how do i get my 9 month old to sleep through the night

Elizabeth - posted on 08/25/2009

When my 15 month old wasn't sleeping through the night, my mother suggested she was waking up because she was cold. I didn't believe that was the cause but when I started dressing her in footy pj's, she started sleeping through the night! Just a thought.

LINDA - posted on 08/25/2009

hi my name is lynn and I have two grown kids and ran a day care for 19 years

my daughter was that way so I tryed a nice warm bath and warm milk and singing to her and it worked! hope it works for you let me know

lynn

Samantha - posted on 08/25/2009

dont worry you are not alone i tried every thing going and my daughter is 4 and a half now and she still doesnt sleep through the nite we hoped that starting school would help but no such luck and then someone suggested that she might be lonely cause she has got two brothers who share a room and obviously me and her dad in the same room and she is all on her own so i have made some story taps so when she wakes up i put them on and hopefully with the sound of my voice she will drop back of and feel that i am in the room and also spary their pillow a couple of hours before bedtime with your perfume so when they lay down they can smell your scent it is slowly working for us

Jessica - posted on 08/24/2009

Babies are growing so its easy for them to over do it during the day. Ive always felt... unless they have stomach problems....that they are just tired. Things that would help my kids was making sure they had a good nap during the day, if they did not have a nap they were overly tired when I put them to bed and did not sleep as well. When I made sure they had a nap they always slept much better at night. Most of the time when they wake up if you let them cry for about 15 to 20 minutes they will go back to sleep.....I know its hard to do but it works.

Sandi - posted on 08/24/2009

Drinking warm milk before bed works really good. I also found that rubbing a little basil essential oil on the head works really good too. It smells really sweet and good and it puts you right to sleep.

Alex - posted on 08/24/2009

HI GET THE BOOK SAVE OUR SLEEP ITS FANTASTIC......

I USED IT AND WITH IN 3 DAYS MY SON WAS PUTTING HIMSELF TO SLEEP AND SLEEPING FROM 7PM TILL 6AM



p.s the first day is the hardest if you can get past that your on the home streach

Linda - posted on 08/24/2009

You MUST get the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. We are parents second time around(Grandparents raising grandchildren) and absolutly at our wits end. We are dealing with no sleep and we are in our 50's! We have 2 boys ages 1 and 2, and neither would sleep through the night. We got the book and read it and put it into practice and WOW two days later both slept the night through.We put our boys to bed at 7:30 or 8:00 and they sleep through the whole nite. And have every nite since. We started when each boy was about 8 or 9 months....it works!!!!!

Glenda - posted on 08/24/2009

When I had my little girl, it seemed like a competition, "my child slept thru at 3 weeks" "my slept thru from 1 month". Did you know it is natural for a baby to wake in the night, their little tummies can only hold a certain amount of food and sometimes they will wake up hungry, you wouldn't deny your child food in the day, so why do so at night. Most people are happy for their children to sleep thru the night for their convenience, they are not thinking about what the child wants at all, so relax, go with the flow, he is not going to wake up in the night forever !!!

Mishka - posted on 08/24/2009

I use to use Johnson baby product it stands on there it is to calm them so you can use it in the bath and or rub them out with.bath baby in the morning and then you bath baby again at 16h00 and you will see how it helps baby to sleep.i think that at 9 months they also start to teeth so check to c if its baby teeth.

Shelley - posted on 08/23/2009

I think that each child is different and you have to be patient. I have 4, and my third slept through the night at 2 weeks, where 2 did at about 3 months. The first one was a preemie so I was told that I had to wake her to feed her and so it was about 7 months for her. What I did is the first time they woke up, I waited about 5 minutes, then I gave them a pacifier. The next time, I waited for 5 minutes again and fed them. I alternated like this and when they started to sleep through the pacifier, I would start again with the routine. If they are older and its just a habit, try putting a bottle filled with water in the crib, then when they wake up they will automatically reach for it. Most of the time when they realize you arent coming they will go back to sleep. If they still cry after about 5 minutes, maybe they are genuinely going through a growth spurt and need to be fed. I would agree with the bath, cereal before bed, nurse or whatever it is you do, and then put them down awake. Hope this helps

Denise - posted on 08/23/2009

I remember when my son was around that age (he is 9 now ) but I was working night shift in a hospital and every night the nurses I worked with would tell me I had to let him cry because it had become a routine for him to get up every night......I just knew this would break my heart, so they said to go in 10 min. after he had cried lay him down pat him, tell him it was time to go to sleep and keep repeating every 10 min. until he fell asleep and by the 3rd night he would just lay down and sleep through the night. DO NOT PICK HIM UP!!! It killed me infact I had to have my husband be the bad guy the first night, but after night 3 he was cured!!! I could not believe it! I was so happy we followed through. Good luck and good rest!!

