Sleep Problems with My Nine Month Old

I wonder if your son is having a problem with separation anxiety and is waking up to see if you are still there. My son had a similar sleep problem. He is also 9 months old and was having problems sleeping through the night. I spoke to his pediatrician and he recommended that I go in to his room and reassure him for a few minutes and then leave again and let him cry himself back to sleep. He warned not to pick him up during the night since it will encourage him to cry more. I was concerned if we did this that my son wouldn't receive enough to eat since he had been nursing 3-4 times a night before this. We started using the doctor's suggestion a week ago and my son has slept through the night twice and wakes up less frequently than before. He doesn't seem to miss the night time feedings at all and the crying is becoming less and less each night.

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I don't think it's the food...sounds like he eats pretty well. It may be a nap issue. If you don't think it's his nap then it may simply be a case of wanting mommy and daddy.

The trick I used was going into the room but not picking up my daughter. Usually the simple knowledge that I was there would calm her down until she went back to sleep. Sometimes I would rub her back or sing a song or read a book if she looked as though sleeping was the last thing on her mind.

I would deffinately stop changing and feeding him both times he wakes up. He will form a habbit and expect it from you every night. If he's not too wet I would leave the diaper alone. You could try feeding him some extra formula before bed perhaps a little cereal as well. The warm meal may help relax him and help him sleep better.

Our routine used to be, bath, bottle, crib and book with low lights, goodnight.

I wouldn't fret too much though. It's common at this age for children to develop a bit of seperation anxiety.

Hope he starts sleeping soon!

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Even though you are not seeing the teeth yet I sounds like it. My daughter went through that for about a month before the first tooth broke through. See if his gums are puffy in any areas and if so I would try motrin. We never gave our daughter oragel because the dr said that if you put too much on it will make their gums harder and cause them more pain, so I was nervous to try it. She told us that motrin works best because it helps with the pain and also brings down the swelling.

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Just because you don't see any teeth doesn't mean that they can't be to blame for his sudden night waking. I would try giving him some infant tylenol before he goes to bed and see if that helps at all. It's worth a shot and it really can't hurt to try and see especially since he is at the teething age. Sudden night waking in a baby that age who normally was a very good sleep is most commonly from teething.

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My little one still wakes up in the middle of the night. I just let her cry it out. She wakes up because she may think she is hungry. I was getting up and feeding her but I stopped. If you dont let him cry it out he will continue to wake up in the middle of the night. My daughter cried for quite a while for a few night but then learned that I was not going to get up and feed her. Its hard at first but your son will get over it. Your son will be alright to wait until morning to eat. Just as you may wake up in the middle of the night and want something to eat but wait until morning to do so, so can he. I hope this helps you out a little.
My daughter is now one, just to let you know

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I had the exact thing happen with my son! He slept though the night at 6 weeks and then at 8 months started waking up out of what I thought was a dead sleep.

The best solution we found was to give him some Puffs or very light snack about an hour before bed and then we give him 8-9 ounces of milk.

It took about a week but his schedule went right back to sleeping for a full 9-10.5 hours again. Then he gets hungry again but it give mom and dad a nice rest!

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By the sounds, your son is getting plenty of food during the day so shouldn't be waking up at night. I would stop feeding and changing him at both these times as he will get used to this and expect it all the time. I would look at 2 things. First would be how much sleep is he getting during the day? My first son was a terrible sleeper during the day and eventually it caught up with him at night and he started waking up. I then had to get him into a proper day time sleeping pattern and this helped him settle back to sleep at night. All babies wake during the night, it's just a matter of them settling themselves back to sleep. The other thing to consider is maybe seperation anxiety but I would say that if you do not want to keep going into him every night, nip it in the bud now. First few nights just try rocking him back to sleep without changing him or feeding him. Then if he stays asleep you know he is not hungry. Then I would maybe try a few nights of patting his back to get him to calm down and then leave, with him awake and let him sort himself out. Sounds harsh I know but it really odes work. Had to do it with both my kids and they sleep great now :)

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I honestly think thta your son may be teething. OUr son started the same thing at about the same time, it'll get better! Have you tried infant motrin?

