Any tips to get my 9month to sleep through the night ?

[LisamarieD]

Hello,
My DS is 9 months old and still awakes during the night to be fed. He has his bed time bottle at 18:45 and settles himself no problem to sleep. However every night(with out fail) he awakes about midinight - 02:00 looking for some more milk. We discovered when he was 6 months that if we topped him up at about 23:00 hrs he would sleep right through the night, however staying up until 23:00hrs each night is beginning to take it's toll !! He has never been a big fan of milk and I'm lucky if he takes 400mls a DAY although he happily tucks into his solids. When he does wake up during the night he may only take 40/50ml of milk. We have tried leaving him in hope that he settles but after two hours of crying for three nights in a row we gave in and went back to feeding him. Help !! Any tips or advice gratfully received !!

Lisamarie, if he has his bottle at 11pm, what time is he waking in the morning?

Could you put his bed time bottle back say by 5-10 mins each night and see if he does any better then. Is he warm enough or do you think he has got used to waking and being fed.

heavenis,

I think he has got used to waking and being fed. He is wrapped up well in his winter gro bag and and thick sleep suit & vest. As this is my first I don't know if my expectation of putting him to bed at 19:00 and expecting him to sleep through the night is to high ??

Sparklemagic,

If I feed him at 11pm he will sleep right through till 07:30am which is good going. But I'm having to wake him up at 11pm to feed him which seems such a shame as he is in a sound sleep. He does settle him self again with out a problem.

Lisa, my goodness!! If your 9 month old sleeps from 7ish till 7ish with one feed at 11pm after which he settles well, you are doing REALLY well!!!!!!

If you get to bed at 11.30 till 7.30am you are having 8 hours kip a night which is something many childless people don't get!!!!!!!!!

I would say keep on with this feed at 11 while you feel ok with it. He sounds like he physically doesn't need it but has got used to having it, as you say. If you wish to stop it then I guess controlled crying is an option but the thing is it's a one way road - it's no good if you give up and go back - simply stick to your guns and keep on with it and I'm sure you would crack it in the end. I did it with my son, and it took a couple of weeks but worked.

Sounds like a dream baby to me! My 9 month old is currently refusing her bedtime bottle, going down at 7pm, waking at 12ish hungry, waking again at 3 or 4 and then sometimes up for the day at 5am.

Count you lucky stars Lisamarie.

Thanks everyone ! I was getting concerned as all my friends babies started to sleep through the night from six months. No top ups necessary! I know you shouldn't compare but being a 1st time Mum I thought I was perhaps encouraging him by wakening him up at 23:00 and needed to break the habit

It might make you feel better to hear that people aren't necessarily 100% truthful about how their babies sleep! Shocking, I know! I too had thought that all my friends' babies were sleeping through from 4 months and now, at 8 months, it turns out that their definitions of sleeping through aren't exactly 7 till 7, like you might think...

hello
my son is nearly 9mths now and i'm having the same trouble he's still waking during the night i fed him around 11:30 but he's started to wake up around 4:30-6:00.He doesn't drink much milk through day so i try topping him up at night, being a first time mum i'm not sure if i'm doing right any tips or advice would be great!!

Hi,
Have similar poblem with 8mo.settles well at 7.sometimes sleeps through till 7.30.other times wakes between 11.30+1.00 or +/ 4.00! No pattern as to why this happens and won't go back to sleep until either given feed or brought into bed with us. Afraid to do anything too drastic e.g controlled crying in case I mess things up completely. Should I just go with the flow and hope he starts going through more frequently?

what time does he normally have his tea, we give dd super (she has tea at 4.30-5.00pm then super around 6.30pm) normally ready brek or weetabix with formula milk then bed followed by her bottle, sometimes works sometime doesn't, worth a try

havent read thread but just thought id add my bit.
i was told when dd3 was 6 months that she wont start to sleep through until she was about 9 months as thats when they dont need milk in the night anymore.
with dd2 she was milk mad and didnt sleep throught til she was 15 months old. my HV then told me to give her water in the night . she then was supposed to stop waking as she wouldnt have milk to wake for if that makes any sense?
if you only ive her water then she hasnt got anything exciting to wake for? im not sure if you would agrre but it might be worth giving it a go it worked for my dd2. im just starting this with dd3 but she has got a virus at the moment so will wait .

probably doesnt make any sense but hth in some way?

sounds like habit to me, have you tried just giving him a bottle of water? my ds got so bored (a lot of crying)of this afer 3 nights that he slept though from 12weeks