ANGEL - posted on 08/23/2009

When my boys were babies I used to try to keep them up longer during the day. shorter naps or none unless they were really cranky. then a nice warm bath and lotion useing a good soft massage mainley legs and arms. If there still on the bottle then would the time, try not to stimulate them too much but a quiet relaxed atmospher. worked for me every time.

Cori - posted on 08/23/2009

my son slept through the night for 3 months from 3 - 6 months and once those stinking little teeth started poking their way out he wakes up after 6 hours of sleep and wont rest until he gets nursed and more advil!! it drives me nuts but i figure its part of this teething stage and it will end after we get through the tougher teeth... i miss those long nights though :(

Kay - posted on 08/23/2009

I suggest applying the principles in a book called "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo.

I used that book with my children and they slept through the night from the time they were 6 to 8 weeks old and I've never had one crawl into bed with me and their daddy in the middle of the night. In a nut shell...it's about teaching then how to soothe and comfort themselves and fall back to sleep on their own. I was even able to put my babies down wide awake and within 10-15 minutes they were asleep. That includes naptime. It's not a rigid program and there are times when life happens and you have to deviate a little...but then you get right back on track. I highly recommend it! Good luck!

Marcia - posted on 08/23/2009

Do you put him in his crib awake? If not, try it. We're were having the same problem with our son and the pediatrician suggested this. I would hold him until he was almost asleep and than I would lay him in his crib. The 1st couple of nights were the worst, but he sleeps through the night now. Usually when he's teething and stuff we'll have a couple of bad nights, but I think that's normal. I hope this helps.

Lorraine - posted on 08/23/2009

I went through with my eldest - nightmare. If he is going to bed with a full belly, and is warm (sleeping bag), then he has got into the habit of waking up because his lovely Mum is feeding him (maybe). To break the habit Plunket told me to send in Dad, stroke him on the forehead to comfort him (do not pick up), and then go back to bed, and he will have to cry himself to sleep. Tough I know, but our little chap got the message after three nights, and I finally felt human after a good nights sleep. Good luck.

Darlene - posted on 08/23/2009

The darndest thing...I finally figured out after 2 almost 2 1/2 yrs. It was a bigger bed. I put him in the the queen size bed in the spare bedroom and he sleeps all night long. He is a restless sleeper and he's all over the bed. I think the queen size bed gives him the room he needs.

Angela - posted on 08/23/2009

my name is angela...i have 3 children...my oldeset is 22 now and my youngest is now 9..my middle one will 13 soon..we always bathed our chidren, read them a story and played soft soothing music for them...they loved it...we also gave each one of them cereal along with their last bottle and they slept all night....good luck..

Lynn - posted on 08/23/2009

How many naps a day does he take and how long are the naps each time? Also, what time do you put him down to sleep each night? He is no different from adults. We sleep better when our bellies are satisfied and when we our minds & bodies are tired. Think about it; if we have napped a time or two during the day, we don't sleep as well. If we ate a light dinner, as most children do, at 4 or 5, we wake up several times during the night. Perhaps try feeding him his largest meal later in the evening, make his naps fewer, & put him to bed a bit later and see what happens.

Ashley - posted on 08/23/2009

Quoting skye:

how do i get my 9 month old to sleep through the night

he has only slept through the night a handful of times in his life and people always seemed shocked when i tell them he doesn't i don't know how to get him to

wish i had some advice, but my 4 yr old is still up at least once a night. i feel your pain! good luck!

Merilee - posted on 08/23/2009

My mom told me not to change their diaper in the middle of the night after they got to be about 2months old, because they will wake up just to have their pants changed. I would put double diapers ( when we used cloth) on, feed them and put them back to bed..my kids were 5-6 months old before they slept thru the night but it did work, hope this helps.

