Help.....My 10Mth Old Won't Sleep Through the Night!

You can put alittle baby ceral in his milk before you put him down for the night..That is what we had to do with the twins becuse they wasnt gettin full with the milk.and I had to do it with 2 of my children.they wasnt gettin enough to eat to feel them up..
Alittle about me..
Iam a mother of 4 ,grandmother of twins.been married for 28 years..

It is not uncommon for infants of this age to change their sleeping habits.

If he is waking up, and not hungary, and not crying, then leave him be. Most likely he is practicing some new milestone, and is so intent on learning that sleep has taken a backseat.

When mine where this age, they would wake, and as long as they were playing in their crib we would leave them alone. When they tired they would lay back down and go to sleep on their on.

Set up a regular bed time routine, (warm bath, story book, and rocking if you have a rocking chair, some classical music),put him in his crib and leave the room. Do not go back in till morning unless he is crying.

There is one exception to the crying. If he cries when you put him down and leave the room. this is another issue entirely, and if this is the case email me and I will be glad to advise on that.

D.,
I agree with the pediatrician on not giving him a bottle bc I am having to break that habit now. My son is 19 months old and the bottle is our battle. He did the same thing and the easy and simple choice at the time was give him a bottle and he shuts up and I get to sleep, well 10 months later were still battling the bottle. What I would suggest is (and I know its hard) but letting him cry. Only reason I say that is bc I was in your SAME shoes and hate myself for not listening to everyone early on. I remember our doctor telling us that a kid has to learn to put their self back to sleep just like they learn to walk its part of the growing process.
Hope this helps and good luck, I know its rough. Trust me in the end you will think yourself. Its better to lose a little sleep now, instead of being like us and still not sleeping a year and a half later.

I recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth. It's a GREAT reference for how much a child should sleep and gives you a few options of things to try instead of only one theory (like cry it out). You can read only one section that applies to you, so you don't have to read the whole book, and it even talks about older kids. I'm finding that most kids seem to have sleep issues at some time or other. I always thought that once they slept through the night, they always would...WRONG!!! Definitely check out this book. It's in most big bookstores and amazon.com.

Hey I hope this helps, I would try the book Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child. It is a really good book that helps you learn how to get your kids to sleep at different ages.

try putting cereal in his bottle

I'd bet you're rushing in as soon as you hear the first whimper. Don't be in such a rush.... let him toss and turn a bit, whimper, cry .... If you're sure he's o.k. from a doorway, let him settle himself back down. You'll have a hard habit to break if you go in every single time to soothe him. He doesn't need soothing. Soon, he'll figure out whimper, turn, and go back to sleep. Didn't you get up in the during the night even BEFORE you had a child?

Both of my boys did this and I gave them baby oatmeal as a bedtime snack. My Dr. didn't have a problem with this. I know they are eating more solid foods now but then tend to be picky eaters because of the texture things. So, they didn't seem to be as full when it was time to go to bed. Also, if they got up in the middle of the night I would just try to rock them back to sleep and not even go to the kitchen. I know that they also go in phases, which I call growth spurts. Also, how much exercise is he getting...fresh air does a lot to help them sleep at night. Good luck!!

Honestly - no body sleeps through the night. Everyone goes through cycles of sleep where you have deep sleep, light sleep, and periods of waking. As adults we just roll over, find a good position, and go back to sleep, and some never know they were ever awake at night. Your son just needs to learn to soothe himself when he wakes at night. There are dozens of books about techniques to get your child to sleep at night. Honestly I was against CIO, I had heard horror stories from others. So we tried The No-Cry Sleep Solution, and the Sleep Lady's Guide for several months and they didn't work for us I can't remember which others we tried, but none worked, he was too dependant on having one of us in the room with him. So I finally broke down, read up on the Ferber technique for CIO and discovered it was not at all what people had told me - you don't leave your child screaming in a dark room for hours on end without comforting them. So we gave it a try, (around 10 months old) and 3 days later our son went to sleep on his own, and slept all night. At 2 he'll still wake up occasionally, but we have no problem getting him to stay in his bed and go back to sleep - unless he is sick which we treat differently.
If you don't have a bedtime routine - get one started and do it every night - bath, bottle, teeth brushed, story, prayers bed. Don't bring him back into the living room or let him watch tv during the routine - move from the bathroom into the bedroom. Don't let him fall asleep in your arms - but him to bed while he is sleepy but awake. If he's teething, a dose of Ibuprofen (unless your ped says no for a medical reason) can help him sleep pain free. At 10 months my son would sleep about 10-11 hours at night, and was still taking 2 naps, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours each, so about 14-15 hours sleep per day. He didn't need to eat at night after about 6 months, which is when we started trying to get him to sleep on his own.
happy dreams, and best wishes on your new marriage!

