Trying to Get 7Mon. Old to Sleep the Whole Night (9 Hrs)

We have a 7 month old son and he has slept through the night since 2ish months. We credit swaddling blankets 100%. The large size will probably fit her still. I hope it works!

Good morning Ashlee...so I guess I would need a tiny bit more information about your definintion of the "whole night" before I give you my words of wisdom...lol What time is she going down for the night and what time is she getting up that you want her to go back to sleep?

With both of my girls...if they woke up during the night (before 5a) we did the cry it out method. Don't get me wrong, this is a tough mommy moment but it is totally worth it. My pediatrician recommended it to us at 5 mos. when my oldest started waking up 3-4 times a night looking for her stupid binky! He promised it would only take 3 nights to remedy and he was right. The first night sucked and she cried for almost 3 hours but the next night it was more like 90 minutes, the 3rd night about 30 minutes and actually on the 4th night she fussed around for about 15 minutes and that was that. She has been a great sleeper ever since (I mean we get the occassional nightmare or whatever, but no 2a shenanigans).

Now with that being said...Both my girls bedtime was around 8:00p. They would usually wake up around 5a and I would give them a bottle and they would go back to sleep until about 7a. I'm sure you'll get 50 people telling you this is crazy and her teeth will rot out...WHATEVER! My kids teeth did not rot out (never even had one cavity in the baby teeth).

Good luck Ashlee!

L.

P.S. I'm a 38 y/o sahm to 9 and 5 year old girls.

Hi Ashlee,
It sounds like you are doing all the right things. I know that with my kids, we just had to let them cry a little bit to learn to put themselves "back to sleep" if they wake during the night. They are both excellent sleepers now. You can try setting a timer (the first time wait 5 minutes then go in and re-assure her that you are there...DON'T PICK HER UP!!!! Just pat her back and stay a very short time. Then set the timer for 7 minutes...then go soother her, etc keep adding a minute or two between cycles) It will take a few nights and it will be hard for you and your husband to hear her cry, but think of it as teaching her a life skill. She will use it all her life to get back to sleep, by herself, the rest of her life :) It also helps if you can't hear the crying....having her sleep through the night will be such a blessing to your whole family... including her. Good luck. I know it's hard.

I have a 5 month old that has been sleeping through the night(10 - 12 hours) for the past 2 months. We moved him to his own room which helped greatly because any noise that we made would wake him up while he was in our room. The next thing we tried was to leave the light on slightly (night light would probably work too). We have a little mirror attached to the side of his crib placed so that he can see in it. Often if he wakes up in the night he just stares at himself in it, sucks his thumb then goes back to sleep. We also have a sound machine in his room that gives off the sound of rain. Studies show that white noise (ex. rain or static) can add up to two hours of sleep. I'm not sure if these things actually helped (it seems as though they did) or if we are just lucky with a son that sleeps.
Unfortunately these things don't work for every child... they sleep through the night when the are ready to sleep through the night and there is not much we can do about it.
Good luck and remember that it won't last forever

What you choose to do is up to you, I know there are some books that are highly recommended like The No Cry Sleep Solution.

I cringe at the idea of letting a baby cry it out, so it was never an option for us. My 5 mo wakes up about 3 times a night and my 2 year old wakes about 1 time a night. To make it easier on us I had my 2 year old sleep in her crib in our room until she was around 1 and 1/2. And we have an arm's reach cosleeper for our new baby.

there is really no magic trick... I have 4 children and they have all gone through spurts at various stages where they sleep all hte way through the night and then there are a few months where they wake.... Right now, my 2 year old sleeps all night, my 6 month old wakes between 2 and 4 for a bottle. My 3 year old wakes around 1am and crawls into bed with me... my 6 year old sleeps all night loong.....

6 months ago... the 6 year old was in bed with me, the 2 year old would wake twice and the 3 years old slept all night long....

all I can say is keep a consistent nap and bedtime routine... and naps are tricky - all of my kids moved from 2 naps to one nap a day at about 10 months... and every nap in this house is either a 45 min nap or a 2 hour nap... anything in between interrupts a sleep cycle and makes them grumpy and more tired.