Merilee - posted on 08/23/2009

Quoting skye:

how do i get my 9 month old to sleep through the night

he has only slept through the night a handful of times in his life and people always seemed shocked when i tell them he doesn't i don't know how to get him to

Heather - posted on 08/22/2009

I see a lot of people have responded to this question. I have only one thing to add. My daughter is now 3 years old, and sleeps very well. When she was about six months old, we noticed that when she woke in the night she wasn't really needing anything, so we decided to change things up a bit. Instead of me getting up to be with her, my husband took on the job. When she cried, he would get up and make sure everything was OK. Then he would sit next to her basinette, out of sight, touching her. He would sit that way until she calmed down and went back to sleep. She knew he was there, but couldn't see him and that seemed to be what she needed. He only had to get up three nights, and then she slept through. A few months later when we moved and she graduated from a basinette to a crib, we modified it by draping a blanket over the side of her crib. When she was upset, one of us could sit and hold her hand without her actually seeing us. If she saw us, she would get up and be social. If she couldn't see us, she would calm down with the touch and settle down to sleep.
More than two years later, she rarely gets up after going to bed, and that's only when she's sick.

Claudia - posted on 08/22/2009

I think most babies wake up, just not all parents are aware of it. Hang in there, it can be hard when they wake up a lot. I have a 13 yr old and an 8 month old. The 13 yr old seemed to hardly sleep at all as a baby, but by school age, he slept too well- his alarm clock can go off indefinitely and he won't wake up! You'll get sleep again...hopefully sooner rather than later. ....my 8month old still wakes at night, but I know it won't last forever!

Katrina - posted on 08/22/2009

If you are bottle feeding try putting boiled water in the bottle. I did this with my first baby and it only took a few nights and he stopped waking for his bottle. I did this at 6 months. Also the 10 minute controlled crying worked well, my son was sleeping through by 7 months. I have a three month old daughter and she is sleeping through most nights already! It just goes to show how children can be so different. Good luck with the tough love.

Danna - posted on 08/22/2009

All 3 of mine slept through the night by 8 weeks and this is how I did it. Routine is key. When you think they are ready to sleep through the night and they wake up: first don't go in right away. Give it time to see if they will go back to sleep on their own. At first they won't because they are use to you coming in and picking them up and feeding them. So, go in, dont turn on the light and pick them up and love on them, change them if needed and then put them back. Don't feed them. They may cry. This is normal. It is ok. It is breaking routine. At first you may go in again same night if they don't stop crying and pat their back, but do not feed them. Do this a couple of nights and then don't pick them up...just pat their back. Soon they will not bother to wake up. The key is routine, routine during the day, at bed time and during the night all help them sleep thru the night.

Joenalyn " Len-Len" - posted on 08/22/2009

Try reading bedtime stories or singing lullaby. But from my experience we should start training them as early as possible. I routinely gave my son a warm milk and a warm bath just before his bedtime. We even turned off the light except for his dim lamp shade. The tv where turned off so it was totally quiet. From then on he's goes with our routine. I never have problems putting him to sleep. Its automatic for him to even take a nap in the afternoon after watching his favorite tv program. When I turned off the tv, he automatically lie down and put himself to sleep.

Jennifer - posted on 08/22/2009

Infants and toddlers have a very short sleep cycles. They wake often. This is normal. My son did the same thing. Around a year old to 15 months it got much better.

Samantha - posted on 08/22/2009

my daughter was 3months when she started sleeping through the night, all i did was give her lots 2 drink in the day, like she would drink all her bottle, then if she was still hungery after i would give her a little bit of water n she would sleep 4 4hours between her bootle, as she started 2 get up 2 the stage where she could eat solid food, i would give her half a weetbix, half a mashed banana, n a drink of milk in her cup, she still has the same thing every morning 4 breakfast after breakfast she would have a bottle bath, then a sleep, lunch she would have a yougert, vegiemite sandwich, n a drink of water, her afternoon snack is 3 biscuts n a drink of water, dinner she has a full bowl of mashed vegies, n chicken then a bath bottle n bed n thats been her routine since she was born

Catherine - posted on 08/22/2009

i don't know if this will work with every kid but it worked with both of mine. Bedtime bath at 9 with johnson n johnson bedtime bath soap. bottle. n then lay him down. if he cries go in after ten minutes saying only hush its ok (or whatever you use to comfort him) then after ten minutes if hes still awake go in dont say anything and cover him up keep doing that till he falls asleep. if he wakes in the middle of the night NO BOTTLE. rock him to sleep or just cover him over. after about a week of no bottles in the middle of the night he should stop waking up and crying for them. it'll be hard for a week but so worth it. my girls used to sleep from 10 till 8. it was wonderful

Laura - posted on 08/22/2009

skye,

do you still give him a bottle when he wakes up in the middle of the night? don't. stop the middle of the night bottle and he should sleep. the full belly thing can work, but my son was so gassy that he would then sometimes wake up with gas after eating right before bed. my son was over a year old before he really started sleeping really well through the night. with him i found it really was the routine of that midnight bottle..i quit that (he cried like HECK for a few nights) but then slept through.

