Restless Sleeper

Debbie - posted on 11/24/2008

My 8 month old son is currently teething and waking up around every two hours. I also read that some babies go through some night time separation anxiety around this time, so I think that also has something to do with it. I have tried all the same methods as you as well: CIO, co-sleeping, white noise, and I the only thing that has seemed to help him sleep longer is giving him some infant Motrin for his teething an hour before bedtime, and this might sound weird but I put something in the crib that smells like me, like a small stuffed animal or even one of my shirts. Its still kind of a hit and miss but it seems to help. Here's a website that helped me to deduce whether his night waking was due to teething or not. http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T083000...

Krystle - posted on 11/23/2008

Hi Amy,

Have you tried a bed time routine... We have one that seems to work.. The 4 b's.. Bath, Book, Boob, and Bed (this is done anywhere from 7-8:30).... She gets up around 3 to nurse and then usually sleeps till about 6 am.... We have never co-slept though... She is way to noisy to be in our room. We also use a fan that is really loud that drowns out most of the noise in our house (we have two large dogs that bark, and play, and shake their collars right outside her door).



As far as your baby up every 2 hours, it could be that she is teething or growing... Mine did that for a week or so, and then magically went back to normal.. I also am not a fan of the cry it out method... our magic # is 12 mins. She cries for 12 mins then we go back adn calm her down, and usually it only takes 1 time before she goes to bed on her own. good luck!

Angelle - posted on 11/18/2008

hi Amy i feel ya Brooklyn wont sleep though the night either she wakes up all the time i have just come to accept the fact that i will NEVER sleep again no no im just joking but ya i have the same issue i wish i could give u some advise but i don't have any myself but i feel ur sleep deprivation and im hoping it gets better for u .

Sandra - posted on 11/17/2008

Hi Amy! What i did with my daughter was i changed the types of bottles that she was drinking out. I used the playtex bottles and the Avent bottles and boy i was up every 2 hours too. My daughter was colicy until i switched bottles. The bottles that i am referring to is the Dr. Brown bottles they worked for me and now my daughter sleeps through the night. Also, i have a noise maker too. It plays a bunch of sounds and what makes my daughter go to sleep is the white noise. I thought I give you my experience with my daughter.

Jaime - posted on 11/17/2008

I have thought about feeding her, but she is going through a picky phase where she won't eat very much stuff, especially not baby food

Alicia - posted on 11/17/2008

What a great weekend! Collin slept through both sat. and sun. pm. I think this is because he was actually able to take NAPS during the day, whereas in daycare he's too excited to sleep more than an hour. Also looked up the Healthy sleep happy babies book, and they seem pretty big on the napping thing.

Amanda - posted on 11/17/2008

My daughter is also going through this pattern at the moment. I have come to realize that it may not be just a sleep problem, but a hunger problem. I have found that even though she will get up more right now, she does sleep an hour or so longer if she is fed a bit of cereal mixed with fruit before bed. You may try that.

Jaime - posted on 11/16/2008

I wish I could get my girls to sleep through, I have tried all methods, but they will not do it, my oldest one is 2 and a half, and for the first 4 months she slept through perfectly, and now she is up at least twice a night, and my 8 month old has never slept through, I am so exhausted I can barely function.

Suzana - posted on 11/16/2008

maja was sleeping awesome and she still does from 5630-630 but she just recently started crying alot at night and she use to fall asleep on our bed and the we would trandfer her but now she has been in our bed were starting ferber tom

Kaylyn - posted on 11/16/2008

For the past two nights my daughter woke up at 3 am and just tossed and turned until 6 am. I put her in her crib around 8:30-9 and she sleeps there until midnight and wakes up. So I get her and put her in the bed with me. I basically am a single mom although I am married, but that is another story so I do whatever I can to get some sleep. I want to get her in her crib all night but she just won't stay in there after she wakes at midnight. I'll keep checking in for suggestions.

Heather - posted on 11/15/2008

my 8 mo. old is doing the same thing right now. Last night i put a noise machine in his room, and he actually slept for 5 hours straight. I thought i was in heaven! I'm not sure if it was a one time thing or not, but i'm going to try it again tonight.

Amy - posted on 11/15/2008

I tried an instrumental lullaby CD and that didnt work....I think I have tried everything.....she has to grow out of it at some point though:)

Cindy - posted on 11/15/2008

Have you tried music in the room...something soothing like classical music...just noise.. that worked for my 5 year old when she was a baby. As long as the music played she would sleep.

Cindy - posted on 11/15/2008

Mine is the same way!!! Not up every 2 hours but she still wakes up every 4 hours to eat...even tried a big dinner...still wakes up!

