K.
A couple suggestions:
1. You need to get him to bed earlier. Start by cutting out the afternoon nap. Don't let him nap after 4:00 PM. There is good evidence that babies that go to bed earlier sleep later.
2. Does he nurse when he wakes at night? 6 months is old enough that he can easily go 10-12 hours without nursing. You can gradually "wean" him from this habit by decreasing the amount of time you nurse him each night
3. If he wakes up and it's not one of his "usual" snack times, make your husband go in to comfort him instead of you. Your son smells the milk on you and knows that he gets to eat when you're there. This is not the case for your husband.
4. I have had great luck with the Ferber book. I know it requires some crying, but I think you can probably make it work if you "practice" the method with naps. The key is to help him learn to settle himself instead of relying on you to help him.
5. You might try moving his crib into your bedroom for a week or so and covering your ears and doing the Ferber thing there, so that your older child doesn't get disturbed.
6. Have a bedtime routine. For us this includes active play until around 6:30. Then a bath, then I nurse him, and then he goes to bed. He is usually awake when I put him in bed at 7-7:15, and quickly falls asleep on his own. This is really the key - he knows that when his bath starts, it's going to be time to sleep soon.
Good luck!
