Getting7 month old Baby to sleep through night?

Question

Please help! My son will not sleep through the night and he is 7 months. He gets up every few hours and the only way i can get him back to sleep is by nursing him. During the day he will nurse every 4 - 6 hours but at night it's every 2 if i am lucky. He was sleeping his nights but when he got his 1st tooth at the end of November he stopped. I have tried to introduce him to a soother so he could put himself back to sleep but he will not take one.

Any Advice would be appreciated.

I forgot to mention that He eats 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. He also naps for a maximum( if I am lucky) in the morning around 11.00

Answer 1

My daughter is 10 months old and has never slept through the night until recently. I finally realized that the getting up was more of a habit than out of need for food. When they are newborns, their bodies are just not capable of sustaining them for longer than a few hours at a time and that is why they eat so frequently. Over time this changes as their bodies become more efficient in storing food until finally they are able to go longer stretches without food.

I am still nursing too, so don't stop that! Despite what people say, a baby doesn't sleep through the night any better if they are on formula. My baby has been eating solid food in addition to breast milk, and like I said, she just started to sleep the night. Until 2 weeks ago she was waking every two hours.

I don't know much about the Ferber method, but a little common sense and patience go a long way here. Here's how I did it: On the first night I fed her at about 7 pm (baby food) and then breast milk at about 10 pm or 11pm (it was her habit to wake at about that time). I then put her back to bed and listened for her to wake again, which she did at about midnight. I let her cry for awhile and then when she got a little frantic I went in, picked her up, rocked with her, told her I loved her and gave her a kiss. Then very matter of factly I put her back in the crib and told her that it was time for sleeping and left the room. She roared for about 2 minutes until she realized that I wasn't coming back in. Then she stopped. An hour later she woke again and I did the same routine. The next time she cried was at 3 a.m. (I did the same routine) and then she woke for the day at 5 a.m.

The next night I did the same thing, only she only woke twice. And then by the third night she slept 6 hours in a row (11-5 am)!

Now she isn't even waking for the 10 pm feeding and I wasn't even trying to stop that! Last night she still woke up at about 2:30 am but whined a bit then put herself right back to sleep for a total of 10 hours asleep!

So the main idea here is to show them that you are still there, that you love them, but that nighttime is for sleeping. Be consistent and do it with love (and most importantly have love in your voice) and before long your guy should be back to sleeping the night.

As far as I am concerned, when they are sick or in pain the rules go out the window. So if your little guy is teething, he might just need some relief (however you do that--Tylenol, ambesol, etc.) and it's just really difficult to control their sleep when they are not feeling well. So weather the storm but get him back once his tooth has erupted.

For me, the biggest fear was that my daughter was waking because she was hungry. When I got over that hurdle (and I knew she wasn't hungry because she'd nurse very very briefly and then fall right back to sleep) it was much easier to ride it out, and let her cry a little.

One more question...are you sharing the bed with your baby? I think that was definitely part of my issue--my daughter slept with me and it was really easy to just roll over and let her nurse ALL NIGHT LONG! At about 8 months I transitioned her to the crib which surprisingly she accepted immediately. If your son is still with you in the same bed I would recommend transitioning him to the crib first and then trying to get him to sleep all night.

All the best to you!

Answer 2

7 months is still a bit early to expect sleeping through the night...but if you look at what you wrote...he eats every 4- 6 hours during the day..that would be better if it was at night. And every 2 hours at night. See, what is happening here is that during the night the frequency of nursing encourages you to produce more milk, so by the time it is day time he doesn't need to nurse as often. And really a breast fed baby can get by on just breast milk the first year .

Also, consider your night time with him. Do you turn on lights, the TV or whatever? Best to keep it very quiet and don't make it a social hour. During the day hours make nursing a good mother/child bonding time. At night it should be very quiet. Also obviously he doesn't need to eat that often. At night try to make him wait at least 4 hours between feedings. Comfort him with a binky or a back rub and say shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh softly. This might be frustrating the first few nights but it will set a new pattern for the baby. If that doesn't work.....let your baby set his own schedual....afterall he is less than a year old.

Answer 3

Every two hours is WAY too often for a child this age. Increase his intake during the day (it could be possible that he is not eating enough so he makes up for it at night). Keep working at getting him back to sleep without nursing! He may still be cutting teeth so he is waking up from discomfort and he comforts himself by nursing. You might want to consider a bed time dose of Motrin or Tylenol if you think that this is a possibility. Hang in there mom! This too shall pass!

Answer 4

Teething is awful. My normally happy-go-lucky 9 month old has cried for 2 hours on my lap tonight because of a new tooth.

We generally use Hyland's teething tabs- they work better than Oragel, at least for us, and Harmony sleeps a bit longer after them since her teeth feel better.

Unfortunately, we and the grocery store are both out. Tomorrow, I'm going on a major search.

Answer 5

Sounds as though your little guy is confused between nigth and day, try changing your routine so he is lively during the day by stimulating him with vibrant toys whilst he is awake, and at night keeps things quiet and dim the lights. Good Luck!

Answer 6

unless he screams for longer than 20 minutes let him be, i know its hard to do but a baby must learn to self-soothe and 7 months old is a great age to start.

Answer 7

try getting a breastpump and puttin some breast milk in bottles for you to give him at nights when he wakes up in the middle of the night and some toys or something to keep him occupied until he falls asleep

Answer 8

try gerber rice ceral right before bed it works for my son