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Answers / Parenting / Babies (0-12 months)

How do I get my daughter to sleep through the night?

My 9 1/2 month old baby girl still wakes up twice a night to BF. Sometimes (rarely though) she will just want her pacifier back inher mouth and go back to sleep. Other times when I try this she she starts crying and will not go back to sleep, she'll stand up in her crib and fuss. I can't lay her down till I feed her. She is a big girl, 20lbs. (She's in the 80th percentile for her height and weight) So I don't know if it's just that she's growing and has a good appetite or just wants the comfort of mommy. I feed her solids during the day so I know she isn't starving or nothing. I am exhausted and I feel like I still am in the newborn stage. I know being tired is part of motherhood, but most of my friends' babies sleep through the night and my little angel doesn't. What can I do? Or does anyone know maybe why she wakes up so much?

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JenniferLynn28

Asked by JenniferLynn28 at 11:46 AM on Jan. 18, 2009 in Babies (0-12 months)

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Answers (10)
  • It is probably just part of her sleep cycle to wake up several times a night. In fact, everyone wakes up several times a night. It sounds like your daughter just hasn't learned how to soothe herself back to sleep at night and needs the comfort of mommy to help. Also...by feeding her in the night, you are perpetuating the cycle. If you feed her at 2 am every morning....then hunger will come to call at that time. If I were you, I'd let her cry it out at 9 1/2 mo. She is old enough to not need nighttime feedings. Just make sure she has a healthy dinner and feeding late in the evening. If you're not comfortable letting her cry it out...then postpone her feedings by 10-15 minutes every time she wakes up. Hopefully, she'll get used to the new feeding time and wakeup a little later. Keep postponing until you get to morning time. =) Good Luck!
    ANGIE409

    Answer by ANGIE409 at 11:53 AM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • My youngest DD woke every 2-3 hours until she was about 2 1/2. Then she started sleeping longer all on her own. Babies will start sleeping longer when they are ready. If she seems really hungry she probably is.
    mama3ks97

    Answer by mama3ks97 at 12:03 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • Cut back on the "solids" and give her more breastmilk to see if more calories will help. Or start feeding her table foods for more calories.

    I know with my own boys if they didn't get a certain amount during the day they didn't sleep well at night at all.....

    If she's waking and is taking a full feeding, she's hungry.
    Anonymous

    Answer by Anonymous at 12:10 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • I didn't breast feed by 9 months, but I did use cereal in my daughter's last bottle at night to help her make the transition to sleeping through the night. Also, maybe moving her last meal to a little later at night might help.
    kerye1016

    Answer by kerye1016 at 12:49 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • If you have to, put her in her carseat and put the carseat in her crib. I tried that the other night with my three week old daughter, and she slept for five hours straight. (I was absolutely going insane, so I figured I would try it.) Some babies sleep better in carseats, I dunno.
    caitxrawks

    Answer by caitxrawks at 1:02 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • Waking up 2 times/night is not bad for a 9 month old.Personally, I would recommend co-sleeping so you only have to roll over and pop your boob in her mouth. You would get a lot more sleep that way!
    TanyaR1024

    Answer by TanyaR1024 at 1:40 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • What we tried was putting soft music on in my daughter's room. We are using one of the baby enstein cds. i put it on repeat and if she wakes up she hears it and goes back to sleep. its worth trying!!
    sweetheart254

    Answer by sweetheart254 at 2:40 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • My son was the same way at 9 months (only it was often more than 2 times a night!) I learned to sleep with him in bed with me. That way he could nurse as much as he needed and I didn't need to get up. Often I would wake up in the morning and have no idea how many times he had nursed during the night! I also went to bed when he did and didn't get up in the morning until he did. I was probably in bed from about 9 pm until 9am and somewhere in there would get a good 8 hours.
    maggiemom2000

    Answer by maggiemom2000 at 3:02 PM on Jan. 18, 2009

  • Try soothing music,while rocking her to sleep.I am guessing you don't have her on a feeding schedule.My son ( who is 21 yrs old now) would get up through the night just to have his diaper changed.He was coliticy so there were times when all I could do is rub his belly until he feel back to sleep.
    Jeffsmom87

    Answer by Jeffsmom87 at 3:31 AM on Jan. 19, 2009

  • I have my daughter on a schedule. She eats plenty throughout the day, if not I'm sure I would know that to be the problem. I think she is just used to waking up to eat...she doesn't do it every night, but almost. The day I wrote this post, She had woke up at 4am and did not want to go back to sleep, DH gets up early anyway, so he took her in the living room and she played till 7am and went to sleep after all that fun... She even went to bed that night the same time she usually goes to bed.
    JenniferLynn28

    Answer by JenniferLynn28 at 11:40 AM on Jan. 20, 2009

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