Getting 6 Mo. Old to Sleep

I have a two year old that still sleeps with me. I regret letting him ever start that. He kicks and flips around all night long and I don't get good sleep. How would he do if you let him fall asleep with you then move him? My best friend put a matress in the floor of her daughter's room and that worked for awhile but then you have to start sneaking out in the middle of the night. Plus, with a baby on the way, you don't want to be crawling out of the floor at 9 months pregnant. I'm slowly wheening my son out of my bed. I've put his toddler bed in my room so I move him after he has fallen asleep. Maybe something like that would help.

Just a suggestion - what we did with my son was, we put him in the crib and let him cry for a few minutes, starting at about 5 min. It is really hard to let them cry, but after five min, you go in say I love you, etc and then leave and let it go for ten min. Each time, go back in say comforting things and leave then up the time for five min. This is hard, but it ends up being better for you and the baby. We had my son going to sleep on his own within three nights of doing that. I even had babysitters commenting on how good he was at going to sleep! I hope I helped some!

HI A.,

AT 6 MOS THEY KNOW WHAT GETS MOMMY TO COME IN AND PICK THEM UP. YOU HAVE TO JUST LET HIM CRY FOR A FEW MINUTES. IT'S OK TO GO IN AND TRY TO CALM HIM DOWN IF HE GETS HYSTERICAL, BUT DO NOT PICK HIM UP! AFTER A FEW NIGHTS HE'LL REALIZE THAT IT'S NOT WORKING AND HE'LL STOP. HE NEEDS TO KNOW THAT WHEN HE'S PUT IN HIS CRIB IT'S BEDTIME. ROUTINE IS KEY. YOU HAVE TO DO THE SAME THING EVERYNIGHT. ALSO IF HE NAPS DURING THE DAY, HE SHOULD NAP IN HIS CRIB. THAT'S THE ONLY PLACE HE SHOULD BE SLEEPING AND HE WILL KNOW THAT WHEN HE'S PUT IN HIS CRIB IT'S SLEEP TIME. GOOD LUCK TO YOU.

I want to first say, DO NOT NOT NOT put cereal in his bottle!!!! This is SO bad for him!!! Ask your Pediatrician, I can guarentee they will forbid this.

I just got my daughter on a great routine (thanks to alot of parents on here giving great advice!)

So, I am going to pass on what helped for us-

We eat dinner every night between 6and 7pm. If you are giving him cereal WITH A SPOON I would do it while you eat dinner, so he can be at the table with you (this is very important to my family).

After dinner I let my daughter play until 8pm. Of course if you want bedtime earlier you can push everything forward! At 8pm we go upstairs, take a nice warm bath, go to her room, where there is only a dim light on, and get ready for bed. This includes a rubdown with lotion, diaper, and PJs. After she is all ready for bed we read a book or two, and then I nurse her for 30 min. I know some people dont think you should use bottle feeding or nursing as a way to help them sleep, but I do :) By now it is about 9:30. I stop her from nursing, lay her in her crib, and rub her back. She falls right to sleep!!

We have been doing this for a week with great results!!

Of course this will only help get him to sleep. It wont help with him waking up. Does he still wake for nightly feedings? If so, then when he wakes up I would feed him in his dark room- dont take him to another room, change his diaper (unless of course he stinks!), make the bottle and all that, that will get him all woke up! I would go get the bottle when you hear him(or if you are nursing you are good to go!) go in his room, pick him up, feed him, and put him back down. Dont talk to him too much. This should help him fall right back to sleep.

Good luck!!

I tried to the whole letting him cry till he falls asleep and my son cried for an hour straight! So what I had to do was start by putting him to sleep in my bed and then moving him to his bed. Then eventually he got to where I could go sit with him in his room and put him to sleep and so on. Good Luck!

A., Routine is DEFINITELY the key!!! When my son was an infant...I put him to sleep with the same blanket everynight...my husband used to laugh at me but now all my son has to do is see his "blankie blue" and he will be ready for "nite-nite". You just have to figure out a routine that works best for you and stick with it. When he was an infant, my son liked his aquarium with the lights and fish...if he would wake in the middle of the night, he would roll over hit the button and put himself back to sleep. Now my son likes to snuggle with me and "blankie blue", read books (or watch Emeril Live, lol) and he will get right in the crib and go to sleep. We have a little routine when I lay him down too. Kids are so funny!!! I noticed someone's comment about putting a pillow in the crib, although it seems like a nice thought...it could cause him to suffocate if/when he rolls over. Good luck to you & congratulations on your upcoming bundle of joy.

