9 month old still wakes 2 times a night how can i get her to sleep through?

Question

My 9 month old baby girl wakes two times a night generly at 2 and then again at 4 I have tried controled comforting and all that has done is make me out to be the bad parent to the rest of the house hold, and my daughter just crys louder and longer. Can anyone give me some ideas on what worked for them. she is still in the same room as me but in her on cot she goes to sleep with out a fight. I feed her to get her back to sleep.

thanks for the advice so far, to answer some of the questions we do have a routine. she has dinner then a quick play then goes for her bath and then straight to bed where i either give her milk or she has formula and she's off to sleep without a fight 99.9% of the time. I usualy do a roller over feed with formula at around 10 (depending on when I'm going to bed).
she eats heaps through the day with ceral and fruit at breakfast. mid morning snack is usually fruit and a baby biscuit lunch is vegtables and fish/meat or chicken with rice/pasta afternoon snacks are sandwiches fruit jelly then dinner is simular to lunch. With some milk breaks inbetween the feeds. I think she is getting heaps of food and shouldn't be hungry I do beleive it's mainly a habit she has formed and like i said in the first bit of my question is yes I've done the whole cry it out routine but i was wondering if anything else had worked for other parents out there.
thanks for your help

Answer 1

I am/was going through the same thing with my 8 month old. She would sleep in our bed and wake up 2-3 times a night to feed. Feeding her was the only way to get her back to sleep. I tried putting her in her crib and it was a disaster. I was sick and tired of everyone offering advice on how to get her to sleep...I tried it all and nothing worked.

Last week I realized that I needed to get better sleep and that it HAD to stop. So I put her in her crib and just consoled her everytime she woke up (without feeding her). However, I know for a fact that if I had tried that 1 month ago she would have cried all night long (I did try it). I honestly think that babies go through phases and eventually she'll just stop waking up, or at least stop demanding to eat. My daughter has now gone 4 nights without waking up to eat and every night it gets better (cross my fingers). I just think she was finally ready to sleep on her own and she really hasn't put up a fight these last 4 nights. So maybe try and wait a few days and then try the controlled comforting again. What's the worst that could happen....it might actually work this time.

Good luck...and I totally know how you feel about being the bad parent in the house. My husband travels all the time so when he's home he spoils our daughter which makes it harder for me when he's gone. You're doing what's best for your baby and your sanity. If the rest of the household complains, ask them to wake up and feed her a bottle so that you can get the sleep you deserve.

Answer 2

Well you are not alone! My almost 9 month still wakes at night and the more you resist feeding her the louder and forever we are all awake! However after a week of full sleep we are back to the wakefulness again due to teething 4 teeth at once so who can blame her. Sometimes a rub on her back will help her but when they sleep and wake up if been fed on demand it can be that they didn't eat as much as they need in the day so try and feed her a little more in the day. Some nights I just know that she will wake because she hasn't had as much as normal. Just keep on going with whatever works for you. She will sleep through eventually. Try not feeding her the first time she wakes and feeding her the second time so you are weaning her off a little at a time. Sometimes growth spurts cause extra wakefulness.
My first child was the perfect sleeper from birth. My current 9 month old is a sleep hater! Never ever wants to sleep or stay asleep. I am also not liked in my house as she shares with her sister who is getting a little sleep deprivation this week too! Hang in there it will work out soon.

Answer 3

I know how you feel, my daughter woke around 10 times a night, every hour. Yes I got into the routine of feeding to get her back to sleep but I tried controlled crying (really helpful when husband works and kids have to get up for school) she just cried until she vomited. You do what you have to do and 2 times a night isn't really that bad. My first two I feed to sleep and never had a problem, my daughter just doesn't like sleep. She is nearly two and has grown out of it, the waking became less and less and we have had some undisturbed nights, she no longer has a feed to go to sleep and my sanity is restored. Bubby actually could be thirsty with these hotter nights (Australia?) if you were thirsty you would get a drink through the night. I don't think it's healthy to leave her cry for half and hour or more, that's just distressing. So while I can't offer you any practical advice (all babies are different) just go with what you feel is right, I know where you are and wish you all the best.

Answer 4

!st of all are you breast feeding your baby because if you are that may not be substantial. Do not feed them solids after 8pm as it's not good for digestive system. I assume you check all the other things like if she has a dirty nappy etc. If all that is ok than keep going with your controlled crying. However don't pick them up, just lie her back down & use a saying like it's beddies or night nights, wrap or tuck the blanket around them tightly &walk away for 5 mins or so (which of course means she should be in her own room by now) go back & repeat the procedure extending the times in between. The 1st night I did this with my son it took a couple of hours, 2nd night it was approx.3/4 of an hour, 3rd night 15 mins & we never looked back. BUGGER the rest of the household, if they have a problem tell them to DEAL with it or help out. Should she still persist then I would see your Doctor as it could be medical or he should be able to advise you on what else you can do. Good Luck!

Answer 5

I know by now she is eating solid food, so why not try moving her dinner or last solid meal for the day to a later time. That way her stomach is full of more than just milk when she goes to bed for the night. You may be able to narrow it to one time a night that way. It just sounds like you have her in the habit of eating at a certain time and she's not willing to give it up. Try changeing her schedule around some. If you are giving her a solid meal at 6 or 7, give her a bottle at that time and switch her solid meal to the time you give her the lsat bottle. If she must have a bottle at bed time then make it a smaller bottle.

Answer 6

Best advice: right before dinner, take her to a park (sounds silly cause she probably can't walk yet) but put in the swing, get her crawling/moving around a lot so it tires her out. When she eats dinner, make sure she eats enough... and get her on a strict schedule at night. Say... 5pm go to the park, 6:30pm dinner, 7pm bath, 8pm bedtime.. something like that. Do that every single night. It may take a few days or a week to work, but I gurantee it probably will. It wasn't until I did this that my son slept through the night. Good luck =)

Answer 7

All babies are different and some just wake up that many times. But I have a couple of ideas that might work. Try feeding your daughter baby food right before she goes to bed. If that doesn't work you could try a warm bath right before bed and if that doesn't work try keeping her up longer during the day. If those don't help I hope you find something that does. Good luck.

Answer 8

Don't feed her anymore. Her tummy needs to be retrained, and it only takes a couple of night to do so. Past the age of 6 months there is no nutritional need for night time feedings. The crying it out method is very effective, but can be very hard on the parents. Do what you think is best, but no food.

Answer 9

Well you just answered your own question. She is waking up because you have her on a feeding schedule. Water the nightly feedings down until eventually you are only giving her water when she wakes. You need to ween her off the nightly feedings. She is old enough now that she can go a full night with out a feeding.

Answer 10

LOL I did the exact same thing. I even told the pediatrician that he must have been hungry if he woke up and ate. She said "nope" he is playing you and by getting him up to feed you are reinforcing that specific sleep pattern. So, I left him, yes, he screamed and hooted and hollered, but it was less and less each night. After five nights he was sleeping straight through and he hasn't looked back!