6 Month Old Stopped Sleeping Thu the Night

Well, our Pediatrician said: that for the 1st year of life, to nurse on-demand. A baby is growing and changing developmentally, so rapidly and intake has to keep up WITH baby. The first year of life, is a building-block time.

I really do not agree, with your Pediatrician about not, nursing him.

He may also be teething.

He is also changing developmentally.

MANY things, occurring at the SAME time. Thus, it makes it hard for a baby to sleep.

He is, growing.
He needs to nurse, and on-demand.
Babies also 'cluster feed' which means they may even need to nurse every single hour. NORMAL.

Solids, for the first year, is NOT a replacement for nursings.
It is only an 'introduction' to foods and eating.
Nursing and on-demand, still has to occur.
You need to nurse on-demand... not by a schedule. Otherwise, he will not be getting enough intake.

AND at growth-spurts, they need to nurse, more.
6 months is a major growth-spurt period.
Every 3 months, is a growth-spurt in a baby.
So at about 9 months, will be another one, and then at 12 months, 15 months and so forth.

My kids as babies, nursed every 3 hours max, and often less.
I nursed on-demand, 24/7, day and night.
They grew like weeds.

This happened with both of my babies. My daughter STILL doesn't like to sleep through the night, and shes about 18 months. When it happened to me, our midwives said that it was normal, and that we had a few options. We could bring them into bed with us, and nurse them back to sleep. With the baby attached to my boob, she never really woke up all the way, and so I didn't wake up much either. This is what we've ended up doing, and my body adjusted. It makes it harder to detach alter though, so yeah. Or you could do exactly as your pedi says, and try and let him cry it out. We've tried that some too, and it breaks my heart to hear the death screams. If he has any sort of experience with any sort of bottles of sippy cups, perhaps letting him have one in the crib. I am a stay-at-home Mom, so having a weird sleep schedule is ok for me, but if you're working, I feel your pain with the lack of normal sleep. Just keep trying, babies and mothers adjust. We have to. That's why we're super heroes. ;)

Your pediatrician's advice surprises me. All the young moms I've talked to lately tell me the advice they get is that during growth stages, hunger can increase and change sleep cycles. Because your son sleeps after nursing for 3 hours until his next wakeup, that suggests to me that hunger was the issue. He can't help being hungry, and I find that even as an adult, I can't "self-soothe" back to sleep if I wake up from some discomfort, which can include thirst or hunger.

Solids don't actually keep a baby content longer. It seems they should, because they're "solid," but in truth baby cereal is entirely fast-digesting, fast-metabolizing carbohydrate (with very little nutritional value). It does not satisfy for nearly as long as a higher-protein, higher-fat food like breast milk or formula. Especially if filling up on cereal leaves less room for nursing, your son is more, not less, likely to wake up hungry. And many babies are also uncomfortable while their digestive systems learn to handle the new solids.

The first year is so challenging, because just about any little thing can bring on changes in a baby's needs and patterns. Somehow or other, moms survive it, and look back on it with longing.

It is normal for babies to do this.....let him cry for about 10 - 15 minutes (which will seem like an eternity) but actually LOOK at the clock and wait 10 - 15 minutes before you go in there. Calm him down, and then put him back to bed.....if you keep getting him up to nurse him, he is going to learn a new schedule and then you are going to be up every night for a long time!! I know that when I am waiting - I will look at the clock, close my eyes, my stomach turns.....and I think it has been forever, open my eyes, it has only been a minute or two......hang in there!! And be consistant!

My issues with my DD started around age 4-5 months. Slept thru from 6 weeks until then and then BAM--waking up all the time. Thought it was teething (she didn't get her first tooth until age 10 mths...) I too didn't want her to cry so I would go and comfort her only to have her wake up again a few hours later. Could it be a growth spurt? If so, try nursing more frequently during the day. If you rule out growth spurt, very simply remember your baby is now smart enough to expect the same treatment you give him the last time he woke up:) You nurse him and he will expect nursing. If that is fine with you then bring him to bed and nurse. That was not fine with me because I knew she didn't need to eat and I was started my own business around that time so I needed uninterrupted sleep. I used Baby Whisperer-didn't have to let her cry it out and it gave me a model to follow to help her fall back asleep without the boob:) You have to balance your own needs and his. So don't worry about spoiling him and don't worry about traumatizing him either--there's got to be a balance. I didn't start remedying the pattern I started until she was 7months old and it took a few months to get her sleep routine down. From age 4 months to 11 months she probably slept less then she does now at age 3! It took hard work on my part but I am so glad I did, it makes her once in a while sleep issues in toddlerhood much easier to deal with.

Well my little ones did this at different times and I just nursed or bottle fed back to sleep and my older two sleep just fine now at 4yrs and 6yr and have for years and my 13 month old sleep just fine now also! Do what you need to do you little one is doing just fine

I have no idea, but you are not alone! I'm right there with you! (have a 6 month old)