9 month old thinks sleep is overrated

[Mrsstubbs]

I'm after some advice. From 3 months my son was sleeping from 7pm to 9am with only a dream feed at 11pm to tide him over. However since he turned 9 months a week ago he's decided this really isn't for him. He's been going down at 7, waking at 9 (feed and back to bed), half 1 (feed, medicine and back to bed after 90 mins screaming) and half 5 (feed and cuddles with mummy in her bed until we wake up). These timings are not approximate, you can set your watch by him. My question is what's causing it and what can I do to get him back on track? I'm trying to resist bringing him in with me cos I don't want him getting used to that but will it harm if he's in pain? He's teething and full of cold. Last night I gave him ibuprofen at the 1am feed and he went straight to sleep so we avoided the 90 min screamathon.

Also I've just started back at work 3 days at work so he's in nursery - could that be connected? He's lost weight in the last 3 weeks cos of being poorly and doesn't drink much milk during the day (never seems fussed and just brings it back up) although he's back on his food (sitting next to me happily troughing cheese on toast).

I'm just wanting help/advice and reassurance that this will end. Hubby is on deployment so he's not around to help till next year

It WILL end, of course it will, but he's ill & teething, so thats not likely to help with sleeping,

but as its so regular, is it possible that he's waking from hunger ?? - if you are breastfeeding maybe think about giving him a bed time feed with formula - its heavier & fills them up more & worked when my own DD was tiny & hungry in the night.

Also look into things like Lavender aromatherapy oil - safe for babies & helps with sleep, relaxation & immunity & adding Epsom salts to his bath - its a good way to get magnesium into his system, which is often deficient in modern diet & again helps with sleep & also how he deals with pain & relaxes him etc etc

The lavender & Epsom salts baths would be good for your own frayed nerves too

I remember DS1 had sleep regression around this age and then we decided it was time to do some sleep training - ie. no feeds at night BUT then he was eating tons - 3 meals a day plus loads of milk (formula) and so we knew he couldn't possibly be hungry. It worked within a few days. If he has a cold though it could well be affecting his sleep. I would wait until he is properly better, try to get plenty food and more milk down him during the day, and then look into cutting out the night feeds. I really do think this is when they start waking up with food expectations during the night as a habit rather than a need, especially if they've been fine previously. Few rough nights worth it for the long run!