How to help my 6 month old sleep through the night?

Question

My 6 month old still gets up twice a night and i was wondering if anyone had some advice on how to help him sleep throught the night.

Answer 1

Make sure he's well fed with a clean diaper just before putting him down for the night. Also, sometimes they sleep better/longer if you put them down a little later in the evening. We put our 6 month old in his crib around 10pm. Any earlier and he just thinks it's a nap and doesn't sleep all night.

Also, put him in his crib when he's still awake but sleepy. If he learns to fall asleep on his own, then he can learn to go back to sleep on his own when he wakes up in the middle of the night.

If he does wake up in the middle of the night, don't immediately go in to see him. Seeing you will make him wake up more. If he keeps crying, then you can go in and check on him. Don't turn the lights on or speak loudly. Speak softly and rub his back. Don't offer him a bottle or any food. Just comfort him. If he gets used to a bottle in the middle of the night, then he'll keep waking up in the middle of the night.

Hope that helps!

mari

Answer 2

Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. You'll be amazed at how quickly things change. I exclusively breastfeed and my son has been sleeping through the night since he was 6 weeks old. He's sound asleep by 8:30 or 9 and doesn't wake up for 9 hours to feed, then he sleeps another 3. This book is a total lifesaver and everything in it is so common sense. *edit* there's actually something to what the long-winded poster is saying. My son also falls asleep on his own, never in my arms, and that's one of the changes I made right before he started sleeping through the night. I know it's not a popular solution because we all like to cuddle our babies, but thier sleep cycles are much different than ours and need to be treated differently.

Answer 3

Okay, I have had to deal with two younger brothers and a sister growing up and now I have a puppy (which in all essence is the same thing just a different species). What I have found that helps is not letting your baby sleep as much during the day. Wake him up earlier and have him take shorter naps during the daytime. Or no naps at all. Basically, limit the times he sleeps during the day. If he doesnt take naps, which would be a little uncommon at that age, make him stay up later into the night, say bedtime is usually about 8, dont let him crash until 10. Also, make sure to feed him more during the day so he doesnt wake up hungry. My mother, when my siblings had a really hard time staying asleep, would have them sleep with her. I dont know if that makes a difference, and like I said, I have never really had a child of my own to deal with. But good luck and I hope I helped at least a little.

Answer 4

Take this answer from a father of three kids. There is nothing you can do to make a 6 month old sleep through the night. It's very common for babies that age to sleep 2 or 3 hours at a time, wake up crying (because of hunger of diaper) then sleep for another 2 or 3 hours. You simply have to live sleepless nights for another few more months. Around 9 or 12 months they begin a regular night cycle. I was a zombie when my kids were this age. So are you - get used to it. It's normal.

Answer 5

I feel for you! My 8month old still wakes up anywhere between once and three times a night. It is a massive improvement on the previous "up every 2 hours" though! She is slowly improving. What I did was get her into a strict routine at night. Tea at the same time, then bath, dressed for bed, cuddles with the family good night, milk feed then into bed with the same soft animal to cuddle (I also put lavendar oil on the toy). I think that sometimes babies just need security. Aside from that, check the reasons for him waking. My baby had a twisted diaphragm for a bit, causing pain. Is he crying really badly, screaming when he wakes? Or just an "I really miss my Mum, where are you please?" type cry? At about 6 months they go through a stage where they are changing a lot developmentally, seeing things in a different way, and can just be scared. If it continues try seeing an osteopath, but if it's a new thing, see how it plays out. Good luck!

Answer 6

Try alternating his schedule a little:

Like lighter meals during the day, so he wakes more frequently during the day, this will tire the baby more, and a heavier meal, oatmeal cereal lasts really long in the body(it's the fiber, makes one feel fuller longer, without a craving for anything, I still use this for my kids in the morning so they don't eat as much during the day). Also, bath him after the meal, and make sure he is nice a nd snug at night. This should help reduce how many times he awakes hungry.

Also, make sure you play with the baby more in the day, to awakenhim longer, this should help. And make sure you are sleeping when he;s sleeping. This will help you.

Even if he wakes up only once, you'll want to do the Happy Dance!

Oh, and try this, I had a nocturnal daughter. When she would awake at night, I would have a bottle ready, and no turn on any lights, this way she wouldn't be stimulated and want to play once her belly is full, and I would allow her to lay next to me, and I would ly there until she fell asleep.

It will get better, I promise, But I have some bad news also:

That nocturnal child, 16 now, still has the same bad habits, she stays up late, eats late, and awakes late if I let her. I think it's something in their internal clock! maybe she has brain damage.

LOL

Good luck with your new baby. Enjoy, the first years, the are the best!

Answer 7

First of all, congratulations for having a beautiful, healthy baby.

First, try to figure out why your child is waking through the night. If the child is teething, giving the child baby Tylenol or Advil in the correct dosage is helpful.

Is the child sleeping too much throughout the day? If so, shorten the naps or cut out a nap throughout the day.

Is the child hungry? At 6 months, the child should be eating solid foods as well as formula or breast milk and more food might satisfy him or her.

Is the child not feeling well? Colds, viruses, and ear infections can definitely keep a child from sleeping. A visit to the pediatrician might be helpful.

Is the child simply in the habit of waking up in the middle of the night? If so, you will need to help your child break this. If your child is healthy, not in pain, not hungry, allow the child to cry a few minutes. Then go to him and pat his back instead of picking him up. Then leave the room. Repeat this cycle until the child falls asleep. Each night the child should cry less and less, until he finally learns to fall asleep on his own.

Answer 8

I had the same problem with my daughter. We started feeding her rice cereal which helped some, but she will wanted to be hyper at night. After a month or so, a German friend ask me if I was feeding her any baby food with fruit and I was. She suggested that I stop giving her food with fruit after 3:00 in the afternoon. I took her suggestion and sure enough we started having better nights. Also, we kept her up a little later. She was just not meant to have a 7:30 bedtime like other babies. She's now a teenager and has always had a later bedtime than my other daughter. She's also found out on her own that fruit with it's natural sugars makes her a little hyper at night.

Hope this helps and you begin to get a little more sleep.

Answer 9

My daughter slept through the night at 6 days old. My son a few months. Every kid is different. The main thing is to remember what makes you comfortable & apply it to them. Something is waking the babe. At 6mo. it's hard. You may be tempted to load baby with food & formula but then the wet diaper is waking baby. It could be a neighbor depending where you live making noise. It could be congestion. It is normal for kids to wake. The problem is do you let the baby alone & let them soothe themselves back to sleep or do you rush in to soothe? You need to do one of the hardest things a parent has to do & let the baby cry a couple nights. It will make you want to curl into a ball & cry yourself but it works! After that they know you will not come in until it is time. I didn't know that with the 1st kid. Life was much better with the 2nd. Do it now before you are so sleep deprived you go insane. It works & you know when something is a habit that's hard to break? This is that time. Good luck!

Answer 10

Still not sleeping through the night at 6 months? Well, it's going to take some time readjustment, but his sleep during the day is what you have to change, just a little so he's not overly cranky, half hour shifting toward the later afternoon, also, a bath at the end of the evening, a full tummy and dry bottom is going to go a long way.

Answer 11

daughter is 4 months old and sleeps through the night (from 9-7am). She sometimes wakes up around 3 am. Depending on what time she went to sleep and how much she ate before going to sleep. And I give her a warm bath each night that helps her sleep better too. Good luck.
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