It stinks, but the ONLY thing I found that worked for me was to just let her cry it out. My doctor pointed out, around that time, that if my baby had slept through the night before, she could certainly do it again. She wouldn't starve to death before the next morning! It's hard, especially if your bf has to get up for work early the next day. Here's what we did - dinner at 5, when she got hungry. Snacks at 7. Bottle/nursing at 8. A warm bath, fresh diaper, pjs. Cuddle up in her chair, with the lights down low, sing a few songs, say a prayer. To bed, with her lovey, leave. She woke up the first night and cried for half an hour. The second night she cried for 15 minutes. The third night she cried for 5 minutes. The 4th night, she didn't wake up. Every two weeks or so, she'd wake up again. Thinking something was REALLY wrong, I'd go in with milk...and then realized the next night SHE was training ME. Resist the urge to go in. Once she's slept through the night, she can do it again! My baby is almost 18 months, and she woke up the past two nights...because the first night, I went in!

We just got our 3 month old to sleep throught the night by following principles from a book called "Growing Kids God's Way." It started with making sure they are in a good daytime routine. Good nap times- make for better night sleeping. Keep your evening routine- bath, book, prayers etc... Put her down- let he sleep and then give her one last dream feeding around 11:00ish(later you will cut that one out). Before you rush in to feed or comfort her at night give her just a few minutes to see if she settles down. You have to do what you feed comfortable with, but if you let her cry a bit it will lesson (stick with it just a few days and you'll see). If five minutes of crying is your limit- then do that but try not picking her up- put your hand on her, whisper to her...eventually your soothing should lessen and she will begin self-soothing. That way- if they wakes up during the night, they had get themselves back to sleep without your help. Good luck and hope it helps!

Is she on solid food yet? Ever since our baby has started eating solid food he has been sleeping throughout the night(now, he is 8 months old and eats the 4 oz jars, 3 times a day + breast milk and formula). We put him down between 7:30 and 8pm and he wakes up between 6:30 - 7am.

Good luck!
R.

That's a hard question because every baby is different. We alwasy have a 7:30pm or 8:00pm bedtime. My first child slept through the night 8pm to 5:30am at 5 months. My 2nd child was almost 8 months (slept 7:45pm to about 6:00am). With my 2nd, she just wanted me to come in and pat her or hold her for a second and then she went right back to sleep. The night stretches will get longer as your baby gets older(at least that's what i've found). My 13 month old goes to bed now at 7:30pm and sleeps until 7:00am. She only ocassionaly takes a morning nap (or just a short one) and sleeps 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon). I don't know if food is the reason the sleep longer, but once my 2nd was able to eat more finger foods - she slept longer.

Best wishes to you!

Children's sleep cycles do not regulate until they are several years old. Sleeping through the night is not the "norm". Trying to get your young child to sleep all the way through without waking at all is asking for a lot of work that isn't necessary. And please do not let her cry it out! The reason babies stop crying and eventually go to sleep during this method is that they learn that they are alone in this world! Very scary indeed. Strong statement, I know, but I truly believe it, as do most "experts" and parents in the natural parenting community. We have co-slept with our daughter (almost 3 yrs) and this has worked beautifully for us. She is a very independent and confident child and we are all relatively well rested. She is transitioning in to her own bed right now as we are expecting another baby soon, whom we will also co-sleep with. She still wakes most nights and crawls in to bed with us but we know this is a transition and it feels good to let her lead the way. The nights she does sleep all the way through are lovely and I look forward to more of them! There is an excellent section about night waking in the book "Natural Family Living" published by Mothering Magazine (I also strongly recommend a subscription). Most important of all, go with your intstincts. Don't feel like you have to accomplish something (sleeping through the night in this case) just because you've been told by other people it should be happening or your baby is "not normal". You know your baby best.

I guess I have to consider myself SO lucky.. my 4 1/2 month old does sleep through the night.. but it wasn't always that way...
Make sure she is in a crib/sleeping place where she has enough room.. could she be waking herself because she is hitting her arms on side of crib/sleep area? Just a thought...
May try.. soothing music..
I sometimes.. "dance" my girl to sleep with soothing music... Just a thought...

GOOD luck to you!!!

