My 6 month old little girl recently stopped sleeping through the night. Since she was 6 weeks old she has averaged a 10 hour stretch each night. Almost every night she wakes at least once and wants to eat and cuddle in bed. Often it is hard for me to get up and put her back to bed because she wakes up again, but I feel like she needs to sleep in her crib and not with me as my husband is a really deep and tossing sleeper. I usually can get her back to bed eventually, but I am missing anywhere from an hour to four hours of sleep per night, and she is still waking up at her normal time. She is also fussier during the day, I think because of a lack of sleep. She also is becoming harder to put to sleep for naps, but when she does go down she will sleep for about three hours. I don't know what to do, I read that it is because at this age they want to cuddle with mommy when they are still nursing. I really don't want to let her cry herself to sleep, and I have tried but after a couple minutes she just wakes up and talks for a long time and it is even harder to get her back to sleep. If anyone has been through this and has some advice, it would be SO helpful!
Well, thank you all for your responses, but unfortunately it is just getting worse. I have tried almost everything, but I am afraid Jaci is right. The food seems to make it worse, and I have tried co-sleeping to but I end up being so tired because she never stops sucking. I am like her human pacifier. Letting her cry doesn't work either, and I hate it. My doctor told me she is just in a pattern and I need to break it, so I am afraid I am going to have a couple sleepless nights trying to make sure she doesn't get a mommy cuddle reward when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Again, thank you all for your help.
A.;
It sounds like she may be using you as a prop to get to sleep. You may want to try the Pick Up/Put Down method of picking her up but then laying her in her crib when she is almost asleep. The method is described in the book, The Baby Whipserer.
Dear A.,
you know, you could probably start her on some (may I suggest certified organic from a co-op so you know it's safe) watered down pear juice and/or some baby food once a day or twice a day. Maybe that is her problem: hunger for food.
Teething may also be the issue. If you are nursing, may I suggest putting the orajel on her teeth/gums anytime but right before nursing so you do not get an awful surprise like I did before I figured it out (my babies chomped down hard in order to latch on because their mouths were rather numb!). Yikes!
Maybe she is just growing and changing, starting the never-ending phase of phases.
No matter what the issue, keep her close to you by using a baby sling as much as possible...and respond to her as she demands it. It is inevitable that down the road you will get the sleep you need each night, but that is not the case now. Now will not last forever. I totally suggest the family bed, as long as you follow the safety guidelines recommended by Dr. Sears (google it). I suggest disregarding any and all advice which involves the practice of making them 'cry it out' because you do not have a seven year-old there, you've got an infant who needs to be comforted and made to feel secure as she goes through her growing phases.
It could be a growth spurt (she might need an extra bottle or cereal), teething (try Anbesol), or she might be fighting off a bug. I always brought mine to bed with me, especially when they were little and fussy. I would get more sleep that way - sometimes on the couch if it bothered my husband. I found it easier to care for them when they were right next to me rather than dragging myself into another room everytime they cried. Most likely it will pass soon, but why miss the opportunity to bond more with your child? When they need us, we should be there, especially when they are so small and vulnerable. This may seem like a huge problem now, but it's just a tiny glimpse of the sacrifices you will make in the future, so view it as an opportunity to snuggle your little one and comfort her now. Eventually she will sleep through the night again, secure in knowing you are there for her.
SAHM of seven, 23yr - 20 mos., all sleeping through the night :)
Let me be the first to offer the unpopular advice of "then cuddle with her. I am a firm believer in the family bed. I think kids need the closeness of their parents when they are going through traumatic times--teething, bad dreams, illness, whatever. Co-sleeping saved my sleep so that I DIDN'T have to actually get out of bed to nurse. I could just roll over and keep sleeping.
As far as your husband, they make co-sleepers that fit right in the bed between you for that very reason. I also spent many hours on the couch with my first during his infancy because he would just wake up and not go back to sleep and on the couch we didn't bother my husband.
Here's what I found in my search, that are NOT side sleeper bassinet/play yards:
This one seems very European. I don't know if I would trust it hanging over the bed.
http://www.babygadget.net/2007/06/culla_belly_cosleeper.php
This is the closest to what I used, but they have totally upgraded since my kids were babies. This is deluxe!
Co-Zee Family Bed Co-Sleeper by Hisense (website domain was too long)
I would say start her out in her bed, since you already have that routine, but it's okay to keep her in your bed so you don't have to get up twice. Plus, as the old adage says, they are only young for a short time. They grow up so fast. How do you want to remember those times? Crying it out, or cuddling?
Wow, that is the problem with this site. You have to weed out the bad advice to get to the good.
