8 Month Old Still Doesn't Sleep Through the Night

ive been on both ends of this.my first slept in our bed since birth and he would wake up numerous times a night and his comfort besides a paci was having me lay next to him for hours holding his hand and letting him flick my finger.And I bottle fed so I had to get up every few hours and make a bottle,feed him and try to go back to sleep.With my now 16 month old he has slept in his crib since birth,but I think he was able to get use to sleeping solo in the hospital during his week stay after bith with pnemonia.He doesnt take a paci and he wont fall asleep ANYWHERE not even in my lap,he wants his bed.My 4 yr old still sleeps with us.The only way to get your baby into sleeping all night is when he starts crying,go in there,change his diaper if its wet and lay him right back down and leave the room.Letting him cry himself to sleep is hard and it may seem harsh but if your running in there he's not going to stop and he wont learn to self sooth.I tried doing this to my first when he was a baby and was unable to b/c I would turn on the monitor and hearing him cry would break my heart,babies have the certain cry that just has a way of eating at your emotion.Instead of trying to do this at night when your tired and not up for battle try starting off by doing it during the day during the naps and not turning on the monitor so u cant hear him scream.I know its hard but if u justsit and listen to him cry it will break you down withing 10 mins.Sometimes you just have to trail and error since kids are different.The only way to avoid things like this is to start off at birth with a bedtime schedule.But most new parents like me and my husband wanted to do it our way and payed for it later...and still paying for it.But that experience also made me wiser to things once I had my second and now..even with a small baby whos now walking since last month and a 4 yr old..despite his kickes and wetting my bed occasionally, I get decent sleep.

Btw, have you tried a crib toy?I first had one that had womb sounds that would turn on when he made a noise.Then I upgraded him to one of those ones that has a monkey that plays peek a boo and bubbling fish and it has different settings where u can make it play music or just have the lights and it plays up to 15 mins.The only downside is that it takes 4 d batteries and they dont last very long.But my baby still loves his and they can just hit a little bird on it and it turns right back on.It might help.

You are just going to have to let him cry it out. I have a six month old and he has always been a good sleeper, but some nights he tries to wake up and I don't let him. I go into his room, pat him a few times, and then walk out. He usually goes back to sleep within a few minutes. I have had to let him cry it out a few times. I also don't give him a bottle right before bed. He goes to bed a 9:00pm so I try to give him a bottle around 8:00pm after I get him out of the bath. When 9:00 comes I just put him in the bed awake and he falls right to sleep. I believe this is helping him fall back to sleep when he wakes at night. Naps I do the same. It will take some time for him to get used to sleeping in that "big" crib all by himself, but over time and a little crying, I believe he will finally give you the sleep you need.

Mine are 4 and 6 but I still remember how hard this is! It will take some time to break these habits, but it will happen. We used Ferber's method. According to him, and many others, you need to start with getting him to sleep at the start of the night by putting him in his crib while he's still awake. Is he doing that? When he's got that mastered you can start dealing with nighttime wakenings. Here is an article that describes it a little better. I know a lot of people don't agree with "crying it out" but it really didn't take our children too long to learn, and a few tough nights were so worth it in the long run. Good luck to you.

www.parentingweekly.com/baby/baby_information/ferber_meth...

Hi B..
I have two kids, one 6 and my daughter who is 4 months old now. And people are amazed when my hubby and I say that our kids go right to bed in their OWN ROOMS!!! I think parents make the mistake of giving in after 10-15 min of their kids crying and just bringing them to bed and then they freak out because their 6 year old is still sleeping with them. If you know he's not sick, he's changed and fed, let him cry. But if you keep bringing him to bed with you, you will lose more sleep and you'll end up having a 6 year old still in your bed. Also, don't rush in there right away and pick him up. My four month old kinda wines in the middle of the night, and she'll get herself back to sleep. Just stick to your guns, you'll lose more sleep in the long run if you keep bringing him to your bed. And you and your hubby won't have your time.

I'm sorry but I'm going to disagree with everyone who thinks their BABY should cry through their needs. BABIES still need to eat throughout the night. BABIES have needs that need to be met and the only way they can communicate is through crying. 8 months is really to young to be expecting to sleep through the night. All baby "training" (ie ferber, ezzo) does is tell your BABY that his needs aren't being met and to just give up trying.

I wouldn't let my husband, 4 yr old, or 8 yr old cry themselves to sleep, why in the world is it ok to do that to a BABY?!?

Most nursing moms don't night weening until between 1 and 2 yrs old. I always attended to my babies (they actually slept with me because it was easier) and SHOCK! they are perfectly adjusted children who sleep fine in their beds.

B.,

I am the mother of a 9-week old girl and I we were exhausted from lack of sleep. I bought a book called The Sleep Easy Solution from Barnes and Noble and it has helped tremendously. It explains how to get your child to sleep through the night (it does not involve allowing to scream their heads off for hours either:)and usually gets results within 4-5 nights. It took us three nights to where we can put here down awake and she fusses for about 2 min if she fusses at all and then she goes to sleep and sleeps through the night. Good luck!

sorry doc, but I don't think you are right about 8 month old that should be sleeping through the night, maybe around 2 years old. Unless, of course, you let them cry it out and they've given up on their mom.
Be patient, co-sleeping is wonderful!! my son was 18 months when he started sleeping through the night without nursing (I started shortening each nursing session over a period of 2 or 3 weeks to teach him how to fall asleep, courtesy of another mamasource's advice) After that, my son learned nursing happened with the sun came up.He still sleeps with us at 2, and we all sleep soundly. Your child is going to go through teething, and probably colds, learning all sorts of new motions like crawling and walking soon, and other things that will keep him up. Be patient, nap when he does, and realize this won't last forever -you are going through a develpmental stage together right now, enjoy the ride, bumpy as it may be. Your relationship with your child will thank you.

