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Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy | March 26th

How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

My daughter is now 9 months old, and it seems like ever since I remember she has been in the habit of waking up every 2 hours at night.

She generally has 2 naps during the day from about 10.30am-12pm and then again at about 3pm-4pm, and goes to bed around 7pm. She then wakes up about 10pm, has a breast feed, and then wakes up as if on cue every 2 hours for the rest of the night.

As I demand feed, each time she wakes, I feed her (she has always been a very quick feeder - only ever takes about 5 minutes then lets go).

About a month ago I had about 2 weeks where she only work once during the night... I though I was in heaven... and then it went back to the 2 hourly thing!

I'm really over it... as every day I get overtired myself so generally don't get to sleep myself till about 1am, and then I'm up and down all night with her.

Any suggestions????



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Kristen
March 30th | Kristen
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

mine is now 13 months and we had this same problem.  Part of it was his teething and part of it was a growth spurt.  I started to feed him ridiculously large amounts of food before bed and then I kept a bottle with water in it for the middle of the night.  I found that he was just thirsty and that the breastmilk, for whatever reason, wasn't quenching his thirst.  I backed down to one nursing a night.  Feeding him just before bed really helped a lot. 



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loopylisa
March 27th | loopylisa
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

I would stop feeding her through the night,She is obviously aware of the fact that if she wakes-she gets fed.My best friend has a little boy aged 4 and a baby girl aged 15 weeks-yet the baby sleeps through better simply because she learnt about developing beeter sleep patterns.Her little boy very rarely sleeps through and she thinks it's because she used to feed him every time he awok when he was a bub.Best of luck



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      Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
March 28th | Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

Well it seems like your suggestion has worked! (Touch wood!!!)

For the past two days, I've only been offering her breastmilk from a bottle. The first night she woke about 1.15am, but by the time I heated up the bottle she had gone back to sleep and didn't wake up again till 4.15am! Then last night, the same thing happened.. she woke at 12.15am, went back to sleep by the time I'd boiled the kettle and it's now 8.30am and I'm STILL waiting for her to wake up!

(Have a read of my blog for the funny story that goes with this!!!)

So it seems like the answer is... when she wakes up... boil the kettle (and have a cuppa - might as well since the kettles boiled and a HOT cup of tea is a rare thing when you have a baby!) and she goes back to sleep!!!

Thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions!!! Finally... sleep!!! Oh, how I've missed you!!!



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Snooty-Farkleboob
March 27th | Snooty-Farkleboob
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

It sounds like she isn't breastfeeding enough during the day, so she is making up for it at night.

You could try taking her somewhere quiet every 3-4 hours and offering her the breast. If you can convince her to satisfy herself during the day, you should find that she sleeps longer stretches at night.



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      Snooty-Farkleboob
March 27th | Snooty-Farkleboob
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

Duh. I just read through all the answers. Disregard my previous, uninformed suggestion.



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Arna
March 26th | Arna
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

I would stop feeding every time your daughter wakes during the night.  She is only going for 5 mins, which is more like comfort feeding.  Does she use a dummy?  This could be why she wakes up as she may not be able to find it.

 



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      Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
March 28th | Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

No... she won't have a bar of a dummy! However, I've been able to hold off on the night feeding for the last 2 nights (see reply above and my blog entry) and it seems to be working! Thanks



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MrsSanders
March 26th | MrsSanders
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

Hmmm, sonds like a case of "Who needs solids when I got access to milk". If I were you I would be holding off a bit on the day feeding to encourage her to eat the solids. Not easy when they have got themselves a routine going, but it may be a little support from a third party may encourage her. Can you start off with a plan of action to offer solids just before  she kicks off for a feed, or leave her with someone you trust to feed her while you pop to the shops. If you are around she will push for your milk, she may be more willing to give in to a solid lunch if Mum is not around. A few day's of no Mum at lunch and teatime to fall back on may encourage her to some more of the chewy stuff.LOL. Habits are hard to break and persiverence and will power will be needed. Just a few thoughts. Good luck and best wishes, I think if you get the solids up, the night time will take care of itself. She will then no you mean business.

Luv, Winnie.xxxx



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ph419always
March 26th | ph419always
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

She may be waking so frequently during the night because she's in the habit of it. Kinda like when you set your alarm clock to wake you in the morning at 8am, it doesn't take long for you to wake around that time anyway even if the alarm doesn't go off. To change it you may have to refuse her the feed for a bit and try and help her go back to sleep. Some people offer water instead for a bit, others just cuddle and pat them back to sleep, and others let them settle themselves back to sleep - this is of coarse after making sure nothing else is causing them to wake up (clean nappy, no gas, no pain/discomfort, not too hot/cold, etc). 



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      mace-oz
March 26th | mace-oz
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

offering water instead of breastmilk helped my son at the same age to stop waking for feeds. He would still (sometimes) wake but not for a feed so was quicker to get back to sleep.



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cathbusymum
March 26th | cathbusymum
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

 If shes having 3-4 feeds a day and solids with them, then i suggest not giving her the night feed. She may cry for a bit but in the end she'll settle and hopefully start sleeping though the night. It may take a week or so for her to get into the new routine but imagine all the sleep you can have. 



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      Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
March 26th | Jack-n-Ebonys-mummy
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

She generally feeds every 2-3 hours during the day too... and as for solids... well lets just say I'm still trying to work on that! (I actually have another question posted on here in regards to that!)



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           cathbusymum
March 26th | cathbusymum
Re: How do you get a 9 month old out of the habit of waking every 2 hours at night?

I just checked out your other question...I really recommend seeing the community health nurse. They should be able to offer ideas. I'd say more milk and food during the day and sleep at night but with the combination it's a bit tricky. Most hospitals have a day cottage that help with feeding/sleep issues and are highly recommended. Good luck, let me know how you go. 



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