Hi Ashlee,
Well, when my son was 5 months old or so, I started letting him cry by himself. I had read the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." I think it's a great book, and I think letting my son "cry it out" gave him the message that he is required to soothe himself. It was really difficult to do this--sometimes I let him cry 45 minutes or something--but I learned to keep myself busy, or go outside where I couldn't hear it. Anyway although it sounds harsh, it did work, and my friends were amazed how he would eventually sleep 10-12 hours straight. He still does, for the most part, unless he genuinely has a problem. I hope my message helps you!

It is not really something you can force. She will sleep through the night when she is ready. If you are breastfeeding, then it is unlikely that you will be able to get her to until you quit.

I found with my son that he eats a certain amount in a 24 hr period. What he doesn't consume during the day, he will at night. When I cluster fed him during the day, he slept through the night. Try feeding her more often during the day, and be sure you are including 2-4 meals of baby food and rice each day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime snack). If you can get her to consume more calories during the day, then that may make her less hungry at night. Don't force her to eat if she doesn't want it though... that is just mean. Around 9 months, growth slows down, and she won't need as much food.

well i dont know if you have tryed this or not but my daughter didnt sleep through the night until she was 11 months old the way i got her to sleep was by buying one of those nursey cd's so that there was noise all the time in her room then when i started to put her to sleep i would lay her down and lay on the floor by her crib so that she could see me she would cry the first few times then when she got in the routine of it she would just lay down and put her self to sleep. then when she woke up in the middle of the night i would do the same thing until she learned to put herslef to sleep. it took about 2 weeks. i read in a parenting book that you shouldnt look over them when they wake up that you shold get down on their level and it will make them want to lay back down. i hope that it works for you.

I had success with "the Sleep Easy Solution" by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack. It involves some crying to teach your baby how to self soothe and weaning night-time feedings by 2 minutes each night until there are no more feedings. The book says your babe will be sleeping great just after a week, but it took us 2 weeks because she ate for so long at night to begin with. I was nervous about letting her cry and avoided anything that said so, but this seems like it's in the middle because it teaches you to check in the your babe at 5 min, 10 min and 15 min until she goes to sleep instead of abandoning her. Now my babe goes to bed at 8pm and doesn't wake up until 7am. That's not to say that every night is great, but it has made a huge difference in our family.
For some background, my babe is 7 mos old and before we started this sleep routine she was waking up 4-6 times a night to fuss and eat, nobody was getting any good sleep and we had to do something to make a change. We started this the beginning of Feb and I really feel like it's worked. I also feel that because she was able to get more sleep, then she had more energy to work on things like rolling over. Then she grew some teeth and that threw everything off. But all in all, I'm glad we used this method.
Hope this helps, Good luck.

I wish I had more time, and I know you've gotten lots of good advice already. Babies should be sleeping 12 hours per night, or close to it, so that should be your goal. The consistent feed times during the day are key, because then as you spread them out to 4 (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed - about every 4 hours with food and bottle) the baby adjusts and takes in more food, so that they have enough to last through the night. Often it becomes a habit to wake up, and they keep doing it. Don't feed them during the night, or if you have been, try to have them go a little longer gradually, or try to fall back asleep without the bottle. Once you break the habit (and it's ok to let them cry a little while, or rub them, or hold them, or whatever works for you, but try to push it longer every few nights), they should automatically start sleeping longer, and then through the night. It's what their bodies crave. And it is good to teach them some self-comforting abilities, because no matter how much you'd want to, you just can't be there for them every second. It's ok for them to learn how to comfort themselves. It's not like you're neglecting them, because you are there for them so often, and fulfill all their daytime needs. On Becoming Babywise is an excellent resource. Good luck and help that baby get some sleep! = )

The suggestions so far are great, but I think our own attitude has alot to do with it. Once baby sleeps through the night, you'll wonder where that time together went. I learned to savor the night times with baby (within reason of course) and I do still get up with my 10 month old regularly, but having a good attitude makes it alot easier.

I have a 6 month old little girl and she has been sleeping through the night since about 2 months. What we did was when she woke up in the middle of the night we would wrap/swaddle her up and give her a pacifier, she has been sleeping 8-12 hours a night ever since. Good luck!