Kathy - posted on 08/22/2009

I agree with the Moms who talk about a routine. One thing you may want to try is adding music to let him fall asleep. When he wakes up, turn the music back on. If you have a CD player with a remote, that would be awesome. I never let my daughter CIO because I think when crying, they are trying to tell us something. There is an awesome lullabye CD on my site. Also, is he getting enough to eat before bedtime? Their tummy's are so small that he may truly feel hungry during the night and it may be a phase that he will grow out of.

I hope this helps....Kathy http://www.balterbaby.com

Alex - posted on 08/22/2009

My son was 2 before he started sleeping through the night and we tried absolutely everything. Some children are just like that. My first son was grand from about 6 months but the second one is just not a good sleeper. He is still a light sleeper and needs about 2 hours less sleep than his brother. I would try everything suggested but make sure you give it a proper try before giving up. Good luck. One thing I must emphasise though - it won't be forever!!

Charlotte - posted on 08/22/2009

My son will be 2 in november still wakes up thru the night since he was born we have had a handful of nights where he has slept through the night, sometimes it can be up to 6 times a night sometimes its 1.. believe me i have tried everything i can think of, controlled crying, no dummy, dummy, food just beofre bed, food half an hour before bed,. hes always been in a good routine goes to bed at 7pm wakes at 7pm never cries when going to sleep. has a 1 1/2hr nap at lunchtime. I just dont know how to get him to sleep all night, hes always been a bad sleeper since he was a newborn.. but now he is nearly two its getting very ridiculous and 2 extremely exhausted parents..

Reagan - posted on 08/21/2009

My experience is that a lot of sleeping "problems" is just the personality of the child. It is not uncommon for children to need help going to slepp until at least age 2 when they can begin to do more self soothing. I have a three year old that was a steller sleeper from about 6 weeks on and a son that is now 21 months old and we joke that maybe he will sleep when he is 5 or 6 if we are lucky. Just personalities. The No cry sleep solution by Elizabeth Pantley can give you some good gentle things to try that can help encourage sleep. This too will pass and is just a season of your life.

Kara - posted on 08/21/2009

I agree to a point about "crying it out," but sometimes babies cry because they are tired. When you know your baby isn't in need of anything else, its not going to hurt to let a nine-month-old baby cry for a few minutes in the middle of the night.

Jessica - posted on 08/21/2009

I'm gonna get on my soap box for a moment because of the whole crying it out thing, if you loved it and don't want to read stop now.
Babies that aren't a year old typically don't understand why you are leaving them to cry. They want something, be it food (they probably have a faster metabolism than a baby who sleeps 10hrs straight), comfort or because they are hot or cold, has a tummy ache, needs burped, etc - They are not crying to manipulate you or to put themselves to sleep and its impossible to spoil a baby at this age. No other animal leaves their young when they are screaming and crying. Leaving them to cry teaches them that you may not be there to take care of them all the time. And while you may not see it for many years, research shows that crying it out extensively is harmful. You can research the effect that crying it out has on the brain and the serotonin in the brain and how it affects how they deal with stress and their psychological well being throughout their entire life, its a risk I certainly wasn't going to take and I certainly would rather have a confident child instead of one that is afraid I might not be there when she needs her. Other studies believe the overheating and vomiting from excessive crying can lead to SIDS.

Here is some of the info if your interested in reading more on the effects to the body and brain when it comes to crying it out.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/handou...

If you are able to quickly get your baby back to bed after a bottle or diaper change or song, isn't it likely that thats what the baby needed?

Jessica - posted on 08/21/2009

How long is he sleeping? "through the night" technically means 6 hours. Most babies at 9 months will wake a few times after that firs 6hr stretch in the 12 hours or so that they are in bed.

