how do i get my 8 month old baby to sleep through the night?

Question

He wakes up 2-3 times a night and is very restless. He is not awake long but wants attention or a feed. We give him full bottle feeds at bedtime which is around 6pm and again at 11 or 12 when he wakes up.

Answer 1

Ok, this is what I do, I'm not saying it will work for everyone, but it may be worth giving it a go.
When my baby wakes up in the night I go in to her room , I do not speak to her, I turn her on her side and put her dummy in. I hold her arm (gently) so she cannot roll onto her back, then I wait until she has drifted off again. It is important not to speak to them.
Oh, and each time I put her to bed I play some relaxing music. Now she seems to know when the music comes on, that there is no point in trying to get my attention because I won't play. and goes off quite quickly.
I have a very happy smiley child.

Answer 2

When my daughter got to be 3-4 months old, she was still sleeping all day and would cry throuhout the night if she wasn't being held or fed.

To remedy the situation, I would gently wake her during the daytime. At night, I would just let her cry, although, I would check on her about every 15 minutes until she fell asleep, some time later. The key was not to talk to her or give her attention, just to make sure she was okay. Oh, no lights and no T.V. He room was dark and quiet, except maybe a night light.

It took about 3 days for the crying to shorten from about 2 hours down to about 15-20 minutes and then ultimately to nothing. She would just lie there and stare at the ceiling until she fell asleep. She is 8 now, and still does. She has had a bedtime since she was a baby and she just accepts it. We let her stay up a little later on weekends at her request.

She is still a night owl like her dad. But it's ok.

Answer 3

I have this problem with my 4 month. in fact I asked the same question!! http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index
I got alot of great answers as well as a few silly ones that I suggest one does not try.
I put a loud ticking clock in the room & I also gave her some medicine that helps with pain relief & congestion which alos had the added bonus of a sleep aid!! She is not sleeping through the night yet but she goes to bed without a fight & sleeps longer. I also got into the habit of dipping her dummy in gripe water so she knows when this is done I want her to sleep & it seems to work.
I was also told that if your baby always wakes up at the same time each night then wake her about half an hour before & cuddle her for a bit them put her back down.
I know exactly how you feel & hope any asvice you may take helps!! xx

I'd also like to point out that you should not give a baby an alcoholic drink that is just stupid & careless. Also you should never let a baby cry for too long because they use up all their energy crying in which their blood glucose drops & then they can have a fit.

Answer 4

Give the baby some baby cereal at night. He will sleep alot better with a full stomach and the entire night. I fed all 3 of my kids baby cereal mixed with formula when they were about a week old. Mix at the beginning more formula than cereal, so at first it will be a little runny. Then increase the thickness of the cereal a few weeks at a time. As you feed him the cereal, after a few bites, give him his formula in the bottle.
At 8 months, he should already be on baby food. I guess your doctor probably told you only give him formula. Which don't get me wrong, some doctor's only believe in giving babies formula for a whole year. And some doctor's start babies on regular baby cereal and food at different age levels.
As my mother said when I had my first child, "Feed that baby some food, they didn't have all this formula stuff when you were born. You had mashed food with regular milk your first day."

Answer 5

my 9 month old still wakes up once at around 11, he also has a bottle of milk before bed at around 6:30. i think they will sleep through when they r ready, i also have a 2 and a half yr old who started sleeping through the night when he was about a yr old. all u can do is set the scene, keep the lights low/dark, no speaking/loud noises, dont pick him/her up.
also my health visitor told me 2 try giving a bottle of water instead of milk, they should protest a bit 4 a few nights as they really want milk but if u stick 2 it they will go bk 2 sleep and start sleeping through as they know they'll only be getting water. i haven't tried it yet but am planning 2. anything's worth a go.

Answer 6

I usually put half a rusk in his bottle,but im havin same trouble as well my son is 81/2mths as well and i have same problem just wakes up moaning hes either rollin to the side and cant move so he cries or hes dragged himself to the top and starts banging his head because he cant move up anymore i get up at least 6 times a night tryin to sort him out givin him bottle after bottle ha does dose off but sleeps for about 1-2 hrs at a time so by the time i get up for my other two kids at 7.00 im knackered.Ive had a look at some of your answers and one says about gripe water my gran has gone on about that as well its supposed to be good.Hope you get a good nights sleep soon i know how you feel
:-)

Answer 7

Try not to keep going to your baby when he wakes up. I know this is very hard but he will soon realise that if he is'nt getting any attention there is no point in making a noise when he wakes up. Also when you put your baby down at night make sure you put him down when he is awake so he can get himself off to sleep. This way when he wakes up in the night (which all babies do) he will know how to get himself back to sleep. This really does work. Good luck. X

Answer 8

He's too old to need a night feed. move the last feed to about 8pm. A good routine helps...ie bath story, bed. when he wakes give him a favourite toy/dummy and continue to to so each time he wakes. Dont get him up or cuddle him. just pat him or rub his back a little, avoid over stimulating him. Don't let him need you there to settle. He needs to be let awake to settle himself. It will not happen in one night. I have 3 boys and they all slept through from 4 months.

Answer 9

I was told that if my daughter woke up in the night to give her water not milk. After a couple of nights they don't see the point of waking up for it so sleep through. They don't actually need the feed in the middle of the night. They wake up cus they are being greedy.

It took my daughter a bit of convincing to drink the water but it worked. She sleeps 7pm-8am now.

Sleep deprivation is so hard to cope with and it must limit your social life thinking you have to get back to feed him by a certain time. Try to persevere with this technique cus it worked for me.

I hope it works for you.

Answer 10

good luck my 3 year old is still up and down 3 or 4 times through the night and still manages to get up at 5 oclock in the morning!