9 1/2 Month Old Sleep Issues

T.,
I haven't read all the other responses, so here is my two cents. He is completely normal. The teething may have started him waking more and now it is a habit. Two naps a day is normal for a baby his age. You may try givig him a snack before his bottle, a juice-sweetened cookie or muffin,a cracker with some cheese, some cereal. You may also consider the cry out method. We are working on this with my daughter. Only my husband goes to her if she wakes up more than once. That ususally does the trick because she only wants me. Do what works for you and him. Every baby is different.

Your child is perfectly normal. I would get a copy of Dr. Sears book, "The Baby Book" and read it immediately. He also has a website. He is a fabulous doctor with quite a few of his own children and grandchildren.

Based on reading hundreds of posts and everything I've ever heard, your son is perfectly normal. Go with the flow and try not to force your baby into what you think should be normal. And count your blessings that he's not up every hour. Babies go through cycles. So when change happens it doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. A baby needs soothing, protection and food. I'm not sold on the babies need routine part. my baby has his own routine that he has set and it has changed a couple of times. I know each baby is a little differnt but my baby is a very, very happy baby and that's all I ask for.
I say if he wants to eat, feed him and dump the doctor. That's my 2 cents.

My daughter is the same way right now. I was told to do a partial Ferber which helped narrow it down to two times a night. Before she woke every 3 hours! Now if she wakes, unless it is at midnight or 4 am (she is asleep by 7:30 pm) I have her cry it out unless she is in serious distress. Usually she is back asleep on her own within 15 minutes. It is tough, but it will help them to learn to sleep on their own. Soon I will cut out the midnight feeding (nursing) as well. The only reason I havent is she is growing and it feels to me that she is nursing for nutrition and not for nurturing.
My eldest was the same way and she is a GREAT sleeper now.
She also set her own nap schedule and went from 2 to 1 on her own- so depending on his activity level some kids do need both naps.

I agree with Tiffany, remove one of the naps. Also, this is very common behaviour especially when teething and going through growth spurts. I hate to say get used to it, but babies sleep patterns ARE going to change throughout different stages of their little lives. Also if possible for your own well being try sleeping when he naps.

I think I have to disagree with removing a nap. My son didn't drop to 1 until around 15 months. Every book I've ever read has a 9.5 month old taking two naps and your times seem perfect. Don't let him sleep past 4 and you should be fine. My son always, still at 2.5, eats right up until bedtime. Consider giving him more solids after his dinner and before his bottle. I would rock my son when he woke up, but didn't feed him. There were times I was up twice a night, there were weeks where he didn't wake up at all. If you do have to feed him, only once. It is possible during a spurt that he could need one, but I can't imagine needing two at that age. I really think he is too young to cut out a nap and I think it will make things worse. Just try what you can and I hope it is just a phase! Take naps when you can!

I had same problem with 8 month old. I was giving him a bottle @ bed time and letting him fall asleep in my arms before putting him in his crib. He would wake up and hour later crying. I would get him out of the crib and rock him back to sleep and then returning him to his crib. We did this 3-4 times a night. I spoke to my Dr. about it on Tuesday. She told me to NEVER give him a bottle right before bed and ALWAYS put him to bed awake but sleepy. If he cries, let him for 5 minutes and then have my husband go in to pat him on the back or comfort him WITHOUT getting him out of the crib. The first night I gave him a bottle about 15-20 minutes before his bath. I bathed him, got him dressed for bed, then we read a book while I rocked him. When we were done with the book I turned out the light and rocked him until he was dozing off. I put him in his crib awake gave him kisses and left the room. Of course he cried...I let him cry for 5 minutes, then my husband went in and rubbed his back for a few minute then left the room. My son whined (not cried) for a couple more minutes then feel asleep. He slept from 8pm till 8:30am. The next night same routine, my son only whined about 3-4 minutes after I left the room then put him self to sleep. He slept from 8:30pm till 9:00am. We will try the same thing tonight and hope it continues to work. My Dr. said he was using the bottle as a comfort object since I was letting him fall asleep with it (therefore associated the bottle with sleep). And since I was letting him fall asleep before I put him in his crib, he was angry when he woke up and wasn't in my arms anymore. Hope this helps you too.

I am no expert as I only have one child which is just over 2 now, but I will tell you that the best thing I did for my daughter was put her on a schedule. The way to a great sleep pattern is a wonderful eating pattern. I noticed you said that he eats at 5 or 6 depending on when "he is hungry". I am sure that if you start regulating his eating pattern, then YOU will get the sleep you both deserve. One of the best books I ever read was "Baby Wise". Mind you some of their tactics seem quite harsh, so use your best judgement, but my little angel was on a schedule at 2 weeks and slept all night at only just over a month old. I can't remember now what the schedule is for a 9 1/2 month old, but if you start regulating when he eats, you are bound to see results. It will be tough as sometimes he may not want to eat or may act hungry at times when he is not supposed to eat, but if you distract him with other things, it will take less than a week to get him to sleep on a more regular basis. And of course remember do all of this with love and patience.

