7 month old sleep problems

[rdtx2002]

It's very frustrating right now. 7 months old and doesn't want to sleep during the night. Before, he'll usually sleep for 3 hours and wake up for feeding (which was fine for us since it's only formula), but now.... he'll just wake up more frequently and doesn't sleep too "deep". There is not really a reason, just wants to suddenly wake up and cry. We have tried loading him up with solids before bed.. but the same pattern happens

We try to tell ourselves it's getting better and perhaps he is teething, but it's really starting to take a toll on us.

Any ideas? it's been like this for the past month or so :confused: :confused:

[deejayspinz]

No that this is any help, but we are in a similar boat.. Our mo old was sleeping mostlhy throuhg the night around 3 months, but in the past few months he no longer does this.. Having a constant cold does not help, but he seems to want to eat 2-3 times a night now... Its pretty trying on us, especially the wife... We are just biding our time and crossing our fingers.. He is not yet fully on formula, so that may be part of the problem...

[MegaSilver]

It's very frustrating right now. 7 months old and doesn't want to sleep during the night. Before, he'll usually sleep for 3 hours and wake up for feeding (which was fine for us since it's only formula), but now.... he'll just wake up more frequently and doesn't sleep too "deep". There is not really a reason, just wants to suddenly wake up and cry. We have tried loading him up with solids before bed.. but the same pattern happens

We try to tell ourselves it's getting better and perhaps he is teething, but it's really starting to take a toll on us.

Any ideas? it's been like this for the past month or so :confused: :confused:

We are going though the same thing. Our daughter was sleeping though the night around 6 months old every other night. Then Christmas came, and with all the activities of being passed from person to person we got into the habit of having her sleep on us on the couch. She then became dependent on us holding her to stay asleep. The more we tried to stop, the more tired we got, and the more likely we were to just fall back to sleeping on the couch. She doesn't want to eat, she just wants someone to hold her. We can't even catch up on sleep in the day, because she doesn't nap much. She usually takes 2 15-25 minute naps in the day, and falls asleep at 10pm, waking at 6:30 am.

Recently, I have taken a chair into her room and when she cries, I sit in the chair with my hand on her chest, thumb holding a soother in , and fingers stroking her cheek. On Monday she slept through the night for the first time in months. Tuesday and Wednesday were almost back to her usual.

I that this is not unusual, as they are changing a lot. you are not alone.

[thelefteyeguy]

there are a couple of techniques for infants around the 6 month mark
google for them.

1. cold turkey...let your child cry it out for 1 hr. It's really really hard...my wife tried it one night...it's extremely stressful.

2. the 5min interval...go at 5mins, then progressiveless increase it by 5mins...ie 5...10...15...20...etc

remember when you see your child...do not talk, play, look excited, and try to pick her/him up, and try to squint your eyes to appear asleep. Comfort her with patting on the chest, perhaps humming and such. Also make sure she is not crying because she pooed herself.

also if she is very gaseous...ignore the do not pick her up...cause you might need to pat her cause of gas.

these techniques seem to work for us...however my girl at 6 months sleeps from 8(9 at latest) to about 2-3am...and mini feed and back to sleep until 6:30(7:30). It's very rare she sleeps thru the night unless she missed a nappy in the afternoon due to an errand on our part.

But the key is when she wakes up...she can't perceive that you are playing with her...my girl always thinks waking up is the start of playing (if I show any affection to her)


+1 to "Recently, I have taken a chair into her room and when she cries, I sit in the chair with my hand on her chest, thumb holding a soother in , and fingers stroking her cheek. On Monday she slept through the night for the first time in months. Tuesday and Wednesday were almost back to her usual."

I found out a blankie works quite well too...she sucks the blankie back to sleep



my wife's schedule:

7am wake your baby up (breastfeed...doesnt last long...maybe 8mins at most)
8am solds....1/3 cup of rice cereal...then plays for 1/2 hr
9am nap (less than 1 hr)
10am more playing...and perhaps go out to recreational activities if the schedule is Mon/Thurs.
12pm Breast feeding...rest/play for 1/2 hr
1pm nap (1 sometimes 2 hrs)...quick feeding usually after nap or during 2-3pm
2-3pm play for another 2 hrs...and perhaps a walk at the mall if my wife is bored lol.
4:30-5:30pm nap (1/2 usually)
5:30pm solids...1/2 rice cereal
6:00pm im home and cooking...my wife and baby watch me cook, she then watches us eat.
7:30pm bath time
8pm quick story and breastfeed
8-8:30...she's asleep.




.

