My daughter will be 9 months old at the end of this week. She has been sleeping through the night since she was 2 months old. Recently she has been waking through the night and waking for the day before 5 am. When she wakes through the night she cries out and sometimes doesn't even open her eyes...I think this is teething pain. The last couple of nights she has slept through the night but is awake by 5am. The first time it happened I figured she was hungry because she didn't eat much dinner. And sure enough she took a bottle and went back to bed. But this morning she eventually went back to sleep (after being awake for a half hour) with no bottle. Her bedtime is between 7:30 and 8. She eats Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and takes 4-6oz bottles throughout the day. I don't know what to do. Does she need to eat more? Do I need to put her to bed earlier/later? I feel like she may need to go to bed earlier and we may be waiting until she's too tired. She usually takes 2 - 1.5 hour naps. But these are getting a little harder because she will play in bed for an hour before she falls asleep. Any suggestions?
Hi T.,
I have a 10 mo old and at her 9 mo doctors appt. the sheet that they gave us said specifically that at this age they will wake a lot in the night time and cry. My baby has been going through this too. I think its just another stage.
With teething, we've found Hyland's teething tablets to be a great help. I only give my son Tylenol at night along with them to help him sleep when he wakes up hurting.
it's possible she may be ready to switch to only one nap per day. especially if she is playing for an hour or more before going down. i would try that. babies are constantly changing and going through new phases. we just have to figure it out as we go along!
I am also having the same problem! My son is almost 7 months and has also slept through the night since 2 months old...and now he wakes up between 1-3 times a night, but the moment I pick him up and sway a few times he is out and goes right back to bed. I am confused as to why all of a sudden his sleeping habits are horrible. HE also goes to bed around 8 - 8:30 and usually would wake up at 7 am. Last night I could not get him to fall asleep until 10 pm and he was soooo tired, but was fighting it. Help!
try 1 nap after lunch during the day instead of 2 daytime naps. If she still wakes up early with going to bed at 8 try 8:30 or 9:00. My kids went to bed at 9:00, woke up between 8 and 8:30 am and took a 2 hour nap after lunch during the day.
Hi T.,
Have you tried giving her something to eat right before bedtime? She could be having a growth spurt. That is about the age they start having one.I have always giving my kiddo's something to eat before bedtime and I still do to this day. They are 7 and 2. As for as naps my son he has always taken one long nap a day. He eats lunch at 11:00. He lays down at 11:30 he is a sleep by 12:00 and he gets up around 2:30 are 3:00.Then he goes to bed at night by 8:00 and sleeps untill 6:30 are 7:00. I hope this helps.Good Luck
T.,
I also have a 9 month old and have delt with the same issues. As they become more active their sleep schedule can get thrown off. If she cries in the middle of the night but doesn't open her eyes - let her be. More likely than not it is teething pain and she is not awake, so don't disturb her sleep. She should be able to make it till 6 without a bottle. My son still wakes up earlier some days and I go based on his mood. I know I should make him wait till 6 to feed him, but when he is screaming I give in. If he is just playing, I wait it out and he usually falls back to sleep till a more appropriate time to wake up. As far as when to put her to bed - go by her cues. If she is super crabby or super hyper and rubbing her eyes - it's probably too late. They will sleep better if you can get them into bed before this happens. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you and your little girl.
Most babies need to sleep 11-12 hours at night, but many parents give in when they start the early waking. That usually means that bedtime is too late, the last nap is ending too late, or they are getting too much day sleep. Work on those things, starting with bedtime, before you give in!
By the time my daughter was 9 months old she was sleeping through the night also. The thing is, she's an eight hour girl-that is she sleeps for 8 hours and then she's ready to get up. I had to move her bedtime back to 10 p.m. or get up pre-dawn with her. Also, we stopped putting her down for her mid-afternoon nap. She was napping for about 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the late afternoon. I had determined that if she got sleepy (and oh-so cranky) I was going to let her take that afternoon nap, but it turned out, she didn't need it. Now she's 19 months old and we have very few sleeping issues-Thank God. Cutting out that 2nd nap and moving her bedtime back worked out perfectly for us. Good luck!
I would suggest you google "sleep regressions." Our son is nearing 18 months, and just as I have read, his sleep is extremely poor. Basically, there is nothing you can do about a sleep regression, except comfort your little one through it. But it is nice to know that most kids go through them and that your child has not broken. My advice is to remain consistent with what you have been doing. In time (hopefully not too long!), she will go back to sleeping the way she used to.
Sounds like your daughter may be ready to transition to just one nap a day. I believe she needs a total of about 12 hours of sleep every 24 hours. Once my daughter reached the age of one, she was sleeping 12 hours at night and never again took another nap (unless she was sick). Had I been working outside the home, that probably wouldn't have happened.
If she is waking up too early and playing in bed that long before falling asleep, maybe she needs to go to bed a little later. The other option, maybe she needs one nap instead of two. As she gets older, she will need a little less sleep. Hope that helps.
as your daughter grows, her schedule will change & you'll need to adapt the timing. Many children (at this age) require only 10 hours sleep at night...as long as they have good naps thru the day. Based on #s alone, with a 10 hour night & two good naps (3 hours total)....then your daughter is sleeping 13 hours a day ...which is pretty much dead-on-target for her age group. At nine months, my oldest son was sleeping 9 hours at night, with only a 2 hour nap for the entire day....this lasted from 9-18 months & my pediatrician told me to be thankful for 11 hours each day!
To help adjust to this, what about letting her stay up until 8:30/9pm & then let her sleep until 7? Would this help you? I know it seems awful late for this age group, but if she's consistently hitting that awake at 10 hours...then maybe it's time for a change. So the ?? would be ....do you want her up later in the evening or up at 5am? It's a tough call!
Another thought would be: does she need to eat a snack at the end of the evening/before bed? When I was pregnant, the dietician I used recommended graham crackers to help stabilize through the night (the whole grain takes longer to process) & I still use this as a staple snack item for everyone in our family. A few graham crackers make a huge difference!
Ooops, I just noticed that it's taking your daughter up to an hour to fall asleep at naptime! Wow...so here's another thought: does she get enough physical activity during the day? How much independent floor-time is she getting? & how can you "up" her activity level to help wear off that extra energy that will be kicking in very soon? If she's a pre-walker, then she should be all over your home!
When you add it all up, it really sounds as if your daughter is transitioning into the higher activity levels which come with age one! & as parents, we need to adapt our own schedules to accommodate this wonderful positive growth. This is my absolute favorite developmental stage: from 9 months to almost two! Everyday is a new skill & a new wonder to discover.......have fun!
