9 month old not sleeping through the night and only falls asleep in my arms

edenlenore

Hi everybody,

First time poster here.  My DD is 9 months old and the pediatrician says she should be sleeping through the night - which she isn't.  Bedtime is at around 7pm, which she goes down for pretty easily, but then we're up at least once in the night - sometimes two or three times - before her morning wake-up time at around 7am.  I know that it's not uncommon for babies to wake-up during the night, but when she wakes up, she needs to be rocked back to sleep (or nursed and rocked back to sleep).  It's clear she's tired, because her eyes close as soon as I hold her in my arms, but she won't put herself back to sleep in her crib.  This is probably my fault - my DH and I have made the mistake of rocking her to sleep until now, and having read a bunch about sleep associations recently, I'm realizing that we've probably created a situation where she now needs to be rocked in order to sleep (oops).  So... now I need to break her of this habit so that she can fall asleep herself.  I've tried putting her down, saying good night, and walking away, but she just cries and gets more and more agitated (I tried during her morning nap today, and she cried for a full hour, before I gave up and rocked her, figuring that sleep was more important than training).  I've tried sitting in a chair in her room with her in the crib, but then she just sits up or stands up and stares at me (and no sleeping).  So... again, acknowledging that I got myself into this... any suggestions on how I can help my baby learn to fall asleep on her own without making her feel totally abandoned?  

Desireeloves31

I am in the same boat. Your story sounds exactly like mine. He is 9 months old and gets up 3-4 times a night to nurse in addition to the times that he wakes up and my husband holds him. He refuses to sleep in the crib and will only sleep in a swing. I'm not sure how they keep functioning! I always feel like a zombie! My pediatrician suggested a lovey. He said to do our usual routine (rock,nurse) with the lovey. In theory he should then associate the lovey with sleep when he wakes up and be able to put himself back to sleep. He also suggested sleeping with his pjs so that they would have my scent on them and comfort him. Neither of these suggestions worked for me but maybe your little on will be more responsive to them

edenlenore

Thanks for the suggestions (and it's nice to know I'm not alone!) - I'll give them a try.  She has a little stuffed penguin that she likes that we were hoping would act as a security blanket... but she seems to see him more as a friend then anything else. I'm thinking I'll try one of the little aden and anail security blankets and see how that goes.  A friend with a toddler also mentioned that flannel or chamois crib sheets helped her with a similar situation (just another something cozy for baby to snuggle up to).  

alynne1113

I let my kid CIO, took a long time the first few nights but she sleeps now