Sleep Advice - Sunnyvale,CA

Just 2 more bits of advice:
An earlier sleep time may help her sleep longer. Try adjusting up her sleep times by 15 minutes earlier every couple of days and then you may find her going to sleep closer to 7pm but getting better quality and longer sleep sessions. Highly recommend Marc Weisbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child it is full of good advice on this issue. Happy sleeping!

I would give her less and less until one night you give her nothing. Doing it suddenly, I think, is not necessary since she is used to it. Doing it gradually will help with the transition. I would also offer a pacifier for the comfort, if that is what she is deriving from the feeding, so she has the sucking sensation she is craving. Once you stop offering the bottle, just go in there and reassure her. Good luck

When she takes the 6oz bottle in the middle of the night, does she drink it all or does she start sucking and fall right back to sleep? If she is drinking it all, then I'd say she is hungry and needs that night time feeding. However, if she starts sucking and then falls right back to sleep then it is more than likely a habit and she may be sucking for comfort. My son is breastfed but does this a lot and I'm finding it quite hard to get him to sleep through the night without waking for a comfort session. Good Luck.

Hello M V : Being the mother to 5 children and the foster parent of many more, I have a lot of experiance with this one. I would just wait until they are ready. Most little ones just need reassurance that they are safe and that the parents are there to protect them. I always laughed because they didn't want me as much as they wanted their father because no matter how tired he was he was always gentle with them and stayed feeding , rocking, talking, reading, or singing to them. My granddaughter has learned to sleep with the fan going on low or the cd player with gentle music playing all night. But she even wakes up sometimes and just wants to be reassured mom and dad are there, or is hungry. Remember that for a child's small tummy that' a lot of hours to go without food and cuddling.
I know that some children do well with favorite animals or dolls in the bed. Good Luck in the adventure of parenthood. Contact me if I can be of anymore help. Glenda

I have to point this out because no one else has yet: your baby is only 7 months old. At her age, "sleeping through the night" is about 6 hours, and compared to my experience and that of other moms (who don't lie haha), you are BLESSED to have a baby who sleeps as well as she does!!! :) She's waking in the middle of the night because she still needs that night feeding. It doesn't matter how much you feed her before she goes to bed; it's not going to make her sleep any longer (studies have shown this). I'm not sure how your other 2 girls slept, but my son still wakes in the night every once in a while at 2 1/2 years old, and that's perfectly normal. I've been praying since birth that he'd sleep through the night, but I was "blessed" with a bad sleeper.

Anyway, I think you should just go with the flow as long as she's actually drinking her whole bottle. Remember: you can't force a baby to eat, so yes, you can cut back on the amount in her bottle, but she's still going to be hungry, which is going to cause her to wake in the middle of the night. She'll grow out of her need for the night feed, but by then, maybe she'll wake in the night because she's teething or she had a bad dream :( Or maybe she'll sleep 11 hours and make everyone happy :)

Go in once to tell her you love her, it's ok & re tuck her in & then leave her alone. It took my daughter 3 nights of crying for about 45 minutes & then she has never woken up again for that middle of the night feeding. (I did this @ 7 months) She is 9 1/2 months now, a very happy baby & well rested. 2 naps per day 1 1/2 to 2 hours each & bed 6:45 to 5am (for a feeding & back to sleep until 7:00) This is what the Dr. whom has never steered us wrong told us to do, as well as the sleep book healthy sleep habits, happy child. It is hard to listen to the crying but know in the end it is best for all & everyone will be happier, especially her. She will stilll have that bright happy smile when you go to get her in the morning, as if nothing has changed in her world accept more sleep. Good luck!

My daughter was sleeping 8-10 hours a night at that point. I think your instinct that she's doing it out of habit is right. You could let her keep doing what she's doing, but you're the Mom, it’s your decision.
If you do want to change the habit, I think you're doing the right thing by feeding her well before bed. I would say try to give her more formula before bed (as much as she'll take) so you are certain she is full. If you think she still needs more food, then you should increase her intake at another time during the day. She has the capacity to eat enough during the day to get her through the night.
Then for me, to break my daughter from habits I removed her "reward". She will protest because you're not doing what she expects you to do, but you can help her through it.
In your case, her rewards are food and your company. Start with not feeding her when she wakes up in the night. Help her find something in her crib that she finds comfort in when she wakes up. (i.e.: pacifier, mobile, blanket)
Then after a night or two stop picking her up when she wakes. Just soothe her, let her know you're there, but say "it's night time, go back to sleep", help her find her comfort item again.
Finally, start to increase the time it takes you to go to her when she wakes up. Eventually she will quite down before you get there and soothe herself back to sleep.
This worked for us. Now my dd sleeps through the night, comforts herself if she does wake up, and she likes playing in her crib by herself, which sometimes buys me a few extra minutes to finish a chore before I get her up.
Best wishes!

You're probably right that she is waking out of habit, but not quite in the way I think you mean. Her body is in the habit of getting food in the middle of the night so she wakes due to hunger. If you start reducing the amount you give her at night she'll stop being hungry then. Cut it down by an ounce every two/three nights. That will giver her tummy a chance to adjust to the new 'no food at night' routine. Once the bottle is eliminated altogether it will still take her a few nights (maybe up to a week) to stop waking and learn to self-soothe. If she takes a pacifier, start giving it to her after the bottles for now and then when the bottles are gone you can just come in quietly and give her the paci and walk out. She'll adjust by eating more during the day.
Enjoy your gilries!

I have a 9 month old who would wake up every night at 2am to eat. Since she would eat 4 - 6 oz. i thought she needed it, and maybe she did for a while. About a month ago, i started only giving her only 2 oz. to get her out of the habit. She would get a little fussy, but still go back to sleep fine. Two weeks ago, i stopped feeding her when she awoke; she wasn't happy, but after 2 nights, she sleeps through the night! My doctor said i was rewarding her for bad behavior. At some point, you'll need to stop feeding her, but you need to feel the time is right. Good luck!

That's about the same schedule my 6-month-old keeps, except that he's breastfed. I would say that your little one still needs that nighttime feeding. Otherwise, you're expecting her to go 11 hours on some baby food and a 4 oz bottle. If she's taking 6 oz of formula during her night feeding, I'd say she's hungry!

Hello,

Just a comment then I'll butt out... food and cuddling are not "rewards" for a 7 month odd. She is waking up because she's hungry and needs reassurance you are still there. She is far to young to withhold either of these in the middle of the night. She sounds like a super sleeper to me at that age- better then both my boys were. ;) Too bad you have to wake her up at 7:00. If you don't need to be anywhere, I'd let her keep sleeping.

And you can't stuff them to make them sleep longer before they go to bed. They eat what they can and at this age still wake up if they are hungry. I don't think it's a habit- not at 7 months.

Keep the milk and the cuddles coming. She will sleep through the night before you know it.

If she's eating 6 oz of formula, maybe she is hungry. If you think she's just waking out of habit, try going in, don't turn on any lights, don't talk to her, don't make eye contact. Just go in quietly and pat her back and try to help her soothe herself back to sleep. No diaper changing - nothing but quiet soothing back patting.

More likely that she is genuinely hungry, and that wakes her up. It wont last long. However, she will go through phases af waking all through her baby-hood. Sometimes not at all, sometimes every two hours all night.

Try soothing her back to sleep without the use of food or drink. If she goes back to sleep, and stays asleep, then she wasn't hungry at all and just waking from habit...

I would not assume that she is not hungry. It is very normal for babies to need to eat during the night for the first year. My almost 7 month old is still up twice a night.