My 91/2 month old will wake every 2 hours to nurse.?

Question

I need some help on getting him to sleep. During the day he naps at the same times and eats solids and drinks formula. It is just night time that he has problems. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

Cut a nipple so that the opening is slightly wider, then begin mixing rice cereal into their formula; it will fill their tummy more and they will sleep longer.

Gradually thicken the mixture as time goes by until it's time to learn spoon feeding, then start with thick cereal from a bowl.

Answer 2

We are all creatures of habit. Extend the time you respond to his cries by 10 minutes every night. Initially, this will be difficult for you (more than him!), but this will, over about a week's time, break his habit of nursing every 2 hours.

Calm and soothe him (rub his back, sing, etc.) before he "goes to bed", and when he awakes/cries, you can poke your head in the door, tell him you love him, pat his bottom, then LEAVE. Do not re-enter for 10 minutes (no matter how HARD he cries). The next night, do the same thing, but EXTEND the leave time to 20 minutes before you respond. This continues until he learns to comfort himself and/or falls back asleep.

Then, come back in, and if you decide it is time to nurse, then go ahead.

This trains him that 1) you will always come back (although it will be later and later), 2) he MUST go to sleep at the appointed times, and learn to comfort himself.

Does he have a pacifier or lovey? Children need to learn to comfort themselves WITHOUT YOU. I think he has learned to comfort himself WITH THE BREAST. You can, through extending your reaction times each night, teach him to use another way (paci, thumb, lovey) to comfort himself. Generally speaking, a 9 month old DOES NOT require breastfeeding mid-night, and should sleep 7-10 hours without nursing.

Learning to comfort yourself is a vital life skill. Be happy when he can awake, comfort himself, and then fall back asleep!

Answer 3

When children go through a cognitive or physical growth spurt, they will nurse A LOT!!!!! Remember that the nursing adjusts the content of the human milk, creating the right blend at this time. Just have him in your bed at night and it will be wonderful, you'll barely wake up.

Answer 4

Have you tried "tanking him up" right before bed by doing some marathon nursing in the evenings? Nurse several times close together before bed. Do breast compressions while nursing in order to help him get more hindmilk. Consider waking him to feed right before you plan to go to bed in order to get yourself a longer stretch of uninterrupted sleep. Or try cosleeping!

Answer 5

Hi..I feel for u...been there, done that ! At that age, I think ur baby is old enough to sleep for longer periods of time and is only using u as a pacifier! Does he have a pacifier? Try finding something that he can associate with sleep time...such as a blankie or a stuffed toy...spray them w/ur perfume...start by putting him down for a nap w/them since he sleeps better then w/out u.. also remember, no lil boy has ever been at his high school graduation and still breastfeeds....he'll eventually grow out of it....lol

Answer 6

Try giving him a bottle and some cereal before bedtime. That might tide him over til morning...or at least get him halfway through the night so you can get some sleep...

Answer 7

My daughter was like that too. After giving her a bath and right before I put her to bed I mixed some cereal and fruit together and fed it to her. She slept alot better because her tummy stayed more full longer.