Hi D.,
I have 2 boys and know exactly what you are going through. My oldest woke up right up until his brother was born and my youngest just started sleeping through the night. I would also say that you shouldn't start giving him a bottle with milk. Sometimes I let mine have a bottle of water in his bed but not milk. I think that babies this age are supposed to be sleeping on average 12-15 hours per day. Naps and bedtime included. I would also say to make a bedtime routine and stick to it. mine is this, dinner around 5:30 or 6, bath, jammies, snack or bottle, I snuggle with him and sing or whatever for a few minutes in his dark room. I put him in his bed while still awake and leave. He has a night light and if he fusses that's ok. I don't let him get hysterical but if I do go in and pick him up and he stops crying instantly, I know he is working me. Then I put him back to bed, rub his back and he has to fuss it out. He usually stops crying in 10 minutes or so. Crying it out sucks for you but in a couple of nights he will get it. YOU ARE NOT BEING A MEAN MOM. Remember that. If you arent getting sleep you cant be the best mom you can be. Remember he may be teething as well. Just give him the essentials and make it all business. Mine hates a wet diaper. So when he wakes up its a diaper, sometimes tylenol and back to bed. Good luck! Life will get better.

I had the exact same problem with my daughter right down to the hubby's sleeping and working habits. Helen had acid reflux that was waking her up every few hours. Once we had that undercontrol it took us several months to ween her from nursing during the night. It also took a very calm and routine family schedule to finally get her settled. I slept through the night for the first time when she was 15m. I know you are cranky, tired and depressed, but he will eventually sleep.

I agree with the "don't feed him during the night" advice but I'll take it a step further. It could be he's just thirsty but I would give him water in a cup not a bottle. You'll probably be weaning him to a cup full time when he's a year old, so you really don't want to get him trained to a crib bottle, right? You might also put a small desk fan in his room for white noise. I went through a truckload of 7" fans with my two as the noise covered the A/C kicking on and off, the dog's tags jingling, etc. I packed them to go to grandma's and even for vacation. They stopped using them when they left home!
My first child did start getting up around 9 or 10 months and no amount of backpatting would keep her asleep. It was especially hard for me as she had slept all night from the first night home from the hospital. The pediat. finally told me to do the shut the door and let her cry trick. It about killed all three of us, but it did work and it took 2 long miserable nights. The second baby I wimped out on that method and would put her in the swing in the den with the baby monitor as that was where she wanted to be. She slept there for half nights for over 2 months.
I was test driving a swing for my first grandbaby this week that had a heartbeat sound effect. It sounded just like my old battery operated swing when the baby would lean over the tray to sleep. Her weight thrown forward like that prevented the swing from it's full course and caused it to hum in a small rock. NOW I know why she liked to sleep in her swing! p.s. This baby is giving me my first grandbaby soon. Talk about full circle!
Good luck on this. If you have someone that will keep your son for an hour a day so that YOU can nap, it probably wouldn't hurt, regardless of how long it takes your baby to get through this phase.

It's normal for a 10 month old to not sleep through the night. You could probably survey the moms on this sight and over half of them would say their 10 month old did not sleep through the night. Definitely don't feed him. If he isn't totally up in the crib just let him go back to sleep on his own. If you're picking him up and trying to put him back to sleep that can develop a bad habit. This sounds simple, but I would make mine lie back down, rub their back and tell them to go back to sleep. Sometimes I would pat them softly until they fell asleep. this worked for me. Yes sometimes I was standing their for 15 minutes nearly falling asleep standing up and I may have done it 3 times in the night, but gradually my baby grew out of it and slept soundly. Being sleep deprived for the first year is part of being a mom, a temporary pain in the lasting joy of motherhood.

read the book Baby Wise for help with this.

