My 8 month old son will not sleep this has been going for about 4 months now. He is like clock work wakes up every 2 hours. We have tried: tylenol, gas drops, oral gel, swaddling, music, sleep only in a diaper, sleep with pajamas, cry it out (the third night he was still crying for over 2 hours and I feel horrible that we let him cry that long),longer naps, shorter naps, finally we resorted to putting him in bed with us here recently and he still wakes every 2 hours or sooner. Last time we were at the doctors I mentioned this and she said that he checked out fine. That was the only advice she gave. We are still putting him in his crib every night after his bedtime routine. We have no problem getting him to sleep, it is helping him stay asleep. I am starting to feel frustrated, I am also 13 weeks pregnant so I would like this to be resolved soon so I can find a little rest when the second comes.
So my son would never sleep, and nursed all night long!!! But one night after my husband left for a deployment I had had all that I could handle and I let him cry in his crib after nursing him. He cried for 10 minutes tops and was alseep. Our situation is one million times better. He sleep from about 7-6.
Have you tried a swing? My daughter is almost 3 months and she was like that. I swaddle her and put her in the swing and she'll sleep for at least 4 hours. Hope this helps.
As long as you've ruled out a growth spurt or teething as a reason for night wakings...
I recommend the No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. I'm not able to do the 'cry-it-out' method...my heart can't take it ;) but this book was very helpful!! Mine would wake every 1-2 hours at night to nurse...and we mostly co-sleep. This book helped us to sleep peacefully with little to no tears. There are a couple of worksheets in the book that help to identify trouble spots and then she is very thorough in ways to change your routine. It's not an overnight fix....it can take several months to have it's full effect....but I was able to notice a definite change in his sleeping pattern (and have some sleep relief myself!) in a month.
Hope you get some more sleep soon!!
This will sound a little odd and it may or may not help. But it is worth a shot. My daughter would cry for long periods of time and I got so frustrated one day I turned the tv on static as loud as it would go to drown her noise out. It got her quiet and 5 minutes later she was asleep. The constant never changing "white noise" was a blessing. If you can find a tv that still lets you hear white noise try recording it and playing it. Hope that helps.
my son did this.........if he is teething give him some natural teeting pills - you can purchase them at Wal-Mart. Other than that - let him cry himself back to sleep. My son cried in his bed and I cried in mine for the 5 days it took us to get him back to sleeping at night. Our Ped. told me to check him once when he started crying and to remove anything from his crib the night before that could keep him occupied or maybe even hurt him during these crying spells. It was hard but the benefits outweighed the cost - cranky mom all day long is too bit a price to pay for a night time play. The first night my son cried for 3 - yes THREE hours straight. It gets easier as the days go on. good luck!!
It could be that he is going through a growth spurt and is hungry. Are you feeding him when he wakes up? You didn't mention it. Mine both woke up like that and it was usually hunger. Try feeding him more at bedtime.
At worst, suggest a sleep test to his pediatrition..it could be a breathing issure that's waking him up. Try putting him to bed and then going in and watching him just before the 2 hour mark..see if you can see a change in his sleep pattern or breathing pattern just before he wakes up.
Another thing could be teething or he could be a light sleeper. My daughter would hit the side of her crib or bassinet with her arm and it would wake her up.
Good luck on getting some sleep!
I don't know if you have had him on a consistent schedule up until this sleep problem began or not, but it sounds similar to what we experienced with our first baby. My Pediatrician suggested a book for me to read to help get our baby's wake/sleep schedule on track. It is called "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Ezzo and Bucknam. It was a lifesaver for us. I bought it at Barnes and Noble, but I have since seen it at Wal-Mart Supercenter in the baby section.
This is about the age where my daughter did something similar. We did the cry-it-out, however we did it incrementally, not what most people think of with cry-it-out.
it took 3 or 4 nights and then she would wake, cry, find another passifier in her bed and go back to sleep.
What we did was, when she woke i went in, gave her the binky and laid her down (never picked her up) patted her back a couple times and left as i said goodnight. if she was crying again/still in five minutes i went back in and repeated the proceedure, only the next increment was 10 minutes, then 15, then 20 then i worked my way back to five. This way i was reassuring her that i cared and wouldn't just let her scream forever, but also that it was time to be going back to bed. The first night she cried on and off for about 3 hours, the second close to an hour and a half the third i think was about 15 minutes and then after that if she cried at all it was just for a few seconds.
Mine was waking because of a new skill (pulling to stand) and many children will do this as they learn a bundle of new skills, sitting, crawling, standing, walking, rolling etc. It takes some work, but it is well worth it if you can take the lack of sleep for yourself for a few nights. Never let a baby cry unattended for more than 20 minutes.
Most children will sleep best in the same amount of clothing as you with a light (think recieving blanket) blanket and a thermostat temperature of 72-74 degrees.
HTH,
M.
Try some natural products. If he's still on formula, fill his bottle with some oatmeal it might help him sleep. Also Lavendar oil is a great way to be and stay relaxed. You can drop some around his room or crib and may be he'll continue to sleep through the night, If you have a Wholefood, go to the baby section and see what they offer to relax babies.
I hope this helps a little.
HI. I persuaded two baby boys to sleep all night. The first at 6 weeks, the second at 11 weeks. I used the techniques from the popular book 'On becoming Baby Wise' by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. If you are too tired to go out & buy the book, the basic premise is to have baby on a routine that involves a three step process. 1) eating time 2) awake time 3) then sleep time. For some magical reason this works and results in a baby that sleeps all night. It worked on both of mine. They are always in a good mood because of the routine and people always compliment me on how happy they are. I started mine from birth, but I would think you could still start at 8 mons. I would DEFINEATLY try it with your next one so that you don't have two kids taking turns keeping you awake. ~
I would try a swing that swings from side to side. We got one for our son and he is 11 months now and still sleeps all night in it. It was the best investment we ever made!
