Very Active 8 1/2 month old = refuses to sleep without bottle

Jenny - posted on 05/16/2012

I am a new stay at home mother. My youngest boy is 8 months and REFUSES to sleep no matter what I do. I have to be laying with him or holding him to get him to sleep. I have recently tried letting him cry but he SCREAMS for well over 15 minutes so I always end up picking him up. I am desperate for help!!

Monica - posted on 07/29/2010

Yea, I had the same problem with my son. Unfortunately the only thing that eventually worked with him was letting him cry. I had tried every method out there, and was finally worn down enough to cave. Letting him cry sucked, and I really don't feel good about having to resort to that method, but I resigned myself to the belief that his playing and socializing at bedtime or in the middle of the night was a WANT that was not in his best interest. My job as a mommy is to provide for his NEEDS, which are in his best interest. Sleep is a need, and therefore I did whatever I could to get him there. Including just leaving him alone to learn how to fall asleep on his own. It worked...

Varda - posted on 07/29/2010

seems like you have a healthy baby who knows what he wants and knows how to get it.
I used to give a bottle just before they went to sleep to make sure they'll fall asleep when their full, this made their sleep longer. I would play and catch them just 10 minutes before they crush to give the bottle that they fall a sleep with. hope this helps (-;

Desiree - posted on 07/27/2010

Well i had the same problem as well, but it need to be stopped asap
It's best to feed and then maybe read a story or play a bit and then put him in his crib.
After many nights of no sleep because it seemed to make more sense to have a family bed I gave in. i put my daughter in her crib and she cried. this went on for almost three weeks. Finally it worked. It was hard, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with her, she was completely safe.
Now things couldn't be easier. i lay her down and she goes right to bed eveytime.
It's very important to stick with it though.
Best of luck!

Marijke - posted on 07/26/2010

I went through the same thing with my girl. She has been very active and strong willed baby since the day she was born. I also had a consistent bedtime routine, but nothing seemed to calm her down and certainly not when she was getting mobile. She would practice her new found skills during the night, i would go in her room and found her bouncing away on the railings of her bed... As soon as i would lay her down she would be up and moving again. What i did is got her a snoozzzzz when she was 8 months( it's called safeTsleep in the states). It is a sleepwrapp that is attached to the matress and it has velcro strips that go around the waist and between the leggs. She is now 10 months and goes to sleep without a sigh or a whimper( except when the sleepwrapp is in the wash then it starts all over lol). this has realy been a lifesaver for me, it took a few days before she got used to it...but i think it givs her a comforting relaxing feeling.
Hope this helps ,good luck
http://www.safetsleep.com/

Lori - posted on 07/26/2010

Cynthia, I couldn't wait to try solids, hoping it would help. It didn't. She will eat a whole jar of food and it doesn't seem to phase her at all.

I also tried the pacifier at bed time, my baby doesn't like them either.

Gena - posted on 07/26/2010

too bad..guess that would have been too simple of a solution anyways..LOL Good luck mama :)

Cynthia - posted on 07/26/2010

I'm not against them but my son is...lol. He won't take them, never really has.

Gena - posted on 07/26/2010

Have you tried giving him a pacifier? I know some people are against them but you have to do what you have to do.

Cynthia - posted on 07/26/2010

@ Lori ~ Have you tried feeding her solids before the bottle or vice versa? My son will eat and eat and eat...lol. So needless to say he's in the 90th percentile for weight and 75 percentile for height. Yup, he's my little chunky monkey! I find feeding solids does help.

Lori - posted on 07/26/2010

I have the same problem with my 6 1/2 month old. Sort of.

My baby refuses to eat more than 4 ozs at a feeding, leaving her hungry again an hour later. It seems as though around the 4 oz mark, she becomes very fussy, distracted, swats or kicks the bottle away, trys to roll away, lets the forumla run out of her mouth, etc, but still shows all the signs of still being hungry. Sometimes I become so frustrated that my husband will gently hold her arms so she can't knock the bottle away while I hold it. Eventually we give up, she resumes play, and we do it all again in an hour or so, but when she is tired, she will fall asleep with the bottle. This is how she falls asleep at night and for every nap.

I know she will be getting teeth soon and she needs to start getting to sleep on her own without the bottle. The problem is, when I put her down in her crib for a nap, she will play for a while, then begin to cry, then throw a fit, and by the time we have gone through this cycle, she is hungry again which only makes matters much worse. I eventually have to pick her up when she starts coughing and choking from crying so hard. It breaks my heart.

By the way, she is in the 60% for weight at her age and is very healthy. She just likes to "snack" all day I guess.

I hope someone has some good advice!