[FunkyLady94]

I like this article on Parents Connect about napping - it has some good tips:

http://www.parentsconnect.com/articles/Sleeping_Through_the_Night.jhtml?ccc=10485&psc=10017

I found this point the most interesting:

"Your newborn isn't just waking up in the night because he's hungry. He's also waking up because his sleep patterns simply aren't mature enough to allow him to sleep through the night just yet. This is why that all-too-common advice about feeding your baby cereal at bedtime doesn't usually make much difference to a young baby's sleeping habits."

[volan]

If you know your baby isn't waking up because he's hungry then my advice is to train him to sleep through. How do you train him??? You may not want to hear this but you just let him cry. He'll eventually go back to sleep on his own. After a couple of nights of this you'll find that he should sleep well at night and won't wake up unless he's hungry.

It worked for us with our two kids. It's probably one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do, but it's only for 2 or 3 nights.

[susan123]

Just had to comment that I too tried the cry it out method - but was unsuccessful. I think it works on the vast majority however, I also believe that there are some children that need a different approach. I let my first cry it out - and after 3 hours she was still standing (not even sitting yet) in her crib. I did this for a week and it never got any better.

So, I went with the you will outgrow this and slept with her. Well, always put her to bed in her crib, and only when she woke after 11pm would I sleep with her in her room. Around 16 months she got better at sleeping in her own bed, and when she did wake, was better at staying asleep the rest of the night beside me. Just under 2 years old she began sleeping all night in her bed and we have had no problems since.

[Bullseye]

my wife's schedule:

7am wake your baby up (breastfeed...doesnt last long...maybe 8mins at most)
8am solds....1/3 cup of rice cereal...then plays for 1/2 hr
9am nap (less than 1 hr)
10am more playing...and perhaps go out to recreational activities if the schedule is Mon/Thurs.
12pm Breast feeding...rest/play for 1/2 hr
1pm nap (1 sometimes 2 hrs)...quick feeding usually after nap or during 2-3pm
2-3pm play for another 2 hrs...and perhaps a walk at the mall if my wife is bored lol.
4:30-5:30pm nap (1/2 usually)
5:30pm solids...1/2 rice cereal
6:00pm im home and cooking...my wife and baby watch me cook, she then watches us eat.
7:30pm bath time
8pm quick story and breastfeed
8-8:30...she's asleep.
.

Wow, your baby naps three times a day and still sleeps eleven hours a night? That's amazing.

My almost one year old only gets one nap a day, for about two hours, and then sleeps twelve hours at night.

OP - how long do you let him cry when he wakes up at night? Sometimes our baby wakes up and cries, we just ignore it, and usually he settles back down after a few minutes and falls back asleep. Sometimes he ratchets it up, though, and so we know he's hungry, and go get him to breastfeed.

Have you tried letting him cry for a few minutes to see what happens?

[thelefteyeguy]

Wow, your baby naps three times a day and still sleeps eleven hours a night? That's amazing.

My almost one year old only gets one nap a day, for about two hours, and then sleeps twelve hours at night.

OP - how long do you let him cry when he wakes up at night? Sometimes our baby wakes up and cries, we just ignore it, and usually he settles back down after a few minutes and falls back asleep. Sometimes he ratchets it up, though, and so we know he's hungry, and go get him to breastfeed.

Have you tried letting him cry for a few minutes to see what happens?


oops forgot to indicate that our baby does wake up from 2-3 am (yesterday at 11am cause of gas) for additional feeding...

yesterday was weird

8:30 sleep...11am woke up balling her eyes out...we changed her cause she was pretty wet in the diaper. But cried for a good 45min...feed her again. (It happens about 1or2 times a week where she loves to cry it out for a good 45mins.)
Back to sleep at 12am...woke up at 7am.


btw...ours is 6 months olds...im reading/hearing that within weeks she will only take 2 naps a day...so we'll slowly has to tweak her schedule.

[congenic]

It's very frustrating right now. 7 months old and doesn't want to sleep during the night. Before, he'll usually sleep for 3 hours and wake up for feeding (which was fine for us since it's only formula), but now.... he'll just wake up more frequently and doesn't sleep too "deep". There is not really a reason, just wants to suddenly wake up and cry. We have tried loading him up with solids before bed.. but the same pattern happens

We try to tell ourselves it's getting better and perhaps he is teething, but it's really starting to take a toll on us.

Any ideas? it's been like this for the past month or so :confused: :confused:


How does your baby nap during the day. What time does he wake up in the mornings and what time do you put him to sleep? Does he have a dark, quiet room to sleep in? Is his room dry or the humidity is fine? Teething can cause him to be a bit more cranky and wake up in the middle of the night as well.

[Toronto]

Most likely your child is waking up for comfort and not because of hunger at that age. We tried the cry it out method at 7 months or so and after 3 straight days he started to sleep through the night. It was painful but beneficial to both us and baby in the end.