Sleeping Through the Night!!!!! Is It Possible???

My little one did not sleep through the night till she was 2 years old. Some babies just don't...I would suggest maybe trying a little rice cereal in his milk at his last feeding of the night. Maybe he would sleep longer with his tummy full. Good luck. I would also advise you to get some more sleep, it will eventually catch up with you.

Get a sitter to come in and watch him in the mornings while you sleep. It sounds like he still needs the attention.

I tried to do the same thing that you are doing with your work schedule and had to stop around 8 months for many of the same reasons. (Mine even slept through the night from day one.) Once we found someone to watch DD in the mornings so I could sleep until 10am or so, life was much happier for everyone. Since the hours are so limited, you shouldn't have a huge problem finding a colllege student or an older grandma-type in the neighborhood that would be able to help you for less than a full time daycare.

I hope you find sleep soon.

Have you tried feeding him rice cereal mixed with formula or breast milk right before bed. This worked with my hungry ones at this age.
Good luck.

Instead of you going to bed for 1 hour only to be woken up, have you tried waking him up when you get home from work and giving him a bottle right then to get him through the rest of the night? It delays you getting to bed by another 20 minutes or so, but at least he may then give you a solid 5 hours or so once you do get to sleep.

Good Luck,
K.

Good Luck, I never did. My daughter was a eater and still is a eater at 3 1/2 yrs. I had to get custom to it. Maybe there are other things that are out there to give them some comfort. It didn't work for me because I kept her on the schedule after a year then she slept more other than eat.

This doesn't ALWAYS work, but you might try giving him another feeding of baby food shortly before he goes to because three feedings might not actually be enough for him. You might also try (and I know some people are opposed to this)putting him to bed with you when he wakes up. My little angel will usually snuggle right down and sleep the rest of the night if I do that. There are nights that she stays in her bed all night, and nights that she doesn't. I just go with the flow and we all seem to get more sleep that way.
Have a Great Day!
L. Santiago
http://hopeforhomeschoolers.today.com

If your son is waking up soaked, try buying overnight diapers. Huggies makes overnight diapers that some HEBs sell. You can also find them at Target. Using the overnight diapers helped her start sleeping better because she was not waking up after wetting herself. I wish that we had tried them sooner.
Some babies are just hungry all of the time, despite lots and lots of food. My 15 month old didn't start sleeping through the night until she was over a year, so I feel your pain. She too was waking up wet and starving at least 2 times every night despite hearty meals and lots of bottles. She was breastfed until 13 months and her pediatrician told me that when I stopped breastfeeding her she would start sleeping better because whole milk takes a little longer to digest and is a little more filling.
You might try mixing some whole milk in with his bottle and offering him a bedtime snack like cheese cubes and crackers, or a banana, and using the overnight diapers to see if that helps.
You can try the "let him cry it out method," too. This is probably harder on you than him. Let him cry for 5 minutes before going into his room, and then try to comfort him and put him back to sleep without feeding him (to get him out of the habit of thinking that when he wakes up he gets fed). As his mom, you can tell if his cry means I'm hungry or not, and you can decide if you want to feed him or not. The next time he cries, wait 10 minutes before going to him, then 15, etc. It's hard to hear him cry, but it will help him learn to put himself to sleep. It takes a few weeks for this method to kick in, so if you try it, keep at it until he is sleeping. It will happen.

My 1st daughter was bottle-fed and still woke up once a night until she was probably 10 mo. old. The term "sleeping through the night" actually means sleeping 8+ hours in a row. So since most babies sleep 11-12 hours a night, waking at around 3-4am is the norm, sometimes up until 1 yr old. (that whole "3am feeding" saying...very true!) I would suggest giving him a couple ounces less than you normally give him when you get home from work (like if you're giving 8oz, just give 6oz), and maybe that will keep him from soaking through his diaper by morning. Also, he might be due for a size up in diapers if he is always soaking through. And I would also suggest beginning to let him soothe himself to sleep if you haven't already. Try waiting just a minute or 2 longer than you normally would to go in there. Most babies around this age start to be more mobile, trying to sit, crawl, walk, etc., and can wake in the night trying to practice their new skills. He can learn to lay himself back down and fall to sleep on his own, but he may not be able to go without that 3am feeding until he's a few months older. So you really just have to trust your gut...if you think he is hungry, then go ahead with the bottle, but if you think he has just woke himself up, then try letting him fuss for a minute and see if he goes back to sleep.
I hope this helps and good luck! I know how awful you feel with so little sleep and not good quality sleep!

it is possible... some moms try to give baby cereal at night, to fill their tummies, others just suffer through it. With my first one, he didn't sleep through the night until he was 2, AFTER he got off of the bottle... my other 2 started at about a year. Baby food should help, especially if you are nursing. Perhaps there isn't enough fat content in your milk? Was the case with my second, and once he started eating real food, he was a happy baby! If it's formula, maybe a thicker mix? Anyway, know that all is temporary, and sleep will come, even if it's a few months away still! Will pray for you K.!!

My son JUST started sleeping through the night consistently about 2 months ago, when he was 20 months old. It does happen eventually.

I know it's so exhausting!! Do you have anyone else there who can share wake-up duties with you? That helped me tremendously. Sometimes my mom came over to spend the night, or my husband would get up with our son a few times a week. We just traded off. Now we all get a good night's sleep.

The most important thing to remember is that EVERYTHING comes in phases and stages. This too shall pass.

In the meantime, keep napping when the little one does if at all possible. Who cares if the house is dirty or you don't have time to put laundry away... sleep takes precedence right now.

Good luck & hang in there!
-AB

You don't say what time he is going down for the night. We found with our boys that at that age we couldn't put them down too early or we would be getting up in the middle of the night. "Sleeping through the night" at 7 months is only 5 hours - not what WE would consider a full night! Later, when he is older, and is taking fewer naps during the day, he will probably sleep closer to 11 hours at night (yay!). When he is waking up, are you going in to him right away or giving him a couple of minutes to see if he will settle back down? At this age, I would give it 2 minutes (no more). If he settles down, great! If not, he needs that bottle - this is a huge growth period for babies. You might try diaper doublers for the wetting through. We have 2 boys and they work great. You can get them at Babies R Us. A pack of 30 only runs $3.00. That might help him sleep a little longer. Brazelton has a great (short!) book on infant sleep that I can recommend. Good luck.

Try Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. It was really helpful at our house.

The "cry it out" method is NOT just leaving them to cry. Put your son down awake. He'll cry. Visit after 3 minutes, so he knows you're still in the house, and aware that he's upset. After you leave, he'll cry again. Visit after 5 minutes. When you leave again, he'll cry again. Visit after 7 minutes. So on and so on. I max it out at 7 minutes; I don't go in at 9, but do 7 again and again.

This has the benefit of teaching your child to soothe himself to sleep. When he wakes in the night, repeat the process. He'll learn that when he wakes at night, he can put himself back to sleep.

Also, keep a consistent bedtime routine, to sort of signal his body that it's time to sleep.

It'll take about 3 days. Hang in there, mom.

I would load his bottles up with cereal. I use a mixture of 24 oz water, 1 cup of formula, 2 1/2 - 3 cups of oatmeal cereal and mix it in the blender. It makes about 5 1/2 5 oz bottles. My baby has been sleeping through the night since she was about four weeks. It works great! Our biggest nighttime troubles have come from our three year old. Those are resolving and we totally take our rest forgranted.

Good luck!!