9 month olds still not sleeping through the night HELP

Please help. I dont know what I am doing wrong. My twins are still not sleeping through the night and they are nine months old. The most I can get out of them is 4-5 hours in a row. I usually give them a bottle and they fall back asleep. They will not take a binky. I have been watering their formual down over night to try to wean them off of it. They usually drink 8 ounces at 7pm and that bottle puts them to sleep. then they eat another eight ounces over night. Am I suppoesed to just let them cry when they wake up. I am so confused and so tired

 

With my guys, I had to get them full to sleep well, at that age. They ate cereal mixed with fruits or formula and then a bedtime bottle before bed. If they didn't have the extra solids, they would wake around 4 AM.

 

I'm sure you have TONNES of extra time in your life for reading (ha ha)...you might want to pick up HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD. My guys are only 4 months but it has been very helpful.

 

What are they eating during the day as far as solids go and how much milk do they drink?

 

Some babies just don't sleep through the night until a year +. My guys are still up quite a bit at night and we are almost 9 months. If they are up to eat, maybe try giving them extra solids right before bed. There is a cereal called Good Nights." Its supposed to tie them over longer at night.

 

First you want to make sure they are getting enough to eat and drink during the day. This includes formula and solids. I'm not sure your solids feeding schedule is, but it may help to get them up to 3 meals a day.

Second you want to make sure they are getting enough sleep during the day. Usually this means a morning and afternoon nap, total of about 3 hours a day of nap time.

Do you have a bedtime routine?

Other than that, I would try offering less formula when they wake up at night, rather than watering it down. Gradually work down 2 ozs at a time until they learn that it's not enough to wake up for.

One more suggestion - maybe you could shake a little cereal into their last bottle of the night. At 8 months, it's harmless, it's extra iron, and it may give them that extra full feeling they need to stay asleep.

 

Hello,
I know how you feel. I've moved from child to child so its been 14 years since I've gotten to sleep through the night! LOL I'm sure you'll get lots of information and Ideas of things to try, if something sounds good give it a try! I've tried many over the years with my different kids, I have learned for my family that sleep is not something that can be forced or tricked in to happening. It comes in its own good time its at 9 months for some, and at 6 years for others.

My twins are three and still get up and crawl in to bed with me between 3-5 am every morning, its just what they need right now. Changing my expectations about sleep is whats helped me the most over the years. The USA is on of the only cultures in the world (and other places now trying to copy us) that feels 8 straight hours of sleep in "normal" and necessary. Once I got over my sense of entitlement, I found other ways to get the rest I need. I am no longer angry and grouchy when one of my children needs night time parenting. I know this might not be the answer you are looking for, and it's not a quick fix, sorry. I've been a mom for 14 years now and this is really the best wisdom I have to pass on, do with it what you may. I have deep compassion for you, I sincerely hope you can find the rest you need.
Best wishes,

 

thanks you for all of the advice. my twins eat 2-3 servings of meat veg and fruit and 24 ounces of formula through out the day.

 

Mine used to sleep through but have recently stopped and wake up once or twice a night and I nurse them back down. They eat three solid meals a day and nurse every 3-4 hours. I'm not worried and I don't think that you should be. You are a good mom and aren't doing anything wrong. Although, sleep would be so nice

 

I can understand your frustration. My twins are also 9 mos old and are sleeping thru the nite, but it took lots of practice.. about 2-3 weeks of practice for the bedtime routine.. and as the others ask.. are they napping enough during the day? eating 3 solid meals a day plus their formula?

At 6 mos old, our pedi told us to STOP feeding them in the middle of the nite becuz they are just waking out of habit.. So we stopped that cold turkey.
She told us to let them CIO (cry it out) together, then they will fall asleep together.. not to go in to comfort them much or pick them up at all..

I won't lie, the first nite was horrible, it was torture for me to hear them cry for so long.. (about an hour or so) but then they eventually fell asleep..as the days went by, we did the same routine, gave them their last bottle of 7 ounces about 8 pm, that put them to sleep.. put them in their cribs and left them.. if they awoke, we let them CIO, and it worked.. some days were worse than others, now at 9 mos old, they sleep thru the entire nite..(8 pm-6/7ish am) one may wake for a few minutes to fuss, but they have learned to soothe themselves back to sleep..which is so important.

So, if you want to try CIO, it may work for your babies, but it might not.. you know them best..
I do know that at least I can sleep at nite and be refreshed in the morning to start a whole New day!

I hope this helps..

 

QUOTE(mama2IDGirls @ Jun 20 2007, 03:36 PM) [snapback]300553[/snapback]
I can understand your frustration. My twins are also 9 mos old and are sleeping thru the nite, but it took lots of practice.. about 2-3 weeks of practice for the bedtime routine.. and as the others ask.. are they napping enough during the day? eating 3 solid meals a day plus their formula?