After ruling out every other reason for crying (diaper, hunger, too hot or cold, etc), then it is time to start a bedtime routine. Whatever works best for you, but try to be consistent. After he is in bed and begins to cry, DO NOT PICK HIM UP. Talk to him, rub his tummy, but let him fall asleep in the crib. This may take several nights and will be very hard. Do not give up. Your baby just needs to learn how to comfort himself to fall asleep. If he wakes up at night, same thing, Dont pick him up. After a couple days, gradually wean yourself from his bedside, and in about a week, he should be sleeping on his own. If you stick to this, and don't have any success, make sure with his doctor there are no medical reasons he should be waking up. Other than that, time and patience. Ps, a firm mattress is best, but again, speak to his doctor. Good luck!

Hello A.,I didn't/ couldn't read all the responses, because I could never allow my little guy to cry it out. We tried it, it just didn;t fit our parenting style. However neither did the sleepless nights. We read the "no cry sleep solution" and it has worked soo far. I hope this helps! Just follow your instincts...if it doesn't feel right don't do it.

Online @ BabiesRus is a wedge that goes under the babies sheets, which in effect will be like a pillow only he can't suffocate because it's under his sheets. It's called safe lift deluxe crib wedge for $12.99. We have five children and I have used something similar to this for mine, but because of sinus problems, when I read he likes the pillow it made me think of this. Or you could use a really flat pillow under his sheets. Try this and do your usual bedtime routine and put him in his crib. Say goodnight and walk out of his room. When the crying starts, I use to set the timer on the microwave for five minutes then go back and rub him but don't take him out of the crib, I agree with the other mom on that. Taking him out only shows that if he cries long enough you will give in. Consistency is key in everything you do with your children because they learn from you and are not confused by going back and forth on issues. It will be very tiring on you considering you are pregnant again, sit outside his room to shorten the length of your walk, just out of his sight. I wish you the best and be strong this shall pass, just be consistent. Congratulations on your soon to be new baby!!!

A routine is a big help. My son is one now and he knows his routine. His bed time is 8pm before he goes to bed he gets abath so he associates that with bed time. I even gave him his last bottle in the crib. If your son is able to hold his bottle this may help. I also had to put one of his softer bigger blankets under his sheet to make it softer. It takes time though it started out he would cry for 20mn before he would fall asleep. It will happen you just got to be strong and not go get him every 5 minutes. Also he falls to sleep with cartoons i use this for his night light. It helps when he wakes up in the middle of the night because there is something to grab his attention. Good luck hope something will work for you.

Hello A.,
My name is L. and I am a mother of a 19 year old and grandma of a precious 9 month old. My daughter had the same problem with her son, not sleeping in his crib for the whole night. 1st - do you have a pack-n-play? My grandson preferred his pack-n-play to the crib for the longest time (I think it was becuase it was smaller and he felt more secure in it). Also, when he would still wake up in the night, we would strap him into his Fisher Price chair/rocker that vibrates (battery operated/up to 40 lbs/sold at Target). He would fall asleep in that and stay sleeping because my daughter would put it on the floor right beside her side of the bed. Please, do not sleep "with" your baby. Not till he is at least a toddler. babies and small children can sufforcate with pillows, the blankets or fall between the matress and wall. Sadly, I have known parents that this has happened to. I am constantly reminding my daughter not to sleep with her son as well. We started keeping a night light on for my grandson, he likes that. Also when we lay him in his crib now, we put on some very soft soothing music. Trying to get him to associate his crib with calmness and peacefullness.
Hope this helps,
L. B

Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Best of luck to you!

Unfortunately, you can't "make" a baby sleep through the night. Some babies sleep through the night early, some take 2 years to get there. But there are things you can do to make night wakings shorter and less hard on you.

First, let your baby sleep where he sleeps best. If that's your bed or the play pen, great. There's no reason he *has* to be in a crib - in many other countries and cultures, there are no cribs and babies sleep with parents, so don't worry about peer pressure from friends and family who tell you babies belong in cribs.

Second, put him close to you so you can respond to him quickly when he does wake up. That way, you can feed him or soothe him without fully waking up yourself, and possibly without him fully waking up either. I have an 8-month-old who wakes frequently at night, and I've been sleeping *so* much better since I started bringing him to bed with me. When I'm visiting relatives, he sleeps in a pack-n-play next to my bed, within arm's reach.