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sorry to be repitive, but you do have to let him cry it out. when you fed him, that is what he wants from now on. Baby's may not seem to know what they are doing, but trust me, if he is a good eater, he is going to want that bottle from now on. He may have woken up for any reason, but by continueing to respond to him, he will continue. My son did the same, and he just seemed to want to see my face in the middle of the night. It took 3 nights of letting him cry before he stopped. I know it sucks because you have to listen to the crying, but you are up anyway, so you have to stand firm. if you plan on having other children in the future, you do not want to deal with 2 kids crying in the night, trust me, I did it and I was a walking zombie before I finally let my son cry it out. Hope this helps, it's always hardest with your first child, because of the fact that you do love him so much. Good Luck!

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he might be teething...the gums can be sentitve and sore for several weeks before any teeth actually show. a dose of baby tlyonel or advil, or highlands teething tablets will help him sleep if he's hurting. don't use orajel though...it toughens the gum tissue and actually makes it harder for the new tough to erupt. he might also be going through a growth spurt. every so often, that would happen with my little girl. she'd either sleep way more than usual or she'd not sleep well at all. i might try the to let him cry it it out for a few minutes, but if it doesn't work, go in and confort him for a few minutes and tehn just put him back to bed. only give him another bottle as a last resort so as not to get him reaccustomed to a middle of the night feeding.

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It could be teeth without seeing teeth. They bother babies more before they breakthrough than they do afterwards, espeically upper teeth b/c they are more nevers and such. It could be he's growing. My son eats more when he is getting ready to go through a growth spurt. He always has. When he was a baby he would go from eating every four hours to every 2 and half for about 3-7 days straight. But at the same time, my son was sleeping more too. Taking longer naps, and sleeping longer at night, and still does! There are days I feel like I have a sleeping eating machine and not a child b/c he will play for a total of 3 hours--eat and sleep the rest. If he is taking a whole bottle at night and not just 2 oz. I would say he needs a whole feeding, in the middle of the night for now. Should he be able to sleep through the night? Yes, I heard somewhere that it's approx. 6 months he should be able to sleep at least 6 hours straight through the night. But any kind of change can change that. I wouldn't worry too much, and do what you think your son needs at this time.

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I became a mommy for the first time in April 2007 too! What a coinkydink!
Could this be Liam's BFF's mommy??!?
I think it could be!!

Liam does that on occaision too...but not usually for too long and then falls back to sleep. (By not for too long, not long enough for me to hear him and get in there). I am not even really sure if he's actually awake when this is happening...
Could Griff be afraid of something maybe? I think Liam has nightmares sometimes b/c he'll wake up and cry for a long time...w/tears and everything! And then when I pick him up he grabs onto me like "don't put me down!"
Other than that, maybe he's growing and actually not getting enough to eat...They are hungrier when they are growing...perhaps he's going to be like 7 ft. tall just to spite us...I know Liam is.

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It sounds like it may be your son's teeth. Trying giving him Tylenol when he wakes up and a little oragel on the gums. It worked like a charm for my son. He would go right back to sleep.

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My pediatrician told me babies cut each tooth twice. Basically, the tooth cuts through the bone first and then the gum. If you think of it this way, you can see that your baby could be teething without seeing any visible teeth. I would bet that's the problem because of his age. You could try giving him a little Tylenol to see if it's pain.

Another thing that could be going on is a little separation anxiety. Your baby has probably never slept through the entire night without waking up. He just always got himself back to sleep. Now he's old enough to think about it, know you're not there, and wonder if you're ever coming back. This is a tougher issue, and you will have to decide what to do. Personally, I put my baby in the bed with me so we could both get some sleep, and after a week, she was back to sleeping through the night.

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We went through a similar scenario when our daughter was 7 months. We moved to a new home and she started waking up every night again. We let her cry it out 2 nights. The first night took over an hour. As they get older, it will take longer. Did you give him more than a few minutes to figure it out on his own? Same child also was a terrible teether. Her most painful times were when you could not see the teeth but when they were lower and coming up. By the time we saw the teeth at the surface, she was fine. So, we gave her pain meds one night to see if it helped and it did. Just a thought. Hope this helps. M.

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Babies go through different sleep patterns off and on. I would say it is his teeth. He is at the right age for the teeth to be coming. Maybe you could try giving him tylenol or motrin (baby form of course), and see what happens. My son is 13 mos. old and he is still doing this througout the night. Usually if he wakes I give him a couple of minutes and see if he goes back to sleep on his own and if he doesn't I give him some medicine...he is cutting 5 teeth right now.... :-0
Be careful feeding him throughout the night because most doctors will tell you they do not require food at night anymore. He will also get use to the bottle at night and it will become habit. I went through the same thing with Wyatt...I just had to quit going in and giving him that bottle.
I think he is getting plenty to eat during the day maybe even a little too much (I think he should only be getting 3-4 bottles at 7 ounces each). But everything is easier said than done :-)
Do what works for you and your baby and good luck.

