7.5 month old not sleeping through the night

[Mchunterhuntle]

Hi,

First time parent looking for some advice on how to get my 7.5 month old baby boy to sleep better through the night. Over the past week it feels like sleep has been at an all time low. Not sure if he's going through a regression but my partner and I are heading towards breaking point. He is teething but we can't be sure if this is the sole reason for the poor nights.

We have a night time routine of eating dinner (baby is weaning) followed by a bath and a bottle, which all works well. Baby will sleep after that (usually down by 7pm) but will only go down for 1-2 hours before needing settling in his cot. We have on occasion seen him sleep until midnight without needing settling but this is rare He is now in his own room and has white noise playing throughout the night.

It's after midnight where things get really bad. Baby will wake up regularly and require settling. This can be up to every 10 mins between 12-2am. After 2am we usually give in and bring baby into our bed where he will sleep but still require regular settling until 5:30am when he is ready to start his day.

Baby sleeps with a pacifier but has recently rejected it when he is being settled.

Does anyone have any tips? Appreciate any ideas anyone has :)

How is your baby going to sleep? As in does he self settle or are you rocking/feeding to sleep

It is completely normal for a baby that young not to sleep through the night. Many don’t sleep through the night until they’re 2 years or even older.

However, what you’ve described does sound a bit extreme. What’s happening when they wake up? Do they seem uncomfortable? Could it be reflux? It might be worth speaking to your GP.

Normal unfortunately! Still waiting for my one year old to sleep through - he woke about 6 times last night

Do you feed him during the night?

Is he hungry?

How many naps is he having in the day and for how long?

How many feeds is he having at night? BF or formula?

It's very very normal. My almost 8 month old, doesn't sleep unless he's on the sofa bed in the living room watching 24 hours at a&e or ghost whisperer.
My 4 year old only just started sleeping through this year and even then it's not all the time.
Definitely nothing to worry about, you just get into a routine of what works for you, I know it's hard though so you have my sympathies!

Mine didn't sleep through u til 14 months.

Have you tried a dream feed? We put our Dd down at 7 like yours, then tiptoed in and dream fed at 11. Then she might sleep though until 3 or 4.

My 28 month old slept through for the first time last year…

Waking up at 7.5 months is very normal. You could try some co-sleeping from earlier on to get more sleep, or a dream feed. Is baby bf or formula fed?

Same questions as others re feeding at night, naps.

I’d consider some sleep training in your shoes. Research them and find an approach you’re comfortable with. Because left to resolve on its own you could be looking at several more years of this - up to you whether you are ok with that.

(I have two kids just a few months older than yours who were both up 5/6 times a night at six months, so I’m speaking from my own experience.)

Look at daytime sleep - it's possible they are getting too much. If they're napping at random times when they feel like it then they might not need a full night sleep. There's loads of charts telling you how much sleep they need at 8 months - but it came up as 12-14 hrs/day.

Do you feed him during any of the night wakes? It's normal for a 7.5mo to still need night feeds.