Anyway, I am going through exactly what you are going through. We started solids at six months and that is precisely when Connor STOPPED sleeping through the night (don't tell me it is teething, he's been teething since he was three months old and sleeping through the night from 8weeks to 6months). After talking to MANY other moms on the subject, it is quite common for this to happen. I believe it corresponds to baby realizing that they and mom aren't one "being", and they realize that mom does leave and they think that mom is never coming back...at least it makes sense to me.
We've been given all the same advice as you have here, including add solids, take away solids, feed more during the day, etc etc. But it is only so easy to dispense this advice if they have never been in your shoes.
What we have done is we have stopped feeding solids (we'll start up again soon, at eight months) because he always was really upset in an evening that we fed them. I also do try to feed more during the day which sometimes only happens if I swaddle him, because he is sooo distracted during nursing sessions, he spends more time looking around than eating and I spend more time trying to keep him from pinching, pushing, grabbing my nose and hair, etc...I bought a nursing necklace from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5079958 which has helped a little with the distractedness. Needless to say, with a distracted baby it can be impossible for them to get all of their calories during the day so a night feed or two is necessary (and completely normal!!) regardless of the fact that baby slept through the night for such a long time.
Along with everything else, we also have started cosleeping. If you are worried about your husband being a deep sleeper, all the cosleeping guidelines say baby should be between you and the edge of the bed (with a suitable rail of some sort on the edge of the bed). I definitely recommend nursing while laying down, I have found I really don't have to do much but lift my shirt and pop the nipple in his mouth. He falls asleep once he gets his fill and if I'm somewhat awake I'll replace my nipple with a pacifier.
We are no where near sleeping through the night again (HAHAHA to the person who said it would take a week) but by doing the above I've been able to make it so he is only waking up two, sometimes three times a night.
I think the best advice I was given was to do whatever it took to get the most amount of sleep for myself. Don't listen to the people who will say "Oh, if you cosleep and nurse to sleep now, they'll constantly be dependent on you to fall asleep!" Here's a newsflash. We gave birth to newborns, not five year olds, they ARE dependent on us for a lot, it makes sense!
Good luck momma :)
Start thinking about teething :)
6 month old stopped sleeping thru' night when she used to always sleep... sounds like time to start offering food! Get out the purees and cereals! Good luck!
she could be teething.
check out my other posts on this topic because i answer this question a LOT. consider yourself lucky cuz most babies do NOT sleep through the night at all - or very rarely. my son didnt sleep through the night until he was 17 months old... but that was alright. if you learn that nothing will stay the same, this too shall pass, that sort of thing, you wont feel so aweful. its normal for kids to not sleep through the night.
DO NOT CRY IT OUT!! this damages the parent-child bond intensly, especially at her young age. again, check the previous answers i have given for this question... also www.askdrsears.com - they have several books on baby and child raising. LOL.
anyway, good luck, dont feel like you are doing a horrible job as a parent, babies do this and its normal and actually helpful in many ways. if you want to know more, just ask
She's teething - which will happen on and off for the first two years and will require someone to miss sleep while she is awake. Enlist your husband in helping. You should not be doing it alone A..... he is a parent too.
Also, I agree with Amy about the family bed. My husband refused to get up and help with our daughter so I wound up taking her to bed. It was the best thing I ever did. I slept better, although my husband remained blissfully unaware of what it means to have a baby...
Time to up her food intake during the day. She doesn't need to eat at night or cuddle at night unless she isn't getting enough during the day.
My boys stop sleeping through the night when they are teething. At six months, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's going on. The process can take a very long time- you might not see the teeth for a while. Try giving her some Motrin before bed. I also agree with feeding her more before bed. That can make a HUGE difference.
A.,
All my kids went through this. It is usually related to teething, a growth spurt, change in appetite or an unknown factor that causes them to get up in the night for a while.
The trick is to remain consistent so that it doesn't become a permanent bad habit. If your baby does wake up, is fully awake and needs something, keep the lights out, don't talk, do the minimum amount to get her back to sleep. Feed her just enough to satisfy her and put her back in bed.
You can expect it to last a week, maybe two and she should go back to sleeping through the night. Also, if she has recently started taking naps in the car or the swing, that may be why she won't sleep well in bed. Babies are very capable of putting themselves back to sleep at the end of a sleep cycle, but if it is done for them (nursing, rocking, swing, car ride) they will become dependent on that very quickly.
Good luck,
S.
I'm thinking that she is teething. Also remember that is about the age that they start having separation anxiety.
It will pass. I really don't know what to tell you about putting her back in her own crib. I guess if you do it enough times and go in and assure her that she's ok. That your still around then maybe in time that will work.
Good luck!
Huggles,
J.
