Shouldnt My 8 Month Old Be Sleeping Through the Night?

Hi S., Instead of ceral in his bottle how are you feeding him? Is he eating three meals a day (babyfood)? If he is eating enough through out the day a bottle at night should hold him through the night. You might want to give him a pacifier instead of a bottle at night as well...he may just need the comfort of sucking. He also may be teething, chewing/sucking on a frozen wash cloth helps with that really well. Best wishes.

Take it from my step mom, mother of 12. All her kids slept thru at 3 months, and this worked for both of mine:

Feed him to capacity all day long. Offer more food than you are offering even if he doesn't seem hungry. If he's hungry, he will eat, if he isn't he won't. Don't ever worry about obesity in babies. Only feed them nutritious things.

OK, once you have increased his food all day long, not JUST before bed in the last bottle, but all day, it will take his body a few days to realize he's actually been eating more. Then he will start sleeping all the way through the night.

Guaranteed. Good luck-you'll be getting full nights of sleep soon!

I feel your pain. I have a 13 month old and she still doesnt always sleep thru the night. My 3 sons slept all night from 4 months on. Some babies like to sleep some dont. Are you sure he is waking from wanting to eat? or does he just want some extra loving? That is what my mady does.

S.,

Sleeping through the night is one of those touchy subjects where everyone has an opinion. What you can or will do about it is going to depend a lot on your beliefs as a parent and what works best for your family.

We are very much and Attachment Parenting Family and do not believe in letting a child Cry It Out. My Dd is, and always has been, fed on demand. We also subscribe to the belief that before 1 year, some babies NEED to be fed at night. Dd was up every 1.5 to 3 hours at night from 6 months to 15 months when we night weaned. It was an incredibly simple process to introduce the idea of no food/drink at night because we were both ready for this step and she was emotionally and physically mature enough to handle the change. She also better understood what I was asking of her.

Please do not add cereal to his bottle without the recommendation of his doctor and strict medical supervision. Cereal in the bottle can be a choking hazard and can be dangerous. My daughter actually slept better from 3-6 months, before we introduced solids.

Is it a problem for you that he's still waking at night? One night in particular stand out for me when I was desperately rocking and nursing my daughter at 3 am, pleading with her to go back to sleep and thinking to myself how much I hated nursing in that moment and how resentful I was. But in the end, I am thankful every day that we stuck with it and at 2 years old, she sleeps through the night beautifully. If she does wake up, I don't even get out of bed, I just have to say "Taylor, it's the middle of the night, go back to sleep" and she puts herself right back down. Of course, it helps that her crib is in our room - but we're looking forward to moving and everyone having their own room.

S.

Yes, in general, babies should be sleeping through the night at this point. However, just because it's written down somewhere doesn't mean that your baby is going to follow those directions. My son didn't sleep through the night until he was 18 months old and my daughter started sleeping through the night at 8 months when she figured out how to sleep on her belly. Prior to that magically night, she would wake up 1-2 times a night for a feeding and she's been in the 90% for height & weight since she was born. Yes, the pediatrician said that she should have been sleeping through the night prior to then, but he also understood that every baby is different. I know, you'd love it if your son slept through the night so you can get some quality sleep. Hang in there, hopefully it won't be too much longer.

Dear S.,

Oh that blissful moment when your child sleeps through the night for the first time and you realize you will begin to get more sleep is so selusive!

My only advice is what the pediatrician told me for both of my children. He told me I can expect them to be able to sleep through the night when they weigh more than 15pounds. He told me before that weight, their stomach is not big enough to contain enough breast milk, formula, or cereal to keep them full for a 6-8 hour duration through the night. So...

My uestion is does your child weigh 15 pounds? If yes, I would think they are awaking for comfort and routine rather than nourishment. If no, I would say this gives you a goal and incentive to help them eat healthy during the day to gain the few pounds left to meet the 15 pound marker.

Both of my children fortunately take after their dad and have very tall slim frames and were not 15 pounds for many months and continue to be around the 25% for weight.

Sleep will come for all of you but you can help it arrive.

Fodly,
ann m.

Hy S.!

My daughter has been doing that until she was about 5 mths old. I, too have been told lots of things: only give her tea or water during the night (didn't work- she would cry for milk, try to feed her more and more often before putting her to bed etc.
for me the only thing that worked was putting her to bed later: like 10-10:30 pm and trying to keep her awake for at least 3 hrs before that (she would usually take naps every 2 1/2 hrs all day long). so then she started waking up just once or twice a night and at about 9-10 month just once/night.
she is 16 mths now and she still sometimes wakes up at night. now i just give her fruit flavored water instead of milk (because i'm lazy :)and cannot get out of bed).
Still i have a friend who's son was waking up every night, every 3 hrs until he was 2 and there was nothing they could do about it...
my doctor told me that we all go through stages of sleep every night and us, as adults are able to go from one stage to another without waking up but babies have to learn how to do that so don;t worry, sooner or later it will happen and eventually you will get a good night's sleep.

It's gotta be tough being a single mom AND going to school...then you've got your sleep messed up.
Make sure he has a FULL belly before bedtime. I wouldn't put cereal in his bottle, I'd just see if he can eat some cereal before bedtime and maybe a fruit or veggie baby food?
Make sure his room is dark, use a soft night light, use some white noise (noise machine or humidifier) or a soft lullaby CD....maybe the sounds of the house are waking him?
It's most likely a habit for him now. You've gotta figure out how to break it. You could try water in the bottle...then he'll realize he's not getting formula & he may just give up.
Another thought--he may be overly tired and putting him down earlier may help him to sleep better. Sometimes that worked for my son. Good luck!

