Sleeping help please - 8 month old

[samsmom]

Hi there,

Am new to the forum and was hoping some of you could offer some advice. My 8 month old son is a little angel during the day. Wakes between 7 and 7:30 every morning. Has 2 naps every day. I have no problem getting him to go for his day time naps at all. I just put him in his cot and he goes off to sleep.

We follow the same nigh time routine every single night (bath, massage, dressed, bottle, book, bed). He goes off to sleep really well between 7 and 7:30. We don't hear beep from him again until between 10:30 and 11 when he wakes up. I think this is out of habit as this is when he used to have his dream feed. I usually just pop his dummy back in his mouth and he goes back to sleep.

Problem is, he will then wake anywhere between 2 and 8 times during the rest of the night. I always check the obvious - nappy etc but I am just really getting so tired with having so much interrupted sleep. What am I doing wrong?

I must also just say that I used to be able to just pop the dummy in his mouth and he would go to sleep but now he is getting older he seems to cry out for me when I leave the room.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[lisa282]

Mine went through a similar thing at about that age too, I think they just cry out for you wanting a bit of comfort more than anything else, but they do get past it. We used to religiously check on our son each time he cried, checking nappy, making sure he wasn't sick, winding him etc, but after a certain point of being woken for weeks on end with no apparent reason we stopped checking everything so much. I would go in, reassure him everything is okay, and keep my hand on his chest for a bit until he went back to sleep. Sometimes you can wake them further by checking they are not wet or hungry etc, when all they want is you. After a while it got to the point that I would just reassure him and leave straight away without staying with him, and then eventually he stopped waking at all when he realised he wasn't getting anything.

Obviously this is just my expereince and I'm not saying yours will be the same or that it will work, only you can know yourself if they are waking for anything in particular and then resolve it. It sounds a bit harsh and can be a bit controversial with some mums, but it also doesn't hurt to let them cry sometimes. By all means go and reassure them, but leave the room and let them settle on their own. If you go to them everytime they cry, they will in turn expect you to go running everytime they cry so they will learn to cry just for attention and then it will get harder and harder for you to leave them.

Good luck, and I hope you get some sleep soon!

 

[Red_Fairy]

my little one, altho almost completly on solids now (has one bottle a day for a nap) wakes numerous times of a night. - still demands 2 full bottles of milk a night too. (no matter how much food she has during the day - makes no difference)
shes done this sinse she was about 5 months.

hoping she'll just grow out of it, but i hear lots of mums of 3 yr olds saying the same!

i know how hard it is.

 

[andreag]

I would agree with Lisa282. C is generally very settled but we have a general rule of not lifting her out of her cot once she is in for the night.
I know that she won't poo in the night so I wouldn't check her nappy, just stroke her head or chest to reassure her and then leave the room. We also have a 5 minute rule - in that we only go in after 5 minutes unless it is a proper cry or she sounds in pain. I hope I don't sound heartless - I am usually sat bolt upright in bed staring at the clock to wait 5 mins, but 99% of the time she will settle herself in less than a minute.

 

[mummy2be]

I have been through something similar with my daughter - now 7 months old. This is just my opinion but changing things worked for me - she has been sleeping all night for 2 weeks!!

Sleeping with a dummy makes them associate sleep with having a dummy in. When they wake up and it's not there their reaction is to want it - so they cry till you cme and put it in! Unfortunately they then begin to associate you with going off to sleep (yes i know, my ltttle girl was fine in the day and at 7pm too) and they become very dependent on you and the dummy being there to fall asleep.

I did loads of research about sleep before i realised this was our problem with Lucy. In desperation i just took the dummy away full stop. i did the whole controlled cying thing and she cryed for 3 hours the first night, 2 the next and then didn't bother after that! I also made sure that every time i put her to sleep she had a blanky to sleep with in the hope she associated that with sleep - not sure if it worked but she likes chewing it!

I have read that getting it cracked in the day is a key towards the night - for a couple of days, when they are due for a nap make sure they are in the pram etc so they can nod off more easily without the dummy.

I really hope this helps you - it has changed my life!!! I hadn't had more than 2or 3 hours of unbroken sleep in 6 months.
I do now give her the dummmy to settle her if we are out and she's grumpy but i never let her fall asleep with it in!

 

[Redshoes]

Isaac does this and I believe it's in relation to his teething pains mainly, but daily experience too. I've read a lot about LO's waking and so many things can cause it, major milestones reached or changes in their routine, learning to crawl, eating new foods, it can all affect their sleep as they're so excited to learn they want to get up and carry on that's what I've read which seems to be best suited in my opinion, as like said above if its not food, nappy, wind, cold, hot etc then its got to be something else, unfortunately nothing we do can help it, you just have to ride it out, as blooming annoying as it is Very best wishes

 

[trixipaws]

i read in a pampers leaflet specifically about 8-month-olds recently- sometimes babies are so active during their sleep, will wriggle, cry and even open their eyes- so they appear awake, but are not. if u get them up u will wake them and make them grouchy. millie wakes a couple of times a nite still and if her dummy's fallen out i'll pop it back in, sometimes she'll keep crying a bit, but we leave her and she settles herself. i used to get her up everytime and when i was breast-feeding i'd bring her to bed and latch her on (i breast-fed up to 8 months) but she was waking at least 4 or 5 times a nite, often more.

she's MUCH better now- im not sure what it is mostly its a combination i think- i switched to formula at 8 months, she got her first tooth at 8 months also, and iv started letting her settle herself if she grizzles in the nite, and its really improved.

i'd say if ur baby does not usually poo in the nite, dont get him up to change him. and if youve been giving him milk and he isnt drinking much, stop that too.

my HV said to me at my 7-month check when i told her i was still breast-feeding thru the nite- not to, she doesnt need it. and she was right!

it took me AGES to be able to leave my baby crying and not pick her up even for a few seconds- but i really think sometimes now it has to be done, for mum and babys sake! as long as u kno the difference between when ur baby's cry is just a whinge and nothing really wrong, and ur baby's proper business cry. i wasnt sure for ages i think thats why i couldnt leave her crying earlier. but now i kno if its a cry that NEEDS attention or if its one that doesnt.

sign up 2 the pampers baby club online (its free) and maybe ask them to send one of those 8-month leaflets on baby sleep. i found it really useful.

good luck