Seeking Advice of New and Veteran Moms

I J. some children his age sleep through the night and some don't. It varies and it's not unusual. Try givng him some cereal with his milk around bedtime. This may make him sleep longer.As he gets older he'll be sleeping through the night. He's still very young.

I think each child is different and it's what it "normal" for them. My oldest daughter was sleeping through the night (10:30-6:30) at 3 mos old. My youngest slept through the night by 6-8 weeks old (8:30-6:30 or 7)My middle child, however, didn't sleep through the night until he was over a year. The only thing I can suggest is a bedtime routine that is followed each night, if you don't already have one. (example: bath,bottle(or cup or breast or whatever) books, bed)... or whatever works for you/him. It may take a little trial and error, but you will find what works.

My pediatrician gave us the go ahead to eliminate night time feedings at 7 mos because my son was gaining weight well and was healthy. You have to let him cry it out for 1 feeding (if he normally hits the same schedule pretty much every night). Pick which one works best for you...do that for a few days and then drop the 2nd one...you might be surprised and he might drop the 2nd one himself. This is the time that he can develop some self-soothing skills as well. These are just my opinions, but it worked for me and my friends. I really like the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book by Marc Weissbluth.

Good luck!

EDIT: To clarify since someone criticized comments about pediatrician views - I had wanted to drop from 3 to 1 or 2 feedings a night around 5 mos but my son got very ill from a respiratory virus and was in the hospital 3 days -- dropped from 50th percentile to 20th for weight so I needed a pediatrician go-ahead before thinking about eliminating ANY sources of nutrients. Also, I do not think using a binky/pacifier or rocking is a good solution -- it teaches them to wake up and expect those comfort measures from you...thereby defeating your goal (of more sleep for mom!). I have family members who were up all night for months searching for the missing binkies or rocking their kids a few times a night -- NO THANKS :)

Hi!
Your son is surely old enough to not need bottles at night! My babies stopped getting up at night early! My son at 8 weeks and my daughter at 12 weeks(she was a premie). Now it has just become a habit. He is used to eating and getting a lot of his daily calories at night. I would start by eliminating one of the bottles and letting him cry it out! Maybe let him get up the first time and eat and then later let him cry until the morning. Of course I would only start this if he is used to putting himself to sleep for naps and bedtime--no rocking involved! Babies need to get used to soothing themselves and putting themselves to sleep! This is the first step and then eliminating the bottles. The night bottles are a habit that he has gotten used to to soothe himself at night!

Good Luck!
L.

J., My kids are 27, 23, 21, almost 20 and 14 so I fall in the veteran mom category lol. When it got to be the time for dropping night time feedings our doctor told us to put nothing but water in the middle of the night bottles. you can make it up before going to bed so it is ready next to you on the night stand. he will only wake up for water for a short time. he is plenty old enough for that. something he also suggested at the same time was to feed them before bed. a jar of food, or a bowl of cereal. keeps them full and happy thru the night. be prepared once you drop those feedings to have him starving in the morning. good luck
S.

Hi J.,

You have to do what makes you feel comfortable. Honestly, they are capable of sleeping through the night at this age. If he has been sleep-trained, you can let him fuss it out at night, which is of course, very difficult on parents but the rewards afterward are splendid! It that is too abrupt, you can read the books that other posters mentioned. You can also give him an item of your clothing so he can feel comforted having your smell there. Most of the time, they just like the cuddle time with Mommy or Daddy. Who wouldn't??!? :) If you suspect he's teething (lots of crankiness during the day, biting on everything, drooling, etc), you can maybe give him Tylenol or homeopathic meds if you like, before sleeping. That's what I used to do.

I hope this helps. Lots of luck to you!

7 months? You are doing everything right. My son was waking for a feeding 2 or 3 times at that age. It's just how babies are. :) My daughter did three times a night until 15 months. The good news is it will not last forever.
I hate to hear the real little ones cry it out, but I did stop nursing the 15-month-old in a matter of four days. Then she stopped getting up at night. She was in the HABIT of it, not starving. At seven months I bet the little guy really is hungry. So you might have this for a bit longer. Try a big meal before bed, as bad as that sounds for an adult.

Hi J..
My son is 6 months, and sleeps from 6:30-6 and gets up once(around 2 or 3) to nurse during the night. I think around 8 or 9 months I am going to try and help him drop that feeding. I am going to go in and rock him or pop in the pacifier for a few nights and hopefully that will work. I am a teacher and will be home for 2 week during the holidays, so i am going to try it then because i think we may have a few long nights ahead of us! Good luck!

my oldest son did not sleep through the night until he was 13 months old. each child is different.

Baby might be teething right now. You should also look at how much he sleeps during the day. How do you but him to crib? Is he asleep or awake. It is better to put him down while he is awake so that he can learn to fall asleep by himself. If he is teething, that will pass. I used to feed my daughter oatmeal at night and she slept really well.

Best advice is feed him every 3 hours during the day. Never let him go longer than 4 hours without eating. Wake him up if you have to. My girls were sleeping thru the night at 6 weeks doing this. I know that it seems hard, but the first night you get to sleep all night long, you will say "It's worth it!" If he is really that hungry you might want to talk to your ped about adding cereal to his last bottle before bed. I do have a friend that tried this and was able to get her son to cut down to waking once a night, he was almost 2 before that stopped. Now he is almost five and tall for his age. I think sometimes kids that are going to be big, just need more food. Try doing the feedings ever 3-4 hours and ask about the cereal. You can results tonight if you feed him every 3 hours today. :) Good luck!

