The past few nights my 7 month old has started waking up arund 1 or 2 in the morning. He takes forever to get back to sleep. If I go in there to check on him he just starts laughing and kicking his legs like he is ready to play. In the past if he wakes up in the middle of the night he has always gone right back to sleep. The only way I can get him to go back to sleep these past few nights is to give him a bottle. He eats it like he hasn't eaten in days. He cries for about 10 minutes after that and finally goes to sleep. Has anyone else delt with this? Do babies start waking for nighttime feedings again if they are getting ready to hit a growth spurt? I just don't want this to become a habit!
Well he was sick the whole weekend with a high fever and vomiting. I took him to the doctor today and he has an ear infection. I'm guessing that is why he was having a hard time sleeping last week. Thanks for all of the advice.
My 8 month old began doing this at 6 1/2 months. I believe that when she started to learn to crawl...she started waking to eat more in the middle of the night. A lady at my office has a 9 month old and we experienced the same thing at the same time.
I think it is just a stage you will have to work through :)
Both of my children did this. What my ped told me was that their bellys are only so big and can only hold so much. If they can't get it all in during the day, then they will get it in at night. My daughter was so bad that between 15 and 18 months she would wake anywhere from once to three times a night to eat. I started off giving her a banana, but eventually starting giving her meals. She would always go right back to sleep once she got a full belly. Thank goodness it only lastest those three months. Both my children are twice the size they should be for their age so you probably won't have to go to my extreme. But yes, they will eat at night if going through a growth spurt whether it be an extra bottle at 7 months or a meal at 15 months. When I knew they were going through growth spurts I would try to feed them extra at night. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. They will tell you what they need. Mother of 10 month old and 3 yr old.
have you tried giving him a bit of a snack before bed. i gave both my kids starting at the age of 6 months cereal right before bed and they slept for about 6 to 8 hours at one time. or does your baby take real long naps in the daytime? if so maybe waking him up from them a litle early would help. God bless you. :)
My nephew does this all the time (he will be eight months on the thirteenth of feb.) I would suggest go through the feedings but put him on a schedule. Also try getting some really soothing, relaxing music and playing it for him. Other things you can try are feeding him more than a bottle, like some jarred baby food. That always helps my nephew. My sister gets him back to sleep by keeping him on a schedule, feeding him some baby cereal or jarred food, rocking him to sleep, and playing music for him.
Although you may not like it, my advice is for you to enjoy your time with your baby.. if it's play time at 2am, then play.. you may feel exhausted, but when he's 5 years old, like by youngest is, then you'll look back at it and smile and thank God that you had that precious time.. they're not babies forever and they grow up way to soon.. now the starving thing, is he on solids yet? Maybe you should ask your pediatrition about that, some cereal perhaps before bedtime might go a long way, and could possibly end his waking up at all.. anyway, good luck!!
My now 6 year old daughter did this when she turned a year old. She slept through the night until her first birthday! I kid you not that the night she turned one, she started waking up in the middle of the night! She would take a bottle and usuallly go back to sleep fairly easily. Although, there were a few nights when she would want to stay up and play, but the key is to keep the lights off, unless a diaper change is needed of course. I found that out after many restless nights with my daughter!
I hope this is somewhat helpful for you! I have a 10 month old son now and he wakes up every so often in the middle of the night, but usually his passy does the trick!
Good luck...S.
Mine are just 7 months old and twins they wake up like this sometimes, i gave the bottle too at first, then they started wanting it.I quit, i listen to them on the monitor and even if they cry for 10 min. they always go back too sleep its torture for you, but if you keep going in and giving the bottle and paying attention to the baby they form a habbit quick and it just keeps going on.
I have heard they do this when a growth spurt is coming. My four month old has started waking at 6 for a bottle after usually sleeping til at least 8:30....I've heard they tend to get a little hungrier right before a growth spurt happens.....:)
My son's sleeping pattern changed a lot at that age too. I think for him it was his new found mobility. Once he started to sit up and pull up he would no longer lay in bed and put himself back to sleep. I would end up nursing him back to sleep. I didn't really notice that he was more hungry, but that could have had something to do with it as well.
By no means am i an expert here..lol I have 2 kiddos of my own though. Sounds to me like this little bundle of joy is ready for something thicker in his bedtime feedings. Maybe mix a little cereal with his formula. Then again his sleep habits could be changing. Maybe a little more playtime before bedtime. Just a thought :)
Good luck
At last...someone to relate to! My 6-month little girl has not been very easy to put down for the night for the past 2 nights. She also woke up at 3 this morning and wouldn't go back to sleep. Hmmm...I never thought about the growth spurt idea. This could be the explanation. She too wanted to play it seemed. I of course did not want to. ;-) I'm starting to think she's forgotten how to sleep through the night. We'll see what happens tonight. Hopefully she doesn't have anything major wrong with her....she's done this before and nothing happened.
it sounds to me that he is waking up at night and eating like he is starving cause he probably needs to be fed more solid foods through out the day. my daughter did the same thing from 6 months to 10 months, when he doctor finally told me to try feeding her more baby food throughout the day. it took a few days but it worked!
my little girl is nine months old and does the same thing periodicly...usually when she is going through a growth spurt. try to make sure he is good and full b4 bed...give him some cereal and a bottle...that has helped me. it usually only lasts a few days to a week and then she is back on her regular sleeping schedule...at least till the next growth spurt.
Does he cry when he wakes up? If not I would let him talk for a little bit and try to learn to self soothe. If he is crying then you really have to do something to comfort him. I think they wake up for so many reasons. I would ask your pediatrician about the feedings. If he is getting enough in the day you probably shouldn't but I wouldn't want to be the one saying whether or not to feed your baby. You are right that he will get used to it! Good luck! You are a good mom!
If he's chugging it down like he's starved to death then maybe he's hit a growth spurt and just needs more to eat. If he were playing with it then I would say that he's looking for attention. Just give him the bottle and when he's done let him put himself back to sleep. If he can hold the bottle himself, then I would say hand it to him and walk out of the room so you're not providing him attention or stimulation, then when you're sure he's gone back to sleep you can sneak in and take the bottle. Some kids just need more to eat more often than others.
This can be a growth spurt, or a developmental milestone. Our son did this too. I also found that interuptions to his routine (holidays out of town, etc) did this too. I think he will grow out of it pretty fast.
