How do I get my 6 mo. old to sleep through the night?

Question

She wants to nurse every 2 hours.

I started her on solids at 5 mo.

Answer 1

Stop nursing her every two hours if you're doing that. From now on, the first time she wakes up to nurse, don't pick her up, just go over to the crib and rub her back gently and just go "Shhhhh..." (If she takes a pacifier, put it in.) She might cry at first, but just don't pick her up. Rub her back, and then she should eventually fall asleep on her own. The NEXT time she wakes up, nurse her. Then the time after that, don't. Keep doing this, and then eventually, she should just start sleeping through what was her 1st and 3rd feeding. It might take anywhere from a few days to about a week or so, but it should work. That's how I broke my children of nursing every 2 hours.

Answer 2

She may be having problems putting herself back to sleep when she wakes up. Solids are not the answer if you and your baby aren't ready as others have suggested. My 6 month old breastfed daughter only wakes up once in a 10 hour period to nurse at night, and she only eats a teaspoon of cereal every now and then when she feels like it. Try rocking her when she wakes up without offering the breast to see if that helps to soother her. By all means feed her if she's hungry but try to gradually cut down the amount/length of time she's nursing at night. Good luck, and remember when she gets older she'll naturally nurse less and less. She's young yet.

Answer 3

Don't let people tell you that cereal is the answer. A recent study found no sleep benift associated with feeding cereal before bed. Sleep has everything to do with their stage of development. My son is 7 months old (breastfed) and only just last night slept the whole night. It was his time. Other babies are ready at other times.

That being said, is she eating because she is hungry or because she wants you? Breastfeeding is way more important to babies than just food. It's comfort, it's warmth, it's love. Maybe she just wakes up at night and wants company and you interpret that as needing to eat. Try just getting up and rocking her a little bit and see if she doesn't go back to sleep without nursing. Do you use a pacifier? If not, try one. At this point, breastfeeding is well established and a pacifier won't interupt it. If rocking and a pacifier works, try it for a week or two and then don't get her out of her crib any more. Try just patting and shushing her back to sleep in her crib with her laying down. If she doesn't tolerate all this from you, maybe she'll tolerate from your partner. My husband always gets my son back to sleep faster because the little guy doesn't expect daddy to whip out a nipple. :)

Answer 4

Mine never slept the night through until they were about 2 years old. Every two hours is about right when it comes to wanting to nurse, expecialy if your baby is going through a growth spurt. In another 6 months when your baby is eating more solids they will start sleeping longer.

Answer 5

As a mother of two, I suggest u put some oatmeal baby cereal in her diet. I started both of my boys on cereal by the age of 3 months, and I know most doctors will not agree, but this is the only way I could get any sleep at night. I would start her out with cereal 3 times a day, about 1-3 ounces, depending on how much she is willing to eat, mixed with juice or breastmilk, I found that they liked it better mixed with juice. U know breakfast, lunch and dinner. I think this will change her nursing habits dramatically. I would highly avoid the rice cereal, it caused excessive gas and constipation in both of my babies.

Answer 6

If you are breast feeding, supplement her with a formula bottle as her last feeding. Formula is heavier and tends to keep them more satisfied through the night. I know some people don't want to supplement. Also if she is not eating cereal yet maybe it's time. If she is given a cereal feeding before bed and a breast feeding she will sleep with a full belly. Worked every time for me and I have 3 that slept through the night from 3 months on. My 7 month old is sound asleep! Hope that helps!

Answer 7

Is she eating solid foods yet? If so, Some babies go through another stage of not sleeping through the night. She'll work it out, just keep her on a schedule and she'll start sleeping through the night.

Answer 8

maybe she's going through a growth spurt. Solids are just practice for the first year. I've found that cosleeping really helped my son sleep through the night, he just wanted the comfort of his mother. Good luck!

Answer 9

Your baby will ask to nurse when she is hungry. As she matures she will eat larger amounts at feedings and won't need to wake you as often. There is no real way to speed up this process, I know it is rough.
One thing we did was pumping and bottling, that way my hubby could take a shift once or twice in the night. This let me get a few more Z's.

Answer 10

I didn't read all your answers cuz you have a lot of reading to do so sorry if this was said before but does she put herself to sleep or does she fall asleep and then you put her down? Sometimes when babies wake up at night they don't go back to sleep cuz they don't know how... With my son at 2 months, I got him to go 8 hours without eating... he would eat more during the day... eventually he started sleeping 8 hours... I guess I would suggest that you let her put herself to sleep and try to feed her when she wakes up... crying themselves to sleep is SO hard to listen to but in the long run is better for everyone cuz eventually they will go to sleep without crying...
When she gets older and is using a sippy cup, I found it helped with both to go to bed with a sippy cup of water cuz they would wake up at night thirsty...