7 Month Old Not Sleeping Through the Night

Hey Moms - did we have children to become selfish??? Please tend to the baby - you are his everything. :o)

Get up, feed him, and take care of him. My 10 month old goes through spurts where he sleeps through the night.. then has regressions. It is part of the growing process. I have friends that have kids that didn't sleep through the night until they were 2.. so I just expect to have this go on. You had a child to love and take care of them, right?

Hi,

When my son was his age, i had him listening to bedtime songs and it helps him sleep, it never fails. Just before his nap I would give him a bottle, hold him and play with him for a couple of minutes and then put his music in and he will go to sleep.

However, some babies get hungry more often than some do, my son use to cry at nights and a bottle of water or cereal does him well.

My son is tall and thin, but he drinks well. The physician told me that it was OK, you should also ask your physician about this situation as well.

I know the feeling, i still does not like to hear my son cry at all.

Take care now.

Hi, L., Best of luck to you. With two 4 yos and a 2yo, I know those middle of the night disturbances can be very disturbing! If motrin is not working, here are a couple of thoughts:

First, If he is actually hungry: Somewhere between 6 mos and 18mos, every one of my kids starting needing a "second dinner." We don't typically do much snacking during the day, but at this age, I would have to move their first evening meal up to 4:30 or 5 and then give them another "meal" around 7:30 right before bed. Whether you call it a snack or a meal, they ended up eating about a meal's worth each time. I think my kids' getting hungry at night waited more until they were walking, but he could be hitting a growth spurt or something. If water and rocking would satisfy them w/o any actual calories, then I would figure they were not actually hungry. On the other hand, if they would settle back down, only to be crying again in 30 minutes, I finally figured that they were trying to go back to sleep, but hunger or pain was waking them.

Second, sleep method: I see someone suggested Ferber sleep training for you. Whether you want to use his method is up to you (obviously; we had good success with it, but it's not for every parent or every child, I think). I just wanted to mention that he believes it is counterproductive to let them cry for a while and then pick them up and rock them. As he says, It's not crying that teaches them how to go to sleep, it's actually going to sleep successfully. So With my kids, I try not to let them cry more than a few seconds until I have tried everything I can think of and am ready to commit to not picking them up. The good news is that he knows how sleep through the night. The bad news is that if he is really mad/determined, at this age, he has the stamina for cry for quite a while. Follow your instincts on the many sleep books out there; you know better than anyone what works for you and your son!

Hi L.,

You've gotten a very wide variety of answers! Babies do have different sleeping habits and they do change. Many things like teething, from the pain, and hunger can keep a baby awake just like a growth spurt can cause a little one to sleep more.

Other things that affect sleep are outside stimuli. Has the baby's laundry detergent changed? Any of your cleaning supplies? Do you bleach his sheets? Is there a new mattress? Did he recently get a vaccine? Have you added any new food into his diet? These things either need to be avoided or need to be introduced one at a time (outside of the bleach, of course) so you can watch out for negative changes.

I personally didn't let my kids cry it out and they are all very independent. There have not been any negative results from it and it gave me peace of mind to comfort them when they cried. You're the mom and you decide these things with the best information you have :)

God bless!

M.

Does baby motrin help him? That is very painful, but if you get through the teething, and no improvement, you may consider researching milk intolerance. I know mine did not do well teething at all - maybe he is even getting another one you don't know about?

Best of luck, J.

Babies are not capable of being manipulative, and all crying it out teaches him is that when he needs you, you won't come. Even Ferber has backtracked and admitted that CIO causes brain damage. For your baby's sake, attend to his needs.

An infant younger than one still needs to eat at night, per the AAP. Not providing him food when he is hungry is deprivation. Crying is all he has to tell you he needs food and comfort--don't punish him for being hungry and wanting to be with you.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-ferber-method-demystified...

We used the Ferber method with great success with both of our kids. It makes total sense to me that babies need to learn to go to sleep on their own. It's NOT just letting your baby lie there and cry indefinitely. Yes, it may be stressful for a couple of nights (and that is really all it took) but after that you can have STRESS FREE nights... all of you! I know it's not for everyone, but read it and see what you think.

It's not uncomman for babies that started sleeping through the night early to stop later on. He's prob hungry or teething. There is a pretty big growth spurt at 6 months and they need extra food to get though it. Don't let him CIO (Cry it out) it only causes stress for everyone. He may not sleep through again till he's a year or he may start again after the teething or growth spurt is over. For teething give him motrin and or Hylands teething tablets. And pick up the book " the no cry sleep solution" by elizabeth pantly.

Don't go with Ferber or Babywise. Ferber has actually recended his "ideas", Babywise has been shown to actually stunt baby's growth and many babies on this present with a failure to thrive. and both of these methoids are not recomended by the Board of peditricans ( can't remember the actual name)

I'm probably going to have rocks tossed at me but anyways.....you are slowly creating a bad habit that will be hard to break by repeatedly picking him up and rocking him back to sleep. It's a bad cycle that will only drive yo nuts in the end. It sounds like he has learned how to roll over but can't yet get back to his back side. You could give him tylonel or motrin right before bed for the teething, or teething tablets work great too. But your best bet is to gently roll him back over and either rub his head or tummy till he calms down for a few mins and then let him drift back to sleep. If you truly think he is hungry (possibly a growth spurt) then give him a small bottle but as soon has he has finished it or starts to nod back off, back to the bed and again, you can rub his head or belly to help him.

Good luck!
S.

Hi L., I have a 4 year old, and no one told me how little sleep I would get when I had a child. I was just commenting on that the other day to MY grandmother (she's 80 years old). She made an exhausted face and said "Oh, when you have young kids, it feels like you could just lie down anywhere and sleep." I say this to illustrate that it must be a timeless issue with mothers. I remember just feeling like I was out of my mind. My 4 year old finally slept through the night at 2 1/2 years old. I didn't listen to any "tricks" that people give. My 4 year old loves to go to bed at night and I think this is because I never made an issue out of his waking. I didn't engage him but I certainly didn't leave him to cry it out. I believe children feel vulnerable and need that reassurance for a while. When he got the reassurance, he realized that I would alway be there for him. I wish you well and wish people would share more about how the problems with mothering are timeless.