Sleep Training a 9 Month Old

What worked for me was topping them off at 11 (my husband would bring them to me in bed), good feed, then they typically would sleep till 5 ish. I got up and let my husband sleep. But I went to bed early too so I got my rest.

My doctor told me to top them off and it worked really well. Eventually they were able to give that up on their own. No Ferberizing because they weren't waking hungry. It was once they were eating a good evening meal and also I'd give them a good snack before bed, and they wouldn't need to be topped up.

He's sleeping 8 hours at night with only a 1am waking in the middle. That's a within the normal range of full night's sleep for many babies his age who also nap. If this is his natural healthy sleep pattern, try to work with it instead of against it.

If 4am is too early of a morning for you, start gradually creeping his bedtime later. 8:15, 8:30, 8:45, 9:00, 9:15 and so on, until he's sleeping until 5 or 6am.

Alternately, put yourself to bed at 8pm so that you get 8 hours.

Full out CIO can be extremely stressful to a baby and can teach them that their needs will be ignored, so I would not recommend that. What I did with my boys was a type of modified CIO, but I started younger so it may have been easier, IDK. I always put my boys to bed awake, from birth (well, after the first few weeks during which time I co-slept so this didn't apply yet), at the same time every night (830). IF they fussed I would wait 5 minutes before going in (of course a full out cry would never be ignored), once in I would calm them without removing them from the crib, just rub their tummy/back and sing or talk softly. Once they were calm I would leave again, and if they fussed I would wait another 5 minutes and repeat. I never had to go back in a second time, they always calmed on their own before the second 5 minutes was up. I would do the same thing for night wakings (after the first few weeks after their doc said night feedings were no longer a need), when they would wake I would simply wait 5 minutes before going in and 90% of the time they simply fell back to sleep on their own before that 5 minutes was up. (side note, "sleeping through the night" at first for us meant them sleeping from 830-around 430/500, feeding, and then usually falling back to sleep for a couple of hours if I was lucky! That was at around 3/4 months for us using this method)

Best of luck to you!

Put him to bed an hour or so later if you really are having a hard time dealing with this. Maybe he will sleep later in the morning. Actually I think he is doing fine and really wouldn't mess with it.

I know you say co sleeping wouldn't be good for your sleep but do you really think anyone's going to get any sleep with a baby screaming all night?
If he's still feeding at night crying it out means crying it out two or three times a night.
Even if that doesn't bother you or your husband what about your older son, how is HE supposed to sleep through that?
Our three babies slept between us (only as long as they were still feeding at night) and no one ever fell out of bed.

Why does he need to eat at night? Our pediatrician told us to knock that off at 6 months and get him to sleep (we also did Ferber). He's only taking 1-2 ounces so it's not from hunger - it's just for comfort.

We took a long weekend and just took turns (in your case, one parent would take the 1 AM and the other would take the 4 AM), no food, increasing intervals from 10 to 20 to 30 minutes. It was hell for 3 days but we didn't cave and then it was done. But we didn't go in if he wasn't screaming. We used the same words each time, no variation. ("It's okay" and "time for sleep" and "night night, see you in the morning" - same tone of voice, no changes, no picking up.)

Keep the older one on your floor over the next long weekend, and be done with it! Good luck! Keep reminding yourself that the baby needs the uninterrupted sleep for brain development a lot more than he needs 2 ounces of milk/formula. And you all need a good night's sleep!

i used to put my son to bed at 11 pm, that way we could all sleep till daddy had to get up at 7 then as he got older and was sleeping 9 or 10 hrs straight i would move bedtime and now hes sleeping 830pm till 8 am
when i was poutting him down at 11, he would also take a 3 hour nap after lunch.
dd was different, she wanted to go to bed at 8 at that age and would rouse to eat around 4 but easily go back to sleep till my son was up for the day then she would be up too.

He is already sleeping one 5 hour stretch but it is timed poorly. I would try feeding him at 11 pm and try for a real feeding at that time.

Please keep in mind that according to most peds, the definition of a baby "sleeping through the night" is one 6-hour stretch. I would considering closing the door at 8 and not opening it until 6:30, expecting a baby to sleep 10.5 hours!, to be unreasonable. He is doing one 5 hour stretch (8-1), which is really close to the 6 hours that is expected. It's just the timing that you should work on, because you haven't lined up his long stretch of sleep with yours.

If you want to get 1 longer stretch that starts and ends later, can you try doing a dream feed right before you go to bed? I did this with one of mine. I put him to bed about 9. Then I fed him again at 11 before I went to sleep - called a dream feed, because he basically ate in his sleep. It filled his belly, so that he could get his 6 hour stretch of sleep from 11PM to 5AM, which corresponded better to my sleeping schedule.

So, in your case, if your baby goes to sleep at 8, and you feed him in his sleep at 10 just before you go to bed, then you might get him to skip the 1AM feeding. You'll be more able to get up with him at 4, since you've had a longer stretch of sleep leading up to that.

OR - try to gradually push back his 8PM bedtime, 15 min at a time, until 9 or 9:30 and see if over time, that adjusts his sleep timing so he's getting up later.

ETA: I'm trying to say exactly what Margie also said...

Already 9 months old, B.! Time flies! :)

Your little guy doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night. It's just for comfort, that's all.

Could you consider putting him to bed a little later? A bottle before bed, and some cereal if you think he is in the middle of a growth spurt can help.

I did let my kids cry it out, but they weren't standing up. Your little guy can stand in the crib for a long time holding on to the side. That's hard. So, here's an alternative, if you can stand it. When he wakes and starts to cry, go in to him and sit down on the floor beside the crib, put your hand through the slats and stroke his feet. You will be with him, so it's not like he's alone. He will finally lay down to be closer to you and you can stroke his leg. Just keep doing it until he falls asleep.

This will get him off the bottle in the middle of the night. The crying will last less and less, and finally he will be sleep-trained. It will be hard on you because it will last a bit longer, but it won't test your resolve as much. Just make sure that you don't pick him up. The less you talk to him, the better. Just stroke his foot until he lays down, and then stroke his leg.