My 8 month old son is waking up during the night still

Chelsea - posted on 07/08/2009

My son just turned one, He wakes up occassionally. The trick that I have learned is that he only wants his mommy. He thinks he needs you to comfort him. He is old enough now that you can just go in, give him a hug (DO NOT GET HIM OUT OF THE CRIB) and lay him down and stand next to the crib rubbing his belly or arm or face.. He will learn to comfort himself. Sometimes he wakes me up and I do what I just told you, he still cries when I walk away but only for a minute. Its so hard to walk away when the cry for you but they are okay I promise!

Lorna - posted on 07/10/2009

you could try putting one of your jumpers or t-shirts in his cot so he gets the feeling that your there i done that with my wee girl and it seemed to work

Heather - posted on 07/16/2009

Hi i just wanted to thank you all for your help and let you know that i went out the other day and bought Deegan a new dummy with a clip so i can clip it on his clothes to make it easier to find during the night.
Well he is now sleeping throught the night and if he does wake up he can easily find his dummy himself and doesnt need to wake me up any more, couldnt be happier.

Yomara - posted on 07/11/2009

I am having the same trouble with my son. I am not sure what your routine is during the day, but I feed him cereal (with a spoon not the bottle) for breakfast and dinner, and baby food for lunch. He only gets the bottle with formula before bed, once at night, and one first thing in the morning. I am noticing that because he eats so well in the day, it is easier for him to sleep at night. Also, I used to get up and get him every time that he woke up. Sometimes he would cry and sometimes he would play. No matter what the situation was, I would go get him, change his diaper, and feed him. Turns out the reason he wasn't sleeping through the night is because I trained him not to. He would also get up in the middle of the night and want to play.

Now I only get him if he is crying, but I wait about 5 minutes to make sure. This will give him the opportunity to console himself. If he is getting up before you know it's time to eat, try to rock him and then put him back down. I was giving my son the bottle every time, and even though he ate, he didn't really NEED it. Do what ever you can to sooth him and leave the bottle as a last resort. I know it is frustrating, but I have been doing it for a week and we went from every 2-3 hours to every 4-5. Try and see, what do you have to lose?

Heather - posted on 07/10/2009

Hi stephanie, i cant believe i forgot to try putting something that smells of me in there lol, i did it with my daughter and it worked a treat.



Anyway new development. Twice now i have gotten fed up and asked hubby to do the night shift in return for sleeping in in the morning and both times Deegan (the darling little sod) has slept throught the night. Talk about pure luck! Am seriously considering swapping children and letting Daddy settle Deegan at night while I settle my daughter lol.

Stephanie - posted on 07/10/2009

i have a 21 month old girl who slept through the night from 2months and i have a 8 month old boy who isnt slepping through the night yet. they both share a room because we live with my partners parents. we have tried everything to try and get him sleeping through the night including putting our clothes in his cot so he had the smell of us, changing his milk to good night milk, adding rusks and rice into his bottle, giving him water and juice, they have music playing in their room anyway. he doesnt have a dumby but he does have a teddy. we have gave him calpol and mediced before he goes to sleep because of him teething and he has abosol for his gums but nothing seems to be working but im sure that he will sleep through in good time when i finaly find something that works ill let u know! Good luck

Nickie - posted on 07/09/2009

Try feeding him some cereal or pablem before he goes to bed. Try a bath about 1/2 an hour before bed as well with some bedtime bath by Johnsons in the water. Works like a charm for my daughter and she sleeps 10-12 hours a night! She really only started sleeping through the night when she was 8 months after I started doing that and she's 10 months now! It fills their belly so that if they do wake up, it usually isn't because they are hungry. If its for attention then try to just stay in the room and rock him in your arms, don't turn on the lights and play some soft lullabyes. Also keep 1-2 night lights in the room so it isn't totally dark but both of you can see without being startled by the light. I had to do that for several weeks before she realized she could find her soother herself. If your son takes a soother it's always good to throw a few in the crib with him, that way he can find one even when he changes position. It can be a lot of work especially when you are really tired but hopefully some of these tips work for you. Good luck!