I agree with Maryanne H. don't take away the nap. I don't know of a one year old that doesn't take two naps. Your sons times match my daughters at that age and still to this day. She is 18 mths. She has dropped the second nap (2pm), but sometimes needs it. Regardless of weather she takes a nap or not she still wakes up in the night. If I feed her before bed time she still gets up. The odd thing is she still breastfeeds, however if I can get her to sleep with out breastfeeding she all most always sleeps through the night. I know it doesn't make sense, but it's what she does.. Teething and illness does through off their sleep pattern to. Just when things are going great...here comes a tooth,cold,etc. Plus each baby is different...just keep working on what works best for you and your baby. Good luck!!

Try removing one of the naps. Like lay him down for nap at 11 instead of 10 and that will work out that later nap. He'll likely take a longer nap then and will be fine. He'll probably start to get a little fussier at night but he'll work out of it.
That's what I did with my last one. Because he took the same naps as your son.
Now at 5 he doesn't take naps unless he's sick.

You sound like me/my baby too and I just recently had a request on here about a 10 1/2 mo. old waking for bottle, but I gotta say my opinions about some of the below responses (sorry!!). I would not take away a nap. I believe that they let us know what they need and we should give it to them (I mean the word "need") like naps, bottles, etc.) I watch my baby's cues and if she rubs her eyes and is cranky no matter what I try to do, then I know it's time for a nap. Sometimes lately she's only had one in the afternoon, but maybe because she slept longer at night or didn't do much - if we were driving around in the car, etc. So, sometimes they just may not need 2 naps, but I think at his age (I know mine did and still does) he needs 2 naps still and the times are perfect. I don't believe in not letting them nap past a certain time. And if they become overtired, then it's hard to get them to sleep (for me anyway). So, I find if there's a good balance of eating/playing/napping, then bedtime at night is better. If he's teething, let it go and don't act like it's a normal thing where he's just trying to get attention or whatever. He needs to be soothed and whether that's rocking or a bottle - try to make him comfortable. I believe these things will pass and to just take each day as it comes and take the best care we can because they grow so fast. I never let mine really cry it out and she's transitioned from a long time ago of sleeping propped up on us (she has GERD really bad) to napping on her own to sleeping in her bed on her own and she's so comfortable knowing I respond to her so quick, that I think that helps. I let her fuss and fall asleep on her own so she can self soothe, but I think if they're really crying for us, they're trying to tell us they need something (at least if you know he's teething or something). I'm too much of a softie and may regret things one day, but hopefully it'll all work out. Good luck to you too!!

Wow if I didn't know any better I would say I wrote this ..lol! My 8 month old just started doing the same thing and is on the exact same nap and bedtime and eating schedule as yours. He has one tooth that has come thru and the other is trying so yes I think it has alot to do with it. Evan (my baby boy) also wants to eat when he gets up thats the only way I can get him to go back to sleep and won't take water bottle. I think maybe this is something we are going to have to wait out. Im gonna try waiting to give him his bath till 8pm tonight then he will be asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 maybe that will help him to sleep longer tonight....keep me posted on how things progress.
Sarah

There have been numerous posts on the same subject previously. The key to a happy baby is routine. They need to know what to expect and when to expect it or they don't feel secure.
I'll tell you what works for our family and you can take from it what you will. I've got 4 children, the youngest turns 1 today, the oldest is 10. 3 out of 4 have had great sleep patterns and started going all night at around 6 weeks. One of them was up constantly several times a night until he was about 19 months old. That nearly drove me nuts! So he's the one that my theories are practiced on.
First you need to make sure his sleeping environment is conducive to good sleep. Dark curtains (denim works great and matches almost everything) to block out as much light as you can. Cool air, but not cold. If it's too warm, it makes them uncomfortable. Then comes the sound machine. White noise in the background is soothing and it blocks out random noises coming from outside or in the kitchen etc.
I believe that he is too young to cut him down to only one nap a day. The 10am nap is perfect, and you can even push the 1-2 pm nap a little further in the day and it won't affect how he sleeps that night. Whoever said not to let him sleep past 4 has probably gotten bad information from somewhere. If he's fussy and sleepy at 3pm, let him nap.
But the main part of it is to get him in a routine. If you have his room set up as I mentioned earlier, when you go to put him to bed, the sound will trigger him to know that it's time to sleep. If you do the same things like change the diaper, pick him up give him cuddles, lay him down and push his glow worm one time (or whatever it is you do), he'll catch on pretty quick. He's got to learn how to self-soothe. Which means you've got to not go in at 1 and 5am unless he is in distress. Try to let him figure out how to put himself to sleep. I can put my 1 yr old in his crib sitting up and playing with his crib toys and he won't cry until he's ready to come out after he's had a nap or in the morning.
Hopefully you'll find something that works. I know how hard it is to consistantly not get a good night's sleep. Good Luck!