Is a 9 month old breastfed baby to young to sleep through the night?

Question

I feed my 9 month old on demand, which also means all night long. My question is is it to early to try to get him to sleep through the night? My baby is very healthy and on the top of his charts for height and weight.If he can sleep through the night what are some things i can do to get him to sleep and if hes not when would be the right time? Thank you!!

Answer 1

Don't feel pressured to think they should be sleeping through the night at all. Yes many do, but many also dont. I have a 9 month old and its GREAT to hear Im not crazy. dont feel disheartnened, i have 2 friends wth 9 month olds and none of our babies sleep through the night....the best one gets up once. the worst one (mine =), gets up 3 times on a good ngiht. i realied she sleeps better if i sleep her next to me then i move her. the past few days i have started giving her her nuk as she wakes...but after 4 hours, i can see her tossing and turning in her sleep...you can tel she is hungry the nuk is not helping...im not going to ler her go hunry. breast milk is light and easily digested if its 3-4 hours and she seems hungry ill feed her. I give her the botle at bedtime since she gets comfrtbale nursing and falls asleep...a nother mom at my work gave me this tip, and ithelped!

bottom line is each baby is different, do what u think is good for her. I wil suggest trying to wait 3-4 hours but dot let her go hungry we all have differnt hunger times! I have had numerous converations with other moms and pedeiatrician i was wrried they should be sleeping through the nght, and its OK not to! From what i hear, brestfed babies ypically take 7-9 months to sleep through, and i Know MANY who took atleast a year!

Good luck, i understand the deprivation, take car of urself, cathc some sleep when you can

Answer 2

Try making him wait just a little bit before getting up each night to feed him. If you jump to feed him as soon as he wakes up, you're encouraging his habit of waking instead of sleeping. Over the next few weeks, you should be able to extend the time longer and longer. ALSO, be sure to have a solid bedtime routine at the same time each night that includes warm bath, feeding, and story before telling him he's going to sleep. By 9 mos, my daughter was sleeping through from 8-9 at night until 6-7 in the morning. Good luck!

Answer 3

I know how you feel- my daughter is 13 months old and still breastfeeding/waking up at night to eat. It's not out of hunger, just habit/comfort at that point (8+ months), I think many babies are this way. I never tried to let her cry it out (my husband works long hard hours and I'd rather not wake him up) but I know at 9 months she could have slept through the night if she wanted to. I really don't know how to go about getting him to sleep through the night, but I do know that lots of times breastfed babies will start sleeping through the night after they're weaned, like someone flipped a light switch or something! Hmm- guess my advice wasn't that great, but I thought I'd share what I know from experience.

Answer 4

At nine months he should be sleeping right through the night. The average age for sleeping through the night is about 12 - 14 weeks I think. The only thing I can suggest is that he is digesting the breast milk too quickly and is waking up hungry. Is he on solids yet? Maybe stopping breast milk and trying him on solids will fill him up enough to make him sleep through the night.

Answer 5

Bless your heart, how have you made it 9 months on no sleep? The average for through the night is 6-8 weeks. It is not too early, and if you don't get him in the habit now, you may be encouraging ongoing sleep issues for him. Just don't put him in the bed with a bottle, it will mess up his little teeth. You may want to try running a fan or a white noise/sound machine in his room for him, that worked will with my son.

Answer 6

9 months is a good time for the baby to be sleeping through the night

Answer 7

He should be sleeping through the night already. Is he eating solids now? If not, he should be. His body needs more "substinance" then breast milk, and once he has solids he will sleep longer too. If he's already on solids + breast milk, then this is a habit that he will continue with as long as you let him. You'll have to "wean" him, much like you would a pacifier, because that is what your breasts have become for him at night-time. You'll have to cut him off of them at night-time cold turkey. This will probably take 3-5 days, and a lot of strength on your part because he'll need to sleep in his own bed, and he'll scream his head off, but you must resist. Good luck.

Answer 8

I know how tired you are! I felt the same way with my child!! I know you must be giving him some type of food already, but just in case... It is fine to start giving him some cereal right before bed. That helps them go to sleep and stay asleep.
You can also ween him off of nights. Let him go longer and longer every night. He will cry for it, but that is OK. I know hearing your child cry is the hardest thing, but having a mother that is cranky from lack of sleep is not good either.
9 months is a great time to start this process! Good Luck!!

Answer 9

If he's eating well during the day, he shouldn't be getting up for feeds at this age, maybe just out of habit. I'm assuming he's eating solids 3x a day (should be at this age)? Each meal should have breast mik, including cereal for breakfast, lunch is meat, veggies and fruit, supper is cereal, veggies and fruit. (this is what we do) Have a good feed before bed. You could try just offering him water at night, or watering down breastmilk until is just water so he doesn't notice a big difference. F fix his blankets and pat his bum good night. Keeping lights and conversation to a minimum. Hope all works well, it might take a little while, but should eventually sleep for you (I hope). Good Luck

Answer 10

Not at all. Babies that age should be sleeping through the night.
They should be able to self soothe by then.
Good luck.