By the time your baby reaches the age of 9 months, he’s probably sleeping around 11 to 14 hours at night, and then again taking two naps during the day for about an hour or two each time. Your baby has probably figured out by now how to fall back asleep when she wakes up at night. If she hasn’t, she probably will figure it out very soon.
Also at this stage, your baby is ready for night weaning, if you choose to do so. In many cases, this isn’t even an issue, because it’s not likely that your baby is waking up because she’s hungry. In fact, it’s pretty rare for a baby at this age to wake up because she needs something to eat.
You do need to realize that the other milestones going on in your baby’s life at this stage can absolutely affect his sleep patterns. For example, your baby is probably learning to crawl, to pull himself up, and to walk. As he tries to master, refine and even expand his skill sets, he can wake up very excited. He’s so excited, in fact, that he has a hard time falling back to sleep. If baby can’t soothe himself back to sleep, he’ll cry out in order to get your attention.
Another thing that often surprises parents at this stage is changes in sleep characteristics. Up until now, your baby may well have been a very sound sleeper. Suddenly, she’s waking up at the sound of a pin dropping. As she reaches specific milestones in both motor development and cognitive abilities, it’s likely that her sleep patterns will be affected.
Finally, it’s worth noting that sometimes your baby may wake up and call for you because of separation anxiety. Once you enter the room and greet him, however, he’ll usually calm right down and fall back asleep.