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My daughter did the same thing and we are just now getting back on track. Initially it was that she wasn't getting enough to eat during the day (she would wake up enough to take a bottle, then go right back down and continue to need the same number of cups/food during the day)....mostly her fault as she refused to eat solids, we assume she didn't like the texture. but once we stuck a spoon in her hand and a cup on the tray she ate with gusto and the pattern broke.

We've also recently had four teeth come in together so that's part of the problem now too.

Ours is a night fusser so yeah, we just let her fuss it out (usually ten minutes) until she stops. She also talks in her sleep alot so our baby monitor gets a workout at night...sometimes I have to end up shutting it off just to get some sleep. My husband, of course, can sleep through anything.

My suggestion, if you're providing a bottle, try to stop. Let him cry it out. And if that doesn't seem to work, try tylenol or motrin at night before bed.....he may be trying to get some teeth in.....especially if he's drooly during the day...

GOOD LUCK!

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Our son went through the same thing (he's 2 now). We asked all the same questions that you're asking (hungry? teeth? naps?) and never really determined why he was waking up. We are pretty laid back parents and we would go get him and let him sleep in our bed whenever he woke up. I was still nursing and would let him nurse as well sometimes depending on how I felt. We found that letting him try to cry it out just made us really upset so we never did that. People told us we were going to "ruin" him by all the horrible things we were doing (nursing him to sleep,letting him sleep in our bed, nursing him on demand, picking him up when cried, etc.) We were confident we were doing what was best for our family, but all the "advice" did start to make us a little worried. In the end he started sleeping through the night eventually (he had some health issues that needed to be taken care of as well) and we have absolutely no sleep issues now. That's just our story, my advice is to experiment and find a solution that works for your family. If it's letting the baby cry, there is nothing wrong with that (my friend puts in earplugs so it doesn't bother her), and there is also nothing wrong with being attentive to his needs. Nine months old are still way to young to be "manipulative". Hopefully all of these posts will give you some good ideas to try and you will find something that works for you!

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My nine month old is doing something similar. He has also been a great sleeper (through the night) until about 3 weeks ago. He now wakes every few nights and we can't seem to console him, no matter what we do. I honestly don't think mine is hungry. I have fed him a few times, but I really don't want to start that habit again. He gets 4 bottles a day and 3 meals. It doesn't matter what we do - he cries for about 2 hours each time. The only advice I have gotten is that at 9 months their brains are going through a growth spurt and thus have trouble sleeping. Maybe this is the case, maybe not. If you hear anything else I would be intersted as well.

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Hi A.,
I have an April 2007 baby also. She finally started sleeping through the night occasionally around 6 months. Lately, she's been waking up every night! Same things you are describing. She cries and stiffens up angry. I've had to resort to feeding her again in the night. I've tried giving her more food at bedtime even. I think its just a growth spurt. She's my 4th child and I find that just as soon as you get used to one routine or schedule, they start growing again and everything changes. I hope that's what this is because I'm really worn out :) So my best advice is to bear with it because they grow so fast and pretty soon they won't need you to tend to them in the middle of the night and you'll miss that snuggly baby time!

L. Mercer
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I know that ear infections can make an otherwise all-through-the-night-sleeper wake up crying several times a night...even when there are no other signs of an earache or infection! My daughter was acting normal, except she had started a bad habit of waking in the night, but was consoled when I rocked her, so I thought it was just a bad habit. However, she went in for a well check and here she had an ear infection! I had NO idea! The Dr. said that was possibly the cause of the wakings, and that she'd probably stop as the antibiotics kicked in....she was right.
Just a thought to possibly check out if no other advice seems to help.
Best Wishes!

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I'm new to the board and haven't figured out how to read other responses yet, so if this has been suggested already, sorry for the repeat. I would highly recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution. We've got it at the library in Nicholasville, so I figure they'd have it in Lexington or could do an inter-library loan. It has a lot of gentle ways to help parents get through the nightwaking, and it worked great with our daughter. Hth!

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