9 month old and early wake up time

[moredisneyplease]

DS is almost 9 months old and goes to bed about 6:45-7pm each night. Each and every morning he wakes up for a feeding somewhere between 3 and 4:30am. He does go back to sleep and gets up for the morning around 6:30-7:00am. DS#1 was sleeping all the way through the night at 4 months old so this is driving me nuts! i've tried to let him "cry it out" but he'll carry on for an hour and of course it wakes everyone up. Part of my biggest problem is not having to get up to feed him but me not being able to fall back to sleep at 4:30 in the morning.

Any suggestions?

 

[Disneychix]

Oh, that's a hard situation! What time does he get his last feeding before bedtime? Perhaps you can give a little more at the last feeding to try and get him through those last 2 hours?

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd stop feeding him. I'm a big Ferber fan, and he believes that some babies wake to eat out of habit. For example, if you have a snack every day at 3 pm, you will be hungry every day at 3 pm. Maybe you could put him to bed a bit later, and give him a bottle of water if he wakes.

 

[pigget74]

I would try to put himto bed a little later and give his last feeding a little later. I know hwen DD goes down to early she wakes early to eat. We try to give the last feeding around 7:00-7:30 and she is good until she wakes around 6:30-7:00.

 

[wrighter]

Oh my gosh - how I can sympathize!!! I had the same problem: DS#1 was an awesome sleeper and still is. DD#2 was (and unfortunately still is) a horrible sleeper.

I don't want to knock the other suggestions you are getting on this thread - indeed they are all good ones. But nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - worked with my DD. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. And believe you me, I tried it all. My only sense of peace came when I finally just gave up and went with it. There were stretches of time where I was actually up for they day at 4:30 or 5:00 also. Not fun. But it eventually evened out. Your DS won't do this forever.

Heed all the advice here, and do what you've got to do. Just consider that there might come a time when your best bet is to ride it out.

Good luck!!! I know where you're at, and it ain't easy.

 

[blessedby3]

I have a thread posted about my DD not sleeping through the night either, although for different reasons. I think that in your situation I would definately push back the bedtime to a later time and feed the baby a bottle later. My DD is almost 12 mos and I quit giving her a bottle during the night a while ago as I felt she was just "used" to having it and not really hungry. She still doesnt sleep through the night, but isnt wanting a bottle either. She has other issues. Id try maybe giving your DS a bottle at 8:30 and then bed afterwards. Maybe that extra 1 1/2 hours will push him to just getting up at 6:30 like he would do anyway.
Good luck- I SO feel your pain!!!

 

[mikkiwikki]

I sooo sympathize. My daughter slept great....but my son....UGH...6 times a night...up... I learned the TRUE meaning of sleep deprivation after 6 months of that. I kid you not. He is on the autism spectrum anyways...

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/helping-your-child-with-autism-get-a-good-nights-sleep?page=2

While I realize your child may not be autistic....Melatonin can help all children settle down...Yes FERBER works. If you can get it down to ONE feeding a night...when they are that young.. thats ideal , but you should really get rid of the night feedings as soon as your pediatrician says its ok.

Hang in there. My son sleeps through the night now...but the first year was hell getting him on a schedule.

 

[laughinplace199]

Has there been any change to baby's nap or daytime schedule? My youngest DS always went through a period like this when his nap schedule changed. Also, sometimes if a baby is overtired, they'll wake during the night. If there's no medical need for the feeding during the night, I'd stop that. With my youngest, sometimes he just needed to be held for a minute or two, have a song sung to him, and he was ready to be put back in the crib. we used to call it "resetting the baby". When he got to be 17 mos, he went from 2 naps to 1 nap. He was overtired and woke up every night. Resetting the baby didn't work anymore. In fact, nothing that we tried worked, so we ended up letting him cry. It was hard to listen to, but in a few nights, he was back to sleeping through the night. Good luck!

 

[Willow25]

My daughter was sleeping through the night but all of a sudden at around 9 months she started waking up at 4:30am. After about a week I consulted my baby whisperer book which I think is amazing and tried the technique called wake to sleep. I would set my alarm for one hour before her wake up time so 3:30am. I would go into her room and stir her a little out of deep sleep without fully waking her up. I did this for three days and this completely solved the problem. She went back to her 7 am wake up. The concept behind the technique is that making a change to her sleeping routine would get her out of her habit of waking early. Babies do not need milk in the night at 9 months. Physiologically your child should easily go 12 hours. If you have any questions about the technique feel free to PM me.

