Anyone else with 9+month old still not STTN?

[victoria1987]

Anyone else in the same boat? Or did have a child who STTN late, if so any tips?

My son is 9 months today and had NEVER STTN. Ever. Not once. I'm now pg with #2 and finding this increasingly difficult and frustrating. He wakes at least twice per night and sometimes much hour. When he wakes he demands a bottle. It had gotten to the point where is sometimes eating 4 8oz bottles per night. Nothing else will sooth him, it must be a bottle. I have tried every sleep method out there and nothing has worked. I know this "bottle addiction" is the issue and our paed told us 3 months ago we need to cut out the night time feeds as he was gaining weight too fast. He doesn't really like to eat very much during the day and just wants to play. I've tried feeding him up during daytime hours to reduce night feeds but you can't make a baby eat when he doesn't want to.

Please help! I'm terrifed I am going to be 9 months pg and still getting up 4-5x per night!

 

[george83]

I hate to break it to you but my eldest didn't sleep through until he was 3 years old!! Both of mine have been bad at bedtimes so I'm not sure how much advice I can give. With ds1 I tried watering down his milk in an attempt to get him sleeping through but as soon as there was more water than milk in his bottle he would scream for hours. Ive managed to get ds2 off of his milk during the night but he still wakes up for water or juice (I think he likes his bottle for comfort). I did eventually get them both in really good routines while I was heavily pregnant with ds3 but I had to spend a week in hospital after having him and my oh completely ruined it

 

[Button#]

My DS didn't sttn until 21 months. It's fairly normal for babies to still be waking at 9 months what with teething and growth spurts.

I don't really have any suggestions other than try to give him something filling before bed. Do you have meals as a family and eat the same foods, that might encourage him to eat more in the day.

 

[captainj1]

My DS had at least one feed a night until he was 18 mths old; he just stopped waking one night. Everyone told us he didn't need it, but he's a tall, strong boy and he fed quickly and went straight back down so we just went with it. Does your lo have a dummy? That helped us although it was a PITA until he could put it back in himself. He gave up the dummy just before he turned 3, he just decided one day he was a big boy, and he didn't need it anymore.

 

[MindUtopia]

Oh gosh, ask this question in the toddler and preschool section! lol It's so completely normal. My 2.5 year old doesn't sleep through the night. Most kids don't regularly at 9 months and mine never did once until 13 months (occassionally for about 2 months and then never again). I don't know anyone with a 2 year old that STTN personally. Now that shouldn't be discouraging to you, but just reassuring that it's normal. It does get easier to deal with though. I still get a lot more sleep and still feel a lot more rested now than I did at 9 months and you'll be fine as well. Just get your partner to help with your older one while you take care of your new baby. My husband and I both work full-time and we both do the nighttime parenting and we both survive, even with busy, stressful work days, so your partner will too. Having support helps a lot.

 

[_jellybean_]

Sorry you're having a hard time. My daughter started sleeping through at 2 years old (with multiple night wakings), and my son started sleeping through at 3 years old (consistently but we had bouts of sleeping through for a while in there).

I wish I had advice. It's normal though I think for a lot of kids. I think we have expectations that they hit a certain age and they should be sleeping though, but I read at article about it being normal for even toddlers to wake at night. Sorry but I hope your lo starts sleeping thru soon.

Not trying to bring you down with my post. Your lo might be different of course and start sttn soon.

Here are some things that we tried:

--room too hot?
--room too cold?
--wake at 11 p.m. for "dream feeds"
--room dark enough
--bedding comfy enough

 

[Zeri]

Mine is almost 9 mths and still wakes twice a night...he's slept through maybe once or twice...but I read at this stage 1-2 night feedings is normal. My DD didn't sleep through the night till well over a year.

 

[Yo_Yo]

My ds is terrible. Last night he woke 10x. Usually averages 6-8 breast feeds a night!

Stalking for tips but just wanted to say your not alone

 

[topsy]

Sorry to say but my LO didnt STTN until he was about 18 months old hun. I had bad PND and DH had to help with night time wakings to make it easier for me Huge hugs hun xxxx

 

[LeannieB]

Hi My LO is 9 months and he has maybe slept through a few times. Everytime he wakes I have to breastfeed him back to sleep. He seems to settle much better in my bed next to me. Not ideal but it means I get a little more sleep. X

 

[Linnypops]

Trying to feed more in the day probably won't ever work because that milk has already been taken at night etc - and so on. Trying to go cold-turkey on those feeds at night would also probably just end up upsetting him and you as his body is used to feeding at night and it would be too much.

