7 to 9 Months Baby Sleep – Everything You Need To Know
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Finally, your little bundle of joy is now 7 months of age, and you’re absolutely delighted with the way he is growing. You’re doing your best to ensure that your kid gets the best of nutrition and sleep that he requires, and may probably be compromising on a lot of sleep from your end too.
If you’re looking to handle the sleep patterns of your little baby over the coming months, and creating a sleep schedule, read on.
7 to 9 Months Baby Sleeping Schedule:
Great Expectations:
Babies usually in this age bracket are better sleepers than they were earlier. Thus there will be:
- Longer and more predictable nap times
- Almost none to a rare feeding at night
- You will now have enough time to spare so that you can look after yourself!
Babies at this age nap at least thrice in a day, where the initial two are serious 90 minute naps and the final one in the evening is more or less a cat nap. They are capable of sleeping 14 hours in a day. Some even nap more than thrice a day which is also good.
If your baby sleeps a stretch of ten hours at night then it can be good to assume that he has got the hang of the whole sleeping mystery.
Hard Reality:
But on the downside of the spectrum, there can be much worse realities. The situation is getting bad to worse when your baby takes-
- Shorter and unpredictable nap times
- Bedtime becomes a chore.
- They wake up in the middle of the night more often and not because they are hungry.
Probable Solutions:
If the above symptoms are shown by your baby, it’s understandable that you’re now getting far lesser sleep than you were when she was younger. This must be dealt with in detail and proper scrutiny to find out whether you are missing or misreading any signals. Don’t worry, we’ve got a few tips and tricks for you to help you manage it all.
Introduce 9 Month Baby Sleep Training:
Its better late than never when it comes to creating a scheduled sleep pattern. for your little baby. If he is sleeping even for 5 to 6 hours straight, it is acceptable. If not, it’s a clear sign that your baby doesn’t have a correct sleep cycle as yet.
While adults wake up and go back to sleep children need to learn to develop the snooze mode. Unless he champions it he will end up being all cranky and cry for no apparent reason all night even if he is not hungry.
Sleep disturbances occurs when the baby reaches a milestone in cognitive and motor development. They want to keep practicing that till they get it right even unconsciously. This makes them wake up by themselves. Another reason is separation anxiety of suddenly waking up and not finding the mother. Even your presence will soothe this anxiety.
At all times a sleep training should be made in such a way that the baby and his needs are adhered to. Just like you would not like to be in a stressful atmosphere the same applies in case of your child as well.
1. Strictly Adhere To The Bedtime Routine.
If there is no bedtime routine yet, it is high time you make one and stick to it. And make sure you do it every day on the same time and in the same sequence. Soon you will see that your baby is also participating and looking forward to the experience.
Involve fun nursery rhymes to sing before going to sleep. This will work wonders in getting your kid to sleep.
[ Read: 10 Month Baby Sleep ]
2. Maintain Consistency.
Maintain a consistent schedule so that the sleep process is time bound and follows a particular flow. This will ensure that the 7- 9 month baby sleep schedule is properly followed during the day. Children at this age crave for a structure on which they can follow. Provide the right structure that is befitting of your family and surroundings.
3. Encourage Independent Sleeping.
To master the snooze mode the baby has to learn to soothe himself to sleep. This will ensure that the daily naps serve their purpose fully and divide the total sleep time efficiently.
4. Put Him To Bed Early.
Try putting the baby down to sleep, half an hour earlier than the usual time. This will make sure that he doesn’t lose focus and get distracted from his sleep time.
5. Let Him Pacify Himself.
Do not soothe the baby if he is crying without any reason. He is probably trying to seek your attention and is thus making a scene! Do not pacify him and tell him that it’s ok and there is no need to cry; try to be calm and a bit detached. You will soon notice that these wailing cried in the middle of the night have all subsided into a proper good nights’ sleep.
6. Bottle Feed Instead Of Breast Feeding.
It is considered that those children who are breast-fed beyond 6 months may sleep lesser compared to bottle fed babies who may sleep longer since the formula takes longer to digest and so the baby has a fuller stomach for a longer period. Those who are born with birth defects and fed by tubes also take longer to develop a proper sleep habit. Thus even in infants, the sleep is brain-induced rather than stomach-induced.
[ Read: Breastfeeding vs Formula Feeding ]
7. The Ferber Method.
You can try a method developed by paediatric sleep expert Richard Ferber, MD, which says that parents must check on their baby periodically during the night. In this method, one lets the baby cry for a certain period soothes him and leaves. Then again comes to soothe with the same delay. The next day increase the time gap and soon you will see that the baby has stopped crying.
Sometimes 9 month baby sleep problems lie with the parents themselves. This parenting job requires extremely high levels of patience. So when you are trying to put your baby to sleep try to maintain a calm demeanour.
Smile at all times and make the baby feel comfortable and talk him into sleeping in a way of rewarding him for not crying. Even when you are trying to make him sleep independently, maintain the same soothing tone of voice. Babies can be very socially receptive that way.
[ Read: 11 Month Baby Sleep ]
Even the soundest sleeper can have his wake periods and which is not something to be worried about. If it happens again, then simply reassure yourself that this won’t go on forever.
Do share your experiences in managing your 7 to 9 months baby sleep pattern in the comment section below:
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