My 7 Month Old Still Wakes up Many Times a Night

At 7mos, he doens't need that night feeding any more, it's only out of habit/comfort that he's taking any at all.
He's waking up and crying because he doesn't know how to self soothe.

Your little one sounds like my 2. The back rubbing, etc...attempts to soothe don't work. It actually just made both of my kids cry harder.

We did full-on CIO with both of our kids (our youngest, at 22 weeks) and now they sleep like logs. 12 hrs straight through, every night.

You have to do what works for you, and listening to your child cry is SO HARD. What helped me through it both times was reminding myself repeatedly that I was HELPING them by doing this.
Both kids, it took 2 nights (with the full on approach) and it was over. The longest the little one cried was 45 minutes. I have friends who's kids cried 1.5hrs the first night.

You can choose any trainig method you're comfortable with. All of them will eventually work, if you're consistent. Full CIO takes the least amount of time. Other methods just extend it...but again, it goes to your comfort level.

But at this stage, it WILL require controlled crying to phase it out. He's waking up becuase you keep going in there. He can get your attention that way, and he knows it. You need to teach him that night time is for sleep.
You'll be amazed that once the night sleep gets on track, the daytime naps will fall into place (and developmentally, he'll take off, since his little brain is getting the time it needs to develop!).

You don't have to use CIO. I work with many families and never advise anyone to leave their child to CIO.

Have a look at 'baby whisperer' and see if you think that technique will work for you. I'd love to tell you which technique to use, but when I work with families I get a lot information before I choose techniques.How do you get your son down to sleep at the beginning of the night?

hth
R.

It looks like your son doesn't have the skills to fall asleep independently and every time he comes into a light sleep he needs nursing, rocking, etc to get back into a deep sleep.

Search for sleep training techniques online (they're not all cio methods) and give it a go. Unfortunately nothing will work over night, but the more consistent you are the quicker your son will learn.

Good luck
R. M. - Parenting Consultant & Children's Sleep Specialist
www.rebeccamichi.com

You said "My 7 month old still wakes up many times a night."

Well that is what babies do.
They wake.
They are changing so much.
They get hungry.
They teethe.
They go through TONS of developmental changes/cognitive changes/growth-spurts etc. It is hard on them too.
When hitting milestones, they wake too.

Per OUR Pediatrician, she said that for the 1st year of life, you need to feed on-demand. This is a 'building block' time for baby. They need to feed on-demand. A hungry baby, cannot sleep.

For the 1st year of life, breastmilk or Formula, is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition. NOT solids and not other liquids.
"Solids" for the 1st year, is only an 'introduction' to eating. NOT their main course. You still need to nurse/give Formula, on-demand.

ALWAYS nurse/give Formula, BEFORE you give solids. Otherwise, your body will produce less milk.

Your baby, had a growth spurt at 6 months. IF intake/nursing/your breastmilk does not keep up with him, then a baby will not be getting what they need.

Your baby is normal.
Babies do that.

"Sleeping through the night" for a baby, means sleeping for 5 hour stretches. It is not according to an adult, idea of sleeping all night.

My kids as babies, (I breastfed) had GINORMOUS appetites 24/7, and I nursed on-demand, day and night. They grew like weeds, were very healthy and hit their milestones and developed on par.

Also, a baby may "cluster feed" which means they even get hungry and will need to feed even every.single.hour. Normal.

ALSO, from about 6 months old, they may start to go through Teething. This wakes them too.
MANY things going on at the same time, for a baby. Tweaking their sleep. They can't help it.

Just nurse him. On-demand.

Nursing is not easy. Yes it is arduous. Baby wakes. But that is how it is.

He also sounds over-tired. Over-tired babies/kids do not sleep well. They sleep worse. And wake.
Babies this age, usually nap 3 times a day.

Being over-tired and/or over-stimulated, also makes it hard for them to sleep. They can't wind-down.

Make sure your baby is latching on properly and that you have enough milk. If not, then baby will not get enough intake.

Also at this age, they get "separation anxiety' too. It is all developmental based.

I do not, agree with your Pediatrician. At all.

all the best,
Susan

hi sweetie, you must be exhausted, whether you work during the day or not! :(
anyway, i didn't breastfeed my son that long, but i do know that i had a hard time myself keeping my son asleep around 7-8 months. that's when i had to really work on the cry it out thing. i did the supernanny thing, just lay him back down and keep doing it until he got the hint, then, well, let him CIO. factors are different for you though since you're BF, so unfortunately i can't really help you there...sorry. :(
but i do remember 7-9 months being a crucial age where i was really going through it w/my son teaching him to stay asleep! :)
hang in there mama, and try to get some rest when you can, poor thing. :(

