any tips on getting baby to sleep through night?

Question

he is 7 month old now and still waking between 1 and 6 times each night wanting breastfeeds, he has a regular bedtime and is on baby foods through the day

Answer 1

You must be exhausted! Have you tried increasing his uptake of both food and milk during the day? My daughter was a hungry baby and I was advised by my Health Visitor to slot in a few extra breastfeeds/formula feeds together with healthy snacks throughout the day. It can take a few days to establish the new feeding pattern but allowed the breastfeeds to be reduced. Both she and the Dr advised not to add anything to the milk as it can cause choking. I know people say it's ok, I just didn't want to take a chance!

If he is seeking comfort rather than nourishment, unfortunately my advice is to be tough and substitute feeds for hugs. It'll will be heartbreaking for a week or so (for you both) until he realises that you are still giving him comfort just in a different way.

It's amazing how much better you will both feel when he sleeps right through.

I wish you good luck

Answer 2

Is he going to bed between 700 and 830 ? Is he napping well during the day ?? If has 5-6 feeds a day, he's not waking because he's hungry. Try letting him be for a little while and if he starts to wind down, he'll probably fall asleep on his own. If he continues to fuss, go in, pat him on the back, you can try changing him, play some music then leave, keeping interaction to a very minimum. It will probably be a few nights before he gets the hint. Does he use a pacifier ? If yes that will help, if he's not hungry, he'll fall back asleep. It sounds like it's just habit for him now. If you really think he's hungry, be sure you yourself are eating really well and drinking lots of water to ensure he's getting rich milk when he does eat. Good Luck, and I hope you get some sleep soon.

Answer 3

at 7 months the baby shouldn't be waking at night anymore at all. Certainly not 6 times per night. The best way to get the baby to sleep through the night is to get him on a schedule during the day. At 7 months he should be on a 3 1/2 - 4 hour schedule. Waking at 7-8am and nursing every 4 hours (8, 12, 4 and 8) add baby foods after nursing (cereal and fruit at 8am and 8pm, meat and veggies at 12 and 4). After waking feed him right away, then keep him up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then put him down for a nap (again from 1/2-2 hours). Then you wake him up and feed him etc... after the 8pm feeding keep him up until 9:30-10 then off to bed for him for the night. Do not put him to bed asleep. Not at night or during the day. You need to put him to bed sleepy but awake. That gives him the opportunity to learn how to fall asleep on his own.
For the first 3 days expect him to continue to wake at night. Don't get him up and feed him at night. He doesn't need it. If you can't bear to hear him cry give him a bottle of water. Just don't cuddle and rock and sing him back to sleep. Eventually he will decide that it's not worth it to wake up.

Really if you can deal with the hassle for 3 days you will not have to worry about it ever again

The only other thing you might want to check out is your milk supply. give the baby a bottle of formula at 1 feeding and pump instead. If you don 't get at least 3-4 oz you may have a milk supply problem. If you can't pump, you can weigh the baby before and after nursing and subtract the difference - that's how much milk you are supplying. Should be 6-8 oz. If it isn't then you may want to consult your OBGYN.

Answer 4

My son did the same thing, but luckily he only woke 1 or perhaps 2 in the night. I spoke to a HV specialising in sleep therepy and she advised to stop breast feeding and give water. Baby would eventually realise that water is not worth waking for and stop waking. It is imposrtant that baby can put himself to sleep and must be put to bed awake. Also, avoid eye contact in the night and not too much chatting. Do not pick baby up as this will only make it worse. Lay baby down and tell him it is sleep time. You can pat him, bu t then leave the room. It does involve crying in the night (Don't leave baby to cry for longer than 5 min at a time)and could take a few days before it improves and a couple of weeks before it is working properly. I never actually got to the point of doing any of this because at 8.5 months when I decided to start, my little one started sleeping through all by himself!!!! Hope this helps.

Answer 5

The only thing i can suggest is try to give him water instead when he wakes (if he will have it) the he may get sick of waking up because he is not getting the breast milk. At 7 months he does not need those feeds try and cut the amount down and wean him of them so he doesnt bother waking up for them. On the other hand if he has slept through before now for you then the controlled crying is very good and does work you feel cruel and you'll be more tired than usual for a week or two but they say be cruel to be kind Good luck !!

Answer 6

It sounds like he is wanting comfort and food. I found that giving my little one a warm formula milk feed before he went to bed worked wonders - mind you I did use the heavier baby formula that is for hungrier babies. It may be that he can only stomach so much food but he is still hungry. Maybe look at what sort of food he is having during the day, try to stick to a routine and times with food. I found that if mine had too much sleep during the day he would wake up more on a night and the comfort was the bottle... he has never had a dummy.!

We managed to cut his sleep down during the day, fed him at regular times, gave him a nice warm bath with lavender in and then gave him his warm bottle... at first he slept through till around 6 and then it increased till around 7.30 which is a resonable hour to get up. He is now 17 months old still has his bath everynight and now has full fat milk, warm before he goes to bed at around 8pm and stays there till the morning.

If he does have a bad night for any reason - usually when he has cold we bring him into our room and put him on the bed between us - he falls back to sleep within ten mins and goes back into his cot.

Good luck

Answer 7

Hi there, my daughter was breast fed and didnt sleep the night through till she was 3. Establishing a routine, putting the baby down at the same time and my midwife said to try wrapping her up in my shirt that I'd worn that day so she could still smell me. It worked for a while. A soother works well too. I'm not a fan of putting cereal in a bottle but be careful not to put too much. He just wants comfort and he will settle eventually. Good luck!

Answer 8

firstly make sure you're not being hypersensitive. babies often wake up in the night, and if let, immeadiately go back to sleep. it is a normal sleeping pattern. so if you hear a whimper don't respond, just leave him and chances are he will turn over and go back to sleep.
also, try giving him as much as he wants to eat at his meal time before bed and give him a yogart just before bed time. that way you are 100% sure that it isn't hunger waking him up.
other possibilities:
if you are a working mum, it could just be seperation anxiety.
also a friend of mine, used to let her baby have a free reign on the changing table, when she put an end to it, he started sleeping through the night.... it seemed that setting the boundry of behaviour made him more secure? anyway, she is a working mum too and he was about 9 mths at the time.

Answer 9

I'd give him a weet-a-bix about half hour before your going to put him down for the night. I mixed fed my son i gave him breast milk during the day and a formula bottle with a weet-a-bix before bed, i have friend who just breast fed and she didn't get a lot of sleep either her baby was always waking in the night for a feed. Breast feeding is good for the baby but i think at 7 months that they need something else to fill their tummy at night.

Answer 10

Please please do not add anything to the bottle ie cereal you should never add anything to the bottle. Try the age old trick of leaving baby to cry and increase the amount of time before returning to the child ie let baby cry for 5 mins return, don't speak to baby or make eye contact, just tuck him then leave when he starts crying leave him for 7 mins return again don't speak, no eye contact etc, next time increase it again. Even if you end up leaving him for 20 mins crying he will eventually learn to settle himself back off to sleep. I wouldn't advice putting him in bed with you starts a habit that can be impossible to break i know people who have their 5+ year old in bed all because they allowed it when the children were babies/toddlers!! Persevere make sure your partner is in support of the technique and all the hard work will pay off in the end! Best of luck.