Some kids just take longer. Just try to make sure they have good sleeping habits; for instance work on getting them to sleep in their own bed and getting them to fall asleep on their own, and having a calming, regular bedtime routine. That's what I did with mine and they eventually caught on. My oldest was a year old before he slept through he night, my second was 15 months and my youngest was about 8 months. I also highly recommend reading the Baby Whisperer book.

Hello D.,

I have an 8 month old and she will wake up in the middle of the night as well, so I totally feel your pain. My husband works nights so he is not always there to help.
I have received some criticism about doing this but it works for me - and I maintain my sainity. When my daughter wakes up - I bring her in the bed with me. She snuggles up and goes back to sleep and usually sleeps the rest of the night. I read on babycenter.com that between 8-11 months babies will start the seperation anxiety and if your baby wakes up and does not know where you are that may frighten him or her.
To help you get some sleep if you have family or trusting friends see if they can watch your baby for a few hours one day - then you go home and take a well deserverd nap or spend some quality time with your new husband.

Hope this helps and good luck!

I agree not to feed him if he's just started to wake up recently. He should be eating 3 meals a day and a liquid feeding at night. Give him about 30 minutes to eat all he's interested in eating. Give him the most well rounded meals you can get him to eat (protein, veg, carb, some fruit). AS for the naps, he should be taking 2 naps about 2 hours each (1 before lunch, the other late p.m.)

My question would be...how much of a newlywed are you? Not to be nosy or anything, but if you got married very recently, his waking could just be part of an adjustment period to the new living situation. Even if you and your husband lived together before you were married, there is inevitably some stress getting ready for any wedding. Babies and kids are VERY perceptive of parents who are stressed in any way. Just reassure him that everything's fine, put him back to bed, and walk out. He might fuss a little more, but he'll probably fall back to sleep.

You can try some homeopathic remedies. A store like Whole Foods/Wild Oats will carry Calms Forte 4 Kids. They dissolve in the mouth and usually work very well. You can also order them online. The other product I'd recommend is called Serenity JR. It's a liquid. He'd take about 2 drops in milk, formula, or water. You can only order it from www.nativeremedies.com as far as I know. They don't "drug" them, just help them relax and fall asleep. They're not addictive at all, and have no side effects.

Good luck

You need to read "The Sleep Easy Solution". It is the miracle book. I don't have the author's name because I loaned my copy to a friend, but you can find it on Amazon by the title or in local bookstores. It worked great for me and has worked for 4 other people I know personally. My 7 mo. old wasn't taking naps unless I was holding her and wasn't sleeping thru the night. By the thrid night of using the book's program, she was falling right asleep at night, sleeping 11 straight hours and taking 2 good naps a day! The book tells you exactly how long your baby should be napping during the day and sleeping at night based on the baby's age. Get it as soon as possible and you'll all be sleeping within a few days!

I suggest limiting his afternoon naps and no naps after 3:00 pm. Feed him his last meal about 5:pm and a snack about 7:00 pm. Start the process of getting prepared for bed around 8:00. This preparation should be him a nice warm bath and a warm bottle of milk. Please be patient this is new to him also.

read, "the no Cry Sleep Solution" it has answers to all the questions you asked, from nap times, to how much at night, to how often to feed them. habits aren't that hard to break, and aren't you creating the habit of responding to him in love, and teaching him that you are there for him when he needs you, and aren't just some shadowy figure in a doorway, watching but not helping? and BTW, i fed my kids at night, and when i was ready to stop, it was easy. don't listen to someone with a degree, stand up for your son, listen to your heart and feed your baby.

Is he waking at the same time every night? I found that my 7 mo. old was doing that. She would wake at 1-ish and again at 3:30-ish. I knew she wasn't waking out of hunger b/c it was almost exactly the same time each night. She would eat for a few minutes, then go to sleep. I started to wean her off of the first feed. Be prepared to be awake for a couple of hours if necessary. Just don't give in. She now is beginning to sleep until 4:30 or 5:00. It's a work in progress, just take baby steps.