Eating & Sleeping Advice Needed for 6M Old!

S.-

I had issues with my little guy as well... I found if I moved his bedtime to earlier (7pm) he tended to wake up less. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes if babies are overtired then they cannot go to back sleep on their own in the middle of the night. A book that I like to reference is Healty Sleep Habits Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It is a little scientific at first but we have followed his advise since my son was 4 months old (he is 1 yr old now) and everyone talks about what a great sleeper I have. Hope this helps

If he's not waking up not hungry then I would say to try the formula before he goes to sleep and if you can put him to sleep around 10 and he should sleep through the night. It worked for mine! (The rice cereal is also good right before bed)

hey there S., i am a single mother of an almost 2 year old... we experienced this with him at that age, i was putting cereal in his bottle at the bedtime feeding (even with breastfeeding) my son preferred bottle over breast, that was a pain, lol... anyway when i started putting cereal in his milk/ formula it helped him stay asleep longer, and i also had/ have a glow worm/ music to soothe him, works like a charm.. i feel for you as i just got over the night terror stage with peyton, man was that a tough one. you cant do anything about it and you just feel helpless... but that only lasted a few weeks! they also make the swinging bassinet that helps too... you may try to tire him a little more closer to bed time, he may just not be tired at that time, with peyton we play hard and laugh before story and milk time, we rock for 5 mins, or however long the book is, and he knows its bedtime, i also have him almost potty trained, working on #2 now... you have a while to worry about that... have you tried putting your son on a wedge? it is a small incline foam pad with 2 side pannels to hold him in place, works great with the swaddling technique.. ok so i think i rambled on enough i hope i could help some, please dont hesitate to ask another question.. good luck and may sleep be in your future :)

As a fellow nursing mom, may I suggest that you offer him a nursing session before bed. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, does he have a toy nearby that he can play with by himself. He may want to cuddle with mom, try putting him back to sleep with or without nursing.
When he wakes up, do not turn on any bright lights and keep the volume very low, that way he will realize, oh it is still sleep time.
If he is not used to formula, I wouldnt recommend it because it could cause an uncomfortable tummy, especially at bedtime. (I tried it with my second son and that was a rough night; I figured since he sometimes had formula when the sitter ran out of my frozen breast milk, then it would be ok. I was wrong)
Good luck through this episode,
M.

I have red through the other mom's comments...and all of them are good. Something else you might want to think about is reflux. My daughter has it...and she was put on Zantac when she was only one month old. When she hit growth spurts she would have a lot of wakeful nights where she would get up and want to be held or played with. I was going nuts because I work full time and I wasn't getting enough sleep. When I mentioned it to the dr...she looked at her weight and dose and said that they were off. She increased the dose to match her weight better...and the first night she slept all through the night...no problems. And...the reason she was happy when I had her up was because she was upright...and not refluxing as much. It might be something to consider...even if your child has not been diagnosed with GERD.

I know that most mamas, at least in my circle of friends, disagree, but when my babies were like that, I just put them in the bed with me. The baby and I would both sleep better. Some people say that this will spoil the baby, but I now have wonderful 8 and 12 year old daughters that are very secure and anything but spoiled. Even when my oldest was in headstart, her teacher commented on how unlike the other children, she was not clingy to us or fearful that we wouldn't return for her. I don't like the cry it out method, mainly because I don't want to have to hear the crying in the middle of the night, but I guess it works for those who can stand it.

S.:
OMG! Did I write this?!?!?! REally, you and your baby sound JUST LIKE me and mine!!!! Are you living my life in a different world?!?!?!
In all seriousness, I am going through all the above right now also! But, this is my second child (not first like you), so I am a little more relaxed about it-been there before!
My son is 6 mos. old too and waking at night as well, more like around 3 am and wanting to play for 2 hours and then "napping" on and off till around 7:30. He also is "falling" down on the growth charts, and is nursed pretty much like yours is.

Here are some things that might help!

A lot happens around the 6 mos. mark. They realize that they are their own person whom can do things at will (ie: beginning to crawl when they want to move, can sit up or at least pull up with assistance, can scoot, can "talk" easily, etc). Thus, they realize that they don't HAVE TO sleep, but can "play" if they want to. They also use more calories (they are more active). They also now know how to get your attention and don't cry just when they're in true need of something but also when they simply just "want" (but don't "need") things.
DO NOT FEED HIM AT NIGHT WHEN HE WAKES, or he will come to expect it! Try to encourage sleeping (keep things as dark as possible and quite), don't pick him up-let him "play" for a bit and if he starts to fuss, let him cry for several minutes before going in the "help". Then, still don't pick him up, but rub his back (or pat)-no talking. If he still doesn't calm, sill rub/pat and talk quietly or play quiet music (does he have a crib music box-use that routinely to induce sleep). You may can use some of the same routine you use at his bedtime if that includes music or storey or the like. If he still won't calm, consider: tylonol (is he teething), or vapors (if he is congested/allergies).

As far as the feeding goes, does he get rice? This is far more important than baby-food (veggies). Nursed babies need the iron in rice. The rice adds consistancy that lasts longer in the stomach than breastmilk. You can use formula to stay in his stomach longer, but it will deminish your milk supply and rice really is a better option. By this age, according to national reccmendations (I looked it up just the other day), a 6 mos. old should have 3-4 T of rice mixed with breastmilk or formula once to twice a day with veggies only as a "bonus" (not main source). Still make sure he gets plenty of liquids (still around 30 oz.) a day. My son is on the lesser side of the liquids, but his urine is clear and he has never been a real hardy easter, so that is said to be fine!