Jackie - posted on 07/09/2009

Quoting Heather:

My 8 month old son is waking up during the night still

He is waking anywhere from once which i can deal with but more often its 3 to 5 times a night. He still wants a night time bottle and if i try to get him to go with out it he just screams the house down and wakes up my 2 year old. i have even tried bringing him into bed with me to get him to settle he just wont do it. I'm desperate to work out how to get him to settle himself back down but preferably with out so much of the screaming. Its ever stranger still as as general rule he settles himself really easily i just put him in his cot with his dummy and his teddy and he rolls over and shuts his eyes straight away and i dont hear another peep from him till he wakes. its just at night i seem to have problems getting him to settle with out the bottle.

Tamara - posted on 07/08/2009

My Gods, if he's hungry, FEED HIM. Nightwaking the requires parental involvement is very normal into the 2nd year of life and normally start to taper off at 24 months.

Nicole - posted on 07/08/2009

Ugghhhh! I know how you feel! My oldest son (who just turned 18) slept through the night at 5 weeks! My second son slept through at 9 weeks. With my third son I kept thinking every night would be THE night and as time went on...I think about 8 months, I finally said to myself, 'this child is NEVER going to sleep through the night and I just need to accept that and stop dwelling on it because it is frustrating me' Once I let go of the expectation I could deal with it so much better and eventually he made it through the night....I think around 2 years old. I know, I know, it sounds discouraging but hang in there.

Justine - posted on 07/08/2009

No Heather, I'm not insane...just incredibly blessed lol! Many people think they wouldn't be able to handle triplets, but you deal with whatever you're dealt...I live by that! They're my 1st three so I don't know any different. And they just so happen to be absolute angels so we lucked out:) Good luck to you!

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

Boys are definitely much harder than girls and I can't imagine having a scorpio boy....my husband is a scorpio and I don't even want to know what he was like as a child. LOL! Best thing though whatever you try make sure and try it for at least 7 days....this way he has time to get used to the routine before you change it up again.

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

just had a thought, maybe i should try gradually cutting down the amount in the bottle and see if that works hmmmmm ideas ideas why cant he just be easy lol

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

Hi Heather,



Tylenol is the brand name in the states for acetaminophen. I have a 1yr old who is nursed exclusively and he didn't start sleeping more than 4 hours at a stretch until he was 9 months. I was told to fill him up on protein. So instead of the regular veggies and crackers or fruit I was feeding him at night I started feeding him a nice healthy portion of chicken or beef or some veggie high in protein like avacados. I really helped. There are still nights that he wakes up 1 or 2 times...but usually just for a little cuddle time. Also, just as a side note...some of us parents tend to feed our kids portions that we think they should be eating but I have also noticed that if I let my little man eat to his hearts content he is more apt to sleep a solid 11-12 hours. Good luck and hope you are able to get a little more sleep soon.

Karen - posted on 07/08/2009

Children's Tylenol...its a U.S. product. It may be the same as nurofen and panadol, not sure. Ask your doctor. You could try a cold (or frozen) wash cloth...get it a little damp, some babies like to chew on it when they are teething. I lucked out, Gabby will drink her bottle warm, cold, whatever...same with the food. I agree with what Rachel said about feeding the baby in bed. If I give my daughter a bottle when she is teething, its only to calm her gums...and only a small amount. I make a point of feeding her before she goes in her crib.

Rachel - posted on 07/08/2009

My daughter is almot 9 months and JUST started sleeping through the night soundly a week ago. It took us about a month of getting a feeding schedule to coordinate with a bedtime schedule. I did a meal of veggies mixed with cereal around 5:30, bath around 7:00ish, and a bottle right before bed. Instead of giving her the bottle in her room, I started giving it to her in the living room (sounds strange, but some babies work better if they associate their bedroom to sleeptime only), then made sure I put her down drowsy but awake. Again, it took about a month for it to work, but it has started to. Best of luck to you. I feel for how exhausted you must be!

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

Hi Karen,



What is Tylenol? ive never heard of it. I do however try to use nurofen and panadol but my wonderful handsome little angel seems to be immune to the effects lol.