I don't really have any solid advice because after 16 months of sleep craziness, my DD is finally STTN. The best advice I can give you is to research and read different methods so you can figure out what is best for you. Only you know your baby and know what is right for your DD. I know easier said than done, but do what you think is right. I'm sure she'll still be waking up once or twice (my DD still does and she is almost 17 months) but that's not too bad. She just wakes up making sure that mommy is still there and goes right back to sleep.

Anyway, long response made short, do what you think is best. If you think your baby is ready to CIO (although I think 8 months may be a bit young, but I'm no expert), then do it. If you think swaddling will work, try that. Just go with your gut!

Good luck with getting her to sleep! :) She will figure it out one day and start sleeping! :)

She may just not be ready yet. How often is she waking up? Our daughter woke up every 2 hours or so and we finally did the Ferber Method of letting her cry. Sounds horrible, and it feels horrible at the time, but it is important to allow them to teach themselves to sleep on their own. We have a bedtime routine of a bottle, rocking chair, and a story (baths get her too hyped up for before bedtime) and when she looks drowsy, we put her in her crib. We found that tummy-down worked better (after she could roll over on her own) and let her cry for 10 minutes or so, checked on her and kissed her but didn't pick her up. Then we left and came back at longer intervals. She FREAKED but after that she slept all night and now sleeps about 11 hours at night. It was worth the anxiety and feeling that I was neglecting my child, because we were really doing her a favor---teaching her that she can sleep on her own and when she wakes up, she can put herself back to sleep. When she wakes up and cries, she knows you will come in, and that's what she wants. She has you trained :) Untrain her! She'll be fine and wake up smiling at you in the morning. Dr. Ferber wrote a book, but we also have a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" by Dr. Weissbluth that is really good. Do we really know the reason why babies cry themselves to sleep (i.e.: "they know they are all alone in the world")? I doubt it. But that is the reason why you go in and kiss them, tell them you love them, and then leave. You are telling them they are NOT all alone in the world, but that you are there and that they are ok. But like I said in the beginning, your baby may not be ready to sleep all night. We started at about 6-7 months. I co-sleep with naps but not at night because none of us sleep more than a couple of hours at a night, and it is so important that babies get enough sleep so they can grow and develop. And, like I said earlier, she greets us with a huge smile and a wiggling butt every morning because she is well-rested and happy to see us. Oh, and someone else mentioned a "lovey". That has worked great for us! We have a little blanket we call a "woobie" that we have her cuddle with while we are rocking her before bed and she chews on it...and then we put her to bed with it. It is kind of a comfort, a transitional object, to help her transition from time with mommy (or daddy) to time for sleep. We use it for naptime too. When we give it to her she wiggles and hugs it.

Make sure she isn't sleepign to much throughout the day. Sometimes in life regardless of what we try some kids just dont sleep!!! I have tried everyting!!!!!! I have a 4 year old and a 17 month old and my oldest refuses to sleep all night. She wakes up 2 times a night just to wake me up and say can you wrap up my toes. I think she just wants to make sure I am still there but I have no idea what her issues may really be, normally she doesn't even remember getting up. My 17 month old has just started sleeping through the night as of last week. My 4 year old could go to bed at 4 in the morning and she would still wake up at 7 am. She just doesn't sleep. She only takes a nap randomly (depending on how her behavior holds up). Good luck and I hope she will start sleeping throughout the night soon-I have learned how to survive without sleep now,lol.

Okay Ashlee after reading all other responses let me tell you what we did with our 7 month old. When he was almost 6 months old our pediatrician basically told me that there was no reason for him to have 2 bottles at night because he should be getting all his nutritional needs met during the day AND that he should be sleeping through the night and the best way to accomplish this was the cry it out method. Well, mistakenly I thought that that meant letting him cry however long it took. The first night we tried this he cried 45 minutes and finally went to sleep. Then of course he woke up periodically. The second night it was an hour and a half. By the third night I researched on the net to find out how to do the method correctly and since then we have adapted it to what fits best for us. He was doing pretty well there for 5 weeks or so with waking up maybe once or twiice a night in which case I would give him a watered down bottle and put him back in his crib and he would go back to sleep for the most part. He has his first cold and the sleep training has gone out the window for that first week of his cold. He is on week 2 now. When he is not sick we give him some cereal and follow up with a bottle and put him to bed in his crib around 7:30. He usually stays asleep until midnight and then has a watered down bottle and back in crib. With that said and him just now getting over the CRUD that he has had last night was a GREAT SLEEP for me. He went to bed about 6 p.m.. Woke up and got a bottle at 9 and then stayed asleep until 4 this morning. A dilluted bottle (drank half) and then back to sleep until 6:30. With all that said we found that it was important for us to put him to bed at a consistent time and wake him up in the morning around the same time. He takes 2 to 3 naps a day as well. GOOD LUCK ON WHATEVER YOU DO ASHLEE.