Hi S.,
My son was like that as well. Eventually, his waking became less and less. He will be 3 next month and still is up at least once a night. Each kid is different and it really depends on the kid. I was worried at frist as well because of everything that everyone was telling me. I now anly half listen. I have a very happy and healthy son and trust my insticts. Believe in what you are doing is the right thing.
L.

S.,
Yes, in general, babies are capable of sleeping through the night at 8 months. I have to disagree with the person below who said they need to be 15 lbs. Both my children were small, but were able to sleep through the night right around 6 mo (at 14 and 12 lbs. respectively). The thing that worked best for me was cutting down food gradually in the night. This isn't really necessary (he doesn't NEED food at this point unless he has some sort of medical condition you didn't mention), but it made me feel a little better than just going to nothing! You can start TONIGHT and give him half (or less) of his normal bottle (or cut nursing time in half) each time his wakes up. Do that for a couple days, then cut it in half again. After he's down to nothing to eat, if he still wakes up you can go in and comfort him (but not take him out of the crib as someone else suggested) or you can let him cry it out. This is your preference here and what works best for your family. My kids both had to cry it out because going in to comfort them just started the process all over again. My son cried the first night for about 1 1/2 hrs, second night 30 min and 3rd night just a few minutes. My daughter was a little longer, but still in 3 nights was off all night time eating and comforting (except for sickness or teething). Best of luck to you and your son! A full night's sleep is an amazing thing for both of you!!

PS: You son might start to "power feed" in the evening and need more bottle and more baby food in the 5-8pm window. My daughter almost doubled her eating in the evening when she started sleeping through the night.

Am I wrong to assunme your child is on solid food now, 3X a day ? I always fed my youngster later than we ate supper, so it filled her up just before bedtime. That way she slept through the night. I didn't provide bottles at bedtime when the kids were on solid food.

Yes, your little guy should be sleeping throught the night by now. If he's getting up during the night for a feeding, you may want to give him a smaller jar of cereal or fruit before bedtime. Our girls all had a mouthful of teeth by about 10 months and they always got a bowl of rice crispies before bed. We never had problems with them waking up for nighttime feedings.

Dear S.,
Yes, your child should be sleeping through the night. However, preparing him for bed may be a different story. Children like to have schedules. So they know what is expected of them. Make sure that you have a routine, e.g. He has dinner, then play time/story time, bath and final nursing...or just lie down with him. This way you get your sleep, too. As far as foods are concerned, the best food to start with is the Banana, because it is the
one that most takes like mother's breast milk and it is gentle on the gums. If you want to try oatmeal, I would try Cheerios because they have nutritonal value, they are gentle on tender gums.
Good luck in school.
E.

***ahh, after reading everyone elses responses I thought, "they are gonna think I'm crazy" but, oh well, I have alot of healthy well-behaved children, so...... Here goes;).......All babies and parents are different. But every 3 hours sounds excessive. I have 6 and the seventh on the way. Cereal will not make your baby obese, that is ridiculous.(as a matter of fact, at WIC told me that my children are overweight for their height and my babies are anything but.) My first boy needed alot more food than the others. Once I found that out (after months of a crying not sleeping enough baby, mind you) I fed him more than I thought necessary and he was sleeping perfectly.Thicken that bottle up and make the nipple hole a tad bigger and he'll almost definitely be sleeping "like a baby". Once a night is what you should shoot for once you add the cereal. I advise making it Thick like the consistency of gravy or cream of wheat even. You can always call me if you need someone to talk to. I also have an 8 month old right now;) I'm 28 and easy to get along with. Good luck!!!
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He is getting up at night because it is a habit. You need to just go in and comfort him without picking him up out of his crib (rub his back, turn on music, give him a stuffed animal, etc.) but keep him in his crib. Be consistent it will take a couple of weeks to break him of this habit but once you do he will be a great sleeper. Also when he goes to bed at night it is important that he his putting himself to sleep and that you are not putting him to sleep and then placing him in his crib. They should be put to bed sleepy but not totally asleep. They need to learn how to do it on their own. Otherwise when they wake up at night they can't put themselves back to sleep. I use to watch for yawns when I saw my children yawn 3 times in a short time frame then I knew to start the process reading, snuggling, etc. Then I put them in their crib rub their back for a minute sometimes less said night night turned on the music and left the room.

I hope this works for you.
M. R

Hi S., I know you've received several good responses here. Here's what's worked for me with my two oldest when they were that age: instant oatmeal for dinner plus however much they wanted from the bottle/breast (I agree with the women who said it's better to feed them actual food rather than thickening up their formula with cereal), then bathtime, stories, some stand-up rocking by the crib before I put them down. If they fussed, I'd let them go for a few minutes, but if I saw that it was reaching a fever pitch I'd go back in and pat them, not say anything and not pick them up, and leave again. With my second daughter, I nursed her and once I realized that she wasn't actually eating during some of her middle of the night wakings I started giving her a pacifier. This is a habit that's easily broken at this age. Good luck and hang in there. You're doing a great job!