Not Sleeping Through the Night Yet at 8 Months Old

I like the book The no-cry sleep solution, as I don't like letting them cry it out.
There has been a lot of controversy about the author of Babywise and I would not recommend that book.

Hi A.! I can relate. My son didn't sleep through the night until he was 9 months old. One thing that helped us was to start giving him a small bowl of oatmeal. It helped him sleep through the night within a few weeks!

Good Luck!
M.

I had a very similar situation, my babies are 13 months apart!! My son was quite sick when he was born, so there were some separation issues, which sounds like what you have. This is what I did and it worked wonders: whatever shirt/pj's you wear to bed put in your baby's crib when you put her down to sleep. When she wakes up, she smells you! My son was so used to it, he would lay down and put his arms up to curl up with my pj's. Be consistent, just give it some time. Maybe try putting her in a pack-n-play in your room with your pj's for awhile, moving her further away each day, but not allowing her to be back in your bed. I also did NOT pick my son up at that age when he would wake up screaming, I checked him, soothed him back to sleep but was always consistent about not picking my kids up. Good luck, let us know what worked!

I was lucky like yours after 6 weeks mine slept at least 6 hrs a night then around 4 months 8 hrs owever when they would wake up at night with nothing wrong i let them cry it out, i had a binky baby and she learned to find her binky the last 2 were thumb suckers and thus were easy...lol unfortunately my now 6 yr old did get into the habit of sleeping with mommy and wouldn't go to sleep unless i was laying beside her i finally just had to let her cry it out and she quickly learned to go to sleep without mommy, i would read a book kiss everyone good night and turn off the light.

A.,

your child has not developed self soothing skills. She sleeps when she's really tired but when she wakes up can't get back to sleep. By stepping in, bringing her to your bed or putting the pacifier back in her mouth, you are taking away her need to learn! It will be hard but you have to let her stay in her bed. Logically, moving her to yours isn't the answer as she still wakes up. Not that I would recommend it anyway! If she really had to she would find the pacifier for herself. I think you may have to go through a little pain to gain i.e. let her cry and eventually find a way to soothe herself. It will take a few days, maybe 3, but will be well worth the sleeplessness of the house in the long run.

Get the books Babywise and Toddlerwise. Try not to let her nap in the bouncy seat, only in her crib. Good luck!

There is a great book - Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It worked wonders for our daughter and plan on using it when our son is born in January.

Good Luck!

Well I guess every child is different ;-) I don't think I would keep giving her the binky. It just falls out, wakes her up and starts the process all over again. I know it's very hard but I would let her cry it out when the binky falls out. She'll get over it in a few days. False stimulation isn't going to encourage her to sleep including bringing her to your bed. It will be a rough and loud couple of weeks but she'll learn to soothe herself back to sleep. You could also try swaddling her again until she gets over the hump. Good luck!

Ok this is just throwing this out there but how is her eating? Does she do well with that? My daugther couldnt sleep like that, but i noticed that she was having a really hard time nursing on top of everything else. So...after some research she was diagnosed with acid reflux. Babies with this have a really hard time laying flat. After we found out she had it I heard some people saying to sit her up right to sleep and sure enough I put her in her car seat next to my bed and she slept like a rock! It may be far fetch for your little one but I thought I should share my experience with a sleepless child. Good luck!

My daughter did not sleep through the night until she was 9 months, no matter what we tried. It just happened one night. We still have to leave a bottle in her crib overnight to avoid us waking up and she is 14 months old. Hang in there, It will happen.

Hi A.,

I think you're right... your firstborn was a champion sleeper! It's not the norm to be sleeping through at 3 months from what I've seen. We have a 14 month old who is not sleeping through the night, and I don't expect her to for a few months yet. She is getting closer though! And without extreme coaxing from us (we will not let her cry it out, or leave her at night).