you have to get the book "healthy sleep habits, happy child" by dr. marc weissbluth! it saved my life!! i have 4 kids, the first two i co-slept with and the youngest are 1yo twins. needless to say, it has been a tough year (imagine 2 babies and 2 adults in a queen, not good!)and at 12mos they were still not sleeping through the night. anyway, i tried everything and it seemed as they got older they got more savvy to "the game" i was playing with them. getting them to bed and sleeping through the night just became a struggle. i read the book cover to cover, highlighting the parts that were really informative or applied to my situation. once we started implementing the sleep routine the girls struggled the first 2 nights. after that it seemed to be maybe 2 days before the first one slept through the night. it's been 3 weeks now and we have been putting them to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 every night and they both go to bed fully awake when i lay them down (and not crying!) and they sleep through the night till 6:30-7:30.

each expert in sleep techniques is going to say their way is the best, the least damaging to your child. you need to see what works best for YOU and your child. we want our children to eat right and we teach our children to wear a helmet when they ride a bike but if we teach them to sleep through the night we are teaching them to be insecure? i used to see it that way but now i see i am teaching my daughters how to be good sleepers with good sleep habits.

i know it sounds so corny to say this but seriously the change in quality of life is remarkable. i have time to read to my 3yo, tuck in my 11yo and actually get the dishes done before bed because i am not exhausted! i know if i would have been given this book sooner the girls would have adapted that much faster. good luck whichever route you choose!

Hi,

I found the book "Good Night, Sleep Tight" which is great at teaching your child to sleep through the night. A lot of my friends swear by it also. It teaches you how to put your babies to sleep and stay asleep all night. One thing I noticed is maybe you should try to dream feed her at 10 or 11 (if she goes to bed about 8 or so). You pick her up and feed a bottle which will get them full. This is just one thing you can do. I really recommend getting the book it will help you a lot. Good luck!

You might want to get the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, by Marc Weisbluth. I love that book, and used the techniques to train both my kids (3 and 20 months now, and GREAT sleepers) to fall asleep on their own.

That said, I did not expect my kids to sleep all the way through the night until after 9 months, until that time a nighttime feeding is still possibly a need, and you shouldn't deny it if they actually need it. Until then, a 6-8 hour stretch is about the most that I hoped for, but after that time, if they weren't sleeping all night on their own, I eased them off the remaining night feeding. My son dropped it on his own at 8 months and started sleeping 12 hours through, my daughter dropped it right around 9, but then needed some additional "night training" to sleep all the way through. If you've set a good sleep foundation, you're probably quite close to a full night of uninterrupted sleep!

Hello Ashlee,

I'm not sure if you are breast feeding or not. However, my 7 month old is doing the same thing. My doctor recommended similac advance fussy baby formula. My son has alot of gas in his tummy so she recommend gas release medication prior to feeding. I am just now trying it so I hope it works.

chamomile tea was also recommended and did work a couple of times, but then my son didn't like it. I am going to try it again.

Good luck!

Hi Ashlee,
I hate to say it but the only thing that worked on all 3 of my kids was just letting them cry themselves back to sleep. I did go back to them to give them comfort letting them know I was there till they were about 4-5 months. With my 2nd child my first son, I went back to him till he was probably 9 months and only stopped because I became pregnant again and needed my sleep even more, but now he is very much, safe to say, a cry baby and will scream like there is no tomorrow sometimes. I've been told by lots of older family members that he didn't build confidence on his own that he was and would be ok and didn't need mommy so desperatly. I do want to mention that my soon to be 4 month old is already sleeping through the night at sometimes over 9 hours, so I gotta say that if I were you I would let her build some strength in her lungs and self by just crying till she fell asleep.

