7.5 Month old wakes at 3am Every.Single.Night. CIO HELP!

Debra4869 · October 2012

My 7.5 month old wakes every single night at 3am on the dot. She's not hungry, I know that. We have started to do some CIO, but I am having a hard time. I have let her cry for 20 min and 30 min the last two nights and that was all I could handle before I sent DH in to give her the paci. She took the paci and passed right now.

I think she is waking to see us or just out of habit...so I really want to do the CIO to teach her to go back to sleep on her own. But how long are you supposed to let them cry for? 30 minutes last night felt like torture and clearly we caved and went into give her the paci. I read the Weisbluth book already, but just looking for some mommy help here.

I'm going to try to put like 10 paci's in her crib tonight to see if she can just find one on her own. I know its dark in her room and she can't find one to help her go back to sleep.

aglenn · October 2012

I agree with pp, it is totally normal to wake during the night at this age. Just because it is physically possible to make it through the night without eating does not mean she does not feel hunger. To each their own, but personally I would feed her at 3am and thank my lucky stars that was the only time she was waking up. It could be much worse.

MollySm · October 2012

We had the same problem with 3 am wakeups. To respond to PP, our problem with the wakeups was that eventually they turned into wake ups every half hour from 3 to 6:30. That isn't the kind of sleep that a baby needs! We knew she wasn't hungry because she was just as happy to get the paci. She was waking up just to say hi and see us, which is a normal part of socialization at this age, but helping them learn to sleep is important.

To OP, we had about 20 min of yelling the first night, then none the second, and now she doesn't wake anymore. But we do have lots of pacis in there so she can easily find one. I'd try that.

JenK1108 · October 2012

We experienced this same issue except at 4:30 AM

This happened for about 4 weeks, every single night. Before that Ethan always slept through the night. I actually did feed him and he would suck down an entire bottle. I too felt like he really couldn't be hungry since he didn't need it before, but now I'm wondering if he was going through a growth spurt and needed the extra formula. It was defintely tough, so I completely understand what you're going through - I thought it would never end

It did though.......just do what you think it best and stick with it. She'll grow out of it eventually, and like pp poster said - CIO does work. I did a modified version and it worked for us, so I'm definitely a proponent of that method. It was tough, don't get me wrong, but it has been fantastic. Hang in there mama!

cassiehansen · October 2012

We have an 'almost' 7 month old who is still getting up twice a night. We tried to let her cry it out by going back into her room every ten minutes and calming her down but it just didnt' work and frankly wasnt woth it. 30 minutes seems like a really long time to just let her cry. I decided I'm just not worrying about it. She'll sleep through the night when she's ready. And until then I'll get up with her and feed her.

mben1119 · October 2012

How do you know she isn't hungry? DS still wakes up hungry occasionally. Also, if you are going to do CIO, start with checks at 5 minutes, then 7...or a similar plan. 30 minutes is forever to a crying, hungry baby.

lancyjo · October 2012

Aria wakes once a night too (usually). I feed her every time, and usually you can hear her belly growling. She sucks down 8 ounces in about 15 minutes and goes right back to sleep.

If it became an issue (like Molly's pp about waking every 30 mins from 3-6:30), then I would try something different... but a once per night waking at this age is very, very normal.

MollySm · October 2012

And there is a difference between a time when baby is actually hungry (Like Lancyjo said), and one who isn't. Even when Lucia was only waking up one time, she didn't care if she ate or not. She wanted to smile and see us, and she wanted her paci. So that's the first thing to figure out.

Madringal · October 2012

Mams makes glow in the dark pacis Big Smile

JenK1108 · October 2012

Madringal:
Mams makes glow in the dark pacis

I can't tell you how many times those glow in the dark pacis have saved me at 2 AM

Best invention.

michelle7482 · October 2012

JenK1108:We experienced this same issue except at 4:30 AM This happened for about 4 weeks, every single night. Before that Ethan always slept through the night. I actually did feed him and he would suck down an entire bottle. I too felt like he really couldn't be hungry since he didn't need it before, but now I'm wondering if he was going through a growth spurt and needed the extra formula. It was defintely tough, so I completely understand what you're going through - I thought it would never end It did though.......just do what you think it best and stick with it. She'll grow out of it eventually, and like pp poster said - CIO does work. I did a modified version and it worked for us, so I'm definitely a proponent of that method. It was tough, don't get me wrong, but it has been fantastic. Hang in there mama!

