How can I help my 6-month old daughter sleep through the night?

Question

We have set a routine and we abide by it. She gets to bed by 9:15 every night after a massage and bath. She still wakes up 3-4 times a night. Anything you can offer will help. Thank you.

Answer 1

What do you do when she wakes up? Do you go hold her and try to do the routine again? Does she have a lovey or a binky?

Here is what we did to get our son to go to sleep and stay asleep. We made sure he had a lovey... in our case, it was a white baby blanket with satin edges. When we put him to sleep and he'd awaken, one of us would go in quietly, lay him back down, pat his back for no more than 15 seconds or so as I gave him the corner of the blanket (usually rubbing the satin across his cheek) then leave the room.

Don't talk. I'd let him cry for a few minutes, then I'd go in and do the same thing, then I'd wait 10 minutes or so. If he was still not calm, I'd repeat and then wait 15 minutes. Just keep it up until she goes to sleep and stays asleep. It might take 3 or 4 nights to do this, but be consistent and continue. She'll get the message.

Also, if she doesn't have a binky, consider getting one. My son didn't take a binky until he was 5 months old and then he was addicted to it until his first tooth came in at 10 months and then he spit out the binky, never to use it again. But when he was using it, we'd put 6 of them in the crib and if one fell out, he'd grab another one. I'd find all 6 of them on the floor the next morning. LOL!

Just find a few things that she can do to soothe herself, things she likes. Even a nice firm teddy bear at that age can work, just not too soft and nothing with eyes that are buttons or anything else she could choke on. When you go in when she cries, make sure to give her the lovey, run her hand over it. Hopefully, she'll take to it and then reach out for it when she awakens.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I have a 5 month and 3 1/2 week old baby girl. I limit her naps to 3 one hour naps a day and all before 5pm. If you let her sleep past 5 then she won't be truly tired for bedtime. I bathe her at 8:30p.m. with the bedtime shampoo and body wash and use the betime lotion on her afterwards. (I massage her heels because it's supposed to relax them...I'm not an expert though) then I give her a bottle with some rice cereal in it. She goes to sleep at 9:30p.m. and doesn't wake up until 6 or 7 in the morning. I do hope that something works out for you, I know what it's like to have to get up multiple times during the night. That is why I made this schedule for my daughter. Good luck.

Answer 3

My son is now almost six months old. There was a time when he would wake up at least 5-6 times each night. I followed a book called The Baby Whisperer Solves all your problems by Tracy Hogg. This is especially for people who do not want to try the cio method.We have now gone to waking up 2-3 times a night. The progress is slow but it is there. You just have to be firm and consistent about your approach. I hope this helps. Goodluck!

Answer 4

The best thing you can do is not feed her when she gets up. At 6 months old she doesn't need the food in the middle of the night. Rock her or soothe her somehow to help her get back to sleep, but no feeding! Her tummy will be retrained in a ew days. It'll be hard the first few nights. Also try putting her to bed earlier. Babies should be in bed by 8pm, and it actually helps them sleep better, when they go to bed on time. Good luck!

Answer 5

Immediately read a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth--a children's sleep specialist. We had a similar issue with our baby daughter, and most of the advice we got was not helpful ("she'll grow out of it", "deal with it") or just wrong ("limit her naps"). Waking up several times in the night usually does indicate that something is wrong and very often it means the baby is overtired. Because the baby is overtired, she can't get into a relaxed, deep sleep and therefore wakes up often. After reading select pages of Weissbluth's book, we tried just a couple things--an earlier bed time (Weissbluth recommends between 6 and 8 pm) and making sure she napped after a set period of wakefulness. Our daughter became a sound sleeper only 1-2 days after making these changes.

Answer 6

The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't want babies fed solid food until 4-6 months and then you have to feed it to them from a spoon not a bottle. The only reason a baby should be fed cereal in a bottle would be for acid reflux.

"During the previous generation or two, when bottle-feeding became very popular, rice cereal was often put into the bottle at a very early age. What were the results?

Most children seemed to thrive. A small number of children, though, did not tolerate the addition, because their sucking and swallowing actions were not yet fully coordinated. They inhaled small amounts of the rice cereal into their lungs, which led to pulmonary problems.

I’m much more concerned about a subtler issue. Babies are born with a wonderful mechanism for knowing how much food they need. During the early months, they take their cues from the volume of what they drink. Adding cereal derails this mechanism. It forces them to take in deceptively large amounts of calories. It teaches them to overeat.

By starting with a spoon, resting between bites, and stopping when your child lets you know he’s full, you will be laying an excellent foundation for good eating habits throughout his life.

A major study looking for the causes of obesity found that short-circuiting young children’s self-regulation of how much they eat is a major cause of later obesity.1 Cereal in the bottle does just that. "

"Scientists at the Cleveland Clinic studied the effect of cereal on sleep and found that adding the cereal did nothing at all to speed up the age of sleeping through the night. That first uninterrupted 6-hour stretch of sleep came no earlier in those who took cereal early."

If she is still hungry then you just feed him more milk not cereal! Babies have a tiny tummy and I think its very selfish of parents to put cereal in the bottle to make babies sleep more.

If she isn't hungry, I would do as someone else suggested. Go in there and comfort her for a few min and then leave.

And OMG DO NOT DRUG YOUR CHILD TO MAKE HER SLEEP. SOMEONE SHOULD REPORT HER!

Answer 7

before bed make her a 8 oz bottle mixed with cereal in it, it will keep her full longer so she wont be so hungry, make sure she is burped really well though so no gas. also put on some quiet soothing music and make sure the room is dark. dont get her in the habbit of "everytime i cry mommy or daddy comes to get me".....they pick up on that real quick, bad habbit to start. I know this sounds cruel but shes not gonna die, let her try to fall back asleep on her own first before you attomaticly run in there. Wait about 15 mins, if she still isnt asleep go in, make sure shes not wet or poopy, lay her back down and walk out, thats it :) good luck!

Answer 8

White noise or soothing music can help. The scent of lavender is known to help sleep as well. Get lavender scented soap, lotion or even a plug-in air freshener. Make sure she's not too hot or cold during the night and just keep trying. Sometimes babies just won't sleep. She'll sleep through the night eventually, we all do. :)

Answer 9

take some of her nap time away, make sure she is full before going to bed, give her a night light and some white noise.

My 3 month old sleeps all night, and he is the last of three. I have tried everything, and the biggest help is to not put him in his crib during the day to nap in, he has a sleeping area in the living room, and we make noise when he sleeps. To let a child sleep too much during the day, especially in the quiet, is going to make him confused on actual bed time.

Answer 10

Put her in the bed with you. She'll sleep thru the night. Believe me, my daughter has been ever since 3 1/2 months!!