Are the wake-ups fairly regular times? If so you can gradually and gently try to wean him off milk at those times. A lot of babies will just stop waking for the feed then, or they may wake but a bit of rocking or a pacifier will send them back to sleep happily.

You can look up how to do it in detail but in essence you eliminate one feed at a time - I would probably start by trying to wean the first one, then the second one if the first goes well.

Then you fill the bottle with however many Oz's of water you usually fill it with but every other night you reduce the scoops of formula by 1. So night 1 you might do 7oz water with 6 scoops formula. Night 3, 7oz water and 5 scoops formula - and so on. During the day you would also then offer more formula in each bottle or increase the amount of food.

I didn't really believe it would work tbh, but it did. Once I got to about 2 scoops formula and 7oz water DD wasn't interested in it at all. She'd take a few sips but then push the bottle away and go back to sleep. After a couple of nights of that she just stopped waking up for it.

Obviously I cannot guarantee that weaning will solve your sleep situation, however if it works it at least means you won't be pottering about in the kitchen in the night and will hopefully find it easier to settle your LO without feeding...Also, it is very gentle and involved no crying or upset for us at all!

 

[Linnypops]

I just re-read your post RE: addiction to bottle - it's poss that it's more than just a food issue - does he fall asleep during his bedtime bottle? That might be partly why he is insisting on the bottle during the night too. Either way I would still try night weaning as it at least eliminates the possibility that night wakings are food related.

 

[Ashley1021]

My son is 9 1/2 months old, and still wakes up to eat. He is also drinking all night and not as interested during the day...

 

[JenX]

My LO is 26 months and doesn't sleep through. We cosleep and she still nurses when she wakes and goes back to sleep. It's really quite normal, especially at 9 months old.

 

[JessyG]

My lo has never been the best of sleepers. Did quite well from 4-6 months then from 6-18 It was hell. She sleeps better now although often comes into our bed in the middle of the night. It does get easier. Mine only woke once a night but that one wake up would last 2+ hours. It was torture but got better once the majority of her teeth had cut.

Hang in there.

 

[AK89]

I think the main problem when it comes to the issue of STTN and all that jazz is that so many parents have misguided, unrealistic expectations of baby sleep! Not to say it's their fault, how should they know any better? They're told by health visitors, doctors, family and friends, books that their babies should be STTN by this age, "self soothing" by that age, when in reality it's all just a load of bollocks! Night time wakings are SO common, as you can see from this thread! Yet it's made out like a baby that's older than 6 mo that's not STTN is having "sleep problems". Apparently over 60% of parents believe their baby/child has sleep problems. So why is it not just assumed that this is the norm and that's just how babies are wired? Parents of babies with "sleep problems" are made to feel like they're doing something wrong and they need to take action to combat the issues that they're having, when really that's just what babies do!

So to sum up, don't worry that your 9mo isn't STTN Mine isn't anywhere near, although she was (with the exception of one short feed about 7-8 hours after going to bed, which is officially sleeping through apparently) at 5 months. They all go through phases, just try to keep telling yourself that it'll pass and enjoy the extra time that you're getting to spend with your LO You'll look back on this in years to come and want to go back in time. That's what I hear anyway!

 

[LoveMyBaby786]

My nearly 3 year old has never sttn! Even now he wakes up waaay more then my daughter!
My dd wakes up once for a feed

 

[Tigerlilyb]

It's really normal, my DD didn't sleep through til she was nearing 2 and my son is no where near sleeping through the night!

It's a shame that this has become an expected thing by parents, I see a lot of women on other forums assuming they're some sort of failure as a parent and they've done something awful and given bad sleep habits etc. It's normal and in a lot of cases it can't be helped (you can encourage good sleep but you can't force it) it'll happen when they're ready

 

[vickyandchick]

:wave: DS is 9 months tomorrow and gets up about 4 times a night but if he sleeps in his cot then it's more like 8. You're definitely not the only one mama

 

[SoupDragon]

Yep, my DD is 9 months tomorrow and still waking for milk 2x per night. We cosleep most of the night and she's a squirmy little beggar, too! You are so not alone.

On the HV's advice, we're trying to cut out one night feed by replacing it with water, in the hope that she'll drop that feed - it's only a couple of hours after her first night feed so she's not really hungry, we don't think. So far she's taken some of the water and gone back to sleep, so fingers crossed! If it doesn't work it doesn't work and we'll just wait it out but as I'm back to work soon I could do with a little more sleep at night.