Help!!! My 6 month old doesn't sleep through the night..

This is a tough one. If you haven't already done so, introduce food (cereal). And, I know other breastfeeding moms may disagree, but I used to nurse my kids right before bedtime and then top them off with a small bottle of formula for good measure.
Good luck - soudns like you're doing all the right things. The baby may just need to be more full before bedtime.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.

All babies are different. Some really do need to have more solid food in their tummies. My son was ready to give up breast feeding and eat solids around 9 months, and sleeping got a lot better after that. Another thing that helped my son was one of those musical soothers that hangs in the crib and he can turn on the music himself. Now when he wakes up at night, he turns on the music and goes back to sleep instead of crying for mom.

Part of waking up and crying for mom is habitual, too, so expect it to take some time before you are not getting up at all.

Susan is mom to Alexander, Isabel, David and stepmom to Eric. She does community outreach for arizonamoms. Have you checked the contest page for the latest giveaways?

I use to give my son a little rice cereal or fruit and then nurse him before bed. This assured me that he was full and should make it through the night. I did have to let him cry it out for a night or two because I think there bodies just wake up out of habbit.

Does she stay swaddled? My son was the squirmy type (still is) and would work his way out of the swaddling blankets and wake himself up. He slept so little ( I actually timed it as only 7hrs/24hr day at one point) and I slept even less, and I thought I would either go insane or literally die.

In despiration, I listened to a piece of advice that my Mom gave me me, I bought a Halo sleep sack and sewed the arm holes shut. I thought it was nuts, but what did I have to loose. The first night I did it, he slept 7hrs, and the only reason he didn't sleep more is that I bolted out of bed at 4am and raced to his room quite certain that he had died (his previous record for sleeping was 1.5hrs). Seems he still needed the swaddling support, but one that moved with him. After that he slept 10hrs a night and has been a good sleeper ever since. We kept the arm holes sewed shut until the following spring (4-5mo) and then kept him in the sleepsack arms out until it got too hot for him to wear it.

I am currently expecting #2, and he's going in the sleep sack as soon as he can get himself out of the blankets. I'm not messing around this time.

So this may not be the problem, and it may not work for you, but what do you have to loose?

If I could offer some advice. I don't know what your day-to-day schedule looks like, but a part of your babies sleep habits could be a result of scheduling.
My son is now 11mo old-and granted this is my first-but he was sleeping 12 hours at night by 3mo old. And it was all because of a book by the name of 'Babywise'. It's main points relate to a schedule, and the order your baby goes about the day. They say that the order your baby should do things is wake time, eat time, play time, sleep time. Do this consistently, and your baby's body will learn through this pattern to go throughout the night.
This may encourage you to get the book...my friend-who strongly encouraged me to apply these principles-has 4 kids, ranging from 6y-10mo. She applied these principles with all her children, and by the time they were 8 wks, they were going from last feeding around 10p to early morning (6-8a). The only reason my son was a bit late (3mo), was because I didn't avidly start until he was 2mo old.
There is still hope, and you can get your little one sleeping through the night. I'm sure you can go on Amazon and get the book for cheap, or even at baby consignment stores.
It seriously works. It also makes your baby so much happier, and it makes the worrying process easier. My son is so easy, and he ALWAYS wakes up happy.
FYI, I also am-and have been since day 1-breastfeeding. I didn't have to supplement because he was sleeping fine, and didn't start solids till 6mo (only because it was recommended to b/f strictly till 6mo).
This is just my thinking, and something else may work better for you and your child. Oh, one more thing, I tried to use the techniques from 'Happiest Baby on the Block', and nothing worked. In the early months, swaddling would help to calm him, but I was done swaddling by about 4mo.
Hope you get some relief.
Something else (so much to remember)...if you notice your child consistently waking the same time each night, try letting her cry it out. She may be waking out of habit instead of necessity. My son was doing that, and after only a few nights of crying it out, he was sleeping longer.

Sounds right. My baby got really really hungry at about 6 months, and that was the perfect time to start on solids for us. We bottle fed her, however she was still starting to get hungry so yep. Start that cereal, then you will get into other things, but it's all part of the process. Doing a good job their mom :-)

Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette

Our youngest was far from sleeping through the night at 6 months and to be honest, and to make things easier (really for me), his crib was still in our room at that time. He nursed at least 2-3 during the night. We did a lot of co-sleeping.

I did try wearing old t-shirts to bed and then saving them to put in the bed with him later so he could still sense my mommy-smell. That did tend to work when swaddling didn't.

I did try rice cereal but it didn't stick - he had a very high metabolism, so even though he'd sleep longer, he'd be up at 3-4 am hungry as a bear.

Formula does take longer to digest than breast milk. Another mom made the suggestion of breast feeding and then topping off with formula. To be honest, I am not sure if I ever tried that...it sounds like a good idea. I think the reason why I didn't think of it was because formula tended to constipate our youngest. If your little guy is the same, maybe try cutting with a little extra water???

Best of luck!

Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She spends most of her days juggling her duties as a mom, wife, and business owner. Her three little kittens range in age from 4 to 13.

