9 Month Old Does Not Sleep at Night

Most people recommend that you let the child cry for X amount of time, go in, pat on the back, tuck in, reset a musical device, but avoid picking the child up. Then you stretch the time between going in there until they finally go to sleep. See if there are any video clips from the Nanny, she does a good job of showing how this works. The not going into the room for hours I would think would be if you have tried absolutely everything else.

Also, do you have a bedtime routine? One of the things I found with my kids was that the easiest way to get them to go to bed was to wear them out when they were up. Also, you should have a routine that signals to the baby that it is time for bed. Read a story, sing to them, rock a bit, do the bath, in whatever order you prefer. This helps them to switch gears.

Do you have a night light? There are different recommendations about the level of light in a room. Sleep experts indicate that even a bright alarm clock can be disturbing to adult sleepers so if she goes to sleep for a time, you should turn off a night light if you have one.

Also, if you are having problems with her sleeping, what time do you get her up? If she is sleeping later, get her up not when she wakes but wake her. It is easy to let her sleep late when you are exhausted but it defeats your trying to get her to go to bed at night.

Sleep was a big issue with my kids, my brother's kids were in bed by 7 every night but they were also up at 6. As they grew older, they were taught to entertain themselves with a book or toy in their bed until 7 or 8 or something, they would do this at my mother's house at well. I think mine are like me, hardwired as night people but if you keep at it, you can prevail, just be consistent. If you pick her up, she learns that if she cries x amount of time, mom will pick her up, etc.

I just used the cry it out method with my 12 month old. It had gotten to the point that he was getting up 5-6 times per night because he knew we would come in and pick him up. I finally had enough, and decided to let him cry it out. The first night was 1hr 20 min and the next night was about 45 minutes. The crying got less and less each night from then. Now he just lays down and goes to sleep, and when he wakes up he puts himself back to sleep. It is VERY difficult the first few nights, but then it gets better each day. The one piece of advice I have is once you leave the room DO NOT go back in. I caved in and did this the first night and it made everything way worse!! I only wish I had done this sooner!!

I used a book by Dr. Jodi Mindell -sleeping through the night. I read several books, but she laid it out the best. I also used the book at sleepyplanet.com - Combined they help me devise a plan. It was hard, but my kids did not cry for hours -but it's taken much longer than the week -although some days are great. If you decide to do this, it's sort of a decision you have to make over and over -KWIM??

I really dont believe in the cry it out method after trying it myself and reading the Harvard study on it. Here is the link to that.

http://www.sleepnet.com/infant3/messages/534.html

My 11 month old boy used to wake up alot too. I just make sure he has had plenty to eat during the day and then I feed him his last bottle right before he goes to bed. I always rock him while feeding in his room for bedtime (he eats more that way), sing "rock-a-by-baby", say our prayers and then tell him its night night time. I do that for the routine part. He usually sleeps through the night now. Except when he is cutting a new tooth. Then he wakes once. Also, if he is just whining, I dont go in there and he falls back asleep. The crying out method just didnt work for me because he would cry and cry for HOURS and never fall back asleep. So I just couldnt carry on with that. Maybe she is teething. Make sure she doesnt have an ear infection too. If teething try some infant tylenol before bed. Good luck. This too shall pass!

I would not be able to do that. Get the book the Baby WHisperer and follow it. It worked great for me and is not a cry it out method.

My 9 month old baby girl does the same thing :( I'm so tired all the time. I'm with you, I have a hard time with the cry it out thing and was the same way with my son. But, now that she is 9 months I think I will be able to start some sort of crib training. I'm going to start with not picking her up first thing and let her fuss a little for a few minutes for about a week. Then, the next try letting her cry it out during one waking between the hours of midnight and five. It's just so hard to do when your so tired and you know they will go back down with a quick feeding (breast feeding). Im always afraid if I let her cry she will then fully wake herself and then Im really in for it and will be up for hours trying to get her back down.

Also, my daughter does not really have set nap times. This week I am working on a schedule for her. One nap at noon and one before 5.

Just thought I would let you know you are not alone on this one. And Im glad to see that Im not either. I have friends who hasle me about this.

Good luck and take a nap when ever you can ;)

T.

I was so exhausted with my first one. She would wake up so much, but not be hungry. My neighbor told me about "Baby Wise". I read the book and implemented the techniques. Man! What an improvement. I was happy. Baby was happy. She's now 7 and sleeps great! No joke. I highly recommend Baby Wise. Best of luck!