My 8 month old wont sleep through the night anymore...

Melissa - posted on 05/11/2011

i posted a similar topic and a mom posted this website that was helpful to me:http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl1.asp Try rocking your baby to sleep before offering the bottle, because sometimes they just need held. Another thing someone told me is try hanging your shirt on the crib you wore that day because sometimes the smell of mom gives them the comfort of knowing you are there for them. With my daughter she has problems sleeping when she is teething she is about to turn 9 months Sunday and she has sleeping problems when a new tooth is pushing through. I found this out for sure because her first tooth finally pushed through easter sunday, and now her second one is pushing through and she isn't sleeping good this week again. I got frusterated last night because she was waking every 10 min and i couldn't get my son to bed, so i gave her some tylenol and then she was asleep until 2 am when i knew she was awake then to eat! She does get up once in a while in the middle of the night to eat still but i don't usually need to give her more then 1 bottle a night.

Carly - posted on 05/03/2011

If she has just started to wake up again after a period of sleeping through DON"T GIVE HER BOTTLES! You are encouraging her to wake if you give her a feed when she wakes now. Offer her a sip of water if you must, otherwise a quick pat or cuddle in her room in the dark and then leave. Sounds like she has just developed a habit now, so if you stick to your guns for a few nights by giving her a quiet shush without nay eye contact or interaction hopefully she will learn to self-settle within a week. You must be consistent though and stay strong. The minute you give in will be your undoing. Is she having plenty of solids during the day as well as her 3 bottle/milk feeds?

Julie - posted on 04/20/2011

Every time my daughter has started sleeping through the night, she has gotten sick or started teething and then we have to start all over again. Most recently, I had just gotten her sleeping through the night, and then she got roseola and cut her first tooth back to back, and she is waking up 1-2 times a night again. I have more sympathy for you than actual advice. You could try offering water in the bottle instead of formula/milk; she may lose interest that way. I always try to put my daughter back down without feeding her, but I usually give in because she shares a room with her brother, and I don't want her crying to wake him up. What I'm trying now is to slowly cut down on how long I allow her to nurse before putting her back to bed (if you are bottle-feeding, then try giving her smaller bottles). I'm also trying to un-associate breastfeeding and sleeping; she got used to nursing herself to sleep, so at bedtime now, I make sure to nurse, then give her a bath, then put her to bed without nursing to break that need. The first night was really rough; the second night was better, and she slept a 7 hour stretch; tonight is the third night, and she went down with minimal fussing; we'll see how she does through the night.