few weeks (he's 5 months now) and suddenly he was back to waking ever 2-3 hours. Not so much a vacation for us because of that! Back at home, he settled into sleeping 6-8 hour stretches on a regular basis. At his 6 month check up though we're going to speak with our ped about how/when to start weaning him from the middle feeding. I will also recommend the Weissbluth book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I've found it incredibly helpful.

I would suggest reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It has tons of info and how to deal with all sleep issues. I would think you need to get on a set schedule and let her put herselft back to sleep overnight. She should still be taking two naps during the day which may be hard at first but you just put her down consistently at the same time each day (around that age my son did 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.ish). My husband would have to go in overnight because if I went in, my son would want to nurse. But, after a week or so of no overnight feedings and no attention he started sleeping through the night around the same age. It sounds a bit harsh but if your child doesn't get on a schedule and learn how to put herself back to sleep now, things will be really hard down the road. She probably needs her own space too so this would be a good time to get her out of your room and into her crib so you can do all the transitions at once. good luck :)

I dont know if this will help, but...
We had this problem with our first child, who unfortunately didn't start sleeping through til he was about 18 months, when he transitioned to a bed. With our second, I finally realized that our snoring was waking him up(snoring was worse because of lack of sleep, so a vicious cycle...). It dawned on me that when first son changed to a bed, it was against wall farthest from our room, so our snoring might have been the problem with him as well. Anyhoo- the following night we started using the crib(in the nursery). He sleeps 8-10 hours at a stretch most nights now.
Also-I don't know what her feeding schedule is like, but we generally give him some oatmeal or rice cereal about 30-45 minutes prior to bedtime, followed by bottle.

I have a 2 year old and 8 months old. The book "Healthy Sleep Havits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth has been invaluable. Need to "train" your child to sleep well.
D.

Hi B.. It sounds to me like she is overtired. When kids don't get enough sleep, they become very hyper. They don't know how to calm themselves down. It is the equivalent of an adult who is in a very stressful job trying to relax on vacation. The first few days, you're climbing the walls.

At age 9 mos, your child should be napping in the morning AND afternoon. It sounds from your post like she is only getting one nap a day. This is no doubt contributing to her problems with sleeping at night. Also, what time are you putting her down in the evening? Believe it or not, she should probably go down somewhere between 6:30-7:00 pm. I know it sounds early, but babies need about 12 hours sleep during the night. If she is getting up at 7am, she should be down by 7pm.

Try making some adjustments to her sleep schedule. It may take a few days or even a week of pain and suffering, but trust me, it will be worth it!

Best of luck!

HI! I actually just went through this same situation with my 11 month old triplets. I agree with Maggie, and you should look at some of the sleep books and decide on a strategy that both you and your husband agree upon. I took a little from Weissbluth and what some of my friends had done and it has worked for me so far.

First, I would try and transition your daughter to her crib....if that doesn't work because some babies just don't like their cribs...try moving her pack-n-play into her own room.

I had a hard time taking away their night feedings as they were preemies and I felt like they needed the extra ounces. Like your little one, they never take more than 4 ounces at each feeding throughout the day. I began the process by reducing their night feedings to only two ounces. After a week or two of this, I eliminated their third feeding. I would still give them the bottle for their first and second feeding, but if they woke up for the third feeding I would just let them fuss it out. Before I was so worried that they would wake the other babies that I would rush in there. When I let them fuss, they would cry for about 5-10 minutes...more of just a whimper....and then would go back to sleep. After a few nights of eliminating the third feeding, I eliminated the second feeding, and then a few nights later, I eliminated the first feeding. This process took about 2-3 weeks, but I haven't had to let the girls cry for a long period of time....where I have friends who have said their child cried for 45min-2hours at a time. They did cry, however, but for no longer than 20 minutes. The few times they got really upset either my husband or I went in and soothed them and they went back to sleep. We didn't do it often as I didn't want them to get used to waking up and expecting us to come in and soothe them.

The most important thing is doing what is best for both you and your husband. Good luck.

B.,

My daughter was the same as yours. At a year old she was still waking once a night to eat. She was always low on the weight charts, so I never felt comfortable denying her the extra meal. My son is 9 months now and he is still taking a bottle at bedtime (7 pm), one before our bedtime (10 pm) and then one more at about 3:30 am. So he is almost making it 6 hours or "through the night". He also takes mostly 4 ounce bottles at night although he takes almost 8 ounces before bed. I think he is just too tired to make it through 8 ounces. However the one time I tried to keep him up to drink more and got him to 7 ounces he spit most of it back up at me. Most of the time after his bottle he goes right back to sleep, so I have decided to let him have his 4 ounces and put him back to bed. We tried just comforting him to get him back to sleep, but after a half an hour of trying he was not going back to sleep. When we give him the bottle it takes about 10 minutes for him to drink his bottle and go back to sleep.

I read HSHHC, which I see has been recommended to you many times, when my daughter wasn't sleeping through the night. We tried it with her a few times and everytime it was horrible. She would cry for a very long time and work herself up into a frenzy. My husband and I weren't sold on the theory that the answer is to let the baby cry it out in the first place, so we stopped when it was obvious that she was getting very distressed. Some of the ideas in the book, such as overtired babies have a hard time sleeping, are very worthwhile, but the process did not work for us at all.

My suggestion would be to see if your little girl will go back to sleep without the bottle, but if not, she probably is hungry. I also remember reading a lot of suggestions to try giving the baby just water or slowly watering down the formula more and more. The theory being that she won't wake up for the water the next time. Just make sure that she is getting enough formula during the day. I think the recommendation at 9 months is 16 to 24 ounces.

Good Luck,
D.

If you and your husband are really ready, then I suggest you buy one of the books on sleep (I like Weissbluth) and learn all about sleep cycles and routines in babies. After you do a little research discuss what you are both comfortable with. For instance, are you ready to let your daughter cry for a few days in order to get her into a better sleep pattern? Are you both ready to have her separated from you at night?

IF you are both committed then you need to choose a strategy. Some would say take things one step at a time: first reduce/eliminate the bottle, then move her into the crib. I think you should do everything at once: move her into her own crib, get rid of the middle of the night bottles and start fresh with a whole new bedtime routine.

What has worked for me is something like this: a bath, rocking and a bottle with mom or dad, soothing lullaby music played low, some white noise and some kind of "transitionaL object" like a blanket or stuffed animal. I would take some of the bedding you have in the playpen and put it in her crib so she gets the right cues about sleeping.
When she wakes up for her bottle go in and sooth but no bottle. Its up to you how many times you go in to sooth and what you do; I don't think anyone else but you and your husband can decide that.

Good luck - many parents have gone before you doing this! Its not always easy or fun but when you get this figured out and she has her own sleep space and is sleeping well, you will be set for years to come!