P.S. if you haven't already thought of this, make sure it isn't gas or constipation that can be painful to a baby.

I have a 11 month old and he is no where near sleeping 8-9 hours at night. I asked my doctor about his sleeping and she said some babies just don't need at much sleep. My son has only taken one nap a day since his was 3 months. Good luck!
If there is a magic technique I would love to know.

Whatever you do, don't do the cry it out method. 7 month olds are not supposed to sleep through the night. Most babies don't sleep through the night until they're at least 2 years old. They are teething on and off until then. If you really want to do what is best for your daughter and not what's convenient for you, just be there when she needs you and don't try to force something she's not ready for. Doctor's who are in support of doing what's best for your baby don't even suggest starting 'sleep training' until the baby is at least 1 year old.
My daughter is 13 months and doesn't sleep through the night. Her patterns change all the time. Some nights are better than others, but on a good night she'll still wake up to nurse at least 3-4 times. On a bad night, more like 7-8. Sure, I'm tired sometimes (ok, a lot). But she sleeps with us, I roll over and nurse her for 5 minutes, and she's back out. She always wakes up happy, and has never cried for more than 5 minutes in her life. She's happy, secure, and independent.
Don't feel like your baby is the only one not sleeping through the night. She's not. And she's not supposed to. She's growing, teething, developing and changing. Any new mental or physical milestone is going to disrupt sleep. Any teething is going to disrupt sleep. You will be fighting an uphill battle at this age, when she just needs your comfort.
Don't cave to the pressure of people telling you she's supposed to sleep through the night and to let her cry it out. Do some research, you will find the studies support what I have said.
A great resource is www.askdrsears.com. Just trust yourself in knowing what's best for your daughter. Good luck!

My youngest has a hard time getting to sleep by himself. He's also 7 months old and I actually found somethign that worked... I turn him into a "baby burrito". You just tuck the baby's arms next to their sides, straighten their legs out a bit and then roll them up tight in a -thin- blanket or sheet with their head out one end. Now he sleeps a good 9 hours before he wakes up!

one thing that got my kids to sleep longer was to give them a nice warm bath and let them splash around a little in the water.Let them kick and wave their little arms around. It helped them to burn a little more energy and the warm water relaxed them so they slept better

Good luck...Really each child is different our first slept through the night at 4 weeks it was awesome...well our son know 11 months old just started sleeping through the night (8hrs) at almost 8 months. It was very hard and frustrating; we thought he would never sleep through the night! It just took him a little longer. But one thing that does help it just make sure you give her a good few minutes each time she wakes up at night before you go in just to give her a chance to fall back asleep on her own. Best of luck!

I hate to burst your bubble but at 7 or 8 months old, nine hours of sleep is probably a bit too ambitious. She is still very young, and while you may hear all kinds of the stories from friends and family who "claim" that their kids slept 10 - 12 hours each night - well, they are either really really lucky or exagerating. My son, slept quite well, sleeping 6 or more hours in a row each night until he hit aboout 8 months. Then he didn't sleep through the night again until he was almost three. He started waking up 4 and 5 times each night and there was nothing that we could do. At two, out of desperation, we took him out of his crib and put him in a twin bed. GOD SEND! He started only waking up 2 or 3 times and within a month or two was waking only once or twice each night. It was heaven. It wasn't until he was almost three that he started he actually going to bed and really sleeping through night. You are doing all of the right things. Just keep trying - at some point you will either try just the right thing or she will eventually "figure it out". Good Luck!

Hi Ashlee,

I would highly recommend co-sleeping with your precious girl. I know that it has helped immeasurably the amount of sleep this Mom has seen! My youngest is 20 months now and I feel great! Both my kids sleep in the same room with me. My 6 yo daughter sleeps in a loft bed above me and my son sleeps with me below. My husband usually sleeps in his "office" and I visit him when I want to. Your baby wakes because she needs you. You really can't get around that. If you "train" her to not cry out at night, you are teaching her that you are unavailable to her needs at night. It isn't that her needs go away, she just will know that she is on her own. Best of luck on finding your way!

K.