Hi There! I have a 7 mos old son- Jacob, who shares a room with his older brother- Caleb, 4 yrs old. Caleb sleeps fine and sleeps through the night well so sharing a room seems to be no problem(BTW-Caleb found his thumb at 4 mos and has slept through the night since). I have already discussed the issue with his pediatrician and read several books so I know babies this age are capable of sleeping at least 7-8 hrs a night or more. At 5 1/2 mos, Jacob had been sleeping that long for about 2 weeks, then went back to waking every 3-4 hours. Then at 6 1/2 mos we weaned him from his pacifier and ferberized, and he learned to get himself to sleep at naps and night time. I thought I was home free to get a large chunk of sleep at night, but again this lasted for only about 2 weeks and now he is 7 1/2 mos old and he is back to waking every 3-4 hours at night. UUGGGHH!! I'm SOOOO exhausted! I'm trying to take into consideration - growth spurts, too hot/cold, teething( he's not cutting any teeth yet), tummy full etc... It doesn't seem to matter what I do, there is no consistent pattern except that he does seem to want to usually nurse or just be held at night to get back to sleep... When will he TRULY begin to comfort himself to get back to sleep, which is what I thought he'd learned to do already???
Well my 7 mos old is now 8 mos old and he still does wake about 3-4 hours after going to sleep at night, but now I just let him cry himself back to sleep( only takes 5-10 min, which is no more than if I had fed or rocked him back to sleep anyway) the first time he wakes up and then feed him the next time, which means he usually will go 7-8 hours before he gets fed again. At least this helps me get more sleep for now.
Thanks to everyone for the advice!
Do not worry, my first child did not sleep all night until he was about 3 yrs old. But each child is different. One day he will just start sleeping all night.
I just want to say that it is normal for babies to NOT sleep through the night at this age. I don't know why everyone persists with this idea that they "should" be. The Ferber method may work for a lot of people, but it is one that I believe sees setbacks anytime baby is sick, teething, or anything! You may try re-Ferberizing.
Also, you mentioned nursing. A 7 month old may still want/need nourishment in the night! Breastmilk does not contain fillers, and it is digested perfectly, yet it does not always hold the stomach throughout the night. I know you're exhausted, but really, this may just be what he needs right now.
I honestly do not think the majority of babies truly sleep all night at this age. I think we hear from the mamas whose babies do, and we think it's necessary for all of them. I think your son is too young for you to worry about sleeping through the night yet.
Again, I want to emphasize that while some pedis and "experts" think that all babies this age are "capable" of sleeping all night, many think they still need help. Obviously I am a proponent that they may still need comfort at this age, and there are plenty of "experts" that agree with that! Jacob may just be wired differently than Caleb!
On the other hand, perhaps Ferber is NOT the right method for y'all. Even Dr. Ferber has admitted that it is not right for everyone. Have you read The No Cry Sleep Solution, by Elizabeth Pantley? It involves really analyzing your baby's sleep to diagnose where the issues may be, and gives a very gentle approach to helping them sleep through the night. Perhaps a gentle method would suit Jacob better. All babies are different.
My 8.5 month old still wakes 2-3 times a night. It's nothing to worry about. We have a co-sleeping arrangement, so when he does wake up, it's only for 5 or 10 minutes. He sees that I'm there, nurses for just a few minutes, then rolls over and goes right back to sleep. The co-sleeping thing is what has gotten me through these nights. Also, babies want to be nurtured more in the night when they are on the move during the day. Give your baby lots of cuddle time during the day and see if this helps.
My 6 1/2 month old is doing these same things. He wakes up at 1 for some food then again at five just for the heck of it and to roll over on his tummy! When you find the cure let me know! I do get about five hours inbetween. From one tired momma to another GOOD LUCK!!!
Just because babies are capable to sleep through the night doesn't mean they will. My 9 month old wakes up 2 or 3 times a night, mostly for comfort. He goes right back out again pretty much as soon as I pick up him. Yeah sometimes I wish he would just knock it off but he is still a small baby that wants his mama.
Could something be waking him up besides a need for comfort/food? Babies are light sleepers and little outside noises or lights could wake them up.
Something to think about, do YOU sleep through the night? Unless I'm exhausted I wake up on my own a couple of times. Sometimes I curl up with my husband for comfort to fall back to sleep. It's not that I can't self sooth, I just don't want to.
I know it's frustrating, especially when you are tired but this won't last forever.
Hi A.!
I have an almost 7 month old who usually goes to bed around 8 and gets up at 4 to eat. She was getting up at midnight too and I finally had to let her cry it out for a few nights and she dropped that feeding. I just turned the monitor off and set my alarm to check on her in like 30 minutes. She usually went back to sleep or at least just fussed instead of screaming. It also seemed to help when we got her attached to a blanket. Now she associates that with sleeping. I just started putting it to bed with her and now she loves it. It is soft on one side and silky on the other. I hope that helps :)
need help on this one too!
I have yet to have a 7 month old sleep through the night on a regular basis. All of my children did not sleep through the night until they were 3. Each child is different, so just because you first child did doesn't mean this one will. They grow so fast. Enjoy the night cuddles.
Have you tried bathing at night with lavender scented wash? Bath Junkie makes a good one, so does Johnsons. We have 5 children and though people say at around 3 mos kiddos start sleeping through the night, every child is different.
A., I feel ya. My little boy is a little over 8 months. He had slept through the night starting at 2 months old, so to all of a sudden begin waking up in the middle of the night for up to 3 hr. stretches, needless to say it was frustrating. My husband and I are proponents of him sleeping in his crib, so co-sleeping was not an option for us. However, we would go into soothe him, feed him if necessary and put him back to bed. We have tried ferberizing on many occasions - but it has not worked for us. I think for him, his teethe were bothering him combined with a growth spurt. So we gave him teething tablets before bed and upped his food intake during the day, his sleep is still not completly back to where it was but MUCH better. It could be that your little ones teeth are coming down, just haven't broken the skin yet. Good Luck!
Hi A.,,,
i know you said you thought of all the reasons ect...... full tummy ,,,but then you said he wanted to nurse ah!! so is he really getting full enough if he is eating food also you might want to increase it just a bit
good luck L.
You are probably doing this already but what I’ve found works with my 9 month old twins even through growth spouts is to wait 5 minutes or so after they start fussing before I go to check on them. I find sometimes they just want to have one nice yell and then go right back to sleep. If they don’t go back to sleep within a couple minutes then when I do go in to check on them I do the same thing every time. I do not talk to them or cuddle them alot, I will rock them for a few minutes to settle them down. I change them, try to feed them, rock a little, and lay them back down awake. I have one of those crib aquariums for each crib that I turn on so they can look at it until they fall back asleep. At this point they normally don’t even fuss when I lay them back down. Most nights they don’t get up at all, but when they are growing they will wake up wanting to eat and then go right back to sleep. It will get better just keep at it for a couple of weeks. Good luck.