Tania - posted on 08/21/2009

dont panic my 10 month old doesnt sleep through , nor does my almost 3 year old, he'll sleep through when hes good and ready :) & hes in a real good rountine, dinner, shwr breastfeed & bed, so hold in their and when hes ready he'll sleep through, also jsut make sure hes getting enough to eat during the day :)

Sarah - posted on 08/21/2009

Read "Healthy sleep, happy child" by Marc Weisbluth. AMAZING. worked for all 3 of my girls (now 8, 6 and 3 years old)

Ambrosia - posted on 08/21/2009

feed him and then bathe with johnson bed time bath and if he is still on a bottle give him a bottle to lay with after the bath and make sure when u get done bathing him that u lotion him and make sure it is real cool and relaxed in his room

Rosie - posted on 08/21/2009

I would tire out my son, give him a bath, and then feed him a bottle he would sleep like an angel, he was nice and clean and exhausted and very well fed..so there was no reason for him to wake up at all

Tiffany - posted on 08/21/2009

My daughter will be 9 months old on sept 5. She sleeps through the night no problem. What i do is try and give her 2 naps throughout the day. she has her oatmeal in the morning and a snack at 2. don't let the baby sleep after like 5 the latest. by the time she eats her dinner at7 and a bottle at about 8:30 she is tired and ready to go to sleep by like 9:30. she dosn;t wake up until about 7 or 8 the next morning.

Karen - posted on 08/21/2009

I have a 4 month old, and she generally sleeps through the night. We were getting 10 hours and then it suddenly shortened. I have come to realize that she is cold! She is still in our room and with the weather we obviously have the air conditioning on. I used to think she was hungry but as soon as I would get her in bed to feed her, she'd fall back asleep. After awhile, I put all this together: slightly cold hands/feet, only nursing for 1-2 minutes and being next to be in bed with covers. Anyway- it was a quick fix and it took me several days to figure it out. Our 1st child liked it colder, but not this one!

Darbi - posted on 08/20/2009

.....you may try some warm cereal or oatmeal along with a warm bottle, a full belly sometimes keeps them through the night A warm bath a little earlier and he should be ok. Is he dressed warm in case he removes his covers? He could be getting cold and waking up. My daughter-n-law from day 1 , always had a routine for her baby which included a bath and later she breastfed him........Good Luck

Allison - posted on 08/20/2009

My daughter was sleeping through the night by that time, if I recall, by then she was on solid foods with a biter biscuit right before bed to kinda fill her tummy. I also nursed her to sleep and Daddy would then scoop her up and take her into her crib where she'd sleep the night. She'd wake up in the morning for her AM nursing then oatmeal or baby cereal. If she did wake up it was only once or twice and then I'd nurse her back to sleep. It does get better!

Amy - posted on 08/20/2009

I had the same problem when my son was that age. He used to wake up every hour on the hour. I had a hard time. We put music on for him. I had heart rythum music for infants and toddlers. I would put christian music on. I would put 5 cd"s on at a time and all that helped but every time the music was over he would cry and I would have to get up and put the music on again. It did help for two or three hours. At least I got some sleep. But He wanted me to hold him untill he fell asleep. I had to try and stay awake or I would fall asleep while holding him.If you have a cd player with 5 cd holders try that it might work for 4-5 hours while the music is playing. He would sleep with me for a couple of years that was the only way I could get him to sleep through the night. I did not like it but that is what I had to do. ope the music helps and you do not have to sleeo with him. My prayers are with you. I know how that feels. Because we live in a row houme my husband would wake me up ever time he cried beause of the neighbors.

Kim - posted on 08/20/2009

My 9 month old sleeps from 10pm till around 8am. She occasionally will wake up a little earlier, but in that I case I give her a bottle and she goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. I normally will give her a bowl of cereal mixed with fruit...it's a large bowl. I normally use half a jar of fruit and about 1/2 cup of cereal. I mix it with her formula so that it isn't too dry but not too mushy either. She will eat the entire bowl and then about an hour to an hour and a half later I will give her a six ounce bottle. She drinks the entire bottle and goes to sleep without any fuss. A few months ago she would still wake up in the night, but I started giving her water instead of formula. She would still be sound asleep but would be screaming. After I started giving her water she would scream take a sip of water and dose back to sleep.

Mary - posted on 08/20/2009

If it makes you you feel any better, she's not a great napper...that am snooze is as long as it gets....she only does maybe 2 more catnaps until bedtime. She's happy, but it's go-go-go all day!

Anita - posted on 08/20/2009

haha..mary ur one of the lucky ones..mine had never been a good sleeper...

CIO did nothing to help either..mad eit worse in fact...first 2-3 nights he was crying for a good 2-3 hours...and that tore my heart out....thats why i was so greatful to come across the baby whisperer website and that worked for my lil darling...