My 6 Month Old Has Stopped Sleeping!!! HELP

Does he have teeth yet? My kids all went through an awful stage around six months, and by kid number two I figured out it was teeth. They all seemed to come at once, and they had a real hard time sleeping at night. We did tylenol and baby orajel. Check out his gums if you haven't thought of it yet. If they are puffy and swollen, I'll bet he's cutting teeth.

I'd like to recommend The Baby Sleep Book by Dr. Sears. I found it highly useful in understanding my kids and their sleep patterns and how to get them to sleep well at night. Unless there's an underlying issue (like teething or sickness), I agree with another person who said it's most likely a phase. I don't agree with the crying it out group, although that works for some. I personally feel that your child is still learning that you will be there for him, and if you don't respond it may make him more upset (as he won't feel secure that his needs will be responded to). I think you can gradually wean your son out of waking in the night. A few tips that work for me with my six month old (and my older son when he was that age) - keeping the room dark when I check on him as he wakes up during the night (indiglo nightlights are awesome!) - I've also been giving him some cereal in the last two bottles of the day and finally, night time diapers with extra absorbancy help keep him drier at night (and asleep for longer stretches). Hope that helps. When all else fails, remember, this too shall pass and try to enjoy that extra one on one time with your baby.

Do NOT let him cry. That is mean, in my opinion. This is a phase.

Hi K.,
I love that book. I'm trying to remember what he says for this age. I believe that what you do is try to catch him before he gets too tired in the morning, no more than a couple of hours after he gets up for the day. Put him in his bed and leave him there for an hour, even if he cries. This is really difficult the first couple of days, and you have to distract yourself so you don't give in. There is another method, too, which involves going in to reassure him you're there, but not picking him up, but this I found even more difficult, and it took longer to get results. He may not sleep at all the first couple of times. If he doesn't, get him up and play, feed, whatever, and then put him down for a second nap earlier than you normally would. Same routine. Depending on whether or not he sleeps the second time, and how early in the day it is, you can do a third nap, or an early bedtime, like 5pm. But bedtime is bedtime, and you don't get him up til morning. This can be excruciating, especially the first night. I hesitate to pass on info. without you having the book in hand, because it sounds so cruel and cold-hearted, but the book explains it in sucha way that it makes sense and helps so much when you're wondering if you're doing the right thing. The premise is that sleep promotes sleep, thus the earlier bedtimes and not letting them get too tired before naptimes. I wish I could give you more specifics, but that's about the best I can do for now without getting the book and typing a whole chapter. Good luck.