Finally, here's a link to some really good resources about sleep: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp

Good luck!

I've probably recommended this book so much I could be a spokeswoman for it. No Cry Sleep Solution, Jane Mendell. A TRUE LIFE SAVER!!! Worked for us at 5-6 months old, got him out of our room (he never co-slept in our bed, but his bassinet was in our room by my side of the bed in arms reach). This book has great tactics, and it takes consistancy, but IT WORKS, if you stick with the program. No crying it out. It's a miracle!! Our son sleeps two 2-hour naps per day, and 12 hours at night!!!

This can be one of the most frustrating things ever. I breast feed my second son so he would sleep in bed with me. I also have an older son who slept with me till he was about 3 and it was very very hard to get him to sleep in his bed, so when I had my second son I didn't want the same thing to happen again so I decided at about 6 mo to start moving him into his own bed. I made sure he was tired come 9pm which meant I would only let him take short naps during the day and not let him take a nap past 3 or 4. It took about three days of about 15-30mins of crying to get him used to self soothing but he is 17mo old now and goes to bed everynight with no crying or any issues whatso ever..my advie is that plus start a routine like ours is milk, book, potty, then tucking in kisses for everyone and lights out. Life is much more comfortable in our bed at night..Good luck.

I dont know if i can offer much advice but i can tell you we went through the same thing. our daughter is 9 months old and we are still trying to get her to sleep in her crib. we started last month and it's been working pretty good most of the time. one thing that we did was i would nurse her in her room at night so she would know we were in her room (with the lights out, she has a nightlight in her room). then i would lay her down in her crib while she was half sleep. sometimes an hour later she would wake up crying but i would just give her her pacifier and pat her on the back to lay her down. i would not take her out her crib. because what she wants is to be taken out and you have to be firm and not take them out. just say softly "it's okay, mommy is here" and pat him/her on the back. if that does not work and he/she is still screaming then leave the room and return five minutes later. do the same routine, "it's okay, mommy is here" pat him/her on the back. still crying leave for ten minutes this time. and you keep doing this increasing it 5 mins each time until finally they get tired and get the hint that you are not taking him/her out and will go to sleep. it may be tiresome the first few nights but it is worth it afterwards.

my daughter still wakes up though. she will go down easily in her crib and usually an hour later she wakes up and i jus tpat her back and she goes back down. also i have a music box on her crib that i put on when i am putting her to sleep and she gets familiar with it and looks for the music at bedtime. but also she likes to sleep on a pillow in her bed. i wouldnt recommend this for everyone but she likes it and is used to it because she had to sleep on a pillow earlier when she had a bad cold.

anyway she is 9 months old and wakes up like at three and i usually nurse her and she goes back to sleep. but some nights she wakes up repeatedly and i just get tired of going in her room and just throw her in the bed with me. sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get some rest yourself.

some tips i have heard that you can use to get your baby to sleep longer is if he/she is eating solids now feed him/her like a fruit and some cereal before bedtime. make sure his/her diaper is fresh and dry. try music. and set up a bedtime routine that he/she looks forward to and can get used to to know its time for bed. try a warm bath before bed as well.

Let him cry it out. It sounds terrible and it is heartbreaking at first but it really works.

Well I have a 5 month old. What we did to get her to sleep in her crib was get a soft crib comforter. It feels like our comforter. Once she lays on it she is out like a light. Your son may want to smell your scent while he sleeps, that could be the reason why he want to lay in your bed or either on one of your pillows.

To get him to sleep through the night we started giving our daughter a bottle at about 7:30 and then giving her a little more at 8:45. by 9:00 she would be sound alseep. Once we did that she started to sleep through the night.

Hi A.,
I've been there, and I understand the time constraint you are feeling to get your oldest to sleep well at night. My first two were 14 months apart, and we co-slept as long as we could with the first until I knew I had to move him to make room for the baby. It was actually difficult, because we DID put a mattress on the floor, with pillows around it, (we don't like cribs for various reasons), when Jack was only about 9-10 months old. Basically I would lay down with him to get him to sleep and whenever he woke up at night until he felt comfortable in his own bed. I have to be honest, it took longer than a month before I could get a good night's rest myself, but it was worth it in the end.
Little babies need that consolation and security of knowing you are there for them (perhaps that's why your son prefers your bed over his crib) to be able to sleep well! I can't guarantee he will sleep through the night (as someone else said, some babies just take longer to do that), but it may be an improvement if he's sleeping by himself. Also, nursing babies tend to wake up more at night since their bodies digest the breastmilk more readily. Although we try to co-sleep as long as possible, all my babies needed their own bed before they were a year old, just so they could get restful sleep and not wake up as much.
Anyway, all babies are different. Just wanted to let you know that the mattress on the floor thing works well for us. We just secure the area so the baby is safe, make sure s/he is warm enough, and sleep away!

