6 Month Old Waking Several Times at Night

What helped with my daughter is solid food before bed. Baby food...maybe oatmeal cereal, something that will stick with him...

A., my son is almost 9 months old and he is still waking in the night. I have tried feeding before bed,just letting him cry,everything the doctor and everyone told me..the one thing i didn't think of was pain. If you son is teething or has an ear infection or something..try giving him some baby tylanol..or just baby orajel..My son was teething really bad and i never thought to do the orajel..when i did he only got up once. also the doctor told me he will sleep when he is ready..on and ending not..if you have done everything you can..even though it's rough..just let him cry...

seriously try teh rice cereal. my dd was on teh AR lipil which has the added cereal in it when i quit nursing and i switched to the next step lipil a few weeks ago and she quit sleeping through the night and we figured it out that it was from not having a *full* bottle anymore before bed. SHe eats 3 meals and one snack a day and her bottles and juice but she was use to going to bed with a FULL tummy that we have added rice into her bottle and bam she's been sleeping through the night again all week long. I pour my rice into empty formula cans and save the scoop and i use a scoop per 4 oz.

hI A.,
aT SIX MONTHS OLD? iS SHE EATING ANY CEREAL BEFORE BED? iS SHE WAKING TO EAT? IF SHE IS, SPOON FEED HER HER FIRST EREAL, BEGIN WITH RICE AND USE IT FOR ABOUT A MONTH AND THEN CHANGE TO SOMETHING ELSE. MOST OF THE TIME THEY WAKE UP CAUSE THAT MILK JUST ISNT ENOUGH. TRY IT AND ;LET ME KNOW

My son slept all night long till about 6 months then he woke up a few times at night. Now that we are one we have our good nights and a few bad. I have gave tylenol to help him sleep some nights. But I do put oatmeal in his formula to thicken it up so that way he has a full stomech at night. I found rice was not thick enough it is actually to thin. So try mixed or oatmeal cereal!

Good luck. Just remember there is sleep at the end of the tunel..lol

Dear sleepless, I know what you r going through. I have a set of 15 moth old twins, the little girl is an angel when it comes to sleep but the boy has been a challenge. He never slept more than 4 hours until he was 14 months old. I did not think I could take it much longer, everyday you think this but somehow make it another day. I tried everything even letting him cry, but that didnt last long because they need to know were there when they need us. I think it has alot to do with personality. And if its any help as soon as he became more active he was able to sleep alot better. He still has his nights but for the most part sleeps all night. Just remember thier only this little once, and try to overlook the sleepless nights and treasure the time you have with him.

Maybe he needs something more for his feeding right before he goes to bed. You could either pump and put a little formula in with it to make it a bit thicker, or you can pump and put some infant cereal in it to give him a bit more. I hope you can figure somthing out so you can get some much needed sleep!

It sounds like you either need to shorten naptime during the day or change his feeding schedule. I have a six month old too, and she still doesn't sleep through, but when she does wake I can just rock her a minute and she sleep again. Are you sure you're giving him enough cereal, fruits and veggies? I make sure to give mine plenty just before naps and bedtime. This prolongs the time between feedings and keeps her asleep longer, but hey, every kid is different. So, try some different things or maybe all of them! Good luck and sweet dreams. ~Liz

Sounds like you need to cut down on naps during the day and feed him more in the evening. Something more substantial than just breastmilk, like cereal.

Or he just has got in a habit of a late night snack. If that is the case he just knows you are going to accomodate him. Like you said, you eventually go to him. He won't cry all night. And if he did he would get the point. If you can't stand to hear him cry for long periods, I for sure wouldn't feed him when you went in there.(assuming he got what he needed before being put down to sleep) He's getting rewarded for the fits.

It is so tough!!! Good luck!!

I remember when both of mine did this. I modified the night time situation so they didn't *want* to get up. Both girls liked warm milk, so if they got up in the middle of the night I gave them cold milk which they only took a few sips of. They realized there was nothing good to drink during the night so might as well wait til morning.
The rice cereal didn't work too well for us but we gave pears or peaches as a snack about 45 minutes before the last milk.