i have three...one of mine did this....he wants his mommy, he is not secure for somer eason. put him in bed with you and see if it improves......if ur not comfortable him being there all night let him fall asleep with you and try moving him to crib. my oldest did this and slept with me a few months and then got over it...they go trhough phases....its ok to let him cry a little to see if he will soothe himself but no more than 6 or 7. sometimes this backfires.....u can tell difference in the cry...if just fussing dont go in ...if doing hysterical cant breathe shreak, dont wait six minutes, he will just vomit all over you and be more hard to calm down. with my second we got a sound machine and that helped him and gave him a bottle half fille dwith water and it helped....have you considered giving him formula before he goes down for the night, that way u are absolutely sure u know how much his intake was?he will still nurse, dont worry, he is smart enough to do both. my 3rd child is 6months old, formula fed starting last month, and now goes 5 hours between feedings at night, taking 6 ozs...its been heaven. she always falls asleep in my arms but if i lay her down befor putting her over my shoulder and walking for 2 minutes till that burp comes up, she always starts screaming the minute i lay her down in crib. if i get that burb, she might fuss for a minute after i lay down, but it fades fast and she is out. each child has been so different. i promise you this, ur sweet little baby is not trying to maipulate you. he is without words, cannot care for himself. babies cry to tell you what they need .....keep trying different things until you know what works for YOU...listen to your instincts, they are NEVER wrong. every child is an individual and u cannot cookie cutter parent....you will figure this out i know. best of luck!!

I agree with Susan. My son used to wake all the time to nurse at night. Try reading Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep books. I was so exhausted when my son was around the same age as yours and her books, along with some books by the Sears doctors, really helped me gain perspective on the issue. Good luck :)

I had to nurse my daughter all through the night until she was 15 months old, when I decided that the instanity had to stop! Then, my husband would go and soothe her (still several times a night). At 18 months, she was finally diagnosed with a mild case of acid reflux by a GI doctor, and when we started the drugs for it, her sleep improved dramatically after a few weeks. Her regular pediatrician dismissed the idea of reflux when she was 4 months old because she didn't have the classic symptoms. After breastfeeding two kids now, I really believe that a baby over a few months old can last at least 2.5-3 hours during the day between feedings, and ideally can last at least 4 hours at night between feedings. The key is to feed when the baby is very hungry and make sure that the feeding is good and long to ensure that he/she is really full. Try stretching out the feedings during the day to 3-hour intervals (take the baby out in the stroller/car to distract him and keep him busy), and then he will be used to the idea of going longer stretches between feeds. Maybe that will reduce the number of wakings at night?! If he is happy to take a bottle, then for several days you can try to pump and bottle feed the last nighttime feeding so you can see that he is getting a good amount to get him into the habit of a big feed before bedtime. Good luck!

I have breastfed both my kids beyond this age. They both woke during the night several times when younger, then gradually less and less. Sometimes there was a spurt where they would wake a TON for a week, then back to normal. There were also times where they would sleep through the entire night, then go back to 1-2 wakings.

I think in your situation, where your son is waking up so frequently and you are going in to soothe him so much, he is just going through normal sleep cycles and when he gets to the light part, he has a hard time knowing how to get back to a deep sleep without your help, like Rebecca said.

We started sleep training much younger on our kids, but it can be done at any age. Deciding when and how often to feed may be the hardest part, since it will be difficult to tell if he is legitimately hungry or if he just wants you to soothe him. At 7 months, I have heard people say they can go all night, but I think that isn't true for all babies. That is a LONG time for them to go without food- just think how hungry we are sometimes in the AM after eating even late at night.

Some things that may help- have your husband go in to soothe instead of you unless you are going to feed him. You are on the right track with not picking him up. Don't turn on lights or talk to him, etc. Just some gentle shushing, back rubbing, etc. until he is calm again. If he is crying for an hour in your arms, unless he is hungry, he is just overtired and really needs you to help him figure out how to fall asleep. You can stay with him in the room if it helps you, but it probably won't help him. It will just make things worse and take longer. There is no easy way to listen to your baby cry, but I used a gradual method when I was POSITIVE they were in need of nothing but sleep. I would go in to shush them for a few minutes, then allow for 5 min of crying, then go in again, then allow 10 min, then go in, then 15 min if needed. Usually they went to sleep before this, but it allowed them to know I was there and loved them but it wasn't time to play or hang out, and it also gave them time to figure out how to fall asleep on their own.
I don't think nursing him to sleep is a problem. It would be if it was the only way he could fall asleep, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I nurse my 11 month old to sleep and he often sleeps all night, sometimes waking 1-2 times.

One thought that really helped me get over the guilt of allowing my baby to cry: moms with twins or more cannot physically soothe all their babies all night and day. They will necessarily cry at least some. I don't think God would ever put a mom in a situation where they cannot possibly meet their child's needs if crying was always a legitimate need to be nursed and soothed. I don't know if that makes sense to you or helps you like it helps me, but there it is :)

All the best and here's wishing you and your little one some sleep soon!!

S. Walker
www.sidebysidetraining.com

i like to read dr. berry brazelton for things like this. he says children learn cause and effect between 4 and 5 months. this is when we did a 'crying' trial with each of my kids and it worked like a charm. he has learned now that when he cries, you come in and give him attention, so naturally he keeps doing it. we picked a friday night to do a 5minute, 10 minute, 15 minute crying method. neither of my girls ever got to the 15 minute mark. my friends who were not successful had waited until their kids were much older like 9-12 months. i say try it. my nearly 2 year old did this again the other night, as did my older one about 2. i went in and told ehr it was time to sleep and that everyone was asleep. she cried again when i left the room, called for me and daddy, but stopped after 10 minutes and that was it.