We've been co-sleeping since day one since Alex refused to sleep in his crib(and still does...we've tried several times) and now that he's going on 9 months old I want to try to get him to sleep through the night...which he has never done, BTW. He still wakes up between 2 and 4 times a night. Sometimes I try the whole CIO thing, but he gets himself so worked up that I have to pick him up and most of the time I have to nurse him back to sleep. I'm a SAHM right now, so I take a nap with him in the afternoon, but I want to go back to work soon and I know I won't be able to survive without that nap if I can't get him to sleep through the night. I need some advice, suggestions, anything. I love sleeping with him and have no problems in that department...I don't snore or toss and turn, so I know it's not me that's waking him up and I know he's not hungry, also. Any input will be very appreciated.

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Could he be teething? Because that tends to make babies particularly restless at night. Is his afternoon nap the only nap he's taking? Because it's possible he's just not tired enough when he's going to bed. Switching his daytime nap schedule might help. Also, has he started solids? A full tummy can go a long way to helping them sleep better at night, and baby cereal is a lot heavier than milk, so it makes them feel full longer, and maybe he wouldn't feel the need to eat during the night. Just a few short thoughts. Sorry so blunt, but my munhckin's getting fussy. I'm being paged.

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My first thought is to stop the cosleeping, none of my babies slept through the night while sleeping in our bed. I think just getting away from temptation to nurse might help cut down on some of the night feedings. Im not sure what you wear to sleep, but if you make it harder to access nursing at night, that may also help. I know if I sleep topless Aislyn will wake up much more frequently to nurse. I hope this helps some! Maybe use a binky if you have one around? That might also help, he might just be looking for some comfort sucking. Good luck!

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Lynds
Mama to 3 wild things and Miss Pickle

Thanks for the advice. Alex is on solids and has dinner around 6pm and then I nurse him before he goes to bed around 8pm. Unfortunately, he doesn't take a binky. I've cut him down to only one night time nursing session and that's usually around 4am. I have tried so many times to put him to sleep in his crib and each time has been unsuccessful. He is also an extremely light sleeper and wakes up to every little noise. And now when he wakes and I try to rock him he gets even more upset, so I've just been laying him back down and letting him CIO. I hate to do it because I have such a soft heart, but I'm afraid I don't have any other choices. I've tried everything with him. He'll cry for a good 10 minutes and then just go back to sleep. Should I just keep letting him cry? If so, any idea on how long he'll keep doing this?

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We went through a really rough patch when Griff was 7-12 mos old, so I have a lot of sympathy for you!

Things that helped us - it took a while, but was worth the effort long-term:

- we bought a copy of the No Cry Sleep Solution and scoured it for ideas. You sound really uncomfortable with CIO, so if you haven't read this book, you might find it helpful.

- my DH took a major role in bedtime and established a routine for Griff that included reading a story and singing a song before going to sleep. We still use that bedtime routine and DH is still the main bedtime parent. Both of them really value that time together. I think this was the biggest part of helping Griffin to sleep better at night, he responded differently to Dan than to me.

- we moved Griff's bedtime back 15 minutes at a time until we found a time at which he was less overtired and therefore fell asleep much more easily

- I moved Griff's naptime around - I think what I did was encourage one nap in the middle of the day instead of two shorter naps. This ended up working much better for him, I was working with his natural sleepy time so he got a better nap. Sleep science says that "sleep begets sleep" - the better rested you are, the better sleep you will get in the future.



FYI: he still woke up at night 2-4 times like your son, but the big difference was that he was much more easy to settle down to sleep again, especially with my DH being the chief nighttime parent. My understanding is that some kids will continue to wake up a couple of times a night until they're a few years old, Griff is one of those kids and maybe Alex is, too. Griff is now 2 1/2 years old and only in the past month or so can we rely on him waking 0 times or 1 time. But like I said, when he wakes now, it's a simple matter of a quick diaper change and a soothing word or two and he's right back to sleep.

I hope you can find something that works! It's frustrating when the family isn't getting enough sleep.