7 month old not sleeping through

Hi
My 7 month old has never slept through the night. He used to wake for a bottle which I could understand, but he no longer needs a bottle as he is on 3 meals of solids a day but he still wakes through the night - mostly twice but sometimes 3 times.

When I get up to him - I give him his dummy and he pretty much goes straight back to sleep. I thought that maybe it was because he was losing his dummy but there has been times that he has his dummy in his mouth and is still grizzling and crying. I never pick him up - I don't speak to him. I just roll him onto his side and give him a quick pat then he's back to sleep.

I've also stopped giving him a "dream feed" at 10.30pm so am wondering if this is making it worse? He goes to bed at 7pm every night VERY easily - goes straight to sleep by himself which is fantastic. Now I just want him to learn to sleep through without me having to attend to him. Can you make any suggestions?

I look forward to hearing your views.

Thanks.

Hi,

You seem to be doing everything right, so let’s try to get rid of the dummy and rule this out as a possible sleep association first. It may well be that he is just looking for your presence to resettle, try waiting 2 mins before going in and then when you do go in he will probably be crying a little more than usual, but do some of our techniques of ssh, ssh ,ssh and repeating ‘It’s Time To Sleep” this gives a clear message that it is time to sleep.

Good luck, Maree

AAAHHH get rid of the dummy...I would never dream of it...talk about creating more problems to try and sort out....

My daughter is the same, she is 7mths, wakes 2 - 3 times a night etc....It drives me insane and yes she is a dummy sucker as well.....the solution I have no idea...however if you find out pls let me know too.....

Im so in need of a proper nights sleep as I raise my two girls solo and work parttime...

Hi Girls,

The use of a dummy is entirely a parent's choice but can become a sleep association and the cause of frequent waking. Try our settling techniques on our <a href="http://www.huggies.com/au/pregnancy_parenting/yourbabysleep/">Your Baby’s Sleep</a> page. You can settle using the dummy, but remove it just before baby falls asleep.

Cheers Maree

Hi, my 8month old is the same. He settles really well at night usually between 6.30 and 7.30. He will then wake anytime between 11 and 2 for a feed - I tried the dream feed at 10.30 but it meant that he only fed for about 5 mins then fell asleep and still woke at 1 or 2 for a feed. He then wakes at 3 or 4 and needs to be resettled and then will wake anytime between 5 and 6.30 for his morning feed. He doesn't cry when he wakes he just starts 'talking' to himself but it gets louder and more insistent until I go in, put his dummy in and give him a pat and a "It's time to go to sleep". Should I get rid of the dummy and do you think the night feed is still important?

Hi Melinda,

The idea of the rollover feed is to give you confidence that baby is not hungry and to implement the settling techniques straight away when he wakes during the night. He will fight the program making you think that a feed is what he wants, it’s hard but it will only take a week or so and everyone will be so much better for it.

Dummies are a parents choice but can become a cause for frequent waking, if you want to get rid of the dummy use it when settling but remove it before sleep comes so it’s not the last thing that he remembers before he falls asleep.

Cheers Maree

The dummy is definately up to the parent. Before my son was born I was against dummies, but once he arrived he was a constant sucker and a midwife suggested a dummy. So I decided to get one, and found that it did work wonders up until he was 6 months old(slept 12 hrs thru the night). From then onwards he woke up every hour or two because his dummy had fallen out..once I put it back in his mouth he was off to sleep again. Then when he was 9 1/2 months old he got his first cold. As he had a blocked nose he couldnt suck and so he didnt want the dummy. and he actually slept thru the night even with a cold!! So I havent reintroduced the dummy to him, and now he is finally sleeping thru again!! I find I am a much better and alert mother after actually getting sleep myself!