Sleeping Advise

Welcome to the normal middle of the spectrum! I say that without sarcasm.... Did you know that 52% of 2 year-olds do not sleep through the night? Did you know that breastfeeding toddlers are nursed to sleep an average of 5 nights per week? These were interesting facts that helped me understand a little better why my 2yo STILL doesn't sleep through the night consistently. I've always had sleep issues with him, so I'm jealous of any Mom who is blessed to have a good sleeper, but honestly, the sleep patterns of your 8mo sound completely normal, even if that's not what you're "used to."

Studies also show that what babies, infants, toddlers, etc eat during the day have no bearing on their sleep habits and patterns. At 8mo, he may be teeting, he could be going through a growth spurt, learning a new skill, etc etc. Or it could be that 16 days of nursing back to sleep and sleeping with you showed him the "good side" of life. My son loves to sleep in Mommy's bed, but I'm too light a sleeper to enjoy bed sharing. There could be many reasons why your son is experiencing these changes in sleep.

If it helps, I make sure there's a bottle of water in my son's crib (since he was about 9mo), so that he has something to drink if he wakes in the middle of the night. Try that for a few nights (or as long as you want because it's water). Try to take this change in stride and know that his current sleep habits are normal and will change many times in the coming years!

Hi!

Your son is probably getting teeth and that is why he is waking up. My daughter is 19 months and only now she is sleeping through the night (9-10 hours straight) about 1/2 the time. Otherwise, she still wakes up.

Night-time awakenings are pretty normal. So if he is not sick, I would say he is teething or just going through a phase. Good luck. My daughter's phase has been very long. . .

Hi I.,
Okay, I'll be the unpopular mama on this one. I have 4 kids, all who have been sleeping 10-12 hours solid through the night by 2 to 2 1/2 months of age. Yes, we had evenings and nights of listening to crying for a while, but it is very short lived when you are consistent. Yes, we did and do use pacifiers. By 2 months of age, they no longer need the extra nutrition throughout the night, they just have the drive to suck which is easily taken care of by a pacifier or a thumb. I had 2 paci babies, 1 thumb baby and 1 who sucked her tongue. We all get all night long sleep unless somebody is sick and that is the most important thing. White noise machines are great for getting to sleep and for the episodes of wakefulness in the middle of the night. I actually use a hair dryer that has low/medium/high settings as well as the cool, warm and hot settings for temperature. I turn it on low and cool and it works for white noise like a charm. It does take will power to sit and listen to your precious baby cry for 45 minutes to an hour sometimes before they wear themselves out, but it is short lived. Co-sleeping has been studied for a long time and there are a few different schools of thought. But overwhelmingly it has been proven best to have everyone in their own bed because that's how they get the most and best rest for brain and body growth. Not to mention it is so much safer for the babies. I am always amazed at parents who say their children are 2 and 3 years old and still don't sleep through the night. I simply can't comprehend that. It is being proven more and more that children need a full 10-12 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. The only way they are going to get that is in their own beds and no middle of the night "feedings" for 5 minutes that they have absolutely no need for. And as a mother of 4 children, I need a clear, fresh mind and refreshed body in the morning in order to care for my kids in the best and kindest way possible throughout the day. Back to your original request about what to do now that your child got used to nighttime "pacifing" nursings...those three words that are so controversial, yet so completely logical and proven to work time and time again...Cry It Out. Just remember, the crying is short lived, but you as a mother need the best rest you possibly can get to be the best mother you can be. Have you heard stories of the third world countries in which the mothers often take food first before giving it to their children? It's because they know they need the strenght to take care of their children, and if they can't care for their children, the children will die anyway. Yes, a bit of a brutal comparison, but so very true. Good luck and God bless. And, as my father is so fond of saying, "In a hundred years it won't matter." Well in 4 months, it won't matter.
-From a mama's loving heart....I promise!

