11 Month Old Doesn't Sleep Through the Night

He could have a food allergy. Have you tried cutting out all dairy or gluten? That is what did the trick for my little girl! Sleeps ALL night long now. Also, I give my daughter mylicon drops in her last night time bottle just in case she may have issues in the night. It seems to help some. Hope you get some answers.

Dear L., So sorry you and your Little One are going through this passage. And this too shall pass.
Some thoughts:
1. What else are you feeding your son during the day and before bedtime?
2. You live in TX -- is your son's room at a comfortable temperature?
3. How is his nap schedule? At this age, he should have 2 good naps. Not having good naps can affect nite time sleep.
4. Is your son getting enuf quality time with you when you come home from work?
5. Have you come across Elizabeth pantley's "No Cry Sleep SOlution" -- She has a great deal of suggestions to help you LO get to sleep. Because he may be uncomfortable etc, Pantley's book has loads of things to look for and to take into consideration.

Things will get better as he gets older, so hang in there.
Jilly

It sounds like you're trying a lot of good things already....the only thing I would add is some probiotics. Probiotics have been used in Europe for years for colicky babies and is just now being used for colic. It's not a medication...it's in most yogurts.
B.

Hi,
I had a baby who could not fall asleep on her own, The most helpful resource for me at that time was a book called The Self-Calmed baby, and I recommend it to parents all the time

However, a gassy baby is a different matter and requires additional help.
I work with folks with food and other sensitivities. There is often no rhyme or reason to the things that people are sensitive to. When my daughter was an infant with GI problems the Dr. tested me for food allergies and then eliminated my sensitivities from my diet plus the common ones. Now, there is more accurate testing as well as holistic methods to clear the sensitivities. I would be happy to provide you with resources if you like.
Blessings,
K.
"From the Heart" Family Healing

My little girl didn't start sleeping through the night until she was 15 months old. Even now at 16.5 months, she doesn't always sleep through the night, but at least she does more often than not. We tried every trick in the book and then some. She just really needed comforting. What finally got her sleeping through the night was finding a lovey which she did all on her own. We tried several times to get her attached to something and nothing worked until one day she decided to attach herself to a stuffed giraffe that we had bought her 6 months before at Christmas! I know it is really hard, but the only advice I have is to listen to your gut. Your mommy instincts know what is best for your baby. If you think he is in pain, go to him. It is better than being unsure and having him scream in pain without any comfort from you. Good luck and I hope it gets better soon! I know how hard it is to go without sleep for sooooo long!

Here are some tips and more info is at the link below:
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2010/01/09/...
Kyle Pruett, M.D., provides excellent insight on this topic.
Children’s sleep issues are among the more challenging developmental stages for parents to master.  But biology is on the parents’ side in this one, because sleep patterns mature over time just like other developmental skills.

* Polls tell us that one-third of American children and their parents sleep together some or most of the time before children start school. Co-sleeping varies hugely by culture and ethnicity. So think about what you want to do, and discuss the pros and cons with your pediatrician.
* Make sure your crib is safe (locking rails), that your older child’s ‘big bed’ has side rails, and if you are co-sleeping, that there is plenty of room.
* The human brain is active during sleep, but the deepest sleep is typically at the beginning of the night.  Babies spend more time than older children in stimulating REM sleep, with eye movements and irregular breathing. Don’t worry about all that action in your child’s body – it too is growth.

If he is waking for a physical reason you can't blame the little guy. It may be a matter of changing his formula again. I am just guessing on that because I don't know much about formulas and if you have to give baby time to get used to it.

I do highly recommend learning about infant sleep because once he is better with his tummy troubles you will want to help teach him to sleep. I say teach him because babies need to be taught to sleep. They don't automatically know how! And using trying the cio method does not teach them a thing about sleep. I recommend Dr. Sears Baby Sleep Book and The Baby Whisperer. They both have toddler versions as well. Once you understand baby sleep and get some great tips and suggestions you can put together a sleep routine for your family.

What type of formula is he on? My daughter had terrible gas when she was little and used to be on Similac Advance. We tried gripe water & mylicon and neither helped. We then switched her to Similac Soy and she still had really bad gas but now it smelled so bad that it really could be detected all over the house. I read about Nestle Good Start formula and once we switched to that, we noticed a huge difference in a couple of days. I don't know what type of formula you are feeding your baby but maybe try that. Also what types of solids are you feeding him? Some veggies can also cause gas.
(FYI - over the past few months I've heard a ton of moms saying their kids also had a ton of trouble with the Similac formulas. I looked up their formula mix and their protein ratios are different from all the others. Enfamil, which my son used years ago and never had any issues at all, is similar to breastmilk and the Nestle Good Start is 100% whey protien which is supposed to be the easiest to digest.)

I feed both of my kids yogurt everyday to help them get a good dose of probiotics to keep things moving in their little tummies. Also try the Yoplait Whipped Yogurt which can also be frozen so it tastes like a frozen ice cream treat.

Good luck! Let us know if any of these suggestions helps your little guy.

-M.

Try this for relieving the gas, place the baby on his left side. Bring his knees up as close to his stomache as possible. Gently hold him like this till he passes whatever gas if hurting his tummy. Do this every night, make it part of your routine. Then when he cries out you can see if it is gas or habit. Babies are highly intelligent. They watch every move we make. And babies are completely egocentric, they only know their own needs and wants. This will work for anyone to lay like this to relieve gas pains.
Best of luck with you little one.

I don't know that I have any really good advice, because we did things a lot differently. But I'm pretty sure that at his age, "sleeping through the night" is a actually DEFINED as 5 hours.

My son didn't sleep through the night until he was 2. I practiced extended breastfeeding and family bed, and that was a godsend. He'd wake, I'd latch him and we'd both go back to sleep. I was working, and if I'd had him in another room I'd have died of sleep deprivation.

I know you mentioned CIO, but you might try this book: "The No-cry Sleep Solution" by Pantley. It had some GREAT suggestions that I found especially helpful.

So much good luck to you.

My daughter had a gas problem too. We changed her formula to Enfamil Gentlease and we also gave her drops in her morning bottle. They are a pro-biotic that was helping her. It is called Bio-Gaia and can be found on the internet and at some places Target and Rite-Aid. She was on it for about 5 months and then we took her off of it. She does great now. Maybe see about trying that. It is about $40.00 a bottle here and needs to be refrigerated. Good luck!!

My daughter had awful gas and the doctor put her on an antacid and she was fine. Luckily hers cleared around 6mths when she started spending time upright. Good luck!