Sleep - Fayetteville, WV

Read "On Becoming BabyWise". It is an amazing book that has helped both of my kids sleep all from a very early age.
Good luck!

Hi S.,

My doctor advised me to drink warm apple juice. That reminds me that I need to get some tomorrow when I go to the grocery store.:) Have a great weekend.

I suggest you try the book The No-Cry Sleep Solution. It has a bunch of suggestions and ideas to try to help your child learn how to make it through the night, but without having to cry it out a la Babywise. That being said, only YOU know what is most appropriate for you and your baby so you may have to end up trying everything you can think of and just see what works for YOU. I feel your pain because it was a long long time before I started getting a good night's sleep after my son was born. No-Cry really worked great for us and I hope it (or something!) works for you...and quickly! Good luck!

This is completely normal for a breastfed baby, even a nine month old. My little one was over a year old and still waking frequently to nurse at night. But we co-slept so he and I could both continue to rest and even sleep thru the night nursing. So it wasn't a problem for me. It was however, a problem for a lot of people around me. Especially my formula feeding friends and my "schedule the baby" friends. They thought I was nuts. So first ask yourself are you really ready to make some changes or are you feeling pressured to make some changes. And while it's true he may be just "comfort nursing," he may also still need the nutrition. As babies get older, the get distracted more easily during daytime feedings and may try to make up for that lost nutrition at night.
Although it's normal for your baby to continue frequent night waking and nursing, it may no longer work for you. And that's okay, nothing to feel guilty about. Kudos to you for breastfeeding this long and for not denying your little one, even in the middle of the night! You can try to night wean him. Or you can try to get him back to sleep using other methods, like rocking.

Check out these links to see why night nursing is normal (you are NOT being a human pacifier or allowing him to control you!). This is nature and natural, people. Nursing to sleep works so well cause it's what's supposed to happen. Here's also some tips on night weaning, should you decide to go that route. I wish you the best!!!

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/comfortnursing.html
"Nursing to Sleep and Other Comfort Nursing"

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning-night.html
"Night Weaning"

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html
"Sleeping thru the Night"

http://askdrsears.com/html/2/t022900.asp
"NIGHT WEANING: 12 ALTERNATIVES FOR THE ALL-NIGHT NURSER"

http://askdrsears.com/html/3/t031600.asp
"10 TIPS FOR EASIER NIGHT NURSING"

http://askdrsears.com/faq/sl24.asp
"Parenting to sleep"

http://askdrsears.com/html/7/t070300.asp
"31 WAYS TO GET YOUR BABY TO GO TO SLEEP AND STAY ASLEEP EASIER"

*****EDITED TO ADD*******
Ugh. Of all the mama boards I visit, this one seems to have the harshest advice. As if my response was not long enough, I have more to add, after reading the other responses. Soapbox, please.....Why is there this insane rush to get our babies independent of us so soon and at such a young age. You don't deny your baby comfort during the day so why would you at night. All this night waking lasts just a small portion of your lives together anyway. I PROMISE you, you're baby will not always need you so much at night. I suggest staying away from any book that suggests scheduling anything, much less a young baby. And be warned that "Babywise" is the worst book on the market. Ever. Gary Ezzo, the author, is not a doctor. His methods are not breast feeding friendly, His extreme tactics have sent dehydrated babies to the E.R., and his former church has denounced him. Check out this link for more info on this nutcase http://www.ezzo.info/

Hi S., Just a few ideas that worked for use.
-A big BOTTLE of breastmilk before bed just to be sure he has a full belly. We put some cereal in also and made the whole in the nipple larger
-This has been a life saver. The Homedics white noise machine. Can get it at Walmart or Target for $19-24. I put it on the "rain" setting. It helps get into a deeper sleep and the baby knows when he hears it that it is still sleepytime.
-I gave myself a 15 min. rule when trying to get him to sleep through the night. Often they wake out of habit, no hunger, at that age so I gave him 15 min. to settle back down before I went in. I think I went back in two times after that.

Good luck,
Val

I echo Ingrid W 100%! This is completely normal for breastfed babies. My son was waking up to nurse until I weaned him at 15 months for medical reasons (me,not him). He slept through the night two nights later. They are only little once and breastmilk is processed by the body much quicker than formula - that's the way it is suppose to be. Do not add cereal to a bottle unless your doctor tells you to. Sleep is great, but those moments when your baby wants and needs you and only you are priceless and will be gone too soon. Enjoy them and take naps when he does to catch up on sleep. Let him sleep with or near you. Just remember he is a baby, not an employee to be scheduled. Good luck and congrats on sticking with the breastfeeding!

