Help my 8month old keeps waking at night

BridS

Please help. My eight month old keeps waking during the night. He goes down awake no problem between 7.30 & 8 but he could wake anytime from 11 onwards. Sometimes he's looking for a bottle but will only drink 30-40mls other times he just wants the chats, I've tried everything from dream feeds to letting him cry to giving him water when he wakes nothing seems to work. If I'm very lucky he might sleep until 5 but after 3 or 4 nights of this he will start waking several times from 11 onwards again. I just need some sleep does anybody have any suggestions

January

Completely normal for the age of your baby.

appledrop

Hi Brid our little guy is the same age. Now I know their all different but what works for us is that our little guy doesn't go down until around 10. He might have a little nap in evening but thats it. We give him a last bottle around this time + that does him for the night. Way back when his was younger we tried putting him down earlier but pointless as he would be awake then at 4 or 5. On a good night he can sleep through till about 7. As you know other nights he might wake up a few times. Usually though we just give him a soother + he will go back asleep himself. The crying method woukd never work with our little guy he would just get hysterical.

shesty

Totally normal.You are trying loads of different things, you need to pick one thing and do it the same way every night.Whatever suits, cry it out, or sit with him giving him his soother/teddy(you don't talk to him at all), beaker of water, whatever.Just be consistent in what you're doing.The message is that it's time for sleep.

They do also wake at 4/5.That's also totally normal.It passes with time.It's hell but it does pass.

GalwayMayo

Hi Brid, I was in a similar situation to you up to a week ago. My little girl just turned 9 months this week and has just started sleeping through the night. She has always gone to sleep quite easily at 7.30pm but like your little one would wake at least twice during the night between 1am and 6am. I used to resort to taking her into my bed as I was absolutely wrecked. In the last week I have stopped using her grow/sleeping bag. Instead I dress her in pajamas with socks and then a heavy fleece babygrow. When I am going to bed I aso put a blanket over her. She loves kicking her legs / twisting from one side to the other while sleeping and I honestly think she has started sleeping better because she is not restricted in movement. I know how you feel, all you want is sleep & you'll feel like a new person

BridS

GalwayMayo wrote: »

Hi Brid, I was in a similar situation to you up to a week ago. My little girl just turned 9 months this week and has just started sleeping through the night. She has always gone to sleep quite easily at 7.30pm but like your little one would wake at least twice during the night between 1am and 6am. I used to resort to taking her into my bed as I was absolutely wrecked. In the last week I have stopped using her grow/sleeping bag. Instead I dress her in pajamas with socks and then a heavy fleece babygrow. When I am going to bed I aso put a blanket over her. She loves kicking her legs / twisting from one side to the other while sleeping and I honestly think she has started sleeping better because she is not restricted in movement. I know how you feel, all you want is sleep & you'll feel like a new person

Things have gone from bad to worse 😥. He was sick during the week & ended up in hospital for a night. Obviously I was with him to whole time but he seems to have developed some kind of separation anxiety since then. He keeps waking up hysterical (before he was never hysterical). While he was sick I let him sleep in the bed with me (only two nights). I'm afraid to start this incase he ends up in the bed every night. I genuinely have no idea what to do 😥

yellow hen

Jusy go with it for now. It's a tiny defenceless little baby who just wants to comfort themselves with their mammy. Phases like this do pass. (Although my 10month old has been like that for over 2 months).

80s Child

Just wondering how you're getting on Brid?

Our 8 month old is at this craic now also!!

He was a great sleeper, often sleeping from 8/9 - 6/7, but once the teething started, that went out the window!! Since then, he has been waking more consistently and for the last 4 nights has been waking 5-6 times a night! Wrecked isnt the word!!

Previously, it has been the teeth and he has been chewing his hands and we've given him some Calpol and that has eased the situation. But at the moment, he doesn't seem to be teething really. When he wakes, a few mouth fulls of bottle will put him back to sleep usually, but that only really pacifies him for an hour. We've tried giving him more, ala the dream feed scenario, but still no joy!

BridS

Hi 80's child

Things much the same I'm afraid. He is getting easier to settle at night but only by giving him some of the bottle. Im meeting a sleep consultant tomorrow. Some people seem to swear by them & at this stage il try anything! I'll let you know how I get on

yellow hen

Would lobe to gear how it goes brids. Post back here and let us know will you?

Digs

Best of luck with the sleep consultant and like YH said let us know how you get on!

