9 month old waking every 2 hours

[KP1985]

Hi
I'm looking for a sleep training method for my 9 month old. He is still breastfed morning, dinner and night time and takes expressed milk to nursery.
However, for the last 7 weeks he has woken every night every two hours. He will only settle with a feed and back in our bed. He will go to sleep on us around 7 after his bath but can wake as early as half hour later. Once we go to bed at 10 he won't settle back in his cot, he only settles in bed next to me yet still wakes two hourly!
I've been back at work for 4 weeks and I'm exhausted!! We have the summer holidays approaching and I want to use this time to train him the sleep in his cot as well as wean him off breast, ideally one at a time!!
Can anyone suggest anything? I don't like the idea of controlled crying! Please help!!

I was so against trying CC but after a year of disturbed sleep and I'm now expecting baby no 2 I have give it a go. So far there's pros and cons to the technique but I am keeping it up as it is working. Your little one has picked up on if he wakes every few hours he will get picked up and fed, it's just about breaking the habit. I wish I had've tried CC months ago as its harder to break a routine the longer they've been in it. So whatever method u chose to use try it asap he will only keep up his bad routine because he thinks it's now normal.

Sorry I can't give more advice but just thought I would let u know as Im currently trying CC and it's not as bad as u may think ????

Thank you for your reply! How are you approaching the controlled crying? I just have visions of LO screaming for me

The first night I was dreading it and would only leave it a few minutes apart before going in to check on her, I just go in to the room lie her on her back & say good night. This went on for about 35mins the first few nights, towards the end I realised she was actually just crying for attention there was no real tears it was just more of a shock to her that I wasnt going to fuss over her like I used to. Im 2weeks in to it and although it's not nice to hear her upset she's actually falling to sleep within 5mins.

The main problem I have is she was so used to waking so often through the night she's still waking 2-3times but it gets to a certain point and u think there's nothing actually wrong with her so why give up now when it's actually doing us all good getting more sleep. I hope this helps, u need good support at home to keep it up and first few weeks are the hardest to overcome but i can see this working out for me. It may not for u if u do decide to give it a go :)

She doesn't get lifted out of her cot unless she needs a nappy change then it's straight back in, Im trying to get her to stay in bed from 7.30- at least 6am - with work, Looking after a 1yr old and being pregnant again I think this is a reasonable time for her to be in bed. When she wakes through the night she honestly is falling back to sleep within 5-10mins. She's just getting used to breaking the bad habbit. It doesn't suit anyone but I know I left it too long before trying if I could go back I would listen to people who tried CC earlier.

Hope this helps

I'm so glad it's working out for you, it must feel amazing getting more sleep!! I can't wait for that feeling!
I do think CC may be our only option, I've not heard of anything else that has been as effective! We're going to start on Monday as we are both off for 6 weeks!
Thank you so much for your advice

Oh good luck I hope it works out for u too! if u have any questions when u start please let me know, I feel like it's quite fresh in my mind seen as we R still trying it to.

I have just started trying to get my 9 month old to sleep with feeding or sucking (my little finger ????).

Last night she fell asleep in 25 mins. Tonight 15 mins. She still wakes every 2-3 hours during the night for a feed and I'm going to tackle that soon(slowly), but focusing on settling at bedtime and nap time first. (Tried naps today and it wasn't as successful!!)

Anyway, I'm not doing CC. I'm putting her in her cot fed, bathed, story read etc, and sitting in a chair beside her. I'm singing/talking the whole time (although sometimes I doubt she can hear me over her cries!). She knows I'm right beside her. You can comfort with touch too although my DD won't let me put a hand on her when she's like that so I just sit back and keep talking/singing to her.

This is the first time EVER that DD has fallen asleep herself. She's extremely, let's say, spirited. I honestly thought it would take hours.

Your LO might surprise you.

There's a great thread about this technique (it's essentially gradual retreat) if you search for 'what worked for us'.

Good luck!