My son is almost 7 months old. For alittle while be was sleeping through the night. Down at 9 pm and not getting up till 7-9 am. The past 2 or 3 months he has been getting up 2-3 times a night. @ his 6 months appointment they told me no more bottles in the middle of the night anymore. I try giving him is paci but it does not help. Once i give him a bottle, he is knocked right out. What do i do? im losing my mind bc im staying sooo tired from no sleep. My almost 4 yr old gets up atleast twice a night. Im at my breaking point. because if i dont rest, i get VERY sick Help me pls!!
My son is 8 months old next weeks and still wakes once a night for a bottle. takes all 8 ounces and right back to sleep. I am not going to "not" feed him. He is hungry!!
My advice - the doctor is not the parent. If your 7 month old is still hungry in the middle of the night and goes back to sleep after feeding him, do it! My son nursed or had a bottle at night until right before he was a year old...and I know he really was hungry! He eventually weened himself off and slept through the night around 13 months. Here is an article by Dr. Sear's on things to do to help keep the baby asleep.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp
Forget what your doctor says, you know what's right. Both my girls breast fed at night on and off until about 1 year. Babies go through stages and growths spurts, sometimes it seems the are done waking at night and then for a few weeks they wake up more. Why in the world would they tell you to make yourself and your son miserable by witholding food becuase they think he shouldn't be hungry? I would feed your son whenever he is hungry and find a new doctor!
He's hungry.
It's totally normal for a 7 month old to get up in the middle of the night and need to eat. Just because the ped says it , it dosn't make it so. His stomach is only as big as his little fist and when they are growing as much as they are they go through food FAST. sleeping through the night for an infant is a 5-6 hr strech at a time. Save youself the stress and just feed him.
When he gets a little older pick up the book " No cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley, she also has a toddler/preschooler version of it.
Give him the bottle @ night! I believe that the sleep expert Dr Weissbluth (Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child) says that it is ok to give bottle at night as long as it has been at least 4 hours since last feed. My son didn't sleep through the night until 8 mo.
If he wakes up in the middle of the night and refuses to go back to sleep w/o a bottle, try giving him a bottle of water. Good luck
Is he eating his bottle like he's very hungry, or is he just using it to help him get back to sleep? If he is draining his bottle, then he may be going through a growth spurt and he may need the extra food at this point. However, if he is just sucking on the bottle for a while, eating less than half and using it to go to sleep, then your doctor is probably right and you need to start training your son to sleep through the night. There are lots of methods of doing this, depending on your own philosophy about CIO, Attachment Parenting, etc.
You also need to address your 4-year-old's sleeping problems. Is it nightmares, or does your child just not know how to put him/herself back to sleep at night? You may want to talk to your pediatrician about different techniques to help teach your daughter to either sleep through the night, or at least stop disturbing you. Good luck.
If your children are not sleeping through the night by 7 months, and they are a healthy weight (not underweight for their age) there really isn't any reason they can't be taught to stay asleep. Do you breastfeed? Sometimes it's harder when they are breastfeed because it goes right through them. I read "The Sleep solution" and starting at 8 weeks, I began to put my son down for a nap every two hours and especially before he started to show signs of being tired. This preps them to sleep through the night. When my son was about 1 years old, he started getting up during the night again, but I didn't feed him, I just laid him back down and sometimes ignored his crying. I took him to the chiropractor (which all kids need every so often) and since that night he has slept wonderfully through the night. He is now 22 months old. If their adjustment is out at all, it can have unpleasant effects on them.
Since you said he is doing it 2-3 times a night and as soon as he gets the bottle, he is out again, I am inclinded to believe this is more so relax himself back to sleep than hunger. Has he gotten used to taking a bottle to go to sleep? This may be a soothing technique.
I know it is not popular now to let kids 'cry it out', but you may have to try going in, giving him verbal reassurance, give him his paci or perhaps a bottle with water in it and then leave. It may take a few nights to get it right, but it will work eventually! There is no shame in this. You're kids deserve a mom who is not cranky and miserable b/c she is over tired!!!! And you are teaching him self-reliance..right now he is only doing what he knows, so it is not his fault, but as parents it is our job to teach our kids the skills they need in life.
Since you can talk to your 4yo, it sounds like it is time to let her know that the expectactions will be. When my son went through a stage where he came in our room alot at night, I would escort him back to bed, give a kiss/hug and leave. Otherwise, we were ALL cranky in the morning from a restless night of sleep.
PS- You may try a bottle w/water in the bed with him, too. My son is now 6 and he still sleeps with a cup beside his bed!
Good luck to you!!!
