8 month old not sleeping

[jade136]

Hi,

This is my first post, so Hi

My son is 8 months old and is so unsettled at night I don't know what to do, I return back to work in 2 weeks and really don't think il cope...

His either waking for bottle dummy or just to play up, but the stronger his getting the worst it's getting, I roll over as his standing up crying and then because his pulled himself up his wide awake! I just don't know what to do for the best, his in a cot but is a big baby weighing 23lb i don't know whether I should upgrade to a cot bed as his always hitting hia head and is constantly scrunched in the corner. He has 2 naps a day so I'm going to cut the afternoon nap out today, but I'm just so lost, I'm considering a sleep consultant? Any help / advice will be great.

Thanks

We had a similar problem with our 7.5 month old DS. He was waking every 2 hours for a quick feed and I was dead on my feet because he'd been like that since birth.

I had tried all sorts. I introduced a bit of formula and breast fed 4 times a day. He was having 24-28 oz of formula alone, and yet still seemed hungry at night!

My health visitor said a baby at 6 months only needs 21 oz of formula alone, which totally shocked me as he not only was having way over that amount, but also was guzzling 4 breastfeeds as well!

I sent in my husband to give him a dummy at night instead of a feed, and to my surprise he acted as though he'd just been given a feed and was ready to settle again. By the 3rd night he was sleeping through. I don't know what you could use if you've never tried a dummy or if he spits it out on you, but for us it worked a dream.

I think the take home message was that they don't need a night feed like they give the impression they do, which helped us to find a different way to manage the night wakings.

Pickled- did your ds always take a dummy or did you just introduce it at this stage? I'm in a similar position here- big baby nearly 7 months old has started waking for night feeds twice a night. She wouldn't take the dummy when I tried it when she was much younger... But I do feel she is just waking look for comfort at night and falls asleep after 4oz of milk.

Op- I feel your pain. I've just started back at work full time and finding it hard :(

No, mine had taken a dummy since about 3 weeks old. Having said that, it wasn't used all that much, just for the odd suckle when it was clear he wasn't hungry (had just fed).

Ok. Might give it a go though - worth a try! My problem is that baby shares room with 3 year old brother so I'm always afraid she'll wake him up so I pick her up more than I should...!

You'd be surprised at what they sleep through at the age of 3!

I think one critical point was that my DH was the night time visitor for that tree night period, had it been me I think possibly it wouldn't have worked due to the smell of yummy milk!