Little background, my son started sleeping through the night at 2 months old and did great up until 6 months. So from 6 months to currently, 9 months, he has been waking up in the middle of the night...not every night, and their are weeks where it has gotten better...but now it is worse. He has always been a great eater, bottle, food, everything. But recently he started not wanting me to feed him, so with the doc
orders, I have moved to more finger foods for him...but he is not really liking that either. Since he is still getting his bottles, and he is eating some that is not my biggest concern...my biggest concern is the sleeping. Last night for instance, he woke up at 11, then 12:30 and I gave him a bottle, but he did not go back to sleep until 1:30, then wakes up at 6:30...which is early for him. (his normal sleep schedule is 8:30 - 7 am) Any advice please!!!!
UPDATE - I know my baby is normal...I was just looking for some advice or tips...geeze!
And the teething thing sounds about right, he has 5 teeth and they all came in very fast, so he is probably getting another one. Thanks to all of you who are relating to my situation!
He's probably going thru a growth spirt or getting ready to. Or he could be teething. My dtrs both did this and it will pass. They were both going thru a growth spirt
My guess would be teeth. It can take a while sometimes. My daughter would take a month more more to have the teeth break through.
Could also be that he's learning new skills. 6-9 months is a huge developmental stage. Sitting up, crawling, pulling up, cruising, etc... When they learn new stuff it can interfere with sleep.
Has he been checked for an ear infection?
It's normal to have sleep disruptions and changes in sleep schedules. You can have a few months of great sleep, then a few of not so great sleep. Just stick it out!
He might be sleep deprived on top of other things like teething...it's counter-intuitive, but sleep breeds sleep, so the more tired a baby is, the more waking through the night. He needs 16-18 hours of sleep a day, and at his age, 12-14 of them should be consolidated at night. (still might wake for one bottle, my little one did). I know that sounds crazy, but I kind of swear by it...from 6 months or so, my daughter was in bed at 5:30pm, and slept until 7:30am - with one waking for a nibble (which hard core people would say I didn't need to do). The book that saved my life is the "Happy Baby, Healthy Sleep Habits" by Marc Weissbluth. Just in case that's helpful, thought I'd throw it in there....:)
E.
It really is normal for sleep pattern to change around that time (but your ped probably won't tell you so)....and teething can be a killer too. My daughter lived on tylenol and motrin for months and months. You don't mention if he's upset when he wakes up, but I'm assuming so. You might start paying attention to food he eats, and if he wakes at night or not...food allergies and intolerances can affect sleep. My daughter is almost 3 and if she eats the wrong thing, she still wakes once at night. At your son's age, she was up 4 to 8 times a night....ugh...definite food problems here. Hang in there.
It could be as simple as getting teeth. Those always threw my kids off big time.
I would just stick to a good bedtime routine and hopefully it will be a quick phase!
I would also vote for teething. I have a 10-month old and she wakes more often when a tooth is coming through. Motrin might be appropriate if tylenol doesn't work, but check with your doc for dosing and advice on using drugs. I just wait a few minutes with my daughter to see if she settles on her own. She usually chews on her mini-blankie to relieve some of the pressure. But if she doesn't calm in 4 or 5 minutes, we'll go in and rub her back or give her a binkie to help her calm down. Best of luck!
K., you didn't mention if he is fussier than normal, but it may be as simple as he has begun teething? That can hinder eating and sleep schedules. Might be with interduction to new foods that his stomach is gassy, which could interupt normal sleep schedules as well....milacon drops work great for gas...only time helps with teething.
Lots of luck
B.
Hi K.,
I'm in the exact same boat as you. My 9 month old daughter is cutting a tooth on top and she's not sleeping well either. She slept through the night starting at 7 weeks and within the last month, started waking up at all hours of the night. From what I've read and heard, it looks like the teeth are to blame. I've also read that for teething babies, it gets worse at night time, when they are laying down. :( Poor babies ~ I'm sure it's not very comfortable. Hang in there!!
S.
I know exactly how you feel. I had many sleepless night from 6 months til 9 months. It turned out that my son was teething. It took 2.5 months to figure it out and then it was only because he cut the tooth. It was a long 3 months but I think we are past it for the most part, although I expect more as more teeth come in. I have found that Tylenol does help but is not a cure all. It seems to help him sleep in longer stretches. I also found that if I fed him when he 'woke' up, it just took longer to go back to sleep. I found that most of the time he wasn't totally awake so we would just cuddle for a bit (a short rock in the rocking chair) and he would settle back down. My best suggestion is to relax and know that this too will pass.
Your baby is totally normal. In fact, he is so normal I'm having trouble figuring out what your question is.
