My Ten Month Old Baby Keeps Waking up at Night

My nearly 9 month old is still getting up at least once a night, sometimes more. I usually get up to feed her and then she's right back off to sleep. (She sleeps in her bed in her own room.) I will be asking her pedi what he suggests when we see him in a couple of weeks.

However, I tried the CIO method a few months ago and couldn't stand it. The first time I tried it she cried for 45 minutes and was so hoarse later that it broke my heart. I let her do a little of it before naptime sometimes, but usually she goes to sleep after a short amount of time. I think it varies from child to child as to whether or not CIO will work.

M.,

New research show the Cry it Out method is not for every child and can actually be damaging. It can really affect a child's trust of his/her parent. If you answer his cry right away he's much more likely to feel safe and secure. Children don't have the capacity to comfort themselves. That's why God gave them parents. I believe that if babies are taught that they must use a thumb or pacifier to comfort themselves and that nobody's coming to love them that later in life they will use food, alcohol, drugs, etc. to comfort themselves rather than the love and trust of a friend, spouse, parent, etc.

Maybe, he's hungry? Try increasing the amount of calories he's getting during the day. Just add in one more jar of baby food, cereal, or snack.

If you have to take him in bed with you so that everyone can sleep than do it. This won't last forever. Good luck!

I would go with moving his bed time to 8 pm . But unfortuneately him may not be sleeping through the night cause of being in the same room. I do not see where there should be any problem using a pacifier I wish my 2 would have and I am praying to get my 3rd to use one. maybe if you put his crib in the livingroom and you and your husband retire to your bedroom for the evening when you put him to sleep that way any little noise you make rustling around will not wake him.

Hi M.,
This seems to be universal with little ones these days. There are a lot of answers out there and I am sure you will get tons from your equest here-but, here is my suggestion-
Your little one could be a little hungry- feed him a little cereal at nite if you are not already- He may just need his paci- or other comfort item- toy blankie etc- or he could just be starting a bad habit..
also, little ones at that age need a real baby bed- with a good mattress- they really do not stay comfortable in their cots after 3 or 4 months of age- they get restless and do not really sleep well.
but if I had my guess, i would think he is a little hungry and learning that if he cries enough- he will get some cuddling-so I would let him cuddle with his favorite thing- and try to get him his own bed if possible.
I raised 12 children- I fed them early- starting them around 6 weeks and by the time they were 3-4 months oold they were eating 3 times a day- cereal and fruit in am- carrots, peas, green beans for lunch and cereal and fruit at dinner- they slept all nite and never had nite time wakeups (other than being ill)......
Good luck and
Blessings

im a mother of 3 and i had the same problem , i let them cry it out cuz i didnt want them in my bed every night (i only have a twin size bed) after a week of two they were fine .

~K.~austin tx

As a mother of two I will tell you no more in bed with you. Try putting him in the living room, you will hear him when he cry's hearing is good when they are little. Try the letting him cry it may take a few days it did for me, it is the same with getting them off the bottle. Only our nerves get bad and less sleep for awhile. Been there.

CIO seems as though it will be INCREDIBLY difficult if you're in the same room. It will also be very hard on you.

So you're bringing him in the bed at night.....If it's working, what's the harm in helping him (and two working parents) sleep at night? It's not going to hurt any of you to have him come into the bed occasionally. And since he's able to go to sleep on his own, I think this is just indicating that he still needs you at night. There's nothing wrong with a baby wanting mama at night.

You say that there has been a lot of fluctuation in his care since you went back to work. It makes total sense to me that he would need to regain some normalcy for himself and reach out to you at night.

Congrats on being able to stay at home again soon! Perhaps once you are staying home again, he'll feel ok to sleep more at night.

My children didn't use pacifiers (besides me, LOL!) and I don't use CIO, but I would think - just me guessing - that anything that aids in self-soothing would be acceptable. Still, I don't think this would be a great method for you in the middle of the night with all of you being in the same room.

I promise you that taking your baby in the bed at night is not going to ruin him! He'll stop doing it when he stops needing it. He obviously needs it right now, though, and I personalyl would do what he needs.

I recommend the book 'The No Cry Sleep Solution' to everyone. I did the CIO method with my now-9 year old and hated it...it broke my heart to let her cry like that. I don't think there is any way I could've done it had she been in the room with me. With my youngest I followed the advice in 'The No Cry Sleep Solution' and it worked like a charm! It took a little longer (maybe 2 weeks as opposed to 5 days), but it was worth it not to have her crying and screaming for hours at night! I think it would work well in your situation b/c being in the same room would make CIO just about impossible. You will always give in and go get him, or your husband will. If you are dedicated stick to the plan in 'No Cry,' it will work! Good luck!

Hey M.:

You may want to tire him out a little later than 7 p.m. (1 hour later or 30 minutes later).

Another option is to do something relaxing that he likes when you put him to sleep. (a cup of water to sip on and then pat his back, rub back w/ hands, pat his bottom, play classical music...)

Communicate that with the rest of the family members once you decide on what to do.

I hope this helps.

The sleep book I found most helpful is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". The beginning of the book is a lot about sleep patterns and understanding sleep, but once you get through all of that, you get to the Doctor's point of view about what to do about sleep & getting your child to sleep in a healthy way. I highly recommend this book! Good luck...

I have had the same issue and started CIO. As hard as it is to do it, it is so worth it to have your baby be able to falls back to sleep on his own! You are his mom and if you think that he would sleep better with the paci, than I think that you should try using it. I actually put my son to sleep and give him a pacifier, if it falls out, I don't go back in to put it back in. It's a one shot deal! He's younger than your son so he doesn't know how to put it back in himself. I would think that if your son can pacify himself with the pacifier, it's worth it to have it in the crib with him. Hope this helps and good luck!

maybe your baby is teething, try a little tylenol before bedtime or homiopathic teething tablets. My daughter was teething at this time and that is what helped us.

I don't think a 10 month old is a problem in bed, but when and how do you get him out? a 20 month old is very active and very sleep disruptive so I would think you might want to break this habit fairly soon. Have you got him in a bed with wheels? Could you put it in the living room and you and your husband spend your evenings in the bedroom? OR put up a curtain so he can't see you. To wake up, see mom and not be able to get to her must be very frustrating.
I am a fan of pacifiers, but they should never leave the bedroom. A toddler in the store trying to talk around his paci is bizarre.
Start on the weekend when no one has to get up and time his crying. It should be less each night. Good luck, this is hard, but the wake up may be a habit which is becoming ingrained. You might want to wait to start this until you are home and know how his days have gone.
K.