 

[moredisneyplease]

thank you for all of your responses and suggestions. In response to some questions:

Yes his napping has been off a bit and today I made it a point to really focus on sticking with his schedule

Yes I can push back his bed time and last meal/bottle and will do so tonight with the hopes of him sleeping a bit later

Yes I do end up awake for the day at 4:30 and that makes for a cranky mommy at some point during the day!!

We'll see how things go tonight for all of us!

 

[bjeannep]

My DS is 4 and still does not sleep through the night every night. When he was under 1, I would just get up for the day. I found the time good to get my quiet work done. It will eventually even itself out. Now I wake up in the morning and find him sleeping on my floor of the livingroom sofa.

 

[santa's surpriz]

At that age my dd refused to take naps and went to bed around 6:30 too. I nipped the wee early wake up by feeding her around 11pm. I just woke her up to feed her and she never had problems going back to sleep. She was not quite awake but had a good feeding at that time. She stopped waking up at 3am and slept until 8am. What a relief! Of course it created conflict with daddy...he believed that you should never wake a sleeping a baby. Did not take him long to realize that Mommy knows best!

 

[Princess Roo]

Sounds like he's going 10 hours between feedings, which is perfectly normal, though I understand you'd like more. I agree with others saying to push back that night feeding if that's what you need. However, my DD 9 months wakes at 4AM as well (7PM is her last feed of the evening, and she eats TONS in the evening), and my pediatrician has said it's quite normal. Some kids can go 12-14 hours at that age, but others have faster digestive systems and need food as early as 8 hours. We actually just did the CIO at 1AM a month or so ago. With my son we didn't do CIO until I was crazy-sleep-deprived at 11 months, because he had been waking up every 3 hours up until that point...so I was happy with her going 6 hours at first!

 

[brymolmom]

I too would stop feeding the baby at that time. It might be an hour of crying and waking the whole house for a few nights/week - but then the whole house will be much better rested from now on (and you don't have to let her cry for an hour - can go in to 'comfort' every now and then).

OR, you could try starting to water down a bottle (if you're not giving a bottle - start using one) - keep adding water and less formula. Then, the tummy won't get full (and she probably won't even want it) and used to eating a 'meal' at that time. With this - you must stick with it - if you cave and offer the formula or breastmilk even once after the water is rejected - the baby might cry until she gets 'something better' every time.

I think you just need to decide on the best solution for your family and STICK TO IT - you will get through it and likely be a lot better rested on the other side.

Oh and forgot to add - IMO, feeding on a schedule during the day helps with this. Not sure if your baby is on a schedule during the day but it is something to try. Just make sure that the baby gets enough during the day during the scheduled feedings. A few months might force you into a solution anyway - I know my ped. was big on getting rid of bottles/formula at a year old. So if you're planning on doing that - the transition could either be now or in a few months....but likely there will be an adjustment period either way.

 

[Captain_Hook]

I feel your pain! DS was doing great and had started sleeping through the night until around 8 mos when he cut his bottom teeth. Since then, he wakes up at various times of the night (bright eyed and bushy tailed!). I say various times so you know it isn't habitual hunger. I am chalking this up to the fact that he doesn't want to take a bottle during the day. He is so busy playing, crawling and trying to walk that he has no interest in eating (even though he is hungry). He does sleep better when he has better naps, but for me, it hasn't worked trying to keep him up later. He will still wake for his day anywhere between 5 and 6 (and always needs a bottle in the middle of the night -- sometimes two.) I tried waking up him (ever so slightly) before I go to bed to do a "dream feed." He won't wake up and he won't drink while asleep.

I am just hoping this is something he will ultimately outgrow -- of course, I think he is starting to cut his top teeth now, so any sleep schedule we can do will just get messed up again!

Anyway, sorry I don't have any advice -- oh, except for the bottle of water thing. Talk to your pediatrician about that. Mine told me that at this age, DS really shouldn't drink more than a certain amount of water -- it can lead to water intoxication!

Feel free to PM me if you want to vent or need someone to talk to!