A., I feel for you. I have an almost 12 month old that sounds alot like your 6 month old. I would suggest reading a book called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. It has given me many great suggestions other than just letting him cry it out!! Good Luck.

How is your nightly routine? Is there a consitant thing that happens that clues him in that it is time for bed...such as bath and books? My daughter was a great sleeper until about 6 months old! Is he growing or learning something new? All of that could cause him to wake up. Also, I suggest Elizabeth Pantley No Cry Sleep Solution book.It is wonderful and has a lot of helpful hints in it. It helped me a lot and my daughter is also one of those that crying it out didn't do much good because she would just work herself into a frenzy.
Good luck.

Funny you should bring that up. My son is almost 6 mos. and has been doing the same thing off and on. He'll have a good night here and a bad night there. Just yesterday, after getting up with him for over a week, I read an article that said that sometimes babies tend to have a more wrestless sleep and will get up more often if they're over tired...doesn't make much sense, I know. Anyway, the article recommended putting the baby down a half hour earlier. So I did, and he slept from 8:30 last night to 6:00 AM this morning. Now, I don't know what will happen tonight, but I can tell you just one night makes a difference. Good luck!

Oh dear. I am in a moms group and none of the new babes sleep thru the night. Dont know where the idea that babies like to sleep comes from. Please tell me that you are not leaving him to cry for an hour without any kind of checking in though? I have to do the check in bit with my 7 month son every 15 mins after he wakes or he is so upset that he is inconsolable. Leaving a baby an hour is not a good thing and is cruel. Be patient. He will sleep eventually.

Hi A.. My baby girl did the same thing. I finally just put her to bed and didn't go in until the morning. She did cry for a few nights and it was hard, but then she started sleeping all night without a peep. If you let her cry, but then go in after an hour it makes her expect you to come in and she will cry. You could try going down to just one feeding a night if you don't feel like she is ready to go all night. I did this, but baby girl still woke up several times. I know some people don't agree with cry it out, but for some babies it is all that works. Sleep is so important for their little bodies and for you. Pretty soon she will be sleeping like a pro and wake up rested and ready for the day!

I nursed both of my children and I am still nursing our youngest, 10 months old. The only piece of advice I can give you is to make sure that he's not just waking up and wanting to use you for a pacifier to go back to sleep. When you nurse him make sure he's getting a full feeding and not getting just full enough to get back to sleep. Keep him awake, get him full and maybe he'll stay asleep longer.
Good luck

Hi A.,

I am going through the EXACT same thing with my son. The rice cereal may work for others, but if your baby is like mine, he is nursing for comfort and the need for you to help him fall asleep. I tried rice and oatmeal cereal in a bowl and a bottle....neither worked. I have had some success by using a bottle during the night. It took him 2-3 nights to realize I wasn't going to give in and nurse). I keep a bottle warmer in his room (one that you can keep bottles in there with an ice pack). This helps get the bottle ready fast....so he doesn't fully wake up. He usually takes 4-6ozs. Then a give him a binkie until he is really asleep. We went from being up several times to just one 15 min episode (midnight). My plan is to wean him from this bottle in a few weeks.

P.S. It might help if you have dad do this...if he's home. Mine travels too much to help me!! Good luck!! Don't give in!

Dear A.:
The baby books don't approve of this, but the only way I found to get enough sleep was to keep the baby in our bed when he wouldn't sleep on his own. I kept our first one in the crib and he went to sleep and stayed asleep with no problem, but our second one didn't sleep the whole night through and I found I didn't have the heart to let him cry it out, plus it upset our older child. When he was old enough to toddle, I put his crib mattress on his bedroom floor and I would nurse him to sleep lying down. When he woke up in the night he would get up and come in our room, climb into bed with us, nurse to sleep, and I would go back to sleep, too, and awake refreshed. Our third and fourth sons were never even in a crib. Sometimes I kept them in a bassinett and sometimes they slept with us (I had a guardrail on my side and I kept the baby between me and the rail.) They are now ages 25, 19, 16, and 9, and I am so glad now that I did have them in our bed, and I wish I'd had our oldest there, too. J. H.