Im glad you mentioned the cold bottle also as he refuses to drink cold bottles, has since the day he was born, stubborn little sod that he is. As a dirrect result everyone now gives me hassles coz i refuse to heat up his food which is the only thing he will eat without heating it up lol.



Deegan has dinner with us and then about an hour later he has a bottle and then he goes in his cot (awake) and puts himself to sleep. I have also tried putting the baby cereal in his bottle but it didnt seem to make any difference.



Justine, can i just say you have got to be insane lol. TRIPLETS? i mean OMG all i can say to you is that you deserve an award or a hug or something lol. Credit to you!

Karen - posted on 07/08/2009

My daughter is almost 8 months and has nights like that. Is your son teething? She got her first tooth at 7 months, she kept waking up a few times a night just days before it came in. She just started doing the same thing the last few days...I'm guessing another tooth is on its way. By the way, my baby is normally very sweet and quiet, but when she is teething...she gos from happy to blood curdling screams. I give her Tylenol and a cold bottle with just enough in it to calm her. Also, what everyone is saying about the rice bottle at night works. Good luck...hope you all get some rest soon.

Nishamani Anisa - posted on 07/08/2009

hi heather ,



i had the same problem with my first child till she was 1 year and 3 months . if he wakes up it usually means that his tummy is not full . try to add some cereal to his milk at bed time , hopefully this will do it. (fingers crossed) or it just soo happens that some kids take longer to settle into a routine. good luck to ya

Jill - posted on 07/08/2009

Quoting Heather:

a cd of a fan blowing? god that must be such a big seller lol. No i havent tried any white noise as we live just near a main road and there are always cars ect going past anyway. or is that the point of the white noise? to block out the cars ect. lol. He doesnt have a baby monitor as his r

I used to have a lady that worked for me that left a hair dryer on in the baby's room as a soother. (scary!!) The nice thing about a fan or a white noise CD is that it's a constant low sound whereas the traffic may have bursts of loud sounds (horns, diesels, squeaks, etc) that may pull your baby out of his sleep. It can't hurt to try white noise and some cereal with his 9:30 bottle.

I feel for your husband and 2-year-old. Hopefully this is going to be a short lived phase for your baby. BTW, no you aren't being silly!

Cathy - posted on 07/08/2009

HI there, not nice when you baby keeps waking up? Do you give him a bottle just before going to bed? That might help him not to want one in the night. My nine months old kept waking up many time a night. How does he go to sleep at night, by himself in the cot or do you rock him to sleep and then put him in his cot. I used to do this and my health visitor said to put him to bed even if he cries and check on him every now and then and talk to him and now my son sleeps right through the night. Peace at last. Hope you sort out your baby's sleeping problems soon.

Justine - posted on 07/08/2009

I've got 7-month old triplets who've been sleeping 10-11hr nights for 4 months now. If you feed him just before bedtime & lay him down sleepy (not sleeping), he will learn to fall asleep on his own. You'll notice a pattern of how long he sleeps. Pick a time in the a.m. to get him up to eat and stick to it. If he wakes up in the night, check on him but let him cry back to sleep. One of my girls used to wake up a couple times in the night for about 2 wks straight...I'd make sure she was ok, maybe hold her for a minute, or rub her back to calm her and then lay her back down. Letting him cry is OK...it can seem like he won't stop, but he will. You just have to stick it out awhile to get him into a routine. Your husband shouldn't make you feel guilty because he has to work. YOU'RE the one getting up with your son so he should be happy! And it could always be worse...imagine 3 crying at once=) Hope this helps!

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

by the way Jill i love the suit your bub is wearing. i have a similar one for both of my kids. well my daughter wore it and now my son is wearing it too. its just too damn cute with the little ears lol.

