Sleep & Breastfeeding

He's still hungry! My FF baby didn't sleep through the night until I started spoon-feeding him cereal mixed with baby food 3 times a day. We'd wake up in the morning and first thing - feeding time. 1 jar of baby food (usually bananas or some other fruit) mixed with oatmeal or rice cereal. At 8 months, he is more than ready for "solids". Afterwards, I'd give him a bottle and then playtime and then nap. Repeat twice thru the day and he should start sleeping for you!

Good luck!

I had very low supply, but I weaned very early. I need my sleep and firmly believe that it's better to have a well rested happy mama than an exhausted cranky one -for all of the kids!

BF all 3 of my kids, first weaned at 15 mos, second at 12 mos and my now 15 mo old is in process of weaning. Neither of my first 2 children slept through the night until age 2. I'm currently still nursing my 15 month old during day only and he wakes an average of 3 times nightly. My research and experience lead me to believe that BF has little to do with night waking. Rather some kids wake at night and some sleep soundly. It has more to do with physical maturity than anything. Latest research says if mother is a sound sleeper, baby will likely sleep more soundly and longer at night. I feel your pain as I also have an almost 3 yr old and a 6 yr old whom I homeschool so naps are not an option.
What I learned with child #1 is that letting her cry it out only made a bigger mess (she would vomit and need a bed change) and a more clingy insecure child the days to follow. Thankfully I abandoned that approach rapidly. So, I decided to change my attitude toward the situation and look at her night wakening as more time to spend loving her. Instead of resenting her and trips to her crib, I started thanking God for blessing me with a healthy baby. By age 18 months she was sleeping 6 -7 hour stretches and by age 2 sleeping through the night most nights. Since age 3 she has been able to fall asleep on her own and sleeps a solid 10-11 hours. She's a very secure child. My almost 3 yr old is now a good sleeper with only an occasional visit to our bed in the night if he is sick or falls out of bed. This is only a season and soon I will be getting a full night of sleep.
A couple helpful books to read on the subject are: The Sleep Book by Dr. Sears and The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Oh, and as for night nursing, I found that my babies were ready to leave them behind at about 11-12 months of age, not 6 mos as the Drs all suggest. I replaced the nursing with a sip from a cup. Best wishes. R., midwife Mom of 3

My breastfed twins started sleeping through the night at nine weeks old. By 8 months your son doesn't need the extra nutrition like he did when he was younger. Try not feeding him when he wakes up and rocking him or finding another way to soothe him to sleep. We started doing this when our babies were five months old and decided they wanted to be awake again after sleeping through the night for three months. It was rough for a couple of nights, but they got the idea.

Well, My DD is waking up at least 2x a night, sometimes more. She's 11 months. Her bedtime is at 9:00(ish), and she usually wakes up between 12-1am, again at 3-5, then up for the day around 8-9. Sometimes, if she's teething or in a growth spurt, she will wake up more. She only takes one 1.5-2.5 hr nap a day though...

i nursed 3 kids, all for an average of 2 years. my first is now 8 ( sniff!) and he still doesnt sleep through the night. meanwhile, lilly started sleeping through at maybe a year or so, but it took me 2 hours of bopping her to sleep every night after i weaned her at 18 mos, i was pregnant and the doc wanted me to stop, so i weaned. we went through about 5 of those boppy things, by the time i stopped she didnt even bop anymore, just laid on the floor. but holy cow she wasnt ready to wean, but she never would have been, not for so long anyway, she was just like that. she slept better once she was in a bed at about 2 years. tyler slept absolutely horrible, it was a terrible experience, i never slept, nobody did. its kind of a small house and he woke up so many times a night, it just got worse and worse, till at about 10 mos he didnt sleep more than an hour at a time, ever around the clock. i had to let him cry, it was really horrible, we were all completely sleep deprived, we were getting crazy. so let him cry at about 10 mos, i had never done that with either of my other kids, i dont like it, i dont believe in it. but i really had to so i did. it was awful but i swear it was only a couple of nights. i still nursed him to sleep, but when he woke up all night i wouldnt go in. he cried for a couple or 3 nights, then he stopped. and i still nursed him to sleep every night, but i wouldnt take him out till the sun came up. over time i taught him that he comes out when its light out, i showed him the window over and over. anyway, after that he slept awesome. he still sleeps better than anyone in the house. he goes to sleep with a smile, unbelievable. so... i guess my point is that they are all different. but you cant put a price on sleep. you have to sleep, so does he, so does everyone. its not good to go a long time without. good luck

Have you tried a pacifier? My first just felt the strong, natural, urge to suck even when not hungry. So I'd give her a pacifier. Most of the time she went right back to sleep. If she didn't, then I knew she was hungry.
My youngest is now 4 and still rarely sleeps through the night. Everyone is different! Good luck!