I read this great book called BabyWise. After I started doing the things it suggested my son began sleeping through the night. He is 5mnths old and he sleeps from 9:30-8 everynight. I found it very helpful and now I give a copy of that book to every expectant mom I know! You might want to check out the library and see if they have it. Good luck!

There's a new device recently invented, it's called a BOTTLE. You put WATER in it at bed time, unless you want your child's newly forming teeth to rot out, like my first son's did because my wife INSISTED he needed milk and eventually, juice. Sure, he'll cry the first several nights, that's what babies do when something changes. But in a few days, he'll get used to it. Or he won't, in which case you let him cry himself to sleep. For a week, I had to hold my wife back to keep her from attending our crying child each night. But, at the end of that week, he was sleeping through the night. It's not "easy", but it IS necessary for the babies well being.

He is probably teething, you could try 1. giving him motrin before bed. 2. Try a lullaby CD (I like Rainforest by Fisher Price) and play it all night. 3. Don't let him fall asleep while nursing. If he does gently wake him and lay him in his crib if he cries console him by not picking him up. Stroke his face and tell him he is ok and he needs to sleep in his own bed. Be consistant on this and it will work. My daughter is 10 months old and she still wakes 1 a night to nurse. Just try to return the baby to his bed before he truly wakes in the am (if you don't fall asleep too :)) P.S. You will miss the middle of the night cuddle sessions!

Wow. I feel for you. Nine months is when I stopped the evening nursing for my daughter and I am glad I did because everyone was happier sleeping longer. I still got up with her at first but I gave her other ways to comfort her she got used to it and started to get some much needed rest. I suspect your son would fall asleep without nursing but you haven't had the courage to try because you are so sleep deprived and I don't blame you. I did what ever it took to get back to sleep. I realized that I had to stop this evening nursing though because I was no good to anybody in my condition. No sleep for over nine months!! It will take a couple of weeks but he will sleep and so will you. I promise.

First of all--Are you getting enough rest, eating right, and drinking plenty of fluids. All of those things affect the amount of milk your body is able to produce. Taking care of yourself is critical when you are nursing. The baby will nurse more often if you milk supply is low.

Second--Is the baby growing fast? My two older boys nursed every 2-3 hours when they were babies--even at night. My oldest son was a big kid, he grew fast, and he was always hungry. He is 18 years old now and he is still always hungry. He is 6'0" tall and weighs 215 pounds. My second son was the same way. He is 16 years old now and eats non-stop. He is 6'1" and weighs 190 pounds. Boys that are going to grow up to be big men nurse a lot as babies and eat a lot their whole lives.

Can't say it enough, but go read the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantely. It saved us and our little girl. I reread the book before our son was born and by 3 months we were sleeping through the night (10 hours that is). Good luck.

A.

Hi there S.,

This is so completely normal. Your son is only 9 months old. The best way to solve this problem is to keep your son in bed with you once he wakes up the first time. That way, you both get some sleep, and he doesn't wake up and scream. Plus, nursing while lying in bed ensures that *you* get some rest too. I slept with my all my children. My youngest, who is 4 months old, wakes up to nurse during the night maybe three or four times, but she does it by nudging me, and waking me up with a smile on her face.

If you want to wean him from nighttime nursing, I'd wait until a year. But, you know, *you* are his comfort source, and breastfeeding is an amazing bonding process between mum and baby that you only get once in a lifetime.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but he *is* only 9 months old and still very much a baby.

xxoo

My dear mom, it seams that your baby has learned the association between breast feeding and sleep. I am not sure if that is the case but that happened to me. I started breastfeeding my newborn and right afterwards he will fall sleep in the breast, by the time he was 6months and even after a year this persisted. I was exhausted since I had to work the next morning. Until I could not take it anymore I started reading and did what appeared to me at the time the unthinkable... leaving him on his bed crying. I realized now that it was harder for me that for him. In reality I was not ready to stop breast feeding him and I actually like the bond and the feeling of being needed. I read a lot of books and the experts say that he does not need to eat at night that often. What my son was doing was related to his sleep cycle. Everybody goes in to a deep sleep every 2-3 hrs... in babys every 2 hrs the come up to superficial sleep. Adults turn around in bed, cover them selfs or change position, at this times with out realizing it. The next morning the thing they sleep through the night. When a baby that has learned to associate sleep with the warmth of mother's lap and the bob reaches superficial sleep and does not find you he wakes up and wales for you, and off she goes the sleep deprived mother to attend the "newborn". He could go to sleep by him self you teaching him to self soothing. MOST kids will cry in bed and probably the mother will cry in her bed as well, but if you are consistent and strong he will learn to sleep by him self. I toke me a few weeks maybe 3-4 to wean him. Of course when ever he was sick we lose some ground but if you are consistent at least you can archive 6hrs or so of continuous sleep. Don't dispare there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep at it and soon you will teach your child that you are not coming back and he will sleep by him self all night. There are good books and references about this topic to read at you leisure.
Good luck and wish you profound sleep nights. No cry solution is a good book.
Vivi