My son who is now two had problems sleeping through the night for the first 22 months. It had nothing to do with food(he was already a great eater and big for his age) or too much nap time or anything like that. Babywise did not work for me either. Kids will sleep through the night when they(unfortunately, not you) are ready. Try some of these recommendations from the other moms, but also keep in mind that your child will do it when she is ready. I know it is hard and you are probably exhausted, but this too shall pass and you will miss this time of closeness. Cherish every minute. I can tell you from experience, I couldn't wait for him to sleep and I tried everything. Now, I miss middle of the night rocking and watching him lay in my arms with his little eyes shut and little mouth making a sucking motion. It all goes just too fast.....

You should understand that babies don't have the same sleep patterns as adults and that it's totally normal for a six month old to wake a couple of times during the night.I know it doesn't make it any easier now, but rest assured that she will eventually sleep through the night. Meanwhile, many breastfeeding moms find it is easiest to let the baby sleep in their bed. Then when she does wake, it's easy to just offer her the breast as sooon as she stirs, before she's fully awake, and nurse her right back to sleep. (The nice thing about this is that mama can go right back to sleep, too.) You should never let your baby "cry it out."

I have to respectfully disagree about the Babywise book.It has been criticized by hundreds of professionals in pediatric medicine, human lactation, psychology, anthropology, and child development.

Much better choices are Night Time Parenting by William Sears and The No Cry Sleep Solution, by Elizabeth Pantley.

Best of luck to you and your sweet baby.

Jenny

Jenny David
Doula, Childbirth Educator, Breastfeeding Counselor
www.valleychildbirth.com

This is all great advice. I have a question: does your baby have problems with ear infections or fluid in the ears? That also can cause wakefulness.

Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.

You child may be teething also. My son had a really long teething cycle with each set of teeth and with that came night wakefulness. If you find she is teething, try offering some homeopathic teething pellets before bed and maybe tylenol if it seems like there is some pain. It should help alleviate some of your night time trips to her room.

Yes, the bed that scoots up next to the parents bed is called a co-sleeper, and lots of families prefer using those to having the baby right in the bed with them.

And you're right, some do feel that sleeping with a baby is dangerous, but there is lots of research showing that, if done properly (and this is key) it is not only safe, but an optimal practice.

Here are links to a couple of really well researched articles about cosleeping. The first one talks about it from a cultural, historical, and child develpoment perspective, and the second one examines the research and addresses the safety issues:

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/sleep/small.html

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/sleep/kimmel.html

Of course, every family will decide what kind of sleep arrangement is best for them...

Getting back to the OP, I encourage you to check read this article on infant sleep...

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/sleep/fleiss.html

And, again, the practices recommended in the Ezzo book (babywise) are not what is best for your baby. I am a firm believer that everyone has a right to make decisions about what is right for their family, but those decisions need to be made with all the available information. Please read this about the Babywise books:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1998/08/cov_06feature.html

Peace,

Jenny David
Doula, Childbirth Educator, Breastfeeding Counselor
www.valleychildbirth.com

To Tricia...I don't want to tell you that what worked for my baby (as I stated earlier) will work for your baby. Just solely a suggestion.

And to azjen43...I am sorry you feel so strongly about what worked for my child. I am not telling Tricia to just let her child cry and cry for minutes or hours on end. Obviously that is not going to do anyone any good. I will say, though, that after my son crying for 10-15min 2-3 nights in a row, he had increased his sleeping time from 4hr to 6hrs.
And...my son was 1/2 pound shy of doubling his birth weight at his 2mo check up-strictly breastfeeding! Trust me, he was eating plenty. And has been doing great ever since.

Yes, I'm a Christian. But I'm as normal as anyone else here on this site. I didn't even realize that the book was written by a Christian couple till just a few months ago.
Please don't put down something that you may not agree with. You never know, it may help her child out. And if not, fine, there is probably something else Tricia's daughter needs.

I'm sorry if I caused any conflict. There was help being asked for, and I thought I'd put in my two cents.

You must be exhausted! You poor thing! I remember those days and although for some crazy reason I miss them, I certainly haven't forgotten how tired I would be!

I have not had to do this with my kids, however, a friend of mine in desperation (this is funny), took off her shirt and let her daughter have it. She went right to sleep. Maybe the scent in the shirt helped? Worth a shot amongst all this other wonderful advice.

Best of luck to you and stay strong. This phase will pass for your child.

:)

Aymee C. Buckhannon
Independent Executive
http://www.GilbertMom.com

Hi, I'm sorry you're so tired. I haven't sleep very much (consistently) since my child was born almost 2 years ago. It seems as though it's always something getting them up...hunger, teething, a cold or illness coming on, not enough sleep during the day.
I, personally never felt comfortable with letting him cry it out, even for a little bit. What we did when we were trying to get him off of his middle of the night feeding was my husband would go into his room to soothe him. Our son was not thrilled with this because he wanted me, and sometimes DH was in there for about 15 minutes, but after a few days the baby got the hint that I wasn't coming in and stopped waking up because he wasn't going to get what he wanted anyway.
I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but it worked for us. Keep in mind though, as I said in the beginning, teething, illness, change in routine (vacation) can cause the baby to wake again and you may have to start over.
Good luck!

I found that breastfeeding just did not fill my baby up. Unfortuantey I ended up having to switch to formula. I recommend starting solids, making sure your baby has a nice full tummy. And also have a routine (if you dont already). I also find that a bath before bed completely wipes him out and he sleeps all night. Another thing is to make sure your baby is warm enough? and maybe they are teething? I think that if nothing changes that maybe you should take your baby to a child health nurse or a doctor just to make sure they are not in any discomfort such as ear infections, ect. Good luck with everything!