9 Month Old Still Wakes at Night to Nurse

Try giving him a bottle with water. Once he realizes there is nothing special to get up for he may fall out of the habit.

Would you like it if you woke hungry or thirsty and someone told you "nope, forget it! You aren't really hungry!". I don't mean to be flip but babies are growing by leaps and bounds and some breastfed babies still *need* to wake to nurse. My first slept thru the night at around 7 months. My second didn't and woke to nurse until she was over a year. And you know what? That was ok. She was telling me very clearly what she needed and I provided that to her.

It's normal for a breastfed baby to continue to wake to nurse. And around 9 months is a huge growth spurt time. Now is not the time to fight what his body is telling you. He only has one way of telling you what he needs and if he isn't able to get it that way he has to ramp up to screaming.

You have to learn how to get yourself back to sleep. I can highly recommend yoga to help with that. When I was doing yoga once or twice a week I could fall asleep so easy becasue I learned how to relax.

Just curious...Does he sleep in his own room or in the room with you?

My daughter slept in her crib in my room up until a few weeks ago. She is 100% breastfed and would wake up several times every night. Some nights she wouldn't go back to bed.

We moved into a new house and she got her own room. The 1st night we slept here, and every night since, she has slept through the night.
I assumed it was because me & my hubby were the ones waking HER up every night. The wanting to nurse can be hunger or comfort for them.
Oh also my daughter is the same age. Last night she woke up at 5am and was so so so hungry. Please don't ignore him being hungry.

You will know if it is habit or hunger. If he wakes up and wants to play, Tell him it's not time to play it's bed time. Lay him back down, sing, rub his back etc to comfort him back to sleep.

If he shows signs of wanting to nurse, then do it. I know it sucks sometimes, It really does. But It WILL pass.

Some kind of sleep training is in order at this point. And it will involve some crying.
How much and what type is totally up to you. Research some different styles. You have to find your comfort level.

We do full Cry It Out. Meaning close the door and don't go back in until morning. It took 2 nights with DD (at 22 weeks), and from that point on, she sleeps 12 hrs straight through every night. If she does wake - she gets herself back to sleep with no crying.

As for the standing and getting stuck. He needs to learn how to get back down on his own. He's in his crib, and if he falls back down, he's FINE. Let him figure that out. Of course he's mad! That's what's going to get him to figure out how to solve the problem. :)

I have a 3 year old and he did the same thing. He woke up at night until he was almost 1. Once he was eating food I knew he didn't need it from a hunger standpoint it was just comfort because he couldn't figure out how to go to sleep. My first question is how does she fall asleep when it is bedtime. If you are nursing her to sleep that might be your first problem. If she falls asleep nursing at bedtime every time she wakes up in the middle of the night she will want to nurse. That would be the first thing to change. I would nurse her and then stop before she is asleep. If you have to wake her a little to set her down awake and drowsy I would try that. Sometimes you have to repeat this over and over until she finally gives up and goes to sleep. I think the first night I did this I nursed took him off and set him down about 10 times. Every time I would set him down he would start to cry. I would pick him up nurse him until he calmed down popped him off and set him down awake. After about the 9th time he finally got the message and gave up.
As far as the night wakings you will be more sleep deprived for a few nights but I promise it will be better in a week or so. I swear that my son finally realized when I wasn't going to give in and just stopped asking. If you are done with the night feedings you just have to put your foot down. Rock hold comfort whatever you need to do but don't nurse. She will scream and cry and generally throw a fit maybe even for an hour or more. I know with my son the first night I said no was awful he woke up every hour on the hour after I finally got him to sleep. The next day I was a zombie. The second night was a little better he only cried for 15 minutes or so. The third night he woke up and I comforted him and he went right back to sleep. A few days later he woke up and tried to throw a fit I guess just to see what would happen I didn't give in and that was the last time he asked at night. Depending on the personality of your little girl it might be as long as a week but she will get the message. Try to nap if you can and rest as much as possible because you will feel worse for a little while but I promise if you just put your foot down it will be over and you will feel so much better in a month.
I hope this helps and I just want you to know you aren't the first to go through this. If you want extra support PM me.
A.

EDIT
As far as your sleep after waking up I had that problem and I started taking a supplement called L- Theanine. It is an extract of green tea so it's safe. It is a natural relaxant in the body and it helped me so much. Take 200 mg at bedtime and you should be able to fall asleep again after you wake up.

In my opinion, at 9 months he may actually be hungry. It might not be just a habit. My oldest son continued to wake up once a night until just over a year. By then I knew it was habit and let him cry a couple nights and then it was over. When I had my youngest the dr. told me to remember 6 and 9. Babies go through big growth spurts at approx. 6 and 9 weeks and 6 and 9 months. So if he is going through a growth spurt he may actually be hungry.
As for the pulling up to stand. He's in a crib. If/when he falls it will proably be on his butt and he'll be ok. Once my kids learned that it was more of a game to them and they kept doing it. I'm not really sure how to "teach" him that though. My kids usually got tired and learned on their own.

I hear you!! Where's your husband in all this? I'm assuming the baby is larger than 15# and at that point my Ped said they don't need food in the middle of the night. But back to getting the Daddy involved. My sons wanted me all the time, but it was faster for Dad to go in, multiple times if necessary, and tell him it was time to sleep and put him back down. I, of course, smelled like milk so for me to go in was to just tease them, essentially. Sometimes my husband stayed and rocked them if they were especially distressed, but we didn't nurse them and they understood the buffet was shut down.

PS we also did a variation on the cry it out (checking in every few minutes, but extending the gap each time) to get them to bed and sleep through the night. It worked fast. My Ped said, whatever you do, just be consistent so they know what to expect.

FYI I was more lenient with my second son b/c I knew he was the last one. In the end, you have to do what works for you.

PPS Melatonin might help you in sleeping.

Yeah, here's the thing. "He shouldn't nurse at night" may be true for some kids, and not for others. My oldest slept through the night at 7 months. My youngest - 26 months. Same crib, same parents, same tools for nighttime routine, same boobs - different kid. I know it's hard, especially if you have trouble getting back to sleep. I wonder if part of that trouble is because you feel like he "should" be sleeping through the night. I know this is going to sound unbearable (believe me, I know, I didn't get a full nights sleep for nearly two-1/2 years) - but try just going with it for a month. Just decide that it's OK again, when he gets up, stay relaxed, nurse him, put him back down, and go back to sleep.

In that month, develop a plan for yourself about how you want to night wean. There's tons of good books to read, talk to other mamas you trust, find a method that you feel comfortable with. Then, when the month is up, try it. It might work, it might not - which will have everything to do with whether or not he is ready, and nothing to do with whether or not you are "doing it right."

If in that month, you're still having trouble getting back to sleep, even with staying relaxed and not trying to get him to skip nursing, consider pumping before you go to bed and ask your spouse to go in and give him a bottle. Sometimes, if it's only the comfort factor and not hunger, that can help phase out night nursing. Honestly, though, if you can find a way to go back to sleep quickly after nursing, just give him some more time. All babies are different, and some of them need to nurse longer. (P.S. My oldest, who night weaned himself, is the clingier and shyer of the two. My youngest, who night-nursed until 26 months, is bold and social and jumps right in to new things.)

Good luck, be patient with yourself and your son, you're doing a great job taking care of him.