My 7 Month Old Keeps Waking up at Night!

Hi, L.. I was just wondering if you came up with a solution that is working for you. My 7 month old does the same thing. Only he doesn't sleep in bed with us. He'll get up and take a few sucks of a bottle and then go back to sleep. But this goes on a 3-4 times a night. It's funny I tell my husband that I have to go to sleep when he goes to sleep at night, otherwise by the time I get to bed he's ready to get up. I feel you pain, and was just wondering if you came up with a solution.
Thanks
A.

I got this great book called "the no cry sleep solution". It made a lot of sense and because I read it before I had my daughter, (who is 7 Months) we have great sleep. Good Luck.

it may sound silly but have you tried just not turning off the lights and tv - (use maybe a low watt bulb) just so that you can get some sleep until this phase is over.

HI L.!!
JUST wanted to offer you ((HUGS)) my son who is now 4 was the same way and i did the same thing bringing him in my bed. I have to add that at age 4 he still everynights gets up from his bed at some point of the night and climbs in bed with me.
I have no solution being i have had the same situation since my child was an infant....just wanted to offer ((HUG)). I have two other children and had no problems whats so ever with this so its not my parenting or yours. SOME kids are just needier!
(the other two kids are 12 and 9 now!

Hi L.,

My 6 1/2 month old daughter went through a phase like that around 5 months - it followed a very bad cold. The cold had her up several times a night for 2 - 3 weeks, and I think she got used to getting up and it carried on after the cold went away. Was your son sick befor this started? We had to basically start over with the "Ferber" technique (the suggestion many mom's made about let her cry, comfort, cry a bit longer, comfort again, etc) once she was well to get her back to sleeping through the night. But it only took about a week.

Also, could your baby be teething? I've heard that it can cause this type of behavior and once the tooth surfaces it should stop. Also, I've heard separation anxiety can start at this age and cause the behavior, too. If you don't want your son co-sleeping long term, though, you might want to stop quickly. My niece is 7, and my sister used to let her co-sleep as an infant, and to this day, she ends up in their bed EVERY night!

Good luck
K.

Hi L.,
My first question is what time are you putting him down for the night. Try to put him to be later. Has he ever slept throught the night? Also my son is 9 months old and he started sleeping throught the night at 3 months then at 6 months started waking up again. My husband would get up with him and hold him and he would fall asleep within a few minutes so we knew there was nothing wrong with him. Eventually we would let him cry himself back to sleep. Now most night i dont hear anything from him. when he does wake up i just let him fuss a bit and he is back to bed. try just standing outside his door and calming him back to sleep by the sound of your voice. it may be frustrating for the first few night but it does get easier. Good Luck
C.

Hi! I noticed with my first daughter than anytime she was learning something new (like sitting up, crawling, walking, etc.) she wouldn't sleep well. I got the feeling that she was really revved up by her new world view and wanted to work on it and think about it all night long! Has he recently reached a developmental milestone? I recommend not bringing him to your bed if you would rather not sleep with him there, because you could be creating a new habit for him. Just stick it out for a few weeks, don't go to him everytime he wakes up, and let him find a way to get himself back to sleep. Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

Hi L....

I know what you're going thru. My daughter (who is only 21) has a 6 1/2 mo old and she did the same thing....but she also breast-fed him. I know this may not sound like good advice, but just let him cry for a little bit. If you go in the room every time he cries...or to the crib if he's in the same room...he's got you. He's getting what he wants...to sleep with you.

My grandson did the same thing. But now my daughter let's him cry for a little while. It bothers her, I know, but it's working. He's sleeping in his crib most of the night.

I've had 4 kids and I've learned alot by "tial & error" and from my mom...who had 18 kids. There is no book out there to make you the "perfect" mother/father...It's like life...alot of trial & error.

Let me know how it goes. You can also email me at ____@____.com if you like.

D.