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

gosh a hair dryer is a bit dangerous i would think lol. maybe he isnt sleeping too badly i mean he goes down at about 7 ish and sleeps till about 7 its just that he wakes a few times in between. maybe i should just keep him up till 9 and see if that makes him tireder or gets him to sleep a bit longer before he wakes up. i just dont know if i can stand having both kids up from 7 am till 9 pm and not having even 5 mins a day for myself. i especially like the fact that when he goes to bed early i get some 'special time' with my baby girl.



anyone got any scorpio kids? my boy is a scorpio and every male scorpio i know is a pain in the bum so im figuring thats what it is lol

Jill - posted on 07/07/2009

Quoting Heather:

a cd of a fan blowing? god that must be such a big seller lol. No i havent tried any white noise as we live just near a main road and there are always cars ect going past anyway. or is that the point of the white noise? to block out the cars ect. lol. He doesnt have a baby monitor as his r

I used to have a lady that worked for me that left a hair dryer on in the baby's room as a soother. (scary!!) The nice thing about a fan or a white noise CD is that it's a constant low sound whereas the traffic may have bursts of loud sounds (horns, diesels, squeaks, etc) that may pull your baby out of his sleep. It can't hurt to try white noise and some cereal with his 9:30 bottle.

I feel for your husband and 2-year-old. Hopefully this is going to be a short lived phase for your baby. BTW, no you aren't being silly!

Jill - posted on 07/07/2009

Quoting Heather:

a cd of a fan blowing? god that must be such a big seller lol. No i havent tried any white noise as we live just near a main road and there are always cars ect going past anyway. or is that the point of the white noise? to block out the cars ect. lol. He doesnt have a baby monitor as his r

I used to have a lady that worked for me that left a hair dryer on in the baby's room as a soother. (scary!!) The nice thing about a fan or a white noise CD is that it's a constant low sound whereas the traffic may have bursts of loud sounds (horns, diesels, squeaks, etc) that may pull your baby out of his sleep. It can't hurt to try white noise and some cereal with his 9:30 bottle.

I feel for your husband and 2-year-old. Hopefully this is going to be a short lived phase for your baby. BTW, no you aren't being silly!

Kathleen - posted on 07/07/2009

my son is 17 months and still wakes up atleast one time a night!!! so im going to read all the replys and try and get some advice :D lol.. but i have no trouble getting him back to sleep... i think it may just be a phase your babys going through because my son slept throught the night untill he turned one and now he wakes up for a bottle...

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

a cd of a fan blowing? god that must be such a big seller lol. No i havent tried any white noise as we live just near a main road and there are always cars ect going past anyway. or is that the point of the white noise? to block out the cars ect. lol. He doesnt have a baby monitor as his room is right opposite ours and i usually do just close the doors and let him cry for a bit but my hubby gets pissed about it. its so damn frustrating lol. Deegan in the 10th percentile too. they so cute and little hey.



by the way i'd wait to have the 2nd for at least hmmmm 20 years lol. nah probably at least a few years.

Jill - posted on 07/07/2009

Quoting Heather:

so your saying instead of adding a bit of baby rice to his bottle to thicken it and giving him a dinner of meat and vegies i should give him a meal of the baby cereal and then just top him up with the bottle?

Yes, you might feed your baby some cereal just before his last bottle just for a week or two to make sure he's "full" but not overstuffed for bedtime.

Our son is in bed by 9pm and is up about 830am. It is rare that we have to go in and put the pacifier in or soothe him.

Jill - posted on 07/07/2009

Heather, hang in there!!! Did you ask your pediatrician? We mentioned to ours that our baby was having issues during the night and he said to turn off our monitor, shut the baby's door, shut our door and let him fuss it out for 2-4 nights. He'd stop doing it when he didn't get a response. We tried it and by night 3, the middle of the night wake-ups were over. (YEAH!!) Our son is also on the light side (10th percentile) but he's following his own curve so we aren't concern. Also, my husband is an angel to help with the baby overnight even when he's dog tired and has to work the next day. AND I don't have another child in the house to worry about (yet). There will be a special place for you and all the other mothers in Heaven. :) Oh oh, have you tried some white noise like a fan (pointed away from him) or a CD of calming ocean noises (or a CD of a fan blowing!!!)??

