My Child Is Waking Often at Night

he is hungry. for sure.

Hi C.,
We finally made it through the same thing. First, my husband and I had to fully agree to follow through before we started. It it very difficult if you don't. Wehave an 11month old. Usually he would have his dinner about 5 or 6 and have his last bottle around 7 or 8pm. I would rock himto sleep and hold him for about 10 min (to make sure he was asleep)He would wake up about 12 or 1...I would rock him again until he went to sleep, without taking him to our bed. Sometimes it would awhile, but he never got used to falling asleep in our bed. It was always from the rocker to the crib. Then we made the decision to let him cry himself back to sleep. (Which is VERY HARD) but we started off slow...let him cry for 5 minutes and then go calm him...take him to the rocker back to the crib He would wake up sometimes an hour later, but I would do the same thing..then after a few days we would let him cry for 7-8 mins. and then 10..by the time we got to 20 min he would fall back to sleep on his own. We never let him cry fro more than 20min...and beleive me...its hard to hear him cry...
ok after a long story..it only took 9 days...now he sleeps from 7:30 at night til 6:30 in the morning...
but it all depends on what you can handle and how long you can listen to him cry...ohhh and one more thing, if there was a night I really just needed my sleep, I would sleep on the couch with him, so he never got used to my bed...but he knew I was there and I got my sleep..

Good luck, everyone tries something different..

I had the exact same problem with my daughter at that age. All the advice I got said to just give her a bottle of water when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Pretty soon they will realize that they arent getting what they want and that waking up isnt really worth it to them and they will stop. Like others have said, try giving your son a little more to eat before bed and see what happens. Good luck!

I can understand your tiredness! My daughter did the same thing for a while. I used to give in, but decided that if either of us were ever going to get some sleep I had to put a stop to late night bottles. How long do you let him cry before going into his room? More times than not, she would fall back to sleep within 15-20 mins. He may just be waking up in between his sleep cycles, which is very normal. Try letting him get himself back to sleep.
He may also be teething. She woke up a lot during the night when she was getting her teeth. In fact we are dealing with that now. I just go in and rub her back, try and comfort her and then leave. For the most part she puts her self back to sleep. I don't give into giving her anything as far as a cup/food goes, otherwise that will create a whole new problem.
Good luck!
B.

my son does the same, he wakes up for a cup. i know it might sound like tough love but i believe sometimes thats the only way to do it. maybe once or twice give him a bottle but the other times he may just have to cry it out. sometimes just telling him no or in the morning with breakfast is what i tell my son and it works. good luck!

IF you think he;s not tryuly hungry, then you could put him to bed with a bottel or sippy cup of water. It's winter you are probaly running your heater making him more thirsty then usual. Also if it is a confortthing, well atleast the water won't ruin his teeth.

H.

Hi C. -
No worries. I'm a first time mommy too and after 26 months of my son waking up all the time at night I finally figured out that he was hungry. So now my husband and I feed him at least 2-3 jars of baby food plus a full 8 oz. of milk (soy milk)before bed. Now our son sleeps through the night on most nights and if he wakes up, it's only once.
Lots of food = lots of sleep.
Good luck! - L.

C.,

Make sure he is eating enough though the day. The bottle that you give him should be water only. A baby that sleeps with juice or formula can develop problems with their teeth.

If you would like me to go over what he is eating send me an email or call me. Let's see if it’s that or a bad habit starting.

Here to help

L. C
Personal Nutritionist
www.Herbalmom.com

could he be waking up hungry? Do you still give him a bottle or milk before he goes to bed? My daughter easily gave up the bottle right after she turned one. I also noticed that she would start waking up in the middle of the night. So I started to give her a sippy cup of milk before bed, that filled her enough to get through the night.