Hi, L.! How are you? I have 3 kids, two girls ages 4 and 2 and a little boy 16 months. And I am right where you are only all of my kids sleep in the same room right now. So when my son wakes up as soon as I get into bed, and it is as soon as I get into bed like you said he also wakes up his sisters. Him and his 2 year old sister have never really slept through the night so I have been doing this for two years now!! ughhh LOL But what I started to do about a week ago is I go in their room as soon as he starts, I change his diaper, get him his binky, sometimes a sippy and he goes right back into bed. I tell him its bedtime now and I tuck him in and for the first night it was hard but when I actually looked at the clock and saw that his temper tantrum to come out of his bed and sleep with me only lasted about 5-7 minutes I allowed it and now he gets the routine. With my son it was a little different then coming into bed with me and my husband, he didn't like my bed when we were both in it. So I would have to sleep on the floor, or in my daughters bed with my son in order for him to go back to sleep. Plus my husband gets up early for work so I felt that it was easier on him if we didn't sleep in my room anyway. But I really was missing my husband, I was having to sleep in the kids room like 4 times a week because of my son. Well I did put an end to that. No more musical beds. Everyone has their own bed or crib:)and they sleep in it, and it has been wonderful. I knew that it was going to be hard for the first few nights, I was actually prepared for a weeks of sleepless nights, but I stuck with it and it only took a couple of days. My son does still wake up at night but I stay to the routine and he goes back into his own crib. I know your son is younger than my boy so it will be harder to explain to him that it is bedtime, but I think all children learn from repeating the routine. It will be hard I am sure but the pay off is worth it. I would just keep track of how long after you leave him in his room he cries for, because if it is only a few minutes than I believe as with my son that he just wanted his way. Actually now I can even get him to bed earlier, he used to cry and I would go in there and take him out and my whole night with my husband was shot. Now he is in bed and thats the end of it, I have really no more problems with him at bed time, and if I were to I would try the same routine as his midnight wake up calls! I hope this has been helpful, one more quick thing, the nights that my son was really just not going back to bed( before I started the other routine) I would give him a little bubble bath, it was more time consuming but it would help. Again I hope this will help a little! Good Luck~~J.

Hi! My son did this at 4.5 months. You need to implement some sleep training, for your good and for his. We weren't ready to do a "cry it out" method, but we did a modified approach where we don't pick him up again once we put him down, but I go into him if he starts crying. I'll give him a pacifier and go back out. If he starts up again, I put the pacifier back in and might hand him a little stuffed animal or woobie to hold. I try not to make contact and although I might soothe him (hold his hand, rub his tummy, pat his butt or shush him), I don't "play" with him. After a few nights of this, he really started improving. Some books will advocate that you keep waiting a few more minutes before each time you go back in (i.e. let him cry for 2 minutes, then for 4, then for 8), but my son gets too worked up if I wait. What I will do, though, is I will wait to go in if he is only fussing, as opposed to actually crying, but once he is crying I go right in so that I can soothe him more quickly. These things are hard, but they do learn very quickly. My son now goes right to sleep with only one or two very quick "pacifier" visits. He often wakes up about 45 minutes after I put him down, but if I get in there very quickly and give him the pacifier again, he is usually only up for a minute.

You are probably going to get tons of very conflicting advice on this. I'd suggest buying Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, which is a great book with sleep training suggestions and which also tells you the cause of the night wakings. although it advocates a "cry it out" approach, it has lots of suggestions you can follow even if you aren't ready to let him cry it out. FYI, I believe the cry it out method works and in the long run is actually better for the kids, but I myself haven't done it yet. Too much of a wimp I guess!
Good luck!