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

so your saying instead of adding a bit of baby rice to his bottle to thicken it and giving him a dinner of meat and vegies i should give him a meal of the baby cereal and then just top him up with the bottle? is that what you mean? He has for example a dinner of what ever i have made for us so usually something cooked in the slow cooker and then he goes to bed and then i either wake him at about 9.30 for a bottle in the hopes that it will keep him going through the night or i leave him and he wakes for it anyway. but even if i do wake him at 9.30 he still wakes during the night just not for the bottle. oh i dont know maybe im just being silly i mean when you say your bub sleeps through the night what hours are you talking?

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

Thanks Laura that ironically is exactly of what i need reminding of, although it feels like a nightmare at the time before you know it they are onto the next thing. Its interesting you said about teething because he has just started getting his first tooth, is it just me or did my daughters teeth come through much much much quicker lol. i swear she gave me one bad night then the tooth came throught a few days later and she was all good. typical male that my son is has to winge for day and days lol.



Ahhhh its just so frustrating to deal with especially at 5 am when youve already been up like 4 times and your just exhausted. God i wiah they didnt have to go and smile at you so damn cutely when your tired and grumpy too lol

Laura - posted on 07/07/2009

Well you know by having a two year old that things change quickly and you're on to the next situation. If he's on the smaller side he may just need to have a bottle during the night a little longer just to top him off some, he's doing alot of grower these first years. He may just be real sensative to teething also. My middle son had a few months around 5-6 months where he slept through the night but then started teething and hated it. He was miserable and wouldn't chew on anything to help him and it was only at night, well at least as I remember it. I spent hours walking him around the house and as soon as I would sit to rock him, he'd cry again. Just as I'd get him settled and asleep and start to put him down into his crib he'd cry again. I had to go against my cardinal rule and have him sleep with us otherwise I'd be up all night walking the floor. He finally slept for good through the night at 10 1/2 months when moved to a bigger house and he got his own room. That very first night he slept through the night like he knew he was sharing his room with a girl and didn't like it. So, my suggestion is move!! HAHA just kidding. But sometimes it just takes time and a little loving and before you know it things change.

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possible, so if he needs it you'll just have to accept it for a bit longer. As much as you may want to sleep :p

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

Yeah i have heard of the water trick apparently they give up waking up for it but i never thought to try it hahaha. I dont think he's waking up for attention i know he's just waking up coz he is used to having the bottle so he wakes up for it. The other times he wakes up coz he loses his dummy and i put it in his mouth and he goes straight back to sleep.



Another theory i was working is that maybe he needs the bottle as he is in the lower side of the weght scale, hes a small little thing lol.

Heather - posted on 07/07/2009

Yeah I have been putting the baby rice in his bottle to thicken it up and i have been giving him a meal of proper food before bed as well. I would just try and let him cry it out but my partner tends to get really frustrated because he has to work and its not fair on him and he seems to think that letting him cry it out wont work as he is crying so he's not going to just roll over and go to sleep lol.



Dont worry your not rubbing it in I have my 2 year old daughter who slept through the night from day one around to remind me of how easy some kids are lol.

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We just got my 18 month old to start sleeping through the night about 2 months ago. It involved a lot of screaming and about a week of long nights. Not fun, but it worked.



At that age I've heard give them water in the bottle or once they are able to hold and drink out of a sippy cup give that to them and leave the room, that way they can drink it whenever they want. But if its attention and not the bottle he's really looking for you may be in for a lot more of it till he's older.

[deleted account]

We just got my 18 month old to start sleeping through the night about 2 months ago. It involved a lot of screaming and about a week of long nights. Not fun, but it worked.



At that age I've heard give them water in the bottle or once they are able to hold and drink out of a sippy cup give that to them and leave the room, that way they can drink it whenever they want. But if its attention and not the bottle he's really looking for you may be in for a lot more of it till he's older.

Jill - posted on 07/07/2009

are you feeding him cereal/baby food close to bed time to make sure his little belly is full? Ideally his bottle at bedtime should just top him off. It might take a couple of nights, but if you reinforce the idea that all he has to do is cry and he'll get a bottle, you won't be able to break the habit. Maybe if you try giving him some cereal with his nighttime bottle he will be full enough to make it through the night. Sorry you are having such troubles. Mine is also 8 months old but he is sleeping through the night (not to rub it in!)