My babies are 6 month old and dont sleep throughtout the entire night?

Question

My babies almost 6 month old. I feed (baby food) them very well before bed. I put them to sleep between 7-7:30 or sometimes 8. They wake up at 2 and then again at 5. I mean shouldn't they sleep more then 3 hours after 2. I mean what should i do, i even put cereal in their 2 am bottle, but they still wake up. I hardlyy sleep anymore, i thought they would grow. And when i do leave them at 5, they roll-over the bed and play. What should i do, it getting crazy.

Any advice

Answer 1

I'm sorry that you are feeling overwhelmed but what you are describing is entirely normal. When people speak of a baby sleeping through the night they usually mean 5-6 hours (particularly doctors).

Your babies will sleep longer when they are ready, you can't force it. And feeding them cereal isn't helpful and is possible making the problem worse.

http://kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html
Sadler S. Sleep: what is normal at six months?
Prof Care Mother Child 1994 Aug-Sep;4(6):166-7.

In this study, part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC), researchers surveyed the parents of 640 babies. Some of the results:

* Only 16% slept through the night at six months old -- 84% were not sleeping through the night at 6 months
* 17% woke more than once per night, ranging from twice to eight times
* 5% woke once every night
* 9% woke most nights
* 50% woke occasionally
* 16% of six-month-olds had no regular sleeping pattern



Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children.
Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.

The above study is the definitive work on sleeping habits of (Australian) children to 38 months. The researchers surveyed 3269 parents, with a 96.5% response rate, over a one week period. The parents had to report on their child's sleeping habits over the past 24 hours, plus answer a few questions related to their perceptions of their child's sleep behavior.

What did they find?

* There is a wide range of normal childhood sleep behavior.
* Circadian rhythm is not well established until four months of age.
* Daytime sleep becomes less regular with increasing age, the most marked reduction in length occurs around 3 months of age. However, a surprising 11% under 3 months of age don't have a daytime sleep every day.
* Frequent night waking that disturbs parents is common from 4-12 months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night).
* Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months.
* Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their child's sleep behavior.
* Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. It is not until after 24 months that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less common.

Although this study did not address breastfeeding, it is relevant because a lack of understanding of "normal" sleep patterns can lead to supplementing, early solids, belief there is not enough milk, etc. The authors claim it also leads to misdiagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) and overuse of sedative medication. A worrying 31% of 25-38 month-old children were disciplined (mostly smacking) to get them to settle. 27% of parents let their children cry, 11% at less than one month.


8 INFANT SLEEP FACTS EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp


31 WAYS TO GET YOUR BABY TO GO TO SLEEP AND STAY ASLEEP EASIER
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp

Answer 2

My son started sleeping through the night at four months of age -- then stopped at five months. My daughter on the other hand, would rarely wake up in the middle of the night, and pretty much slept from 9pm to 8am every night by nine months. Why? Not a clue. Some kids sleep through the night early on, some don't.

I wouldn't be surprised if, with twins, when one wakes up, the other does too. It could be that "twin A" always wakes up first, or that they "take turns" being the first to wake up. IF you can, you might see if there's a pattern there. Also -- while I'm no fan of the "cry it out" school of thought, that doesn't mean you have to fuss over them and play with them at 2am. Make sure they're okay, change them or feed them if that's what they need, but don't make it fun, either. And then get back to bed.

Just know that they WILL grow out of this. We never thought our son would, but he did. The baby who couldn't sleep through the night is now a school age kid who has to be woken up in the morning.

Answer 3

It's not uncommon for 6 month old babies to wake up during the night. Stop putting cereal in their bottles. That is an old wives tale. It could be upsetting their stomachs. But really, they probably just wake up to eat (all they need during the night feeding is formula or breast milk). Try waiting until about 8:30 to put them down and they might sleep a little longer. They will grow up before you know it. For now you just have to be patient. You may hear lots of people say their 6 month old babies sleeps through the night, but lots don't. I always considered mine to sleep through the night if they slept from around 8 until 11 and then went back to sleep until around 5. I'm kind of a night owl and I rarely get to bed before 11 anyway. If your babies are sleeping from 8 until 2, that's 6 hours. At six months you can't expect them to sleep longer than six hours at a time.

Answer 4

Not all kids do...every child is different and will have different sleep patterns at different points in their life...some kids sleep right though at 6 months, some not till a year, some never do.
Do not put cereal in their bottle though - it is deemed bad pratice by both Drs and dentists as it can lead to decay due to the way a bottle rests against the gum line and can also cause lazy mouth motor skills...it is an old suggestion that is no longer recommended.
Going to bed on a very full tummy might also be a cause of the issue, but it might just be nature...my little one never slept through the night much before one...and is still not a good sleeper...thats the nature of being a parent -each child is different and as long as they are developing normal and are healthy, it might just take more time!
One tip...try a drop of lavender essential oil on their PJs...it helps promote good sleep! Make sure the room is well ventilated and they are not too hot or cold and establish a regular bedtime routine!

Answer 5

They are use to being feed at 2am. Maybe give them a nice warm bath before bed and give them the baby food earlier and after the bath give them a bottle of warm milk and put them to bed about 8:00 and when they wake up at 2 just check if they did not make a BM or have a wet diaper and leave the room, see if they can go back to sleep on their own. At first since they are use to being fed at 2 you might just wean out the bottle a little bit at a time. (If they are in separate rooms,if you can) they won't wake each other up, or tend to play at 5am. but try to get them to get themselves back to sleep at 2 and at 5 try to wait till 5:15 before you go into their room then 5:30 etc... make it later and later and eventually they will sleep a little longer, also give them shorter naps during the day and take them out alot. Lots of luck to you

Answer 6

I would suggest keeping them up later. I have a baby who is almost 5 months old. His last feeding is around 7:30-8pm then he plays for awhile and he's in bed 9-9:30pm at the latest. He sleeps till 7-7:30am. Once in awhile he will wake up in the middle of the night. When this happens I don't get up. I let him fuss and usually within 5 mins he's back to sleep for the rest of the night. They need to learn to self satisfy so letting them fuss a little won't hurt them. Its like you and I we toss and turn some nites but are right back to sleep. Hang in there Mommy! It will get better.

Answer 7

I would definitely keep them up longer (maybe 9pm) and make sure that they are in a routine at bedtime. For mine it was cereal, bath, pj's and bed. Do they fall asleep on their own or do you wait for them to be sound asleep before you leave the room? Play some soft music and get them used to falling asleep on their own, if you can. That way, when they wake up they can comfort themselves and go back to sleep. You might also want to check out www.opmom.com. There's a wealth of info there and a very supportive group of members.

Answer 8

MY 6 MONTH OLD IS WORSE

He stays up all night and goes to sleep at 9 in the morning and then wakes up at 12 and goes back to sleep til 3 then stays up til 9 again.

I dont think there is really anything we can do until the baby changes their own schedule because you dont want to try to change it yourself because it causes stress.

I wish I had some more answers but I am in the same boat.

Answer 9

Sounds like they're sleeping well to me! If you want more sleep then you should either go to bed when they do or put them to bed later, when you plan on getting some sleep.

It's not good to put cereal in their bottles... that's not why they're waking.

Answer 10

That's normal. Actually, when a doctor asks youif your baby is "sleeping through the night" they don't mean the typical 8 hours we associate with that term. They mean 5 hours straight. So... sounds like your baby's ARE sleeping through the night.

Condiser yourself lucky. My oldest woke up every 2-3 hours for the first year!