my eight month old baby is getting up at every 2 hrs ..what to do?

Question

he eats his dinner by 8:30 pm then sleeps after one to one and half hours late...then before bed i gave him 4 ounces formula milk..

Answer 1

Give him his dinner at 8:30, but then DON'T LET HIM SLEEP. Keep him awake by playing with him. Then, at 10:00, give him a 6 oz. bottle of formula, and ADD SOME RICE CEREAL to it. About a tablespoon of cereal or so, right into the bottle.

Does he like to take a pacifier? Put him to bed. When he wakes up the first time, ignore him for a few. Then, go into his room, put his pacifier back in his mouth, and leave the room.

Just keep doing that until about 6 a.m., and then you can feed him again.

He needs to learn that Mom is not available at night, and that the bar is closed. ;-)

Answer 2

An eight month old baby should be eating more then 4 oz at one sitting...esspecially if its the last meal before bed time. He should be eating twice that amount! Also he should be getting rice cereal and baby food....so before bed time give him 1/4 cup of rice cereal SPOON fed...not in the bottle!

Give him his rice cereal between 8:-8:30, then his bath 8:30-9...Play with him for half an hour then get him all bundled up and give him the bottle right before bed time(9-10)...he will fall asleep in no time.(as long as he had enough activity during the day) If you constintly put him to bed during the day there is no way he's going to sleep through the night.

Answer 3

I will probably get crucified but have you thought about using a pacifier? Just at night. I would probably also try to give him dinner earlier then spend an hour playing with just you and him to wear him out, give him his bottle and see what happens. Then if he wakes up but doesnt want a feed give him the pacifier. Just make sure that if you do use it use it only at night and once he is off the formula get rid of it. Both my children were comfort sucklers and the pacifier gave me more than 3 hours of sleep a night.

Answer 4

Yes, you do need to start letting him cry a little bit. He probably just needs to learn how to fall back asleep. Don't just leave him to cry for extended periods of time though!!

But, you also have to make sure that is the only reason he is waking up. If he is a cranky baby, spits up a lot, has a difficult time with certain flavors or food, he might be waking up because of reflux. If he is a noisy breather when he is sleeping and constantly wakes up, he could have mild sleep apnea.

Most likely, he just needs to learn how to fall asleep on his own. But, you will probably want to make sure there isn't a real cause for it before you just let him cry....

Answer 5

Sounds cruel but isn't so bare with the pain and suffering.

You have to let him cry. Let him cry and over time he will get adjusted to the schedule you are setting for him. As long as he is getting sufficient formula during the day this is the only way to set the schedule and dictate.

Try setting a sippy cup in there with water so that he has something to reach for. If he isn't ready for sippy cups yet slip a bottle with water in there with him.

It will take time and patience but he'll get the hang of it.

Answer 6

I had to start giving my son a bottle with 6-8 ounces in it then i put him to bed and let him cry it out. It sounds mean but it really works it took me two nights with my daughter and five nights with my son. They eventually learned that night time was for sleep and mommy wasn't getting them everytime they cried.

Answer 7

My 9 month old baby does the same thing, and I don't have a problem with it. That is what babies do.

8:30 is a fine bedtime. Mine sleep 8:30pm to 8:30 am (waking every 1-3 hours to feed)

However, it doesn't bother me so it is not an issue. Now if I had to get up and heat up formula it would probably drive me nuts, but it is perfectly normal.

quote: "Sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone (like walking or toilet training) that your baby will reach when she is ready to. Trying to force or coax baby to reach this before her time may result in other problems later on. "

Here are some studies.

“However, even in the 12-month-old group, 50% of infants typically required parental intervention to get back to sleep after waking. Results emphasize the individual and contextual factors that effect the development of self-soothing behavior during the first year of life.”
Goodlin-Jones BL, et al. Night waking, sleep-wake organization, and self-soothing in the first year of life.
J Dev Behav Pediatr 2001 Aug;22(4):226-33


“This report, which is a part of a longitudinal investigation of sleep in infancy, examines the association between the child's sleep pattern and mother-infant attachment in 94 mother-infant dyads
[…]
The findings confirm that night waking at the end of the first year is a common developmental phenomenon.”
Scher A. Attachment and sleep: a study of night waking in 12-month-old infants.
Dev Psychobiol 2001 May;38(4):274-85.

“*Frequent night waking that disturbs parents is common from 4-12 months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night).
* Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months
* Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their child's sleep behavior.
* Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. IT IS NOT UNTIL AFTER 24 MONTHS THAT REGULAR NIGHT WAKING (REQUIRING ATTENTION) BECOMES MUCH LESS COMMON” (emphasis mine)
Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children.
Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.

“Baby's age……….% babies waking at night
3 months…………….46%
6 months…………….39%
9 months…………….58%
12 months…………..55%”
Scher A. A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year.
Child Care Health Dev 1991 Sep-Oct;17(5):295-302.

Answer 8

Do you say you let him fall asleep at 8:30????
Try to keep him up until like 9:30-10, don't let him sleep after 8pm.

Here is a link to a book that you should get, I have heard from alot of my friends that it works perfectly!!!!! You can teach your baby how to sleep through the night in 6 weeks..... it does work....

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Baby-Wise-Reference-Worldwide/dp/0971453209
You can buy it at a book store, so you don't have to buy it on-line...

Good luck!

Answer 9

Lack of sleep in children can cause serious
health problems.If parents follow some simple
techniques for making their children sleep,
it can be avoided. I found useful information
at http://nosleep.in/sleepchildren.html

Answer 10

This is normal. This is what you signed up for by deciding to have a baby. It's pretty simple, If you do not want to have to get up with the baby every 2 hours, hire a nanny.