S.,

at 9 months my daughter still nursed 3 times a night, and she was in her own room at that point lol. I did some getting up and down. But anyhow, try nursing him more through the day getting in one big last feed before bed. If he is on baby food now then give him some dinner within a couple of hours before bed, if not then just the big feed. That might help to eliminate at least one of those nightly nursing sessions.

I think it would be ok if you wanted to gently wean him off a couple of those feeds, but I know that with my daughter she still nursed once in the night for at least 12 months (I'm thinking maybe even close to 15). I was ok with that though, you might not be. At this age he probably doesnt need the extra nutrition at night as long as he's nursing well during the day. If he's not nursing well during the day and doesnt eat a lot of solids then I would hold off on dropping the night nursing until he eats more during the day.

Ok my son did the same thing, I am actually a peds nurse for 8 years. Here it goes I hated to do it to, Don't feed him, you can try giving him oatmeal by a spoon about 45 min before he goes to bed. That usually will last him for a while. They call it a trained feeder. He is getting in a routine of getting up at night and he knows you will feed him. He is really not hungry, it is just an easy way for him to go back to sleep instead of doing it on his own. lay him down at night, if he wakes up crying, you have to let him cry himself back to sleep, Let him cry about 30 min and go in and check on him, don't pick him up, let him know you are there then walk out of the room. Eventually he will get to where he will sleep through the night, or if he wakes up he will know that your there and he will go back to sleep by himself. It is hard at first, My son cried like 2 hours and I was in my bedroom crying. But then I made the mistake when he got sick one time I let him sleep with me and he has been there ever since, I don't mind it, but my husband is ready for him to be in his bed, He said he is getting tired of being kicked all night. Anyway good luck honey I know its hard not getting sleep. J.

At 3 months, a baby no longer needs food to sustain them during the night. At 9 months with him wanting to nurse that often there could be several reasons. One is he is using you as a pacifier. Will he take a pacifier? When he cries out, can you try that before you resort to nursing? Another reason could be he is not getting enough food during the day. Is he on solids? My guess however is that is not the case but more that this has become a habit. If that is the case, try other ways to comfort him...then wean him off the nursing...maybe cut out one at a time. It would be better if you could have someone else go in the room in the middle of the night so he doesn't smell you and want to nurse. It will be difficult but in just a short time babies learn. Dr. Ferber (he has a book about this) has a great approach to getting babies to sleep through the night. I used it with my daughter at 3 months and within two nights she was sleeping through the night. Babies are so smart and they learn fast. Good luck...i hope you can get some rest soon!

Both of our boys were huge and wanted the bottle till they were 12 months and then a cup 2 times during the night.We tried feeding before bed, snacks, cerial in the bottle(when they still were on the bottle).... they still woke up to eat.I am not sure how you can tell with breastfeeding, but they say with bottle if they just take a little from it....it's just a habit.....ours downed those things dry....so they were hungry.Our youngest is 16 months and just now starting to sleep through the night.We did "cry it out" with everything esle, but with that I "suffered" for a while and now there is a light at the end of tunnel:)
Gosh some people have kids sleep through the night since 3 months....ours just did not.Not much advice, sorry S.:(

This alone will probably not work, but one thing that helped me is giving a bottle of breastmilk in the evening.

I highly recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Mark Weissbluth. Also "secrets of the Baby Whisperer". I myself found Babywise a little too "harsh" but know people who have had great success with it as well. There's a "published" solution out there for everyone, but at nine months, you shouldn't be having to get up 3 times a night unless something is wrong...or unless you choose to. Your baby will not starve to death, or hate you for helping both of you to sleep better.

Sweet Dreams :)

I am having the same problem and my daughter is 14 mo old. I am in the process of reading the no cry sleep solution and only about 25% done with the book and we are already getting better! Please read this book, oh and if you email the author she will respond....she is amazing! I could say more but remember they are still babies, this is just a short time period we can get through it and we will (belive it or not) miss it when they are grown!!!!