How do i get a 6 month old who is now 100% bottle fed to sleep through the night?

Question

He was breastfed up until about 2 weeks ago and now refuses the breast. He wakes up 2 to 3 times a night. Sometimes to just play.
I am not one to "just let him cry it out"

Answer 1

Hi! I went through the same thing. Mine is three now. I read the Baby Whisperer and it worked like a charm. A few things that were in it was, one- if he wakes up at the same time every night, you can go in for the first couple of nights and just rub his back right before the time he usually wakes up. This will kind of ruin his own mental clock and natural urge to wake up. Don't do it at the exact same time, it will create a new mental clock for him. Only do this a couple of nights as well. When you are waking him up, only wake him up enough for him to know you are there. Try not to wake him up so that he wants to play. He needs to stay a little groggy to sleep well the remainder of the night.
I also remember that he woke up at that age because the formula was not enough to keep him full through the night. He is about to the age where rice cereal should be introduced if you have not already. I fed Bo this about 30min before bed and it REALLY helped to fill his tummy. It actually made him sleepy too! DO NOT PUT THE CEREAL IN THE BOTTLE though. this is one of the most common mistakes mom's make. They will get used to having that full feeling from the bottle and it wil be much more difficult to start feeding solid foods with a spoon. Cherios are also a good thing to introduce at this age! Good luck!!!!!

Answer 2

At 4 months you can start rice cereal so this should be no problem. Get a bottle with a Y cut nipple. Put a little bit of cereal in the formula that you feed him. Don't get it too thick or it won't be drinkable, but it should be like smoothie thickness. This will take longer for his body to digest keeping him asleep longer. If he is taking all of his night time bottle he might need more to sleep longer. Also if he is not hungry in the middle of the night and just wants to play. Don't get him. Let him cry and go back to sleep. A few nights to a week of this he should stop waking up. Don't let him cry indefinably (any longer that 20-30 min and something is probably wrong).

Answer 3

All babies wake up several times during the night for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they want/need your attention and sometimes they don't. However, if you know for sure the baby is not sick, pamper is clean/dry, and he's not hungry, there is nothing wrong with letting him cry it out for a little while. At 6 months old, yes it IS possible for your baby to be spoiled and it IS a game to see how many times he can make you appear out of thin air. Also, if he sleeps in your room, now would be a great time to put him in his own.

Answer 4

Honestly, I think that if you are unwilling to let him cry for a little bit without getting him right away, then you might be stuck. We ALL wake up every night, but we roll over, go right back to sleep and don't even remember it in the morning. If your little boy is used to waking up and getting up rather than going back down, then that's what he'll continue to do, I fear.

I hope I'm wrong, for your sake, because any of us moms knows how much easier life gets once you get a full night's rest with no interruptions. Who knows, maybe he'll grow out of it. Maybe the advice you're getting to just make sure he's good and tired at night will do the trick. But in my experience, with my own children, I needed to let them cry for a few minutes, then go in, calm them down, and firmly tell them that it was still nighttime that they had to go back to sleep (and at 6 months, I am convinced that they understand what this means). If they cried after that, I let it go for another 5 or 10 minutes and did the same thing, until they went to sleep. If it dragged on more than 1/2 hour, I gave them water to help, but this rarely happened with my kids because they were soothed enough by fingers or a pacifier to get back to sleep with the help of that.

So if you don't want to let that kind of process happen, then I think you just have to do what others have suggested... get him nice and tired, and hope for the best. I really do hope you get what you're looking for! Good luck!

Answer 5

First, a lot of people are going to recommend putting cereal in the baby's bottle at night. Some people say it works, other people say it doesnt make a difference, but pretty much all doctors agree that its a bad idea.
As for your question... My pediatrician told me that at six months my baby didnt "need" to eat during the night anymore and that I could start letting him cry it out, BUT it was just too hard for me. Around the 8 month mark I was finally so sleep deprived that I tried "crying it out in stages". You let him cry for 5 minutes, then go check on him without picking him up. Then you wait 10 minutes, then 15, all the way up to like 30 minute intervals. It killed me at first but by the 2nd night my son was only crying for a total of about 20 min. and by the end of about a week he was sleeping through the night.
OR
If you just cant bring yourself to let him cry then you can try this other method I read about. It's called "systematic awakening". You keep track of when he's waking up for a few days and then you start setting your alarm for 30 min. before you expect him to wake up. You go in his room, wake him up and do whatever you normally do when he wakes up. Gradually expand the time between the "systematic wakenings" and then begin to eliminate them. Within a few weeks you should be able to begin phasing them out entirely.
It takes longer than crying it out and requires quite a bit of effort on your part but its supposed to work just as well.
The book "what to expect the first year" has good information on what they call "crying it out all the way", "crying it out a little at a time (stages)", and "systematic awakening". Hope this helped!

Answer 6

I know it is hard.it was for me,but you have to let him cry for at least 5 minutes other wise he'll always depend on you to put him back to sleep.don't let him play. Don't even turn on the light when he wakes up. I use a night light. you can try to put a little cereal in his night bottle and make sure the cereal can get out. that way he'll be full and sleep longer. good luck

Answer 7

I had to start my son on solids. I give him some cereal before bed. He gets 2-3 tablespoons made with the formula that I make to give him after he eats the cereal. He is 5 1/2 months old and it works wonderful~

Answer 8

I understand how you feel about not letting him "just cry it out" but he does know that if he cries you will come get him. When you do go to him don't let him play. Check on him to make sure nothing is wrong (he is only 6 months old)....he might be teething so check for a fever and give him baby Tylenol if needed or he might be wet. If he just wants to play, don't take him out of his crib. He will learn to entertain himself. Otherwise, it just takes time to sleep through the night.

Answer 9

Try keeping him busy through the day, so he's tired at night. After his last nap for the day try to keep him going and wear him out before he goes to bed. Also the cereal does make it heavier in the stomachs.

Good Luck!!

Answer 10

Wake Him EARLY. Give him an EARLY nap (before 3:00pm at the latest) and keep him up a little later than usual. Keep this up for a few days and it will reset his sleep clock.