Hi I.-
It's like any other schedule that has to be redone once undone. I understand about the headaches and not sleeping. I am the same way. My suggestion is a pacifier. I know alot of mom's don't like to use them, but they work for the most part. A good set of soothies does the trick for all of my nephews (I had 4 in 5 months!!!). What happens is they have their final feeding for the night (or bottle), they play, they get sleepy, and they get put to bed. When they wake up an hour later, their options are the soothie (or pacifier of choice), mom's knuckles (for chewing or grasping), and a small rub on the back while repositioning the baby for sleep. Also, one of those homedics sound machines work well for some background noise. My sister's 5 month old gets really fussy and fights sleep, especially when he wakes in the middle of the night, but these seem to work well. She had to stick with it for a few weeks, but they calm him enough now to where he goes back to sleep.
Hope this helps!
Good luck with your baby!
-E. M.

Hi I., I don't have any advice but Im hoping to find solutions/suggestions from your post. I have a son that turned 8 months today. He has NEVER slept more then 5-6 hours at night. I have tried EVERYTHING thing to get him to sleep though. I have a 3yr old son that set the bar really high as he was in his crib sleeping through the night from 8pm-7 without a peep since 7 weeks old. He still sleeps 10 hours plus at night. However, his little brother not so much. Im so tired as i only get 4 hours straight before he is up. I have tried to let him cry it out and like last night became insane for me. Im so lost. He eats very well during the day. breakfast lunch and dinner, soilds at 8pm i give him a ceral bottle and at 10:30-11pm if he gets up on his own (sometimes) I feed him another cereal bottle. Or we get him up. Come 3-4am he is OUT OF HIS MIND. I can't imagine its for food but he is screaming so bad for food like last night I had to feed him at 5am finally. Usually I will go in and rub his back but that will actually get him wound up to want to play. I try not to take him out of the crib. I will change him in the crib and sometimes that will work as he is usually soaked and he goes back to bed. Every night is a different time and different event. HELP!!!! Im hoping someone has some advice. Im ripping my hair out. I hear how other people have twins at 8 months and they are sleeping 10 plus hours at night. What am i doing wrong? My son is 22lbs and has been trying to walk at 6 months. that is his only goal right now so Im thinking maybe that has something to do with it. But he has NEVER slept through.

Hang in there. I try to remind myself as insane as I am to enjoy the hard days as I will never get these moments back with him being little and he is my last baby.

SAHM/zombie 40yrs old with 2 beaiutiful fun loving boys. 3yrs going on 10yrs and a super active busy 8 month old.

Is there some major reason he HAS to sleep in his own bed? Co-sleeping is SO much easier on everyone! My kids (4 mos & 21 mos) co-sleep with us at night, and sleep on their own for naps. The older one has her own bed next to ours. Sometimes she sleeps in it, and sometimes she sleeps with us. Modern western society is about the only place/time in history where babies have been expected to sleep alone away from their mamas. Be well-rested--keep him in your bed!
(Breastmilk digests better & quicker than formula, which means breastfed kids are more likely to be hungry in the middle of the night)

Hi I.. This might have nothing at all to do with your vacation. Your son might be going through a totally normal phase. My son slept through the night from 2 1/2 months on...until 7 months. Then he suddenly started waking up multiple times a night. Sometimes we could just pat him on the back and get him back to sleep, but often we had to give him a bottle once during the night. And we did...because at that point, all WE wanted was to go back to sleep!! This went on for about 2 months, and everyone told me it's normal for babies to go through a phase of not sleeping well around this age...something to do with the fact that they're approaching a lot of developmental milestones (crawling, teething, maybe walking, acquiring more verbal skills, etc.). I was told to just wait it out, and eventually he would start sleeping well again...and he did. It took probably 8 weeks, but he did start sleeping better...and now he sleeps through the night most nights. (He's 10 months old now.)

So my advice is, don't beat yourself up about "messing up" his sleep with your vacation...this may just be a completely normal phase. And just try to tell yourself, "This, too, shall pass." It will. If he was a good sleeper once, chances are he'll be a good sleeper again.

My daughter is almost 10 months old, sleeps with me and wakes up at least once, if not twice, per night to nurse. Doesn't bother me as we both barely notice the interruption and are back to sleep within 5 minutes (she doesn't even wake up). I'm from the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I know she'll eventually want to move to her own bed. I don't see the hurry to get her out of my bed like most of the rest of this country does. So, unless there's a problem with him sleeping with you, I'd let him.