Sleeping FAQ: 6-9 Months – Night Waking

My son of 8 months is waking two or three times in the night and will only settle after a drink

I need to break my son’s habit of night time waking. We found that offering him a drink of very diluted juice would usually settle him when he woke once at 3/4am but now he is waking at midnight, 3am then 6am and rarely going back to sleep after 6am. I am going to change the juice to just water but I fear that will not solve the problem as it is already very weak so I doubt he’ll notice the difference.
I suspect babies do not need to drink anything at night but we adults do often wake for a drink of water, so would babies not need something too?
My son is also not a very good eater particularly of meat and I believe he has intolerance to cheese as he always seems to vomit after a cheese meal so we have re-introduced the 10.30pm feed to try and keep him full overnight but it has not made much of a difference to his night time waking.
Prior to re-introducing the late feed we had a few nights where he would wake around 1am and get very distressed, we found 3 oz of milk did the trick hence we started up the late feed again.

My sons feeds at 7am, 5ozs followed by 10 teaspoons porridge with 1/2 banana. Lunch at 12. 1/2 to 1cube of protein [i.e. chicken, fish or pork casserole], 1 cube swede/potato/parsnip and one cube of vegetable. He will only take a very smooth puree or he gags and vomits it all back. This is followed by 1 yoghurt or fruit puree and 1 biscuit. 2.30pm 4ozs. Tea is the same as lunch, as much savory as he will take but usually 1/2-1cube of protienwith another 1-2cubes of carbohydrate and vegetable/ I add a teaspoon of Greek yoghurt to make it more palatable. Fruit puree with custard. 6.30pm 8ozs. 10.20pm 3ozs. He weighs 19lbs 6ozs.

My son sleeps from 8.45-9.34am and 12.30-2pm. He settles at 7pm.

The reason for your son’s waking is probably hunger rather than thirst. At 8 months he should be taking 2ozs of protein on a daily basis. He also needs 2-3 portions of carbohydrates and at least 2 portions of fruit and vegetables.

Finding ways to increase his solid intake, particularly his protein, should help him manage to get through the night without needing a late feed. Keep the 10pm feed in place until you have managed to sort out his daytime feeding.

To get your son to take more protein, especially at lunchtime, make up a chicken casserole dish using chicken, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and onion. Gina has a recipe for this on page 75 in her Complete Weaning Guide. Using vegetables within the casserole will help him get used to the chicken. Try to get your son to have three to four cubes of this, adding 1 cube of green vegetable if you like.

Once your son is accepting more protein at lunch you can begin to offer him high carbohydrate teas. This will help him sleep well at night. Things such as jacket potatoes with sugar-free baked beans can be blended for him. Again, Gina’s Weaning Guide has some excellent recipes for this time of day. Vegetable rich soups, lentil and pasta bakes will all help fill him up well for the night. Lentils and beans do also have protein content. This will help your son reach his daily portion even while he is still reluctant to eat a lot of meat.

If your son’s gagging and vomiting are causing you concern then ask your doctor to check him over. Many babies do gag when presented with a food which is new to them. Gagging is a protective reflex which a baby uses to get food from the back of the mouth to the front of the mouth where he can reposition it or spit it out. If food is of a slightly thicker texture than your baby is used to he may gag a lot. Some babies seem to have a very sensitive gag reflex which can result in vomiting as well, simply through the strength of the reflex.

To get your son more used to different textures you should begin to offer him some finger food. If you have a baby who gags a lot you may be hesitant to do so but it can help your son get used to foods other than smooth purees. Begin with something he likes, such as banana which is soft and mushy, so he should be able to cope with trying one piece.

Once your baby’s food intake has increased by day you may find his night waking disappears. Until then keep the 10pm feed in place. If he wakes subsequently in the night use water first to try to settle him. As he does not return to sleep at 6am it would be better to offer him some of his morning milk at this time and get him back to sleep to 7am/7.30am. Once he is sleeping until 7am he should begin to need less sleep at his morning nap. This should begin to fall nearer to 9.30am and last for 30-45 minutes. In turn, this will push on his lunchtime towards 12.15/12.30pm and his lunchtime nap will begin to occur between 12.45/1pm and 3pm. Moving his daytime sleep forward according to his needs, as well as increasing his daily food intake, will help his night time sleep. With increased mobility, babies of this age can get very tired but structuring their daytime sleep correctly will help them sleep better at night.