9 Month Old to Sleep All Night!

There is a reason there are a 1000's of sleep books for babies. Because there are a 1000 ways to get a child to sleep but one thing I've realized is that no matter what you choose to try just remember that you can never force a child to sleep you can only try to encourage healthy sleep habits. Consistent nap time, consistent bed time and bed time routine. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until she was 14 months old and even now she occasionally wakes up and needs a quick "it's okay, night night". Don't be to hard on the little one and make decisions on her needs and your own not on what everyone else thinks they should be doing at this age. Every human being is different....

we need more info on your schedule & how you do things!

1. how much food/when is last meal at night? bottle/breast?
2. what is your bedtime routine?
3. do you co-sleep, use soft music/lights thru the night?
4. is your child playful or stressed upon waking?
5. what's your nap schedule like?
6. do you use a pacifier, fav blankie?

All of this info will help us help you!

I recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. There are a lot of suggestions, recognizing that not all things work for all families. But first of all... a 9 month old still waking is the norm. You can certainly help him sleep better/fall asleep again easier, etc. but waking at night is totally normal off and on for a long time. Kids and certainly babies just sleep differently than adults do. I hope you find a way to ease the stress on yourself.

K.

Neither of my children slept through the night until after their first birthday. Both needed an additional feeding and then would sleep another 4-5 hours.

Both kids also naturally weaned themselves on both the quantity and frequency of the feedings and eventually slept better.

At 3.5 our son still wakes-up every night. It is a rare event if he stays in his own bed until 6 am.

Hi S., I agree with the questions Sue H presented.

Infants at 6+ months are ready to skip the midnight feeding.. I know its difficult for the first week, feed him before bed time, make sure he has a full meal (weather its gerber or table foods). If you think he did not eat enough you can add cereal in his milk/formula before bed)

Babies are sleepy right after they had a nice meal and a nice warm bath... when baby wakes up around midnight, keep a bottle of water handy and give him water only - he will take a couple of sips and refuse the bottle, even cry, but hold him close, comfort him by either a pacifier, sing a lullaby, or wrap him up if he wants to be swaddled. Make sure he is warm enough - this is also a big factor in babies waking up too often.

Babies can wake from a wet diaper, so by doing this - replacing bottle with water (babies can wake to drink just for pure comfort not because they are hungry) he will drink less and not wet his diaper too often. I did this with my son at 10.5 months - be strong and keep it up - he will get used to this and decide its not worth getting up just for water.

Feed him again at 3/4am with formula/milk, don't make a big deal out of it. Feed him and put him down (change diaper if its wet, half way through feeding so that he calms down and gets sleepy again with the bottle). He might start to cry as soon as you leave the room, but wait a few min before you check in on him. You know he is not hungry, you know he has a dry diaper - no fever. He will realize its sleepy time and go back to sleep eventually.

You can try leaving him for 2 min. The next night 5 min and then 10 min and see if he will go back to sleep. You will be surprised how ready he is for at least skipping the midnight feed.

You can use a bottle of water or a sippy cup for this. He will get less interested in the water = drink less = less wet diapers = hopefully less wakeups.

Our son sleeps in his own room in his own crib - he gets a bath at 6:30 and is fast asleep by 7, he used to wake up at 12am for a bottle but with this method, he now sleeps through till 4:30 or even 5am.

But if he is sleeping with mommy and daddy.. I'm not sure on this one.

But I hope it helps.

Good luck and God bless

If you are close to St. Louis, there is a sleep specialist at St. Lukes, Nancy Birkmeyer who saved my sanity. My son was getting up every 1 -1.5 hours to sleep with me whether it was on the couch or in our bed. I was losing it. At any rate . . it took about 4 days to get him in a sleep pattern but is working great - we have had only a few hiccups but for hte most part he is sleeping from 8:30 - 5:30 at night. . . good luck.

I used the advice in the book The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5 by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack. This worked very well for me!!! It involves letting your child cry, which I know some people have trouble with, but I was at my wits end. I was having trouble functioning at work. The first night was rough, it is really tough to let your baby cry, but knowing that what you are doing is so short term and the positives far outweigh the crying makes it worth it. The second night was much better. The third night there were no problems what so ever! Basically it says that you let your child cry, and if you need to, go in and sooth at regular intervals, but DO NOT pick up your child. There is also advice for weaning off of night time feedings if that is still a problem. It is SO nice to have my full nights of sleep back! You can get the book on Amazon for sure, probably at most book stores. Send me a message if you need any support.

S., I am going through the SAME exact thing. It is hard. I know what I am about to say might sound cold... but you too might reach a point of such pure exhaustion that you too can just ignore the cries - no matter how angry your baby sounds. Be strong.

My parents have always told me, "Babies are much quieter in larger homes." (meaning you cant hear a baby when they are downstairs and you are upstairs.

I tried this out... We keep our munchkin in the downstairs bedroom. We can hear him cry, but we have held to our guns. The first night he cried for an hour and fifteen minutes. (that was Monday) Last night he slept all night. !!!

Good luck... May the little sleep you get be restful!