My 8 mth old son does not sleep through the night yet, any suggestions?

SHAQUANA - posted on 05/21/2010

MY 8MONTH OLD HAS BEEN SLEEPING THRU THE NIGHT FOR THE PAST 3MONTHS AROUND 8PM I MAKE HIM SOME CEREAL FEED IT 2 HIM MAKE SURE ITS THICK SO IT CAN STICK 2 HIM THEN I GIVE HIM A BATH WITH THE BEDTIME BABY WASH LOTION HIM DWN GOOD WITH THE BEDTIME LOTION LET HIM SIT UP BT 15MINS THEN GIVE HIM BT 6OZ OF MILK N HE KNOCKED OUT FOR THE NIGHT GOOD LUCK!!!

Rachel - posted on 05/21/2010

Okay its been a long time.. But I plan on having on having other really soon. I can't tell enough parents to go out and do this if you haven't already.. Warm wipes! They have newer warm wipe boxes than before.. you plug them into the wall. Just like putting a cold rag on yourself will wake you up. A warm one will relax.. and hopefully put them back to sleep with more ease also putting him to bed a little later will exhaust him more and he will sleep harder. Then you start manipulating the hours. ;)

Daisy - posted on 05/18/2010

I had that problem with my son now 8 months but i did follow my pediatrician's advice and it really did work. He started sleeping through the night and when i say through the night, i mean about 6 hours or so at 5 months. He weaned himself out of all the feedings except the 4am ones and sometimes 6am. I mentioned it to the doctor and she told us to give him his last bottle at 10pm that way he would go longer without a feeding. So we did and he only then needed to be fed at 6am, until slowly he weaned himself out of the 6am and now he eats at 7am with no feedings during the night. She told us we had to get him used to not eating at that time. He does wake up still two, sometimes three times but only because his pacy fell out of his mouth and we put it back in and he's asleep again. We also used to rock him to sleep so finally we let him sleep on his own with a few crying episodes (not too long though) and he now falls asleep on his own. My daughter was different she slept through the night at 3 months but each baby is different. I know we will not sleep as we used to when we were single until at least they are out of the house because then they will be teenagers and we'll be waiting up for them lol

Marie - posted on 05/17/2010

My son is 8mo and he does not sleep through the night either. Actually, only a handful of times has he even slept for 8 hours straight! Usually, he will sleep around 9pm, wake for a full 7oz bottle of cereal between 3 or 4 am, then he'll wake up again around 5/530am but will fall back asleep on my in the rocker/recliner. Then we can sleep together there for almost another 60-90 minutes. That is the routine! I've tried everything from feeding him a bottle of cereal BEFORE he goes to bed at 9, and maybe that will keep him full. But he won't take it then. He eats dinner (stage 2 with 1tbsp of oatmeal cereal mixed in) with a 6 oz bottle at around 630 or 7pm. Then he bathes and plays on the floor or walker until he gets tired. That is also the routine. He will take another bottle of warm formula when he is tired at about 830-9pm and I'll put him to bed. That is never a hard thing. But, I would LOVE to sleep from 930-6am. That would be heaven! Good luck Stacy. Next month, I will talk to our doctor about it, see if it's normal. It doesn't bother me enough to let him cry it out (his crib is in our room). But, he is also big for his age AND very active, so I wonder if he truly is hungry, and if it's not just habit.

Julie - posted on 05/17/2010

Hmmmm this may be crazy but Ill say it anyway. For the first 6 mths I was commenting on these same threads about how my boy wont sleep through the night and know EXACTLY how you feel. One day I thought he was having problems with teething and bought him one of those amber necklaces. We were getting up (well I was lol) every THREE hours and at 6 mths thats just insane. I swear Im not making this up but from the DAY he started wearing that necklace during the day (and around his wee ankle at night to keep it close to his skin) he started sleeping 7-7. On my life its true. May be the hugest coincidence ever and I know no one says they are good for sleep but maybe it was the discomfort of teething that was keeping him awake but its now been 6 weeks of beautiful long sleepy nights and he's still going strong. Maybe give that a try??? Hope it helps because I feel amazing having sleeps now. Best of luck!!

Valynn - posted on 05/17/2010

WOW Stacy! I will say that this weekend gave me hope and I will pass that hope on to you! I actually went out and bought some relaxing natural lavender pillow spray and sprayed some in his crib. I also put him down 30mins LATER than i normally do and he only got up once!! at it was around 4:30, then he went right back to sleep after a quick 4ozs!! I was thrilled. Hang in there and it will happen!

Sarah - posted on 05/17/2010

we are the same, my 8 month old wakes a few times too, needs to b-feed to get back to bed. I need to train myself to get him back to sleep without the feeding. I am usually half asleep, and its the first thing i try, which i know needs to change.

