8 Month Old Wakes up Too Often and Too Early!

Two things pop into my head as I read this: growth spurt or possible ear infection. If she is waking up crying it might not be a bad idea to get her ears checked.

Kellymom has some wonderful advice for breastfeeding moms. Other really good resources include La Leche League and Dr. Sears.

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html

All babies are different and sleep on different schedules. My son has always woken up early (6 am) and he is 4. The good part about him waking so early is that he goes to bed a lot earlier now :)

If you are needing sleep I would highly recommend co-sleeping. Their are safe ways to co-sleep and you will rest so much better during the periods where your daughter wants to nurse frequently during the night.

Good Luck to you and your daughter.

Here are some tips with a link that has more details on child sleeping issues:
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2010/01/09/...

* To instill good sleep habits remember that consistency matters so much:
o Bath Time
o Goodnights
o Tuck and Talk Bedtime Story
o Lullabye (yours are best)
o Goodnights

try feeding her more. cereal at night worked when my kids were going through this growth spurt. good luck!

7pm is awfully early for her to go to bed for the night. At that age, my boys went to bed at 8:30 or 9. I would start with adjusting that first. Push it to 7:30 one week then 8 the next. We co-slept with our boys so it was easier to nurse them back to sleep. I never minded that.

She could be having a growth spurt and need the extra calories. I would not take that away from her at this point.

Good Luck!

It could be something in her environment she does not like. Does she have a nightlight? Is her room temperature cool enough or warm enough? Is it too quiet or too loud? If too quiet try a soft radio station and if it is too loud try towels pinned on the wall to absorb sound.

I would really deter from feeding her sleep as well. It might have led to a pattern of confusion for her where she is now accustomed to eating in the middle of the night and she expects it whether she needs it or not.

You could test to see if it is her gums by giving her some teething tablets or rubbing vitamin E on her gums to see if that keeps her comfortable longer.

GOOD LUCK!

My son didnt start sleeping all night till he was 9 months old until then he was up about every 2-3 hours every night, all babies are different. Try giving her some rice or oatmeal cerel at bedtime maybe shes more hungury now that will fill her up longer, or could be teeth, Is she possibly constipated? Or could be ear infection. Just be patient It wont last forever. Good Luck.

Is your daughter eating solids yet? Or only breast milk/ formula?

My daughter too was a good sleeper, until around 4/5 months, when she started waking up in the middle of the night. That's when we started add rice to her formula before bedtime so she would have a full belly and not wake up. That did the trick.

Hope this helps.

if you know she's not hungry (she's eating solids on top of breastmilk), then you can try sleep training. i'm against cio too but i found this great book good night, sleep tight by kim west and i've mentioned it to several people here on this forum b/c i just can't believe how well it's working. my baby was just like urs -- started waking up every hr or two and my husband and i were at our wit's end but whenever we tried to do cio or some other sleep training, it failed. anyway, you have to teach your baby to put herself back to sleep b/c we all wake up now and then in the middle of our sleep but we don't remember b/c we just put ourselves back to sleep w.o thinking about it. believe it or not, that's a skill that babies have to learn. so the key thing is to not rock or breastfeed her to sleep. she has to fall asleep on her own at 7pm so that when she wakes up at 1 am or 2am, she can do it on her own! so basically, what you do is get her drowsy but awake and then put her in the crib. she should be aware that she's going in the crib. most likely, she'll cry or pop up (if she's standing already) but you don't pick her up. you just say "shhh" or pat her intermittently (not constantly) and you stay right by her crib until she falls asleep (make sure it's a deep sleep before leaving). the baby doesn't get hysterical b/c she knows you're there (although she will cry) and it'll take about 30-40 min total. every few days, you move further from the crib (halfway across the room, at doorway, etc.) until you're comopletely out of the room and she's ok w. that. in the middle of the night, you may have to just do what u normally do if you can't have her crying cuz of the neighbors. my baby mastered the falling asleep on his own (in about 2-3 days, he didn't even cry when i put him in the crib w. his pacifier. i'm stil in the room (close to the doorway) but i don't even have to say shh or pat him anymore -- he just looks at me, looks at hte walls, plays with his bumper, etc. til he drifts off to sleep. anyway, i foud that once he could do that, he has stopped waking up in the middle of the night! i know he still wakes up b/c i'll hear a cry but then if i wait a minute, he just tosses and falls asleep again. turns out it really is a skill a baby can learn! one note - my baby wasn't feeding middle of the night so your case might be a little different. i highly recommend you get the book as it goes into a lot more detail re: nighttime feedings and early morning wakeups (although anything after 6am is considered a healthy wakeup for babies). good night sleep tight by kim west. get it from the library if you dont wanna pay. sorry this is so long but i had another glorious night free of nighttime wakings after a year of restless sleep and crazy tired mornings and i'm really passionate about the book right now!! my husband and i are kicking ourselves for not getting it sooner. good luck :)