10 month old still waking 5 to 6 times at night.

[Vicky]

I have a 10 month old son and I am nursing and also supplementing with a bottle.  For the first 6 months he slept with me and woke up about 4 times during the night.  I would nurse him back to sleep.  I began nursing him to sleep and then putting him in his crib.  He would wake up every hour or so wanting to be nursed.  I would often try to rock him, sing, pat him on the back but he just became hysterical until I nursed him and put him back to sleep.  My husband has tried to get up with him, again he just screams until I nurse him.  I've tried letting him "cry it out" and he becomes so hysterical he will actually throw up.  I don't know what else to do.  He refuses to go to sleep unless I nurse him, he won't even take a bottle at night.  I know he isn't hungry because he only nurses for about 5 minutes.  Should I just let him cry and not pick him up?  I tried this only once, after an hour of screaming I gave in.

Thanks for your help.

Tammy

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Tammy,

You are on the right track as you wonder about the solution. Yes, you'll have to let him cry it out, so to speak. It'll break your heart a bit, but remember that you are not hurting your son by doing this - you are helping learn a very important ability (i.e., to fall asleep on his own).

[egret]

Please read Dr. Sears before you try cry it out!

[egret]

Forgot to give you the URL:

http://www.askdrsears.com/

My son is 14 months and still wakes up many times.  Some babies are just more sensitive and are just wired differently.  It sounds like you may have a high need baby and Dr. Sears has good information on high need babies.

Good luck, I understand how you feel.

Cheers,
Rachel