It takes 2 hours to send our baby back to sleep at night

[Mumday]

When our 8 month old son wakes in the night it takes about 2 hours to put him down each time. He's not hungry, it doesn't always seem to be teething or tummy and it's a real drag. Any suggestions other than cc?

Having similar problems, you have my sympathies.... See
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/1098709-9MO-DD2-is-keeping-the-whole-house-awake-at-night-NEED-to-do-something-maybe-CC-or-PUPD-Your-success-stories-tips-please

There's a developmental leap around 9 months which could be it. Does he seem "wired"? My DS was like this - took a long time to sort him out. He stopped after a couple of weeks.

Does he have wind? is he eating anything like veg/fruit/eggs/bread in the afternoon/evening which could give him a sore tummy (is he wriggling and can't get comfy?)

what's wrong with ignoring him until he learns that the only thing to do at night is sleep?

We tried ignoring DS - didn't last long as he'd start yelling. Sometimes he'd babble himself back to sleep, other times no. His mind is going ten to the dozen so it's a bit hard for him to switch off.

well babbling and yelling are both forms of communication in young babies

so why ignore the babling and respond to the yelling?

baby is in a cot so safe - so what if they holler a little they'll settle down eventually and then learn to sleep

if they're not hungry or wet they're fine

LOL at "His mind is going ten to the dozen so it's a bit hard for him to switch off."

it's a 9 month old doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders does he?

Sorry activate but I disagree. A 9 month old has a rapidly growing brain and is learning new things all the time.

You wouldn't ignore a baby crying in the day for two hours so why is it ok at night? You can parent at night and teach them it's night time without closing the door on them and sticking ear plugs in.

Babbling to me means he's not upset. Yelling he is.

Sorry activate but I disagree. A 9 month old has a rapidly growing brain and is learning new things all the time.

You wouldn't ignore a baby crying in the day for two hours so why is it ok at night? You can parent at night and teach them it's night time without closing the door on them and sticking ear plugs in.

Babbling to me means he's not upset. Yelling he is.

gah computer has gone mental

and I'm sorry Iggle but I think learning to sleep through the night is far more important for a young developing baby than not doing so by parents reacting to the slightest cry.

A baby crying in the night does so so that you'll respond to them because they are not asleep - fussing around them does not, to me, make sense when they should be learning to sleep - some of mine were ok being re-settled with no eye contact, 2 of them got over-stimulated by our presence and learned to sleep through by simply ignoring the crying so that within 2 nights they slept through

each to their own - not saying my ways are right for your child just that I disagree with your point of view and my experience has proved to work for my family

Ah but I don't respond to his slightest cry. I do give him a few mins as he does cry in his sleep. There is a difference between that and leaving them for a couple of hours IMO.

But if it works for you, then that's fine. Didn't work for me. Background - my DS had acid reflux so there was no way I was leaving him to cry for long periods as he was usually in pain (even with medication).

I think it's the 9 month sleep regression. My DS does this during every sleep regression, although he's always up for exactly 1.5 hours before he gets drowsy again. If you miss that moment, it's another 1.5 hours before he's able to go to sleep again. He did it at around 8 months.

During sleep regressions, babies' brains are indeed buzzing with learning a whole new way of looking at the world, often with lots of activity to do with physical develompent as well.

There is a great book explaining it called The Wonder Weeks by two scientists who researched all the developmental spurts up to age 2.

They say:

"Your baby may start sleeping less well. Most babies do. She may refuse to go to bed, fall asleep less easily, and wake up sooner. Some are especially hard to get to sleep during the day. Others at night. And some stay up longer both during the day and at night."

With us, it always stops as suddenly as it starts without me doing anything different. I don't let DS cry, even for a short time, as his crying escalates to hysteria pretty quickly.

I let him roam around the cot/bed in the dark while I pretend to sleep if he's happy, and cuddle/rock him if not. After 1.5 hours I rock or feed him and he drops off easily.

CC or even gentle forms of sleep training are unlikely to be successful during a sleep regression period.

More info on the 8/9 month regression There?s useful information about it here, here and here.

HTH

Thanks for your replies - the Wonder Weeks book sounds worth checking out - sometimes it just helps to have an idea of what might be going on so we can roll with it. Amazingly since posting the question, he's been dropping back off to sleep with a lot less help and more often in his cot - no rhyme or reason for it but encouraging to know he can actually do it occasionally

activate, i'd have said the same as you after ds1.

then i got ds2. . . different ball game altogether.

'ignoring' doesn't work for all babies.

took me having ds2 to believe it.