How to help my son sleep through the night without tears?

Yeah what Mummy2be said. Your putting him to bed quite early. That's why he isn't sleeping all night. Maybe try pushing his bedtime to 8pm.

At 1 years old, he should have more nutrition than just breastmilk. Don't get me wrong, breastmilk is great and has many benefits and doesn't need to be cut out. But, breastmilk isn't nutritionally adequate for him now. He should be having atleast 1-2 solid meals a day. He is probably hungry at night if he isn't getting anything other than breastmilk.

Is there any chance he is teething? Teething babies have harder time eating and sleeping, which could be why he's screaming? Is he sick? There could be so many reasons why he is waking up crying.

He's hungry, you'd scream to if you tummy was empty, you were tired, you couldn't talk, and no one would help you. I'm all for co-sleeping, when my son was about that age he was still waking six times or more (other issues happening, as well), I just brought him to my bed and slept topless that way neither of us had to completely wake up during the night, he'd fuss a bit, I'd give him the boob, we'd fall back to sleep while he nursed. That worked for us and it was something I had no issue with though.

You're not putting him to bed too early, and making him tired isn't going to help him sleep through the night. My babies went to bed by 6 at that age, and slept until 5:30-6 am. My DD usually slept through before 12 months. My DS was 19 months before he reliably slept the night. They continued to sleep at the same bed time before and after being able to sleep through. An overtired baby will actually have a harder time staying asleep at night and will wake more often.

My question would be how is he napping? At this age he should be taking two good, solid naps a day - one about two hours or so after waking in the morning, and another in the early afternoon. If he isn't getting solid naps, it may contribute to waking more often at night.

You might try feeding solids early in the day rather than late. Try giving him some solids in the morning, and perhaps another go at lunch. Keep presenting different healthy choices and let him pick something. You can give a little bit of whatever you are eating as long as it isn't crunchy, hard, sticky, etc. Most soft foods are fine, such as pastas, different sorts of salads, fruits and cooked veggies, and so on. If anything upsets his tummy, it is easier to manage that in the day time than at night. I don't think your baby is necessarily hungry at night, but it's possible.

You might also try resisting the urge to bring him in bed with you. Feed baby if he needs it, but then put him back down in his own bed for more sleep. By being near you, he is more likely to wake and want to nurse, and you are more likely to wake when he rustles. Put him in his own bed and let him sleep. If he wakes and isn't crying, leave him be. He might sort it out and go back to sleep himself. If he fusses a little, that is probably okay. Of course if he is crying and distressed, then you go in there. Leaving him in his own bed will probably be harder for a few nights, but might help break the habit of frequent waking.

And one suggestion for a sleep book: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth MD. He has great information about how sleep patterns develop, how we influence them, and how to help fix any issues that come up. He does advocate cry it out, but only after other things have not worked, and he has many other suggestions for how to improve your baby's sleep. It might be worth a read for the information.

He goes to bed quite early. Have you considered keeping him awake longer? This won't magically create a "sleep through the night" situation but it will likely help him to fall asleep for longer periods of time. Try to encourage the solids for dinner and then a good nursing sesh for bed time.

Edit: I understand having a picky eater. My first was picky and only wanted the boob, but i knew she had to eat more. Try to feed the baby what you eat, just in teeny tiny pieces. I tried to be all organic and super healthy, but she would gag on everything...at the end of the day she really enjoyed the spaghetti, chicken, mac n cheese etc much more. My second wasn't picky, took to solids right away including veggies, it was ideal. Long story short- try a bunch of foods and see what works. Your baby does need to be eating a bit more solids in the day.

38 weeks with #3

use baby lavender soap it really helps