8 Month Old Wakes Every 3 Hours at Night

That's exactly what's happening. At 8mos, he doens't need to eat overnight. It's habit. He wakes up and you go in and nurse and cuddle him.
He needs to learn how to self soothe.

You'll need to do some sleep training - whatever method you choose. I'm a CIO proponent (close the door and don't go in until morning), but everyone is different. That is the fastest method to correct the behavior. Other methods will work, they'll just take longer, as long as your consistent.

No one can tell you that a baby doesn't need to nurse overnight! How would you feel if you woke hungry in the middle of the night (because that never happens right?) and you were told nope, you don't need food. Imagine being an infant that is growing leaps and bounds.

Now all that being said, you will be the best judge to know if he *needs* to nurse or not. My 1st was able to learn to sleep thru the night at 7 months and rarely woke to nurse. My 2nd nursed during the night off and on until she was about a year old. We weaned at 20 months. Every baby is different and has different needs. I was able to look at my 1st nursing pattern, how he was nursing at night-was it a full nursing or was he taking just a bit and falling asleep to determine if he truly needed night nursings. Follow baby's cues and you won't go wrong.

It is very important to learn about infant sleep so you better understand how to teach your little man about sleep, how to self-soothe, what to expect and what is expected. Dr. Sears Baby Sleep Book, The baby Whisperer and The No-Cry sleep solution all have *excellent* info, tips and tricks. These 3 books were invaluable in learning how to teach my first how to sleep. If you choose the Ferber method (sometimes called CIO) please know that it does not mean you lay baby down, close the door and don't go back in until morning. It involves a graduated system of going back in. But really, there is no reason to have your little one crying himself silly at night in the name of sleep. I wanted night time to be peaceful and calm and I was able to achieve that with very few tears by using parts of each of the 3 books I mentioned above.

I think unfortunately that you have created a monster. If you ever want to
sleep again, you will have to break the habit. Not a easy thing to do. It
may mean a few nights of crying but he will get the hint. If it is easier for
you to just nurse him and go back to sleep, you do what you have to do
to survive. Whatever works best for you. . At 8 months he really
should be sleeping thru the night. That being said, I had one who had an
appetite not to be believed. I would line up four bottles (8Oz) on the window
sill and he would drink them all between 11PM and 8AM. He was also eating table food by six months. Today he is a NYC firefighter and still has
that appetite and a son just like him LOL. Good luck.

My DD is turning 1 next week, and usually wakes up 2x a night still to nurse. I feel that if it's OK for ME to get up for a midnight snack, it's more than acceptable for a baby to. Especially breast fed babies... Breast milk is easier to digest than formula, so they 'go through' it quicker. But it's so good for her, that I am more than willing to give her as much as she will drink!

On that note... I did notice that my DD slept better at night after dropping one of her naps. She usually wakes up around 8:00, naps from 12:00-2:00 (ish), then stays awake until her bedtime at 9! (she started this around 7 months...) She doesn't seem to get over-tired unless we have a super-busy day, then we usually put her down around 8:00.

LOL, well he is 8 months and has an excuse. Still an infant...

My daughter is 17 months and wakes up 2x. She used to wake up 3x, but I'm happy she's down to twice.

It doesn't matter if she goes to sleep later than her usual time, she is up 4-5 hours later, and them 3.5 hours after. Then she is up for the morning around 6:30 every day!!!! She is down to one nap, maybe two if we are in the car.
Her pediatrician said it could be another wave of separation anxiety. But I have to remember, I'm a light sleeper and operate on a few hours myself.

However, I so look forward to the day when she sleeps through the night so I can get some rest.

But what can work for you is to sleep when he sleeps so you can recharge. Try a warm bath before bed. And I remember breast feeding (nursing). The milk goes through them so fast, I'm not surprised he's waking up for a feeding.

It's normal for babies that age to wake to nurse at night. Some babies don't but it is biologically normal. This is what Dr. Gordon has to say about sleeping http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html.

The thing with baby sleep is that it changes. Unfortunately it isn't necessarily a progression from sleeping little to more to even more. It tends to evolve and backtrack depending on what is going on. When more physical growth and/or cognitive growth is going on they need more nutrition even during the night.

You are not doing anything wrong. That's just the pattern he is in right now. Someone else recommended the book The No Cry Sleep Solution, that might give you some helpful info. But I found with my daughter that she did things when she was ready and not a moment before. When she was ready to sleep more she slept more, it didn't seem to matter what I tried, because if she wasn't ready to do it, the techniques didn't work. It was like that with everything for her. All babies are different so what works for one doesn't for another. He will get there.

Up until my son was 11.5 months he woke up evey three hours to nurse. I was exhausted. One night I had enough of the maddness and I just kept putting him back to sleep instead of nursing him. It was really hard because he would sometimes wake up every hour. I would just sit by his crib and rub back or belly. It took about a week and one night he slept until 5am..wich is all night. I should add as we were up all night I would not nurse him before 5 am. He goes down for the night between 8-9 and sleeps until 5 wich is wonderful. I have 2 other children and it was hard to be exhausted and want to nap all the time. My baby is almost 13 months old and now gets up between 5-6 am I nurse him and he goes back to sleep until about 7:30. He usually takes 2 naps a day since he takes very short naps. You are not doing anything wrong to wake him up some babies don't magically sleep through the night at 3 months old. I thought they did because my two older boys did so I was soo frustrated with my terrible sleeper. I finally just had to bite the bullet and I am glad I did. He is not going to suffer any long term effects from his mothe not nursing him all night long untill he decides he is done! We are both happier since I am not so exhausted and cranky all the time.

I was a nanny to a 6 month old little girl who did not nap unless she was held and did not sleep through the night at all, regardless of the two feedings her Mom gave her. When I came in we started working on a sleep schedule. Nap time started off in the arms being rocked as she was fed an 8oz bottle and she was transitioned into the crib in the half asleep/half awake stage so she got into the habit of dozing off by herself. Bed time was the same thing and regardless of how many times she actually woke she was only fed twice any other time we just rubbed her back and checked her diaper.....eventually she stopped waking up other altogether unless it was to feed.....if she did wake up we didn't notice because she had learned to self-soothe by this point and as she found her sleep pattern and got more comfortable with herself she slept straight through until morning...this took about 2 months.

There is a nine month growth spurt. Perhaps your son is ahead of the curve (like my daughter).