My still-breastfeeding daughter just turned 1 and only just started really sleeping through the night a few weeks ago. We put her down at 8 PM, and she will usually stay asleep until anywhere between 4 AM and 6 AM. I'll nurse her then, and then she goes back to sleep until 8ish. The few times she wakes up before midnight, I nurse her and then she's usually down until it's time to wake up for the day at 8 AM. It's actually easier to do the dream feeds before midnight, because we're still awake.

We try to make sure that she eats a really good dinner and then nurse her really well before bedtime. That has been helping. 8 months was a tough age, sleepwise. She was on the verge of a few milestones, plus you never know what's going on with teething, etc. If she was fussy for no apparent reason for more than a couple of nights, we'd give her motrin before bed, because we figured it was probably due to the discomfort of teething. It usually helped.

Good luck!

my guys are teens now, so my advice is prob old school, lol. Are you ready to wean him? I had to work, so I was pumping for my husband and sitter to bottle feed. I wanted to go as long as I could, but by the time they were ready for jars/cereal, I only needed to do the bottle at night. Couldn't tell from your post what hold you're doing, but I loved the side-by-side where you could put your arm under the baby's head. Good luck to you!

He's probably ready for some solid food...check with the doc, he's too old not to be sleeping through the night if everything is OK. Cut back on the naps and/or the length of naps. He's probably hungry.

Blessings......

I so feel your pain! My baby is 5 1/2 months and wants to nurse every 2 hours at night. I've been trying to follow the "No cry Sleep Solutions" book (which I used with my first..& worked great) but not so much with this baby. Its been going on for a month, I thought it was from shots, cold, teething (which did happen) growth spurt, but I've come to realize, he's not a sleeper. Day time naps total 3 hrs and night is 10...if I'm totally on top of it all day, which is exhausting! I'm gonna try a later bedtime, like you are, seems he usually sleeps 3/4 hours when I do that. I've even started cereal...a little. I'm soooooooooo tired! If you find something that works, let me know!

My breastfed child didn't sleep through the night until closer to 18 months old. Some babies are bad sleepers, and I don't think that has anything to do with weather they are breast or formula fed. After 18 months old she started sleeping all night, every night. She is an excellent sleeper now, so there is hope lol. I would make sure he is good and full at bedtime. A full belly equals longer sleep. We also co-slept, which meant we both got more sleep. I know co-sleeping is not for everyone, but we enjoyed it. And don't worry that co-sleeping means they will never be in their own bed. My child sleeps alone in her own bed every night. Maybe try to drop down to 2 naps max a day. I really don't have any other advice to offer, except to say that this phase will pass. I don't miss those days though! Good luck!

sorry no advice - just sympathy! My 18 month old still gets up at least once a night. this last week has been about 4-5 x's! I feel your pain! My oldest didn't sleep thru the night til she was 2. and she was weaned at a year! I've tried cereal at night, now that she's on milk I've kept a tippy of milk ready, later bedtime, earlier bedtime...again I have sympathy! I do feel your pain!

My BF son slept through the night beginning about 13 weeks. I used the BabyWise method of altering the ORDER of things (instead of eat, sleep, awake, eat, sleep, awake...we did eat, awake time, sleep, eat, awake time, sleep). I switched to formula at 6 months old, so perhaps things might have been rockier for us if he was still BF and had a growth spurt later on... but by then (this was almost 13 years ago) he had been getting solid food at mealtime 3 x a day. It certainly wasn't his only food, but he did have quite an appetite. But he slept all night. His only night waking after 3 months was b/c he was gassy... and simethicone drops solved that.
Sorry I am not more help. But my BF baby was sleeping through the night long before 8 months.

By 8 months he doesn't 'need' to nurse during the night - he only 'wants- to, so if you do away w/ the nursing in the middle of the night you might have a few unhappy nights but it should work itself out. He's using you as a pacifer to get back to sleep. :) Both of my children did not sleep through the night until they were 10 months old and they both quit nursing around 6 months. By 8 months also, he should be restricted to only 2 naps a day running about 1 -2 hours a piece - try to get him on a sleep schedule because it will help him (& you) overall.

By 8 months you should be able to add some cereal to his menu. You will be really surprised how just a little can go a long way for a restful night.

Both my breastfed babies slept through the night by 6 months.

Our pediatrician said by that age they did not need to be eating during the night.