Baby Cries And Wakes Up In The Middle Of Night

You have a point OP. Yes, the nursing may become a habit, but only to the the extent of your baby seeking you to nurse for comfort, on and off. Especially as he grows older, he will do it only to soothe himself. So its up to you to decide if that will work for you.
I differ in my opinion with blindpup10 here, regarding pacifiers. If he hasn't started using them, I do not find teething to be reason strong enough to start anew now. You will have to wean him afterward, and even if that goes easy, I am not for using it during this phase due to it increasing the risk of ear infections at this age group. Dentition issues may crop up later as well. I understand you would be using a pacifier in a limited manner, but essentially, you are just giving him a pseudo-nipple, so why not give him the original in the same controlled way?
Excellent suggestions for teethers : try out different ones. Chilled teethers are even better.
You could also make 'popsicles' of juice or formula and give it to your son: they will soothe his gums, and nourishing too. You don't need anything fancy - just your ice tray would do. Or, if you can mould it to the shape of the feeding bottle nipple. Now that's a really nice pacifier substitute, what say!
Do consider the teething gels too.

@blindpup10 Wow, you handle it well! I'm also amazed with how you manage to post such detailed and well-written posts, with a 10-monther in tow!! I could use some time management tips from you.. (virtual) coffee, anytime?

 

@Bubbles-

Never knew about ear infection part!! I am freaking out after reading this. Dentition yea.. My logic was every kid in the US goes through braces; almost like a right of passage. So, I wasn't too concerned about dentition.

- Nice idea.. I will try this and will see how DS likes it.

Sure why not lets have coffee.

 

@ILUser07-
I will post the activity chair link. I have been using this chair from the time my DS was 4 month. Right now he sits in this chair maximum for 1 hour and then he is done ( DS fuss to be in this chair). Initially at 4th month he would spend more than 1 hour in this chair.. he wouldn't fuss.
Amazon.com : Summer Infant 3-Stage SuperSeat Deluxe Giggles Island: Positioner, Activity Seat, and Booster, Neutral : Chair Booster Seats : Baby

I also have an High chair. I highly recommend high chair.. for 6-7 month and above, you can make the seat go a bit backward and DS isn't in the sitting position all the time (when using the chair)
Amazon.com : Graco SimpleSwitch Highchair and Booster, Little Hoot : Childrens Highchairs : Baby

I use this chair to feed him. If I am busy in the kitchen, I make him sit in the high chair put on youtube rhymes and cook. I even give him a toy to play with. Usually, DS ends up throwing the toy.. But I know DS is right where I can see.

And for your questions- teether being in the refrigerator, doesn't really give them cold. The coolness goes away in 15 min not sure about the popsicles

 

I followed the baby whisperer and heres what I remember from it. If a baby wakes up at the different timesevery night, something is bothering he baby. If the baby wakes up at the same time it is habit.

If it is a habit, to break it, there is a technique called wake to sleep - wake up about 20 min before the baby usually wakes up and jiggle the baby around just a bit - turn him over, say. Then pat the baby right back to sleep.

Without letting the baby wake up fully you are changing the sleep cycle slightly by bringing the baby to the surface and patting him back to sleep. For some reason this is supposed to work and it worked beautifully with my child.

Comfort suckling unfortunately would become a habit. If you have let the baby comfort suckle after the baby has cried for ten min, he baby won't hesitate to cry for twice the time to get what he wants next time. The problem with comfort suckling is your sleep is disrupted. It is just not possible to carry on physiologically with out sleep. (I feel I was a terrible mum the first 8 months when I was severely sleep deprived) Secondly the child's sleep is disturbed - the baby's brain develops a great deal while sleeping; hence it is imperative the baby does get into the habit of sleeping without disruptions. (My child showed excellent progress once she learnt to sleep undisturbed)

 

Hi guesshoo! Just a query - did you wean your baby after 8 months from comfort sucking at night?? Would love to hear how you did it..
@ILUser07 how did you resolve your situation? I'm sorry for not replying earlier..dunno why but I was not getting the alerts - must have jumbled something in the options.. no, the popsicles dont cause cold when you prepare them yourself at home (hygienic, and small pieces probably the size of ice cubes..).

 

It was a long journey, Bubbles. First we (husband and i) had to own up to the fact that it was just us giving excuses for not sleep training and we have to be determined and follow through. We had to be prepared to let the baby cry - we were right there saying soothing words for support but the child had to learn to sleep.

We set up a routine that we followed. Then when the baby woke up at night my husband would pick her up to soothe her. (She was in her own cot - not in bed with us ) The first couple of days she was very cross and cried long and hard but sInce I wasn't nearby she realised she didn't have an option. The wake to sleep method worked. Plus I introduced a bottle to her in the middle of the night when she was still sleep. So between 8 and 12 months I gave her a night feed by bottle without waking her up. I tweaked the times and contents in those 4 months in order to get her to sleep undisturbed without aa night feed for 12 hours in the night.

 

Hats off to you, @guesshoo

H. and I are stuck here... H. more so than sleep-troubled-and-cant-go-on-like-this-forever Me. Sigh.