8 Month Old Waking up in the Night

If you aren't giving him cereal or some sort of baby food he probably is hungry. but my son used to do the same thing and it got to be more out of habit that hunger. he didn't really WANT anything, but to get up and play. it was hard to do but i simply had to lay him back down and let him cry it out. after about 3 nights. he stopped waking up for a bottle and attention.believe me.... that was HARD to do. good luck to you

Hi A.! My daughter is 8 months old as well. She has been waking up 1-2 times a night for a few months now. It can definately be draining. She wants to nurse and always genuinely seems hungry. So I have started feeding her more solids during the day and it has seemed to make a difference. Last night she made it until 6:30! Reading the other responses is frustrating for me b/c right now my daugter wants nothing to do with real table food. She will only eat stage 2 baby food. She gags if I give her something thicker, although she is starting to like puffs witthin the past few days. I guess we just need to know that all babies are different and progress in what they are comfortable eating differently. I feed her a stage 2 fruit mixed with oatmeal in the morning, stage 2 fruit and veggie for lunch, 2 different stage 2 veggies for dinner....plus a few puffs here and there. Try feeding your son more during the day and see if that helps. Of course his cold could be bothering him more than you know. It's hard to know what is the culprit sometimes! Good luck!!

Hi A.,
My twins are 9 months old and have been strictly on table food since they were 8 months. They eat three good meals a day, just like the rest of us. Your baby might just not be getting enough solid food during the day. Our girls eat oatmeal and applesauce or yogurt plus some cheerios for breakfast, lunch is whatever the other kids are having...mac & cheese, grilled cheese, noodle soup, etc, along with a fruit and veg...all cut into tiny pieces, and dinner is whatever I am making for everyone else, cut into tiny pieces for them. They also nurse once in the morning, and get 3 six ounce bottles throughout the day. I would try upping what you are feeding him during the day, hopefully that will help him get through the night. Oh, and my girls never wake at night to eat...as long as they are healthy, they pretty much sleep 12 hr. nights. Good luck to you!
S.

I have a 7 mo. old who was/ is having the same issue (he is teething right now) but I have started giving him a little extra cereal mixed w/ fruit just before we start the 3 B's. Oh, and by the way, cereal is NOT 'pointless'. It is actually very important for it's source of iron unless you have introduced meats to your baby. So, that's 3 meals, 4 nursing sessions, and a little extra cereal at night. I think the best advice I ever received was from my nurse w/ my first son who is now 2 1/2; I had read so much junk about the ill affects of CIO that I was making myself crazy and not giving him the opportunity to learn how to self soothe. Neither of my boys have taken to pacis. or finger/ thumb sucking. So she advised me to give the CIO method a chance for a few nights(when all is calm: no teething or other abnormalities like vacation) and to be sure to give snuggles and lay him down awake. Then in the morning go in and cheerfully say good morning and give praises for sleeping. It took 3 difficult nights and that was all. Now he sleeps wonderfully and he is a very bright, sweet, and secure little guy. He knows his parents are going to be there when he really needs them. No negative affects at all. Of course, we all have to decide what we are willing to do or not do for our children but just be careful what advice you trust or try from non professionals. Best of luck!

Could be he is teething and wanting to suck on the nipple to help him sleep. Try some Orajel.

Growth spurt? Teething? He's also old enough to have 3 meals a day. Cereal is actually pretty pointless. It was made to "teach" babies to eat solids at 4 months before they were really ready to eat. Unless you are feeding real oatmeal (like plain quick oats or non-flavored instant oatmeal) I'd switch to something with more substance and nutrients.
Get his ears checked to make sure the cold hasn't created an ear infection. We've never let our children CIO and they are good sleepers. I don't think it's worth the heart break to listen to them cry for you. It just teaches them that when they need your comfort, you won't give it to them unless it's convenient for you.
Good Luck! :)

Any foods he is taking now could be used for a bedtime snack. He also could be teething and you don't realize it yet. Even before the teeth come to the surface they can have pain, give him some Tylenol or Advil before bed. Also, even if it doesn't seem like his cough isn't bothering him, it could be he's having the drainage that's bothering him. Put Vick's on his chest and the soles of his feet with a pair of socks and that will help with the cough and putting it on his chest helps with congestion in his chest. Given he's usually a good sleeper, I would guess it's one of those things bothering him. Goodluck

Wow... all my kids were eating alot more than that at 8 months old. By 8 months they were nursing 4-5 times during the day (early morning, before morning nap, before afternoon nap, at bedtime). They were sitting at the table with the rest of the family for 3 meals a day... breakfast would be oatmeal or dry cereal (cheerios, kix, etc). Lunch and dinner whatever the other children and adults were eating (sandwiches, cooked veggies, chicken, soup, etc -- everything cut into pea-size bits). I never measured but it was probably 1 to 1.5 cups of food on their plate and they usually ate most of it. By 8 months they were definately all sleeping through the night unless they were sick.

Maybe my kids were all wierd, though... they were all very active and so even though they ate that much most were in the 50-75 percentile and none above 90.

try giving him some rice cereal before bed and a bottle about half of his normal. That should get him to sleep longer. Comfort food is great.He is probably going through a growth spert.
You might also want to try a white noise machine it is comforting to children and adults alike. Mine has several noise's to choose from as birds singing, ocean waves, thunderstorm, rain , water fall etc. Keep the volume very low so you can just barely hear it.If things are too quiet I wake up. My mom never had me sleeping in total silence and never worried about waking me up by accident.I even slept through a earthquake once.

My almost 10 mo. old is doing the same thing and I just found out he has an ear infection. He was only touching his ears a little and not really fussy. Sometimes they don't sleep as well because of one...

I don't know if that helps or not. I have been trying to really fill him up also at night, because he wakes so much to feed. (I am still nursing) I do give him 3 meals of about 1 jar of baby food a day and he also snacks on crackers, noodles, pretzels, etc. I wonder what else we each can do to help them sleep!

Good luck to you!
S.