Also, don't worry about weight %!!!! Your dr. is not worried and neither is mine nor me (about my son)! The reasons: 1) % are based on ALL U.S. baies, nursed and formula fed. Your baby is nursed. Nursed babies usually are thinner than formula babies b/c formula is "generic" to fit a large array of babies' different needs and breastmilk is specialized for your baby (some babies absorb calories better than others and your breastmilk knows your genetic need, thus your baby's need but formula has to have more calories to feed the larger pool). 2) % is just a guide, not something to follow-kids will go up and down in % becaue their bodies don't always follow the norm but grow at their own pace-this is normal 3)As long as he is devoloping otherwise, what difference does weight make anyways-We americans are over-weight in general so if he is on the "lesser" side, that is prob. good-most people (including babies) are over-weight! And nursed babies are less prone to be over-weight children, therefore will be less in %.

Hope this all helps! If you need any further assistance that i can help with, or just want another mommy with a baby boy the same age to be supportive of you, e-mail me any time!~

Best of luck!
All will be fine!

T.

Hi S. -

When our baby wakes up in the middle of the night, I go in right away (the 1st time) in the dark, before he gets too worked up (awake). I soothe him with shushing sounds (shhhh-shhhh-shhhhh-shhhh-shhhh) and rubbing or rocking gently with my hand on his back or stomach. I turn on his Mobile and Crib Aquarium/music that he is used to going to sleep by. But, other than that, I do NOT pick him up, talk to him or even make eye-contact (that's the hardest one!). I especially, don't "play" with him. All of those things will just stimulate him and wake him up more. After he calms down a bit, I just walk right out of the nursery quietly and he usually goes to sleep again right away.

If you pick him up and play or talk, you are just giving him a great reason to cry for you anytime he wakes up. Your goal is for him to learn to soothe himself back to sleep without you. Until then, you can be there to help him, but don't "reward" him when he gets up in the nighttime by picking him up or cuddling. Sometimes, If my baby is really upset, I may pick him up very quickly to calm him down fast, but I put him down again right away and shush and rub him again. If he continues to cry, I will give him a bottle, but that isn't a good idea either (Same "reward" theory). Still, if he's actually hungry (my daughter always was), just pick him up, nurse him quickly AND QUIETLY and lay him back down. Everything in the middle of the night should be done as quickly and quietly and minimally as possible.

Also, make sure that he's not teething, because he may need some infant Tylenol or Ambesol, if that's the case. Many babies get teeth around 5-7 months of age.

If he's just drop percentiles, but is still gaining weight fairly steadily, that's not a problem at all. The charts the doctors use are made by the formula companies and formula fed babies typically gain weight faster. You might actually need to nurse a bit more often during the day and that might help him be more satisfied at bedtime. 4-5 times a day is not much at all for a 6 month old whose primary food nourishment still comes from breastmilk, as I recall. When my youngest was that age, he was still nursing about 6-8 times a day and he was a very efficient nurser and a large baby. I would think 4-5 times a day is more reasonable for a 9 month old, with them tapering to 2-3 times a day at one year. What happened with my son at that age was that he suddenly became interested in the world around him. In order to get him to nurse and not want to play, it had to be quiet - no TV, no brother, no dad around. This period lasted a while before he got back to being able have a full meal with activity around him. Another thought is how much sleep is he getting during the day - he may be napping too much or too late and he's just not that tired at nite. As far as the crying it out, that never worked with my kids and from what I've read (despite what pediatricians and our mothers might say) is that just teaches them that you're not there to respond to their need. Also, is your son crawling yet? Dr. Brazelton has the theory (and I've heard it from others as well) that there will often be behavior/sleep/eating changes when a child is near a milestone. If your son is not yet crawling, he may be close that milestone and that causes the disruption. Another thought, since you're breastfeeding would be whether you've changed your diet at all recently. If you consume caffeine, maybe you need to cut back or not consume it later in the day. Small amounts of just about anything you consume will be in the breastmilk and cause similar reactions in the baby as they would in you.

Although I wouldn't not be super concerned, I do think nursing only 4-5 times for a 6 month old is on the low side. I would be shooting for at least 6 nursing sessions. Remember, for the first 12 months of life, breastmilk is his source of nutrition. Solids are just for play and practice. Instead of the bottle of formula, why not nurse him again before bed?

6 months is prime time for a growth spurt, he also could be teething. It could also be young baby sleep funk. Is he about to do something new? Developmental growth also leads to weird sleep behavior.

Remember, mama, this too shall pass. He will only be this little once.

S., my son did the same thing. I thought maybe he was teething so I would get up with him. It went on for about a month but it got worse where he started waking up every hour and a half. I got Dr. Ferber's book, which is known as "cry it out" but it isn't that at all. It's a progressive waiting technique. If you don't mind the crying it works wonderfully after about 3-4days. I know some people don't believe in it but a child should learn to put themselves to bed on their own without associating falling asleep with binky, rocking, mom at side, etc. Another thing to check is his nap schedule. If his napping is off or short or interrupted, this affects how he sleeps at night. The new edition of his book references naps as well.
Here's a quick breakdown of the night technique. Night one: lay him down and go in after 3 minutes (pat, pat), go back in then wait 5 minutes, go back in and wait 7 minutes the rest of the night until he falls asleep. Next night start at 5, 7, 10 then the next night 7, 10, 12, etc. It really works. Give it about 4 days. I highly recommend the book. It is a great book and a great read. It's Dr. Ferber's Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems. Good luck!