I wish you luck. I understand how tired you must be and sleep is at a premium. Take care,

M.

A.,
Getting them to sleep in their own bed is a hard task. With my youngest who is 8 months old I had to but a pillow in the bed with him. That was the only way that he would even sleep in there. my oldest I had to put one of my comforters in the bed with him that way he felt like he way in the bed with me. I know it sounds like a hazards but so is him sleeping in the bed with you. These are just some things that you can try. Hope it helps.

HI A.!FIRST OF ALL IF YOU AREN'T GIVING YOUR LIL MAN CEREAL IN HIS LAST BOTTLE BEFORE BED AND BATHING HIM AT BED TIME I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU TRY THAT ALONG WITH THE NEXT ADVICE!!I'M GONNA TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT OUR PEDIATRICIAN(I HOPE I SPELLED THAT CORRECTLY)TOLD US WHEN MY FIRST SON WAS ABOUT 6 TO 8 MONTHS OLD AND I THOUGHT IT WAS AWFUL AND I WOULDN'T DO IT UNTIL I WAS SO TIRED FROM LACK OF SLEEP THAT I HAD NO CHOICE!! SHE TOLD ME WHEN HE FIRST CRIES IN HIS CRIB TO GO WAIT AND LET HIM CRY 30 MINS. THEN QUIETLY WITHOUT WORDS OR TOUCHING JUST CHECK ON HIM AND MAKE SURE ALL IS OKAY. THEN GO BACK OUT AND WAIT ANOTHER 15 MINS THIS WILL BE 45 MINS BEFORE I CAN GO BACK IN AND SAME THING DO NOT TOUCH OR TALK JUST MAKE SURE HE IS OK AND LEAVE NEXT TIME IS ONE WHOLE HOUR. AND SO ONE. AND THIS SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY TO A NEW MOM!!BUT LOOKING BACK ON IT. I STUCK TO IT WITH MY SON AND MY SECOND CHILD CAUSE NOW AFTER MY FAMILY DOES OUR PRAYERS IN THE DEN WE HAVE HUGS AND KISSES AND AND OUR KIDS GO STRAIGT TO BRUSH THEIR TEETH AND STRAIGHT TO BED OF COURSE THEY ARE OLDER NOW BUT I'M GLAD I STUCK TO OUR DR.S ADVICE!!HOPE THIS HELPS!!!GOD LUCK ON BOTH YOUR BUNDLES OF JOY!!!!!T.

Try swaddling him. He may be waking himself up with his own movement. We have been swaddleing our 3month old to sleep since birth and he has sleptt throught the night for almost a month now.

My daughter used a boppy pillow which surrounds the babyand I feel makes the baby feel more secureLook for something like that ,but be sure you get something that is safe to be in the crib with the baby.R. m

I know I sound mean but I had to let my son just cry. The books said to go in every 15 minutes but I found that only prolonged him from going to sleep. He would cry for around 25-30 minutes then he was asleep and the amount of time only goes down too, in fact within 2 weeks I laid him down and he didn't cry at all!! He's 20 mths. now and goes to bed every night at 9 pm, he gets mad if he's not in bed on time! It just takes alot of patience! My husband and I fought about it alot at first, he would just want to go get him and make him stop crying but he was very glad when our son just started sleeping by himself. He has a son from his first marriage that never slept alone and refuses to sleep in his bed when he's here, he's 8. I stopped him sleeping with us when I got pregnant with my son because he kicked so violently in his sleep. Anyhow, there are some weekends he decides at bedtime he wants to go home because he STILL sleeps in bed with his mom. Unless you want to kids in bed with you then you gotta try something, and the doctor told me that some crying is actually good for babies. You aren't physically hurting him in anyway by letting him cry it out. I really hope I was some help to you!

My daughter is now 7 months and sleep in a crib. I got a really soft blanket and use it as a crib sheet. I know you are suppose to go buy fitted sheets for cribs but my daughter would not sleep on regular fitted sheets so i tried this. It worked for me. Just make sure that the sheet is tucked in really good so it dont get loose.