There is a sleep regression around 8 months and also quite a big leap. My 8 month old spent the last few weeks waking at odd times for chats, giggles, general mooch about the cot. She's been crawling since 6 months but in the last few days standing and cruising has started so I figure she was working on all this and it had her wired. Oh and teeth!! Cutting the top ones aren't fun.

All that kept me going is knowing from my first child that every phase passes, so we did whatever it took to get through it, brought her into our bed, got up with her at 3am and had chats on the couch etc etc and I am much the calmer for it, it's tough while you're going through it but just believe this particular phase won't last for ever, promise.

BridS

Hi guys as promised here's a little upset about the sleep consultant.
I had to keep a diary for a week about what my LO ate & drank & how they slept. She then emailed me a detailed document outlining why they woke at night & woke so early in the morning. She also designed a new routine.
We are on day 4 of this today (last night was night 3!). The first two nights were rough enough & it took two hours to settle him when he woke. By the second night this was only an hour & last night even though he woke twice there was no hysterical crying just a bit of whinging & he settled himself! So fingers crossed we've turned a corner. He's still waking early but she says that this too will change & we're working on this too.
His daytime routine has changed a bit including nap & meal times but it seems to be working so I'm sticking to the plan rigidly!
I'll post again in a few days & keep ye updated on our progress.

80s Child

BridS wrote: »

Hi guys as promised here's a little upset about the sleep consultant.
I had to keep a diary for a week about what my LO ate & drank & how they slept. She then emailed me a detailed document outlining why they woke at night & woke so early in the morning. She also designed a new routine.
We are on day 4 of this today (last night was night 3!). The first two nights were rough enough & it took two hours to settle him when he woke. By the second night this was only an hour & last night even though he woke twice there was no hysterical crying just a bit of whinging & he settled himself! So fingers crossed we've turned a corner. He's still waking early but she says that this too will change & we're working on this too.
His daytime routine has changed a bit including nap & meal times but it seems to be working so I'm sticking to the plan rigidly!
I'll post again in a few days & keep ye updated on our progress.

Excellent! That's for the update!

Our own is almost going a goodnight and then a bad night!

I'll be intrigued to see how you get on, but the first steps are extremely positive!

Best of luck!

Kathy22

BridS wrote: »

Hi guys as promised here's a little upset about the sleep consultant.
I had to keep a diary for a week about what my LO ate & drank & how they slept. She then emailed me a detailed document outlining why they woke at night & woke so early in the morning. She also designed a new routine.
We are on day 4 of this today (last night was night 3!). The first two nights were rough enough & it took two hours to settle him when he woke. By the second night this was only an hour & last night even though he woke twice there was no hysterical crying just a bit of whinging & he settled himself! So fingers crossed we've turned a corner. He's still waking early but she says that this too will change & we're working on this too.
His daytime routine has changed a bit including nap & meal times but it seems to be working so I'm sticking to the plan rigidly!
I'll post again in a few days & keep ye updated on our progress.

Hi Brid could you PM me the name of the sleep consultant if in Dublin, considering this for my almost 10 month old who is a disaster at night and has been since Christmas. Not interested in cry it out but think we need some advice on routines etc.

superman28

We bought a sleep machine that plays the sound of the sea in the background.. It plays all night and our daughter sleeps alot better with it.
I bought it online for 45 euro.. It was worth it for us anyway.. been using it for a few months now,, its got to the point that the second she hears it she starts sucking her thump and closing her eyes.. there are loads of types you can buy,, but id recommend one that plays constantly all night.. (the one we have is called Cherry Koala Sleep Tones Sound Therapy Machine) but im sure other ones are available.


The other thing was we use a little sleep comforter teddy that she holds... they usually sell them in chemists in the baby section.. it means that if she wakes during the night she can settle herself after a minute or two and goes back asleep..

BridS

Hi everybody. Just a quick post to update you on our sleep progress! We started following the sleep consultants plan just over four weeks ago & things have kept improving. There have been a few set backs & relapses but things are finally starting to fall into place. The waking during the night for long periods stopped after a few days & now if he does wake it's only a whimper & he settles himself. The early morning waking (5am) has taken longer to improve & it's only in the last few nights that there's been a consistent improvement.
Our sleep consultant is in constant contact with us with helpful advice & most importantly support. It's nice to know that it wasn't just a one off consultation. I couldn't recommend her enough.
So fingers crossed things keep improving & I might get rid of these dark circles!!!