First- NEVER put cereal in a bottle. I don't care what "everyone" has told you- ask a doctor. Cereal should be fed with a spoon and if he can't do it that way, then he's not ready for cereal.
Ok, try giving him less and less milk in his bottles during the night and maybe substituting a pacifier just before he goes to sleep. Someone told me to let mine cry, but I never needed to. She sleeps thru now, but if she wakes, she goes to sleep on her own. Yes, I still wake up, but I don't go to her unless she's screaming. Good Luck!

momsoncall.com

Got our baby to sleep very early on and I still send emails all the time with any type of questions. Follow their advice to the letter and you will see results in 3 days!!!! Best of luck!

KL

Hey B.,

This is one of those things individuals can debate from time on. I have a 9 month old who was not sleeping through the night. We found it to be 100% habit by the time he was 7 months old. Colin was a premie and we had to wake him up every 3 hours to make sure he was gaining weight. After doing that for what seemed like forever and no one getting sleep, he was waking up and maybe drinking an ounce or two. We had to let him begin to self-soothe by crying. After about 2 nights, he said to heck with this. He was sleeping through the night until the tooth thing. That disruppted sleep for about a week but we are good now!

Hello B....I have a 4 yr. old who doesnt sleep through the night...But i have 4 that are older than he is...One of my sons began to sleep through the night by us turning on the radio for him at 2 wks old...He is now 15 and he likes country music...maybe that may help if you try the radio or something along those lines...Good luck..

believe me, i understand. i am six months pregnant and have a 22 month old boy. the only reason he sleeps thru the night is thanks to my mom. i nursed also, jesse slept in the bed with us from about 4 weeks to three months because i accidentally fell asleep nursing him only to realize he slept longer in the bed than in his. i would try to put some of your milk (i know that sounds weird) on his blanket or his sheet. just a little so he can smell you. that might be the problem. he cant smell you when he is alone in his bed. he might sleep more soundly if he can feel like you are near. also you can sleep with one of his blankets for a few nights so your smell gets on it. then let him sleep with it. i hope this works for you.
P.S. my dr told me the same thing that johanna said. if they cant take it on a spoon dont give them rice cereal. but everyone is different. but i do know that rice cereal at night might cause them to gain unneeded weight. S.

Hi B.!! Babies are tough so I hope you have a great support system. Weaning him is so new so be patient. Getting him on a schedule to sleep through the night is tough as well. Try keeping him up more in the evening, exercising him. When he wakes up is he eating the norm or is it an ounce or two? Our daughter would eat dinner around 7 p.m. and then want to go to sleep about 9 p.m. - without a bottle. So we used to wake her up before we went to bed (if not she would wake up at 12 or 1). A week of that, then stopped and she now eats, takes a bottle and sleeps through the night. We asked our dr. if we were harming her in any way by waking her up and feeding her and he said "If she is hungry, she will eat. If she is not, then she will not" She is now - 7 1/2 months.

read baby wise. give him pacifier to self calm and let him go back to sleep. good luck. dont listen to johanna i did the same thing with the rice in the bottle and my ped. doctor told me to do it. make your own choices.

B.,
Kids are so different that I don't think you can make a generalization of what to do for all. Let 'em cry - not let 'em cry. Let 'em sleep with you - don't sleep with them. Now that I have come through the other side, I have a whole new perspective. My oldest, now 9, slept through the night fairly consistently at about 9 months. My youngest, now 7, didn't do it until 3 1/2 years! Yes, I was tired a lot but that was just who she was. She didn't need to eat or play, she was just ready to be up for an hour or so (and no, she stopped her naps at 2 yrs). Both are really great, bright, active kids.

I heard a long time ago that parents often have 3 goals for raising young kids:
1. Get them to sleep through the night starting at infancy
2. Get them to eat everything that's good for them
3. Have them potty trained by 3 yrs.

I've never met anyone who can attest to mastering all 3!

I know this sounds cruel and harsh but your going to have to let him cry himself back to sleep. Babies form habits just like us adults and it will take a week or so until he realizes that your not going to feed, rock or hold him if he cries and he will get use to it. I have 3 boys and I found this to be harder when I stopped nursing in the middle of the night, but I felt like if they were on jar food and got enough milk during the day that they would just wake up out of pure habit and not because they were starving. Develop a good bedtime routine and be consistent... babies will learn what to expect and be so much happier. I love to hold my babies but I tried to lay them down awake so they would learn to sooth themselves and put themselves to sleep... believe me it makes things alot easier for when they get older. Co-sleeping is nice but it becomes to be habit and nobody gets good rest. Good Luck, Mom of 3 Boys!

You have trained him to expect you to come get him when he wakes up, now comes the daunting task of re-training him to lay back down and go to sleep on his own. With all of my children I started this with nap times (easier than trying to start at night for my kids) getting them to fall asleep on their own. Then once they learned the basics of falling asleep on their own we started letting them fall asleep on their own at bed time, and pretty much just closed the door until morning. The first few nights I sat out side the door and cried as they cried on the other, but after a few nights they just gave up and whimpered a few times and went back to sleep. SO glad I stuck with it though, I sure enjoy the sleep now!