Hi A.!
I know what you are going through. My 8 month old still doesnt sleep all the way through the night, but i have (for the most part) gotten him to sleep from 7:00 to about 4:00 straight through and then i nurse him and he falls right back to sleep untill about 6:30. Im not sure you have started solids yet, but about an hour before bedtime, i feed him his cereal mixed with fruit and a veggie. That gets him nice and full. The about 15 minutes before bed i change him and nurse to "top him off" This also calms him down. He also has 2 finger puppets that he can play with if he wakes up. This usually helps the sleeping. I DO notice however, that he wakes a lot more at night when its really cold outside. I hope i have helped a Little.

J.

Hi A.,

My little man did the same thing. Not to sound too repetitive since you've already received some great advice, but here's what we did: After talking to the pediatrician, he advised me that my 24 pound 6 month old did not need nutritional feedings in the middle of the night anymore (he was nursing for comfort) that it was OKAY to put him down after our bedtime routine, close his door and go get him in the morning. Trust me it was way harder on me than him. It took a good 3 nights of him waking and screaming to realize that I was not going to nurse him. Once he figured that out, the screaming sessions grew smaller each night. Of course I made sure there weren't any other factors like pain, teething, gas etc...After about a week he was sleeping soundly and if he did wake, he was able to fall back asleep on his own without the boob. Occasionally he would wake and I would go check on him, pat him on the butt and reassure him, but not offer him the breast. I was concerned about milk supply, but my body adjusted and was able to go on nursing until he weaned himself at 14 months. It's tough getting through those first few nights, but well worth it after we all started getting a good night's sleep. I think the key is not giving in and nursing. I know this sounds crazy, but I do miss those nightly feeding a little. It was the only time he and I were alone. Good luck.

Hi, I didn't know six month olds were supposed to sleep through the night especially nursing ones. I have three children 8mths,2yrs and 6 yrs and I don't remember any of them sleeping through the night. Babies have such small stomachs that they don't hold much food and so they have to eat more often. Most babies get hungry in the middle of the night and wake up. I nurse my babies also, but my babies sleep in bed with me until they wean themselves.(1 yr) I do this because I sleep better, I tried to go with the idea of putting them in their cribs but I was up and down so much during the middle of the night that I was exhausted by the morning. I just let them nurse all night. I also haven't had a full nights sleep in about oh at least a couple of years!lol I would assume that your baby needs comfort or is just hungry and needs to eat. nursing him is alot easier than fixing him a bowl of cereal and feeding him. I believe my sis-in-law found that her baby was hungry and would get up and feed him a bowl of cereal. Babies do not cry because they want to mess up your schedule, they cry because they need something ie food,drink,medicine,comfort. We all need to remember they are babies, not ADULTS! Hope this helps!

A couple of months ago I was having about the same problem with my daughter who is now nine months. She was almost six months old and still not sleeping through the night. I was exhausted!!! There is hope...she finally grew out of it. In the meantime I made sure to fill her little belly up (doctor's advise)...I would feed her cereal around bed time maybe eight or nine so that she would have something more filling to fall asleep on because she was waking up atleast once or twice during the night and acting like she was hungry every time. I made sure there was a routine...I started giving her a bath around the same time each night then feeding her the cereal and a bottle if needed. The bath each night will calm your baby and make them feel more relaxed while the cereal will keep their belly full longer and maybe you can get a good night's sleep. I hope this helps a little. Good luck! :)

Have started rice cereal or anything like that? He may need to start if you haven't already.

Are you giving him some rice cereal? I would start giving him some rice cereal before bed and seeing if that holds him off better. We started giving our guy rice cereal at about 3-4 months for this very reason. Good luck. I haven't had a full nights sleep in just over 3 years, so I feel your pain.