Was he sleeping well before this? I have a 7 month old and around 5 months he started waking up more and more. I would simply put pacifier in his mouth and he'd go back to sleep. Well. .it was happening way too much. Doc said he was waking up during light sleep phase wanting to suck. He told me I needed to stop with the pacifier (which he only used at night). This was the advice.. when baby wakes 1st time let him cry 5 minutes and then go in and let baby know you are there w/out picking up or pacifier. As soon as he/she settles leave the room. if baby cries again let him cry for 10 mins before going in. same thing.. then wait 15 minutes next time. if baby is still crying after 15 mins go in and soothe them with paci or rocking becuase they are no longer in light sleep phase, but *awake*. Well.. i never had to go in because he would stop crying within 5 mins. I took away paci and he never got it again! and now he sleeps 12 hours again. SO LET HIM CRY! It's so hard, but so worth it! my son is 7 months and has NO PACIFIER and sleeps all night.. it's a blessing! :)

Is he sleeping in his own room? Can he hear the tv. Try turning on the radio (to classical) or a cd before you turn off the tv. The noise maybe soothing to him. I know for my son it helps him fall asleep every time. Also when he wakes up, can you let him cry a few minutes. Don't go in and get him right away, try to let him soothe himself back to sleep. I'm not talking crying 30 mins here, more like 5 or 10. When he wakes don't pick him up, just talk to him let him know your there and nothing more. Also try a lovey if you haven't already. When my son was 3 mos old we moved him into his own crib and he got his first Monkey. We now have 5 of them and the 6th is a big monkey. Their all the same so if one is in the wash we have spares. This way if your son wakes he has a "buddy" with him to help and he's not alone.

I think he just wants to be with you. my 7 month old finally sleeps through the night but I had to "Ferberize" her. I strongly suggest for any one having sleeping problems with their baby to get the book Solve Your Child Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. He talks about all kinds if different sleep problems and offers many solutions. I really feel that it is very important to stop sleep problems as soon as possible because they only get worst with age. I have friends who didn't do enough to fix their childs sleep problems and they are 2 years old and still not sleeping through the night. And it worst because the climb out of their crib and scream a lot louder when there older. My other suggestion is try a sound machine maybe he likes the sound of the tv. Good Luck

My daughter, who is almost 8 months does the same thing and goes to bed around the same time as your son. I thought I was the only one! My daughter, Giuliana will wake up, but if I give her the pacifer she'll fall back asleep, but only for a short time. The doctor says "let her cry", but were in a one bedroom and she needs her pacifer like I need my sleep so I give in and am up like 6 times a night. Have you tried giving him water when he wakes up? My mother-in-law suggested it and says that eventually they will realize that if they wake up there only going to be given water so why get up at all? I havent tried it myself, b/c my daughter likes water so If I did give her some throughout the nite I'd be up just as much, if not more than already, which is not what I want to do. I know its not really advise and were both suffering throughtout the nite--its just good to hear that Im not the only one!!

Good Luck,

C.

Hi L.

It may be that your son is going through separation anxiety, which is very normal at his age. It may be helpful to have your son sleep with a "special toy or blanket". This helps them cope with their separation axieties and bad dreams. My two sons (10 months and 2 years old) have a "special toy" with which they sleep. Each one has a stuffed animal that they cuddle with and helps them sleep through the night. They both know that it is only for sleeping and we don't have to carry it outside of the house.

Good luck!
C.

That bed time sounds too early.
I keep my son (5 months) awake until 9:30-10:00 and when he is rubbing his eyes and getting sleepy- I give him a warm bath with lavendar scented soap and after a brief but relaxing baby massage (while applying his lotion) fresh diaper change & warm jammmies, I give him a warm bottle and he is asleep before his burp most nights and only wakes up once around 4 am- either his pacifier or a sip or two from his bottle & he's back asleep until I wake him @ 6 or 7 a.m.

Keeping him awake from 4 p.m until bed time is key- no late evening naps wears him out.

Good luck dear.

7 months old is so young. When he canstand up and scream and understand what you say , then you havetoput upa gate and let him wail until he knows you won't bail him out of there. But at 7 months I'd enjoy cuddling or put his bed in your room or closer toyou.

Why is everybody so gung ho for crying it out or <shudder> Ferberizing? What is so wrong with holding and cuddling your baby or even co-sleeping. They are only little for so long and there will come a day when they don't want to sleep with you or <gasp> want to cuddle with you. Go to your baby, hold him, love & cuddle him and if he really needs it, let him sleep with you. You said yourself you missed sleeping with your husband so obviously you don't like sleeping alone and neither does he!