Meghan - posted on 11/14/2008

I'm having the exact same problem with my son, thank goodness I'm not alone! What's stating to work for me is getting him sleepy enough he'll take a paci then lay him down and rub his back. After that whenever he wakes up I let him go for 5 or ten minutes before I come in and rub his back. Also playing the same lullaby cd every night really helps those middle of the night parches go faster. good luck!

Amy - posted on 11/14/2008

Hey Alicia

That is usually what I resort to. I think she wakes up more often in our bed because of me moving around though. Works easier for me on those though nights because at least I am not getting out of bed 5 times a night.

Alicia - posted on 11/14/2008

What about co-sleeping? I resort to that if Collin is having a really bad night. Only way we get any sleep.

Amy - posted on 11/14/2008

One more thing....we have a air purifier, which acts just like a white noise maker, in her room.....we have used it since birth. Maybe I need to get a louder one:)

Amy - posted on 11/14/2008

I tried the CIO method...and it totally backfired. I let my daughter cry for 2 hours. I checked on her after 5 min...10 min...and then every 15 minutes. She cried so hard that her crib was soaking wet and so was she from sweating. When it was bed time last night, she freaked out and would not calm down unless I was holding her. She totally hates her crib now......so definitely not a fan of the CIO.

I do let her attempt to work it out before I go in the room....sometimes she cries and then falls back to sleep, but most of the time she is wide awake and crying. I think that she just wants to be next to me and is not necessarily hungry. I also think that she may just want to be comforted by sucking on something...and that something happens to be my breast. She just nurses to fall back asleep, and not to eat. I do know that she is teething right now and could possibly be waking up due to that...


Thank you for all of your insight and responses!!!!!

Cindi - posted on 11/14/2008

do you go in as soon as she starts fussing? Most of the time I have found that if I let my baby work it out on her own she will go back to sleep. Sometimes she is not even really awake so if I go in then she does wake up. I have twins so sleep training was a must -- we did that at 5 months of age and they have been sleeping 12 hours a night since.
Is she hungry when she wakes or just wants you? She could just be in the habit of waking and then knowing you will come get her. If the crying goes on for like 15-20 minutes then I go in but I let them try to work it out on their own first.
We also use the white noise machine and have since they were born. try it!

Alicia - posted on 11/14/2008

We're working on this problem too. I'm so jealous of most of the other moms I know with their infants sleeping through the night! One suggested giving a bottle of water when they wake up, and eventually (hopefully) they realize that water isn't worth waking up for. And a night light seems to have helped some- I think my son is scared when he wakes up in the dark and can't see where he is. Now at least some of the time he's been able to put himself back to sleep. A work in progress...

Kyara - posted on 11/14/2008

Hi. I feel your pain. Sometimes my son will cry, and I think he's awake, but he's not. Sometimes it will go on for a couple minutes. I used to go get him every time he did this, but recently I've just been leaving him alone, and some of the time he'll go back to sleep. You could try that.

Laur - posted on 11/14/2008

Hi Amy! We bought a sound machine for my son, which goes on at naptime and night time. It blocks out most noises that could potentially wake him up. Unforunately, it seems that your daughter is accustomed to getting up every few hours. Do you go into her all the time or do you let her CIO? We finally did that with my son, and it worked most of the time.

Debbie - posted on 11/12/2008

I feel your pain. My son is also a very light sleeper. Have you tried using a fan or a humidifier to block out any background noises? It has really helped with my son.

Michelle - posted on 11/12/2008

According to our ped, at 6 months, they are ready to STTN (sleep through the night), meaning they don't need to eat every 2 hours over night if they are getting 24-48 oz of breastmilk or formula during the day. She is ready for baby-sleep-bootcamp! I know of 2 ways to get her to STTN. The Ferber Method or the Sears Method. Ferber is like CIO (cry-it-out). You let her cry for 5 mins, then go comfort her, then 10 mins, then go comfort hear, 15 mins, etc) Dr. Sears' method is to lay the baby down when they are drowsy and if they fuss, put your hand on the tummy or chest to let them know you are there until they calm down. If the baby fusses again, you go and put your hand on their chest so they know you are there.

link to Sears method info http://www.babycenter.com/2_baby-sleep-t...

link to Ferber method info http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-ferber-m...

You might find that Ferber works better and rest assured that this should only take 3 days and your baby will be sleeping like a pro!!! She just needs to learn how to fall asleep (or get back to sleep) on her own! Good luck!!!

Lisa - posted on 11/12/2008

i wish i had some advice for you! unfortunately i don't but please know that you are not alone, we have the exact same problem with our daughter, the absolute longest she has ever slept is 2 hours -- usually more like 1 to 1 1/2 at night! hopefully soon it will get better!!