Wakes up in the night, what to do.

[Fizzysherbet22]

My 8 month old goes to bed at 8pm and sleep through until 4-5am (which i am not complaining about) Then she just wants to play or cry and gets very unsettled. We have tried leaving her to see if she goes back to sleep but i hate seeing her get so upset. So i pick her up and bring her in bed with me and then she falls back to sleep as she is still tried but fights it.

Has anyone else been through this and any tips please. is she still too young and just enjoy those moments or is it wrong and let her get on with it. Help please!

Thanks

Have you tried giving her milk?

Do whatever suits you! Is it working for you to bring her in and fall back to sleep? As long as you're sleeping safely with bedding etc why not carry on?

No we stopped the night feeds as she is on 2-3 meals day and still on bottles so didn't want to start giving her milk again in the night as she is bottle fed.

Thanks for your help. Yes i would like easy life and suits me but didn't want it to be wrong move and makes our life's very hard later on

Probably a growth spurt. Feed lying down in bed with you til she drifts back off.

I can’t really see the problem here? Sounds like a good sleeper to me!

I can't moan at all she is a brilliant sleeper but wanted some tips on if to leave her in cot unsettled or move her in bed with me when she does wake up unsettled in the night.

8pm-4am seems like a great sleep for an 8 month old. I'd wonder if she wants an early breakfast. I'd try a bottle.

I wish my 14 month old would sleep that sort of stretch.

I think you're doing a great job with a good sleeping baby.

It’s normal for an 8 month old to need milk over night. They go from tiny to half their adult height by the time they are 2 years old.

Neither of mine had a middle of the night feed after 6 months but yours might do for a bit . If she won’t settle with a quick cuddle in her room then I’d bring her in with you if she settles well there. If she’s falling asleep quickly with you then it doesn’t sound to me like she needs a feed then. Does she have a dummy? DS2 often just needed that. DS 1 was self sufficient as a thumb sucker!

Thank you, yes she has a dummy to help settle her. She very active baby so when she is awake she wants to play at like 2-4am and find it hard to settle her back down again.

If she’s hungry then she’s hungry, making her stretch just because you want to drop the night feeds isn’t going to achieve anything because she will still be hungry. You might find that if you offer a bottle she’ll probably go back to sleep for a couple of hours! Surely that’s gotta be better than her being upset and fighting sleep again?

shes 8 months old and a human not an alarm clock. Sorry, I know that sounds harsh, but just because you consider that too early to wake up it doesn’t mean it is for her

for the record my 13 month old has never slept through and has recently been having a bottle again overnight. They’re constantly going through growth spurts and developing and extra milk helps that.

Feed her. Mine fed hourly overnight at that age. Yes I know you’re not breastfeeding but 8 months is still tiny and it’s not normal to go that long without a feed

Try a dream feed when you go to bed, I do this and he'll go until 7:30am

Does she self settle at bed time when she goes to sleep? I recommend Ferber constantly, if babies can learn to go to sleep alone, it helps them stay asleep.

However I would definitely still give milk at 8 months if she’s waking at 4-5. They’ve only got little stomachs and it’s a long time since the last feed. So she will be hungry, and also thirsty. Once she’s been fed hopefully she’ll be able to settle back for another couple of hours.

We have her in bed with us and feed her, no one likes sleeping with a hungry tummy.

A little bit of milk and tuck her back in her cot or with you(whatever works to settle her fastest)

She is waking for a feed but you don't want to give it because she is eating meals in the daytime?

We had this phase. It was a real pain! Personally I wouldn't be bringing her into bed with you - you're potentially setting up a long term habit you don't want to start. It sucks but when she is up I would get up, see if she will resettle with a bit of milk and whatever your settling technique is, and persevere with this until the time of day you are happy for her to get up. It was horrendous but our phase only lasted a few weeks. I refused to get our daughter up before 6am so spent a fair few hours just trying to resettle her in her cot. Some days it worked and some days it didn't. As with everything - it is a phase and it will get better. If it's any consolation, once we got past this phase she became a great sleeper and has been pretty consistent sleeping through 7-6.30/7 since 10 months ish.

Just to add, similarly our baby had dropped night feeds months before this phase started and happily dropped the 4am ish feed again of her own accord.

My two year old doesn't sleep that well. Enjoy it!

I am not asking for nasty comments back thank you! My daughter has not had night feed for past 2 months so very much doubt she is waking for fed.. I always offer her milk when she is awake at anytime and she never wants it. We have now solved this issue as her teeth are coming through, so thank you for repeating my answers!

I am not asking for nasty comments back thank you!

I wasn't being nasty, I was asking a question with the view to advising, depending on what the reason was, that's all. Glad you have solved it though.

Definitely give them some milk, or try with water first. They go through growth spurts and need the extra. Mine slept 7-7 from 10weeks and we would have to give a top up in the cot on occasion at night as they were hungry, especially if they’re in the go all day. I wouldn’t take them out of the cot if you can help it.