Baby won't sleep through!!

[emjellis1991]

My little girl is nearly 8 months old and she is still waking 1-3 times in the night.

She wants milk which we are trying to stop, she also won't go back to sleep on her own. We have tried leaving her to cry but it doesn't work.

She naps through the day 3 naps an hour each nap and her naps end at 4pm. She is eating solids for lunch and then fruit or yoghurt for dinner something light.

She drinks an 8 ounce bottle before bed after her bath at 6pm. She is usually asleep for 7pm.

She tends to wake at 2/3am then wakes every hour after that until about 7am.

I have tried EVERYTHING nothing is working. Even tried co sleeping as a very last resort and that doesn't work.

She is not teething and has no issues with colic or reflux or anything like that.

It's starting to make me poorly from lack of sleep I'm getting bad headaches and migraines and I'm struggling.

I just don't know what else to do!

My 18mo has only been sleeping through reliably in the last couple of months.

It's perfectly normal for an 8 month old to wake up in the night

As above poster said both of mine were 18 months before they stopped waking up. I got the second onto a bottle at 8 months so my husband could do some of the get ups as I'h had enough.

By eight months my DD was on three good meals a day, and still had a couple of small breastfeeds in the day and then an 8oz bottle before bed. She was growing well so we knew she didn't need the calories at night and stared offering water which put an end to the night feeds.

We still have 1 or 2 wakeups a night but a sip of water and a cuddle and she's back to sleep. We're in and out of the nursery in under a minute each time. Just something to try maybe- more food in the day and just water at night?

Have you tried waking her around 11pm and giving her a feed? (I'm sure you have I'm just clutching at straws).

Following, my DD is 8 months and wakes at 1pm and 5am. I know it could be worst.....,

Sorry, at 9 months I was back at work, mine was reverse cycling and I was up for 40 minutes every 2-3 hours feeding, 3 months of that was hell and nearly drove me distracted. At 12 months when he could deal with a sippy cup I went away for a few days and DH moved him onto the cup - still woke every few hours for milk and a cuddle but at least we could alternate nights. The cuddles gradually got shorter and we then went to putting him down to sleep in his cot and just patting and giving his cup when he woke in the night. He’s 18 months now and on a good night is only up briefly once (I won’t talk about the bad nights!).
If yours is taking a bottle I’d be getting DH to alternate nights or if he is working and you are not, take 2 nights a week maybe, one at the weekend and one mid-week. Just getting a couple of nights a week should help the ridiculous exhaustion.

Hello,
Please stop worrying by believing that your 8 month old "should" be sleeping through the night. This is in no way true. If you do some research such as looking at the Sleep Centre pages www.isisonline.org.uk/
you will see that it's [perfectly normal.
I understand that being tired it crap, but you don't need to be putting yourself or your baby through all this. Her sleep will gradually improve over time, and if you can deal with this sympathetically it will help you all. She's not doing anything wrong, she's just a baby and they have very different sleep patterns to adults, for good reasons (including helping them regulate their bodies.
Co-sleeping safely is also the best way for mothers to get more sleep.

If you aren't breastfeeding then ask your partner to share the burden and take turns to me the one more awake at night. Just a few nights of better sleep for you can make all the difference to feeling able to cope, while still not forcing her to behave in ways that aren't age appropriate (e.g. cry it out is not recommended at all below 12 months and I wouldn't personally ever do it).

Good luck

You can't really cut down her overnight milk when she's having so little solids in the day. How much milk does she have during the day?

Sleep definitely isn't all hunger relates (my 15mo eats loads and still BF overnight) but she should be fine with 3 proper meals. No need to have a light snack for evening meal. Just give her a bit of whatever you're eating so long as it follows the NHS earning guidelines.

Why are you not giving her a proper dinner rather than 'something light'?

And it is perfectly normal to not sleep through, even if not hungry. Stopping milk at night is not gong to help

You'll find loads of people on here who are perfectly happy to do night feeds until we'll into toddler hood. If that's you, fine, but most babies shouldn't need to wake so often to feed by this age, and it's perfectly fine to want her to sleep better.

She may well be hungry - try giving her a proper breakfast and dinner, so 3 proper meals a day, and see if that helps. How much milk does she have in the day?

It’s pretty normal to be honest. Ds didn’t sleep through until 18m and we tried everything.
Sleep is largely a developmental skill - you can develop good habits and encourage it but generally, they get it when they get it.

Babies are not suppose to sleep through. Most babies will still need milk through the night at this age and even if they don’t their shorter sleep cycles mean they wake frequently.

Normal. Sorry...

But if it helps, DS was much like this as that age. But once he was eating plenty of solids he dropped the night feed (with encouragement - he was just after a cuddle rather than milk really by then) and we then did some no-cry-esque sleep training. It took a while, but at 12 - 18 months it was as though a switch flipped and now (at 2 and a bit) barring illness and teething, he's generally a reliable sleeper.

Hang in there, it gets better.

My child wakes up 4-6 times a night.

Wants milk every time. Co sleeping doesn't change anything

My twins were still up way more than that at 8 months. They didn’t sleep through until nearly 18 months and still very rare.

mine is 9 months and wakes at least 5-7 times, only naps for 1.5-2 hrs total in the daytime too.
My drs and midwives say everything is ok and its normal behaviour for some babies. We just have non sleepers!

Forgot to say, my DD will be 13 months this month.

I’ve got four kids. None of them has ever slept through the night before they were two. My five year old was up in the night last night. It is completely normal.

The crazy exhaustion is hell. Hang in there and it won't be like this forever.

As every one else says.

Its tough I know.

Firstly I’d introduce a dream feed as you’re going to bed (around 10-11pm ideally) in an effort to curb the night waking. No lights, no nappy change, just lift, bottle then resettle in the cot.

Secondly, up her solids. Lunch plus a yoghurt in the evening is nowhere near enough for an 8 month old. You should be aiming for 3 proper meals a day. So bottle at wake-up, proper breakfast about an hour later (something filling like porridge). Bottle mid-morning if you think she needs it. Proper lunch. Mid-afternoon bottle. Then a proper dinner with a yoghurt or fruit afterwards. Another bottle before bed. Then dream feed. With an aim to drop the dream feed once she’s having enough during the day.

Then I’d cuddle/offer water overnight but no milk. It’s normal for (some) babies to still wake over night but at 8 months they should be consuming their ‘food’ primarily during the day not overnight.

Good luck!

Thank you everyone for your advice I will give some of your suggestions a go and hopefully she will settle with time

Just an update she went down tonight at 7pm after a 8 ounce bottle, woke at half 8 went back to sleep after a cuddle.

Woke up at midnight and just now drank another 7 ounce !

I don't want to overfeed her that's my concern also with feeding her in the night

If she wakes again before say 6am then maybe try cuddles and water with milk only as a last resort? And if she really won’t settle and you have to feed, maybe only a small bottle like 4oz? The aim being that she’ll be hungry in the morning and you can try some porridge, toast or yoghurt after her bottle in an effort to up her solids. Good luck and hope the rest of the night goes well for you!

My day woke up every 45mins until he was 11m. Slept through around 14m.