The bolded part exactly for us too. I thought there is no way she could be hungry but she sucked down a bottle in no time. It lasted 6 weeks for us though and she just started STTN again this week. If you know the paci will get her back to sleep, then give it to her! She and you will get more sleep. I give my daughter her paci 1-3 times per night and then we all go back to sleep.

JWSchwarz · October 2012

I read Ferber and from what i remember, you wait 3 min, then go in and comfort them for one minute, then leave for 5, come back for one minute, then leave for 7, etc. until they fall asleep. You aren't expecting them to stop crying when you go in to comfort them, just check in and reassure them you haven't left forever. We did this once and DS has been STTN more frequently. Not always but at least 1/2 time.

Camike · October 2012

I'm copying my response to another post about STTN. I can't do the 20 minutes crying thing. My version is still 20 minutes of crying, but it's broken out.

My son will be 9 months next week and we were in the same boat as you up until a few days ago. He woke up 1-2 times a night and I would nurse him back to sleep. I don't know how long the STTN will last, but this is what we did:

We changed up his routine to bottle first (usually I nursed him to sleep), then a few books, then bed. The bed part is where everything gets tough, but hang in there. I would put him in his crib, and he would IMMEDIATELY start to cry. I let him cry for 4 minutes, go in there, pick him up, cuddle him or walk with him until he calmed down, then once he calmed down, put him back in the crib, again he would immediately start crying (more like wailing), I would wait 4 minutes, and then go in pick him up until he calmed down. I do this for about 30-45 minutes until he finally passes out the minute I put him back in his crib. He has STTN every night that we did this. Is a great night's sleep in 9 months (actually more like 18 months since pregnancy sleep isn't all that fabulous) worth the 45 minutes of crying/cuddling ritual? YES

From what I've read he will eventually just be able to put him self to sleep after a few nights. We'll see! But for now I am enjoying my 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Debra4869 · October 2012

Thanks for all responses. To answer your questions, I know she is not hungry, becuase she is perfectly happy if we go in and put the paci back in. Plus, she eats like a horse before she goes to bed.

After 3 nights of CIO, she slept through the night last night. I have no idea if it will be consistent, but it is a good sign. The thing is, she goes right back to sleep... its not like I have trouble putting her to bed at bedtime.

I know that the 30 minutes sounds terrible. Believe me, I feel terrible when doing it! But if I keep going in there to soothe her, she will keep thinking its okay to wake up and cry to see me. And as I understand it as they get older that is a bad habit to form.

allie_smalls07 · October 2012

LalaMama81:

Why do you assume she isn't hungry? It can be normal to eat once a night until age 1. Even if they previously didn't wake to eat for some time.

I'm not saying she is hungry, just saying it's not out of the realm of possibilities. Especially if she's hitting new milestones during the day and/or teething.

Yes

LuckyBride06 · October 2012

My DS wakes once too and I'm thrilled that its only once! DS1 woke up around 3/4am to nurse until he was 10ish months old. I actually liked it bc it was great bonding time AND then he slept until 730am instead of waking up around 6/630 when he sttn.

tweety2185 · October 2012

Dr Wisebutt (hehe) says let them cry for an hour... My little man is going the same thing, waking up at midnight and 5am and falls back asleep w/ the paci so I know he's not hungry, before he would continue crying after I put paci back in, that's when I knew he was hungry. Next week I'm going to make him CIO longer and see if he can get himself to go back to sleep. Good luck - love the ten paci trick - did it work? haha!

7.5 Month old wakes at 3am Every.Single.Night. CIO HELP!

Re: 7.5 Month old wakes at 3am Every.Single.Night. CIO HELP!

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