If you're not up for "crying it out," there's a great book called the No Cry Sleep Solution. It helped us deal with our daughter's sleep issues. Of course, we're experiencing new sleep issues now at 17 months, so I need to revisit the book myself :). Also, I know lots of parents with babies who didn't eliminate feeding at night until after the 1st bday. Every baby is different, so try not to let others tell you what your baby "should" be doing. Good luck!

First off, you know your kid, so I would consider your pediatrician's advice a guideline not a directive. That said, my kids held on to their second night feeding for quite a while. I used to time 5, then 10, and then 15 minutes after they woke up before I would go in and give a bottle. If they didn't really need it, they would usually put themselves back to sleep in that time. With my twins, I sometimes went in more quickly because I was afraid one would wake the other -- but when they started taking one ounce or less of bottle, I started just rocking them back to sleep unless they were really fussy.

Good luck!

Ran into that at 7 and 8 months with my kids. The issue is that their stomachs get used to having a lot of their calories at night. If you cut out the overnight feeding, they eat more during the day and get used to not waking at night.

I accomplished that by adding water to the bottles gradually (over about a week.) (obviously that trick would not be safe for a newborn.) It worked surprisingly quickly.

Hi J.,

I've read that most babies don't actually develop the neurological ability to sleep through the night until they're about 10 mos. old. This was certainly true with my daughter.

Don't worry about what people are saying. Babies learn to sleep through the night on their own schedule. You could certainly try shortening the middle-of-the-night feedings, or do a controlled crying thing (check your child but don't pick him up every 5-15 min.). And in the next few months, you can start "ignoring" him (see if you're able to just sleep through it -- if you're not then go to him) for one of the times he wakes up and see what happens.

Also, technically sleeping through the night means from midnight to 5 AM, so maybe he is already doing so (or close to it). Just hang in there -- it will get better soon!

All the best,
R.

My son did the same thing and everyone told me he didn't need to be waking up. I am a stay at home mom and decided that I didn't mind waking each night to feed him a bottle. He went right back to sleep afterward and actually slept in a bit later this way in the morning. Eventually he did stop waking up on his own around 11 months. I think it's a personal choice... you can either let him cry it out or just give him a bottle. I don't think there is any right or wrong answer, just whatever you are comfortable with. I know that isn't really "advice" but sometimes it's nice to just hear some support. Hope this helps!

I despise the "should" be advice more than any. My son started sleeping through the night at 4 months. My daughter until 10 months (although, now that I'm writing this and thinking about it, it may have been older). and both were appropriate for each of my children. my daughter still is a healthy eater with a high metabolism and needs to eat every 2-3 hours.

Since it sounds like you are giving him a bottle, what you could do is choose one feeding to feed him less and less. What I did was give one less ounce for a few days. then one less ounce for a few days until finally the one feed was gone. I think what I even did at one point because she still wanted to get up is I started doing half/half water & milk and then kept increasing the water and decreasing the milk until it was only water. She very quickly stopped getting up because she was only getting the water and it wasn't worth getting up for it.

One feed we got rid of by simply not letting her eat any more at that feed. She would keep insisting and we wouldn't cave. After a week or so she stopped getting up.

Honestly? In retrospect, I wouldn't do that second one again. It was painful for all of us, whereas by giving her less until a point then switching out to water was more of a gentle approach and not as painful with the tears.

Just my .02. As others have said, take it with a grain of salt.

The US is one of few countries that place such a value on that sleeping through the night where other countries on demand feed through the night until kids or 2 and 3. They also co-sleep as well. I'm not advocating one or the ohter, but some of our societal norms are simply cultural. It is not a biological necesity.

Take all the info and do what you think is best for your family. If you want to wait for him to out-grow it, I think that would be fine too. (you may want to stop talking to your other friends about it too! ;)

Every child is different. My 19 month old still wakes once or twice a night, and my other son still woke in the night till he was about 12 months. As they mature they develop more mature sleeping patterns (ie being able to sleep longer stretches). Take all advice with a grain of salt ;-)

Hahahahahahaah! *sigh* while I wipe a tear from my eye. First of all, tell your friend to shut up. Most babies do not sleep through the night. This is a myth. Everybody, adults included, has a sleep personality, and not every kid has the kind where they pass out at 8:00pm and wake up at 7:00am. In fact, very few children sleep all the way through. Your son might be waking up because he's learning a new skill or is hungry. Children have growth spurts that will make even regular sleepers wake up. At 2, my daughter still does not sleep through and it took me a long time (and several supportive chats with the pediatrician) to understand I'd have to wait for her to outgrow it. My daughter does not each much during the day and does wake up hungry. When your son gets bigger, you will learn that you can't force a child to eat either--you can only offer nutritious food. It's their job to eat it. So, if you're planning on doing some sort of sleep training to convince your son he should be out with the lights, please try Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution. It's very gentle but effective. Even though my daughter still doesn't sleep through, she's much better than she used to be since we've started applying the techniques, and my pediatrician assures me she'll get even better as she gets older.

You have received a lot of advice - and a lot of different opinions. As someone wrote, take all advice (even mine!) with a 'grain of salt'. I'm a firm believer in getting as much information as I can from others and then making the best decision for my kids and my family. My kids are now almost 13 years and 10 years and we had two differnet nighttime experiences wiht them. My daughter slept through the night from about 6 weeks on. My son woke up 1-2 times per night for a feeding until he was over 12 months. He was a big baby (9 lbs 7 oz at birth). He wasn't in the habit of eating or having difficulty settling down. He was just hungry during the night even though he ate well during the day. He would eat and go right back to sleep. It certianly was exhausting because I had a 3 year old and worked full time outside of the home, but we made it through. If you think your son needs to have a bottle during the night, keep giving it to him. At some point there will be clues that he can taper off or that it has become a habit, but in my opinion, 7 months is not that point. Good luck! Like everything else with raising kids, you'll make it through just fine.