Lori - posted on 05/17/2010

Okay, well I though I would be in all of your shoes right now too, because my little girl was eating 2-3 time a night 3 weeks ago. One night, I asked my husband if he could go in there and try to get her back to sleep before I tried nursing her. She did cry for about 10 minutes when he was in there, but he was a trooper; he sang to her, kept putting her paci in, rubbed her, etc. and she feel asleep after about 15 minutes. She woke up again and he did the same thing. After about three night like this, each time him going in there the time became shorter, she no longer needed him to comfort her. If she woke up we would let her fuss a little and she went back to sleep. Now, if her fussing last for more than 10 minutes, he just has to go in there and put her paci back in and she is out. For the pass 3 WEEKS she has been sleeping from 7:30- 6am and every once in awhile she will stir, but other than that she sleeps the whole time. I couldn't believe it!!!

My husband had to do the leg work because I am associated with food, but it was worth it! I do agree that every baby is different, but my baby is extremely active and busy and that is why I thought she would never do it.

Hope this helps!!!

Bridget - posted on 05/16/2010

My daughter was waking up every 2-3 hours for months. It was becoming a health issue since she was also not napping during the day. For months we tried so many different sleep techniques. We tried everything the Baby Whisperer suggested, the Ferber method, the No Cry method etc. Nothing seemed to work. So finally at her last appointment her doctor told me I had 3 options, two of which seemed very extreme to me. One option was to let her sleep with me, which isnt an option since she doesnt sleep much better with me. The second option was to let her cry and cry until she falls asleep, and then to let her cry when she wakes up. I just couldnt do that. It killed me to even try! The third option worked, slowly, but its working. My doctor said that babies at this age dont need to eat in the middle of the night, that they get in the habit and the trick is to get them out of that habit. He said an easy way to do that is to start one night and time how long each feed lasts, say your baby eats 3 times a night for 15 minutes each. He said to pick one feeding and start reducing the time slowly, so for example, take one feeding and shorten it by two minutes every few days. So day 1-4 13 minutes, day 5-8 11 minutes, and eventually your baby wont need that feeding and will start to sleep through.
Its been a month and a half and my daughter wakes twice usually, once around midnight- I feed her this time- and once around 4:30 and I just give her cuddles until she wakes again around 630. Oh and my doctor also said babies should always go to bed before 8 pm. We used to put her to bed around 930 but now we started paying attention to her and she goes to bed around 645 or 7.
Good luck!

MELISSA - posted on 05/16/2010

My Daughter is 7 1/2 months old and she is not sleeping though the night either. she goes to bed around 8:00pm or 8:30pm and she is up every morning at 4:30am to have a bottle. My two year old also gets up every morning at 4am to crawl in bed with us. My suggestion to you would be to keep your son up later and feed him a little bit later so that he is full when he goes to bed. Maybe that would help him sleep through the night. Hope it all works out.

Shareese - posted on 05/15/2010

I've NEVER heard of 8 mo olds sleeping through the night without at least one feeding...if you've heard of this before mabey it's rare...

Melissa - posted on 05/15/2010

my 8mth old daughter (Emily) is similar. Clare - Emily's bed time used to be about 8 - 8:30 and i was told that she should go to bed earlier so now her bed time is 7pm at the latest. Ashley - could your little one be cold? Emily used to be when her daddy put her to bed because he was afraid of sids, he didn't realise that she was cold. Emily like o be really warm. She 'has' to have 1 single bed balnket folded in 4 and 1 single bed blanket folded into 6 on her otherwise she wakes every couple of hours. Before i worked this out, i could get her to sleep with a bottle, it just wouldn't last long and she wasn't havin very much of the bottles.
Her routine now is down at 7, a bottle and nappy change about midnight and then wakes up at about 7:30am.

Ashly - posted on 05/15/2010

My son will NOT sleep through the night either! Ours is worse though...he gets up every 2-3 hours! Like he's a newborn! It's awful. We've tried everything. He wakes up crying every 2-3 hours and the only thing that will put him back to sleep is a bottle. We need serious help!

Valynn - posted on 05/15/2010

We are in the same boat!! My 8mth old used to sleep through the night when he was about 4mths old. It went well for about 2mths and then he began to wake up after he had some ear infections and I can't get him back to sleep the whole night. He wakes up at the same times and he just wants a bottel and quick change and it's back to sleep. I have tried to let him cry it out but he will just scream, it is much easier to feed him and let him be. Hang in there mom. All babies are different, and they will get into a good sleep routine soon... I hope sooner rather than later, but I'm confident it will happen.

Clare - posted on 05/15/2010

Hi, You are not alone, my little girl is exactly the same so hope someone knows the answer, although i think all babies are different and will sleep in their own time. This is my first so kept thinking i must be doing something wrong but from what i have read i am doing the same as everyone else.