9 month old still waking 3x a night

[Houx86]

Does anyone else’s 9 month old still wake lots during the night? Mine wakes 3 times for food still, I have tried to get him back to sleep without the bottle but he won’t have any of it. Weaning isn’t going great, he hardly eats anything which I suppose isn’t helping him to sleep through. Everywhere you look it seems like everyone’s babies are sleeping through or just having the one wake at his age! I’m not worried exactly, know babies are all different and if he needs his milk that’s fine, I think I just want a bit of reassurance and to feel less alone!!!

It does sound tough but fairly normal at 9 months, they usually have a sleep regression at that age anyway.

Can you give us an outline of what he has for food and milk on the day, we might be able to tweak it for you

Thanks ☺️ He has about 4 bottles over the day, usually 6-7oz. Food wise I do porridge or weetabix with a fruit mixed in for breakfast but he will only have half a weetabix biscuit or half a porridge sachet. Lunch is usually just picky bits so I will offer a stick of cheese, some breadsticks, some melty sticks, sometimes a yoghurt or rice pudding. For dinner I try to give a carb, a vegetable and a protein but again he hardly eats anything. Solid food, i.e food that isn’t mushy like porridge he will happily put in his mouth but he just mashes it up and keeps it in his cheeks like a hamster until he spits it out 🤦🏼‍♀️
Overnight I’m trying to reduce the amount of milk as recommended by an occupational therapist so he’s on 5oz at the minute.

That’s is a huge amount of milk for a 9 month old and reducing the quantity in the bottles overnight does seem like a good plan.

For context the amount recommended between 10 and 12 months is 15 Floz in 24 hours.

I would drop his first bottle from tomorrow and go straight to breakfast. He might complain but he will have food. You could offer two to 3 ounces of formula in a cup alongside his breakfast too so you know he’s not starving.

It should take him two to three days to get used to the new regime but then he should hopefully start to eat a bit more.

At this age they usually recommend milk then food but due to the huge amounts of milk he’s having I’d be tempted to offer food and give him milk before his 2 naps and before bed whilst continuing whilst still reducing nighttime bottles.

Forgot to add that this guide from the Caroline Walker Trust has some good suggestions on sample menus and portion sizes.

Thanks, I do always give him solids before his bottles, he’s just not interested in food! He’s also quite a difficult baby and incredibly hard to settle when he works himself up so I think we have a tough time coming up!

He may not be happy that you’re cutting down his milk but if you do it gradually, as the OT has suggested then he will have fine to adjust. And no, DC aren’t always happy with what we do and are often quite vocal but they’re just testing boundaries. So from now on it’s breakfast with a cup of milk and then a bottle before nap. Like I said he’ll likely complain but he will realise you’re standing firm, eventually Some babies are just less good at accepting change than others. My DC2 was a great baby, just as long as we did everything exactly how she wanted us to

If he’s difficult generally and is reluctant to eat solids, has Tongue Tie been ruled out? And how does he score on this simple progress checker?

*time to adjust

His first milk in the morning is the bottle he has before his nap, that’s really the only time he has milk is before his naps. He did have tongue tie which has been sorted. The quiz says he could use some support with understanding and social communication. He had colic until he was 10 weeks old where he was inconsolable for most of the day and I think this has made me have no belief in my ability to soothe him.

Hello I know this post was last year but I now have the 9 month old DS who wakes at 10pm , 2am and 5am for milk . If I try anything else he doesn’t sleep until he get its . If I give the milk he is straight back to sleep. I know it’s probably habitual but I do think he is genuinely partly hungry to because as yours was when younger he does not eat much at all during the day . He’ll have a bottle at 9am , 1pm and 6pm before bed all only 5oz so that’s 15oz in the day then the night ones are all 4oz. With food same as your schedule was the only meal he fully eats is dinner but really fussy with what we offer so just stick to what he likes . I wanted to ask when did things get better for you ? Have they got better ? Does he now sleep through the night. ? Do I need to sleep train him to reduce the night bottles . I just hate to see him upset .
my older child is 8 years old although she’d wake at night she never wanted milk. Would really appreciate some help ( from a very tired mummy !) x

( sorry I know lots of spelling mistakes it’s 3.30am and I’ve still not gone back to sleep since the 2am feed . The sleep deprivation is killing me . I already struggle to sleep as it is and I’m meant to be back to work in 3 weeks 🙈)

Do you have a DP/DH at home? Can they do the 10pm feed so that you can get a good chunk of sleep early on?

Hi Bigworldsmallgirl!! 👋 I’m really sorry to say that my dear, dear son who will be 2 next month is still waking for milk at night 🫠🫠 He has a bottle before bed and then usually wakes twice in the night - he did go down to once for a week or so and I got very excited, but we are now back up to two wakings!! Like you, I can’t soothe him any other way I think if I didnt give him milk he would cry until he exhausted himself and I can’t bring myself to do that even though he’s not a baby anymore!!

im sorry I can’t give any advice but I can offer sympathy, I was so exhausted when he woke up three times, two is still so tiring but a lot better than three times! I’m sure yours will be sleeping through by my DS’ age, I think we are an anomaly! And probably of my own doing as I never broke the habit with him 🫠 I also think still waking for milk is quite common u Tim they’re around a year old, it just depends on what sort of baby you get!

@ExplodingSmittens hello .i do but won’t for long it’s too complicated to get in to but there is no shared parenting in this house I have done every night feed since our little boy has been born so working towards giving him the boot. So in terms of support at home there is none it all falls on me . X

@Houx86 ahhhh at least your honest 😂😂🙈🙈 it’s annoying because he sleeps from 6.30pm- 7am and really with each night feed they literally last about 10 mins but each wake up I wake up fully whilst he just falls back to sleep on the milk .
what really bugs me is from age 2
months to 6.5 months he slept so well he was doing the same time 6.30pm only waking at 2am for milk straight back to sleep and waking at 7am for the day . This is when I know it’s my fault . During the heatwave I kept thinking when he wakes he must be thirsty so kept offering extra feeds . I know I’ve done this to myself . Because ever since that of offering extra feeds he has never gone back 😂😂 I have created a monster ! Haha
thanks for getting back to me and here’s to another night of the madness ! Roll on 😂😭😭x

It’s probably not anything you did. Mine slept well from 2-5 months with just one wake up for milk but since then she’s barely gone longer than 2-3hr and 3 wake ups is now classed as a good night. Add teething in the mix and some nights she’s up every hour😭

I agree that it’s probably nothing you e done. There is a notorious sleep regression at 9 months and lots of babies do take extra feeds at night during this time.

Sorry about your STBX too. They sound disinterested at best. It sounds as though you and your LO deserve better

@ExplodingSmittens awh thanks it’s just been a really rubbish time for us but I just try to stay positive . As long as me and baby have everything we need we just ignore the angry man !
as for baby I know what you mean about the 9 months regression but he has been like this since he was 6 months 🙈 I honestly think I may let this month pass and if no improvement sleep train ( I say I will but I know I won’t 😂) .

Thanks for all the kind words all . Strong coffee in the morning and loud music to get us through the day xx

I’ve had 3 babies. Sounds normal to me. One of mine was sleeping through my 9 months but the other 2 were still feeding at night wakes

Aw mums. So normal and so grim. You're in the sleep pit (please see graph). Noone tells you this when you have a newborn in case you give up then and there but all 4 of mine (and a lot of their wee pals) have been worse at the 10-14 months mark than newborns. Sorry! But it's not your fault, you didn't cause it and it will get better without constant sleep angst.
sarahockwell-smith.com/2017/07/24/the-rollercoaster-of-real-baby-sleep/