9 mo still not sleeping thru night

amother

OP ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 9:52 pm

She literally wakes up every 2-4 hours lately. I feed her and she usually goes back to sleep. But night is so so broken up! Plus, the other kids that occasionally wake me up for various reasons BH.

Problem is I have a small house, rooms right near each other and baby is still in my room because the other rooms are less than ideal ...

We have a crib set up in the girls room, but she woke up so often it was disturbing their sleep negatively. The boys room doesn't have space. So she's still in a pack and play in our room.

Her quasi "schedule" is (after waking up all night) waking up between 6-8 am. Napping is usually about 1.5 hours after waking through the day. That's when she acts tired. She falls asleep right away bH. I try to put her to sleep "for the night" between 7-9 PM. Then her night is how mentioned earlier.

For the record, she DID sleep through the night bH at 3 months but for some reason it stopped at 6. Now it's about 3 months later and still no great sleep for me...

I know it doesn't last forever, but any ideas to ease my current tired situation? Please?

surviving

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 10:06 pm

Sounds like she might be sleeping too much throughout the day. You can try waking her up from her last nap at 5 and put her to bed at 7. At this age she should be able to sleep 7-7.

Since she's eating solids too you could focus more on that and feed her filling things like the oatmeal cereals. That should hopefully keep her belly full all night.

Technically she shouldn't be waking up at all. You should also try not offering food at night and just comforting since she's most likely not hungry and just using you to calm down.

Good luck! This is not a fun stage. Iyh she'll be sleeping through soon and you'll be able to get better sleep yourself

giftedmom

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 11:31 pm

Sleep regressions are normal when they reach new milestones, change sleep schedule, are teething, having a growth spurt, or fighting a virus/infection. Hang in there. My kids don’t consistently sleep through the night until they’re 3-4.

Brit in Israel

Yesterday at 2:12 am

Some of my kids took longer to sleep through the night.
It's more common when nursing.
You can try giving water instead of nursing and it may help them after some nights to sleep longer periods.
It may take time and some tears...

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 7:14 am

amother Silver wrote:

Really normal. She is so little still. It’s hard can you nurse her in your sleep so it doesn’t really wake you?

She is little, but I feel big enough not to wake so many times at night. I really doubt she's hungry. I do kinda doze while nursing but that is not helping me feel any more rested. I wake with a start still holding her and my back has been hurting on and off for weeks...

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 7:20 am

surviving wrote:

I agree with everything you are saying.

But I really don't like waking sleeping babies! My mom always always told me that :-) Also I'm not quite sure how to tweak her napping. I literally put her down when she's tired- rubbing her face and kvetchy - she must sleep. How do I not?

She's not hungry at night, I know, she often falls asleep as soon as latching. But she really doesn't calm down without nursing. And she has a loud cry! I don't want all my light sleepers waking up.

She's not really eating solids yet. Trying slowly. She's not so interested. She'll improve, but it's not yet.

Thank you!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 7:23 am

giftedmom wrote:

Totally agree, but I keep thinking back and there was no changes. Of course milestones, but nothing that would affect sleep.

My other kids slept through the night by the latest 3 months, mostly at 6 weeks bH. Even when something changed in their schedule, the nightly wakings were very temporary. A few days to a week. This baby is making it a habit!

Thanks!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 7:27 am

Brit in Israel wrote:

I don't usually give water till babies are a little older. But thanks for the idea!

amother

Cinnamon

Yesterday at 8:00 am

amother OP wrote:

It's not the norm to sleep through the night so early. Your baby now is more than norm. Even if it's annoying. My 6 month old gets up a ton and nurses all night. I only had one that slept thru the night by 3 months.

amother

↑ Silver

Yesterday at 9:11 am

If she isn’t eating solids she is probably hungry at night. A nursing baby will want to eat at night. Very normal. Also if you’re not nursing her you should offer her water for thirst in middle of the night.
You should be giving her solids 2-3 times a day regardless of her sleep.
It’s a hard stage but very normal. Maybe you can nap during the day to catch up on sleep. Good luck

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 11:33 am

amother Cinnamon wrote:

Thanks, I guess I was spoiled till now!

amother

Carnation

Yesterday at 11:35 am

amother OP wrote:

Thanks, I guess I was spoiled till now!

It’s also very temperament dependent. Some babies are good sleepers. Some need comfort during the night. Even if they’re not hungry it’s normal to need to be near their caretaker.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 11:38 am

amother Silver wrote:

In my experience of my previous kids, even when they are exclusively nursing, they hadn't woken in mid night unless something bothered them . They weren't hungry and usually went back to sleep with a little TLC. This baby is also not hungry, as she falls asleep as soon as I start nursing her. But that's the only way she calms down...
We are in middle of introducing solids to her a couple times a day. Slow going, but she's getting used to it. I usually start between 7-9 months, BH works well for us . Dr is perfectly ok with it .

A nap is awesome, but I need to get stuff done in the house when she's napping. Ideally - yeah that would work temporarily.

Thanks for your advice!

cookier

Yesterday at 11:47 am

amother OP wrote:

I think she’s getting too much daytime sleep as well. 1.5 hour wake windows is like a 3-4 month old. By 9 months old most babies are able to be awake 2-4 hours between naps. A lot of people do 2-3-4, so 2 hours between wake up and first nap, 3 hours between 1 & 2, and 4 hours before bedtime, because typically babies have longer wake windows later in the day. Try putting her down for her morning nap at 1.5 hours awake and then making the next wake window longer, even if you can only stretch it to 2 hours at first.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 11:49 am

Thanks everyone for the advice :-)

I'm going to see now that she's beginning solids, if it improves.

I'm going to try offering her a paci instead of nursing, see how she calms with that. Maybe over a few days she'll wake up less often.

I'm iyH going to try resting during the day, even for a short time. I'm sure that'll help a little.

I know this time will pass, like them all. I hope not to forget to enjoy it too!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 11:51 am

cookier wrote:

I guess I never paid attention to it much. Just put her down when she's tired. Like now, she woke up a little less than two hours ago a she's soo tired! I can push her off, but I'm so used to looking at cues.
I'll try this also, thanks!

ETA - I realized that the second nap time, if pushed off, will make trouble with my preschool carpool... Inevitably!

amother

Antiquewhite

Yesterday at 11:53 am

She needs more food & less sleep by day. No need to wake but she should be down to 2 naps, first one can be after 1.5 hours but the second one can be after 3 hours or so. Then bedtime should be several hours after last waking.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 11:56 am

amother Antiquewhite wrote:

Thanks, I'm going to try it today. Pushing her nap off till after the carpool should give her two naps four hours apart. Unless of course she falls asleep in the car :-) I can't do three hours, because will be leaving the house.