My 9 Month Old Boy Had a Good Sleeping Pattern Until This past Week.

What do you do when he wakes up? It is important to not turn on lights (or at least keep them low, like a low watt lamp, if you need to check diaper, etc.) because it makes his (and your) brain think it is daytime, releasing a chemical that helps your brain wake up.

My mom reminded me my baby is safe in his bed, so at six or seven months when he was still waking up, I would check on my son and make sure everything was okay, then let him 'cry it out' and he would get back to sleep on his own after ten to twenty minutes or so. It was difficult (heartwrenching) for me to hear him cry, but he must learn self reliance and to get back to sleep on his own. His doctor even told me to do that, and now he sleeps through. When he wakes up (I have heard him stir), he goes right back down pretty quickly now with little to no fussing.

If he is teething, that's another story. Do your best to comfort. When my boy is hurting (sick or whatever), I do get up with him and nurse him or give him Tylenol if he needs it.

Hope that helps!

I know this sounds harsh, but try letting him cry it out. He'll tire out after an hour or so and eventually get back into his good sleeping pattern.

I did this with both my children and they do well

Could he be teething? When my little girl is teething, her sleep is disrupted for about a week or so, but then she goes back to normal.

Maybe he's going through a growth spurt and needs more to eat during the day?

Just a few guesses. I hope you both get some winks soon!

Hi T.,

There are a few things I would try:
1) try giving him a snack before bedtime. Sometimes they start waking up because they are hungry. One good snack to try is the Carnation Instant breakfast, it has lots of vitamins and minerals that will help them with growing and fill them up like a snack.

2) Give him some tylenol or motrin along with the Hylands Teething Tablets.

You might even do both of these for awhile.