Not Sleeping Through the Night! - Niles,MI

Updated on March 16, 2008
K.N. asks from Niles, MI
4 answers

I have a nine month old son who is still not sleeping through the night regularly. He will sleep through the night on average 3/7 nights. The other nights he wakes up just once for a diaper change and a bottle. He always goes right back to sleep when we put him down in the middle of the night. My doctor said I need to let him "cry it out" or he will never learn to sleep through the night. My husband and I tried this once and it was awful! Any suggestions on if he should be sleeping through the night yet? Is he too little to be "crying it out?"

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So What Happened?

I got some wonderful advice about my son who WAS not sleeping through the night. We made two changes: we have started using overnight diapers from the advice from another helpful mom. They work GREAT! We have also started feeding him cereal before bed instead of a bottle and he has slept five straight nights through the night! Thank you, thank you for the useful advice.

More Answers

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A.H.

answers from Benton Harbor on

my doctor used the 5, 10, 15 method, how it works is basically when he gets up and he cries you let him cry for 5 minutes than you go in there and say "honey you are okay" give him a kiss and then leave the room, than if he is still crying after 10 minutes go in and do the same, and than after 15 and repeat if necessary, trust me it works,(my son did the same thing at age 9 months) and it is all about trust and he is testing you to see if you are still there and not going to leave him. babies can have trust issues which seems odd cuz they are so young but they know what they are doing. I agree with the rest of the moms before he goes to bed make sure he has eaten enough and has that overnight diaper so you know in your mind he is okay and he is just testing you. best of luck!

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L.N.

answers from Benton Harbor on

It is awful to hear your baby cry, but it is short-lived if you stick to your guns. IF you decide this is the method for you, go in every so often and calm him down and let him know that you are there, but he needs to be in bed. You might want to start by replacing the bottle with water (which he will lose interest in) and just put him in an overnight diaper so he can skip the diaper change. You might find that if you eliminated the diaper change first, then a few days later, eliminated the water altogether, he might just sleep through. By now he SHOULD be sleeping all night, no doubt about it! I promise, though, that the first few nights will be almost more than you can stand...but it will get better very quickly after that!
~L.

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M.B.

answers from Benton Harbor on

Hi,
No, he isnt too young to cry it out. I know its hard to hear him cry but you just have to let him:-) If my son cried for more than 20 minutes I would go in there, soothe him and lay him back down. After about a week he never got up again.
I hope you find relief soon:-) Whatever you decide to do, just be consistant.

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B.B.

answers from Elkhart on

Hi K.,
Sorry to hear that your little one is not sleeping through the night. Each child has different needs, and as you already probably know that children go through many phases in the first couple of years. Don't worry though, your not alone! If you are already rocking him to sleep before he goes to bed, try putting him to bed while he is still awake. This often times teaches them to learn how to fall back asleep on their own in the middle of the night without the help of mom or dad. You may also want to try playing some soft music through the night to help sooth him and to help distract his mind from a midnight bottle. I don't think that "crying it out" is always the answer. I did both of these things when my second son was born and it has worked great so far. Best of luck to you!

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