when do you get to sleep again???

Question

My son is 6 months old, and we couldn't ask for more.....except for a little more sleep. He does better than when he was first born (when I was only getting 2 or 3 hours a night), but still I'm lucky to get 6 hours of sleep total (not all at once) I'm really tired, and I feel like I never get a break (my husband can't seem to get him back to sleep if he gets up with him) When do baby's start sleeping??

Answer 1

Hmmm by that point they usually start sleeping - not without frequent interruptions but for longer stretches of time. Actually usually around 4 months they start to settle down.

Mine sleeps 10-12 hours at night (still waking every 3ish hours to feed). Just so you know sleeping one 5 hour stretch is "through the night". He should also be napping during the day. You average 6 month old needs 14-18 hours of sleep.

I can't get back to sleep if I get up so if my baby has a fussy period in the early morning I am usually up. So sometimes my hubby gets up because he can nap at the drop of a hat. I have trouble napping but I find even laying down for an hour can help. So I have the opposite problem to you. I co-sleep because of this, if I had to get up every 3 hours and go into another room nurse and go back to bed. I would never get any sleep. You may want to consider co-sleeping OR even just putting the crib right beside your bed so he can see/hear/smell you. But only you know what is right for you and your family.

You should read some Dr Sears ( www.askdrsears.com ) and KellyMom ( www.kellymom.com ) they help me a lot without causing me to compromise my parenting values. I believe it is best to work with the baby to develop healthy attitudes to sleep and eating for a lifetime, not for my convenience. And that means to CIO or force feeding.

One of these articles will probably help you a lot depending on your baby:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070900.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070400.asp

But browse around. Best of Luck.. (umm and it gets a lot better when they turn 30 years old ;-) )

Answer 2

Our son is almost 5 months, and girlfriend, I feel your pain! He doesn't sleep throught the night, not even close. If you're breastfeeding, that makes it a lot less likely. There is no magic age when babies sleep. Some sleep from the very start, others take months and months. The only consolation is knowing that it WILL happen. Until then, use your husband as much as you can to help you, and nap during the day if that's possible. And most importantly, don't listen to those who tell you that your baby really should be sleeping by now. Yes, that would be nice, but each child is an individual. And there may come a point at which you'll do some "sleep training" and let your child fuss it out a little on his own, but until then, just know that this too shall pass! Good luck!

Answer 3

each baby is different some sleep through rite away and some take a while. If you have only one child and can sleep when the baby sleeps do so,forget the dishes vacuuming and anything else that will keep.If your husband can't get him back to sleep try getting him to get up with him in the mornings,so you can get a little more sleep.I breast fed both my boys so my husband could not get up in the middle of the night as he did not have the rite equipment so to speak.So in the morning when if he did not have to be to work early or had the day off I would wake up nurse the baby and then hand him over to daddy and go back to bed even if it was only for and hour.Or if you have 2 and can't nap during the day when your husband is gets home make sure the baby is fed and happy and again just hand him over to daddy and take a quick nap. It will get better I promise. It just takes a little time.

Answer 4

Some babies just don't follow the rule of babies should sleep through the night by a certain age...my son didn't sleep through the night until he was almost three and there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. It's exhausting but be thankful you have your husband there...I was a single mom and he woke up every two hours until he was 18mons and then every fou hours until he was about three. have you tried any homeopathic remedies. Hylands brand homeopathic meds has a great website that offers a lot of natural remedies for sleepless babies. Good luck to you and your husband and I promise you will look back some day and laugh at this

Answer 5

Every time I hear someone's story like yours, I count my blessings. My five month old has slept through the night since he first came home, my older two it was different, but this time I got lucky. The only advice I can really give you is to try not to pick him up as it will make him more aleart (make sure that he is well fed before laying him down with bottle or nursing and cereal, you should have ok from doc by now to be giving him solids so that he is not waking up hungry)-but not right before you lay him down, like maybe 45 min to an hour before. Also, I am assuming that he has no trouble falling asleep, but one thing that I can say about this is to put him down where ever he sleeps while he is still awake, otherwise him waking in a different place then where he fell asleep may startle him. When he does wake don't pick him up, give him his nuk if he uses one or another soothie that helps him to fall asleep, and stay with him, let him hold your finger or place your hand on his stomach so that he knows you are there, try singing or talking to him softley. If this works in a few days, trying breaking the contact between the two of you, stay in the room talking or singing, few days later just stay by him quietly, few days later, just give him his soothie and stand in the doorway, few days later just give him the soothie and leave (stand outside the doorway if it makes you feel better) and slowly hopefully you will get more sleep each night until you are finally sleeping all night long. Another option would be to let him just cry himself back to sleep when he wakes, but I don't like that way it made me feel terrible the first time I tried it with my oldest and I vowed I would never do it again, there is nothing worse then laying in bed crying yourself to sleep because of the guilt you feel over not going to your child when he/she is telling you that they need you. Best of luck, hope this helps.

Answer 6

my son is 9 months and started sleeping through the night at 4 months .
well then teething started and i am lucking if i get 3 hours of sleep .so Babbie sleeping patterns change but most babies sleep through the night around 6 months

Answer 7

Ok, I know this sounds cruel but.........leave him cry it out! I had a nurse tell me that we should put him to bed at 730pm and if he cries let him cry himself to sleep. He is relying on you to gain slumber. This was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but it worked. My son is now 3 yrs old and goes to bed EVERY NIGHT at 730pm. He does not get up until 7am. And sleeps thru the night. only when he's sick does he wake up. it will happen and remember that sleeping thru the night for a baby is more than 5 hrs. there should be frequent naps and also when he naps so should you. take turns w/ your husband on the weekends.
BTW, do u still breastfeed? This can be another reason as breastmilk does not satisfy as much as formula. But, don't stop the beast if this is the case.

Answer 8

All babies are different and tend to sleep through the night when they want to. Luckily your son is 6 months old and is at the age to self-soothe. Let your son cry it out and soon he will be sleeping through the night. Good Luck.

Answer 9

You don't get to sleep through the night without waking up at all until the child is about 2 years old, and even then it's not every night. My 2 1/2 year old little girl just came into my room last night when it was still dark, snuggled up next to me, put her arms around my neck, and said "I love you, Mama." I wouldn't have missed that for the sleep I missed.

You should be getting more than six hours total, though. Is that all he is sleeping? He should be waking up to nurse and then going back to sleep. When you nurse it helps make relaxing hormones that should help you go back to sleep. Will he sleep if he put him in your bed with you once he wakes up? A lot of parents find that helps. It's also nice not to have to get up. When my daughter woke up at night, it was so easy to roll over, nurse her, then we'd both fall back asleep. We didn't put her out of our bed until she was capable of waking up and walking into our bed if she needed us so we wouldn't have to get up. Obviously we'll still get up and go to her if she's sick or something, but if she just wants company she comes in and snuggles with us and we all go back to sleep. It will be awhile before you get eight hours uninterrupted, but you definitely should be getting more than that total even now, and you should be able to do it without having to make your son cry. A six-month-old needs more than six hours a night. If he gets up super early, you might have to go to bed earlier to get the sleep you need.

Answer 10

My daughter slept through the night at 4 months. She would go to sleep at 9 and wake up at 8.