I would say let it ride, if you are able to cope with it and you're getting reasonable sleep considering the situation. Our little one doesn't take a pacifier, we nurse and co-sleep overnight, so sometimes it's very hard being the human pacifier! We plan to nightwean at 16 months and expect some annoyed & frustrated cries then, but we'll hold her & lay with her through the transition.

If you are getting enough sleep to handle your days OK, I would try to let it go for now. Your little one will be much better able to understand what nighttime is about once there's better comprehension of language etc.

Try not to compare your children to each other. They're all individuals and they don't behave like each other in every aspect. Even when you raise them exactly the same.
Definitely try the positioning mats that elevate the head in case it is reflux.
What worked for my 3rd (who did not sleep through the night until he was 19 months old) was a sound machine. That white noise in the background helped soothe him and helped drown out other everyday outside noises.
It's more about changing your behavior to change hers. As hard as it is you have to stop getting her out of the crib when she cries at night. Stop giving her binky back to her. I went through that cycle for a long time too before just letting him cry it out a couple nights. I'd have to get up, lay him back down, give him a binky and cover him with his blanket and push the glow worm several times a night.
The point is... no matter what approach you take, the baby will sleep through the night eventually. You have to find what works for you. Good luck and I hope you get a good night's rest soon!

Like you, I had a great sleeper the first time around. My second baby did not want to sleep through the night. He's just started sleeping through the night on a regular basis about two months ago... and he's 17 months old now. As for advice, have you tried using a noise machine? Experts say that using a constant sound helps, and it definitely did with ours. Also, the "cry it out" method does help... if you can handle it. It's tough, but it's worth it in the end. The longer you bring her into your bed, the longer it will take for her to learn to soothe herself back to sleep.

As for letting the baby go to bed with a bottle... DON'T (unless it's water). Anything else could rot her teeth. It happened to my brother when he was little. He had to have silver caps on all his front teeth until his baby teeth fell out. Dentists advise against that very strongly.

That's about all I can come up with. Good luck and God bless!

My son woke up two or more times a night until he was 18 months! Then when my daughter was born, she woke up one to two times a night. Good luck! Sometimes, it just happens that way despite naps, and milk, and all that other stuff.

Don't give up, and know one day you'll look back and think, "Gosh? How did I ever make it with no sleep?"

J.

I highly recommend reading "On Becoming Babywise"... it helped me SO much getting my little girl into a sleep schedule. She wouldn't sleep in her crib for naps at first, but this did the trick. I also realize I am in the minority, but when we run into problems (even now at age 22 months) I am also a proponent of letting them cry it out and learn how to soothe themselves back to sleep (once you've made sure that nothing is really wrong, of course). It's the FASTEST way to curb the behavior that you don't want (less than one week and usually 3 days!). If you continue to bring her to bed with you and respond immediately, you are simply training her to continue. I'm not saying that it's easy to do by any means (I've cried my way through it many times) but it works like nothing else I've ever tried.

Good luck!
K.

Oh I remember when my daughter when she was waking up like that! Shes was about 8 months old too. It took about a week to get her to put herself to sleep.. thats the trick you need to let her teach herself to put herself to sleep... I dont know how you put her to sleep, but I was rocking my little one to sleep still..when she was like that. I stopped doing that and I would feed her, give her a bath and read to her.. than I would just put her down in her crib to bed.. it was our little routine. She would cry but you have to let him cry.. its going to be hard! But its the best thing.. Let him cry for about 10-15 mins and go into his room and DONT pick him up just let him know you are still there for him... rub his back or give him is binky. leave the room quickly.. and he'll eventually fall asleep it might take awhile but he'll learn to put himself to sleep. The next night do the same thing.. it will take about a week to teach him to put himself to sleep. Thats why he is waking up because he is use to you picking him up and putting him to sleep.. I use to do the same thing.. I would bring Arianna into bed with us when she woke up.. now she puts herself to sleep, Sleeps thru the night. I went to Parents.com and read about it.. a doctor wrote about it. It worked for us! Hopefully it will work for you. You dont want him to get into bad habits of always needing you to sleep.