At 6 mos old, our pedi told us to STOP feeding them in the middle of the nite becuz they are just waking out of habit.. So we stopped that cold turkey.
She told us to let them CIO (cry it out) together, then they will fall asleep together.. not to go in to comfort them much or pick them up at all..

I won't lie, the first nite was horrible, it was torture for me to hear them cry for so long.. (about an hour or so) but then they eventually fell asleep..as the days went by, we did the same routine, gave them their last bottle of 7 ounces about 8 pm, that put them to sleep.. put them in their cribs and left them.. if they awoke, we let them CIO, and it worked.. some days were worse than others, now at 9 mos old, they sleep thru the entire nite..(8 pm-6/7ish am) one may wake for a few minutes to fuss, but they have learned to soothe themselves back to sleep..which is so important.

So, if you want to try CIO, it may work for your babies, but it might not.. you know them best..
I do know that at least I can sleep at nite and be refreshed in the morning to start a whole New day!

I hope this helps..


Our ped said they wont turn into skeletons if they dont eat at night and to let them cry. It sure is hard but worth it in the end. At 5 1/2 months, we did CIO and they began sleeping through. What my boys were doing were eating at night and they they would not drink all their milk during the day so when I stopped feeding in the middle of the night, they ate a lot more during the day and then I did not need to feed them in the middle of the night.

 

CIO is probably one of the hardest things I've gone through as a Mommy! But for me it was so gratifying in the end, the result of happy babies and happy Mommy was really worth it.

 

JMO but I think that they are getting plenty to eat during the day and shouldn't need that bottle in the night. My ped told me at 7 months to stop nighttime feedings and let them CIO. It can be very hard to do at first (emotionally for you and for them) but it's actually really really important for them to learn how to put themselves back to sleep on their own. Right now they wake up (perhaps out of habit) and because they are used to having that nighttime bottle they depend on it to go back to sleep. I know how you feel. My one dd didn't sleep through the night until she was 11 months and even now still wakes up often but I don't go in there anymore unless she is crying hysterically (which means something else is wrong) or she is sick. I listen to her on the monitor from bed. She will wake up now and talk to herself a bit or turn her crib toy on and then eventually fall back asleep. It will take them a few days to realize that you are just not coming in to give them that bottle and eventually they will most likely stop waking for it. I know there are many different opinions on this issue and you have to do what is comfortable for you. You might want to start by just going in and giving a little rub a couple of times but let them see there is no milk? Hopefully you will get some more ideas and then just do what is best for you and your babies. The ultimate goal though is to get them off that nighttime bottle and for everyone to get more uninterrupted sleepGL!!!!

 

JMO but I think that they are getting plenty to eat during the day and shouldn't need that bottle in the night. My ped told me at 7 months to stop nighttime feedings and let them CIO. It can be very hard to do at first (emotionally for you and for them) but it's actually really really important for them to learn how to put themselves back to sleep on their own. Right now they wake up (perhaps out of habit) and because they are used to having that nighttime bottle they depend on it to go back to sleep. I know how you feel. My one dd didn't sleep through the night until she was 11 months and even now still wakes up often but I don't go in there anymore unless she is crying hysterically (which means something else is wrong) or she is sick. I listen to her on the monitor from bed. She will wake up now and talk to herself a bit or turn her crib toy on and then eventually fall back asleep. It will take them a few days to realize that you are just not coming in to give them that bottle and eventually they will most likely stop waking for it. I know there are many different opinions on this issue and you have to do what is comfortable for you. You might want to start by just going in and giving a little rub a couple of times but let them see there is no milk? Hopefully you will get some more ideas and then just do what is best for you and your babies. The ultimate goal though is to get them off that nighttime bottle and for everyone to get more uninterrupted sleep. GL!!!!

 

How is the watering down going? Once you get them to just water, then you can decrease the amount in the bottle by a little bit each night. I did this very gradually and my twins finally slept through at 10 months. They made it all the way down to 1 ounce of water at their night feeding though.

 

I think at 9 months they should be able to make a much longer stretch than 4-5 hours. I would fill them up in the evening, have a nice night time routine with an early bed time, and start some CIO and see how that goes.

 

I agree with the other posters who suggested you stop feeding them at night - I think this just rewards them for waking up. I don't believe you have to do CIO, though, if you're not comfortable with that (I know I wouldn't be).

My guys are 8 months old and our nights are not great, but I also have a 3yo dd (who didn't sleep 12 hours in a row until she was 18 months old) so I know that things will improve! Good luck,

bex