Helping with Sleeping Issues in My 6 Month Old

CRY IT OUT! Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby. It made a believer out of me and I recommend it to everyone who has a baby.

I know a lot of moms (at least in the beginning) are really opposed to CIO (crying it out) but I have to admit it worked for us when we were at the end of our ropes. I also strongly encourage you to get the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weisbluth. There are a lot of things we don't love to do as parents (taking kids in for shots, discipline, time outs, etc) where our heart breaks to hear our children cry. But we do them because we know its what is best for our kids - and the tears are temporary. I think most moms I know ended up doing some form of CIO for their kids at some point. Good luck to you!

I tired the cry-it-out method when my son was six months old--the key is that I allowed him to soothe himself to sleep at bedtime first. This took a few days for him to learn. I still got up with him one to two times a night for feeding until he was a year but he slept in his crib for most of the night plus during naps (once he knew how to soothe self to sleep).
I read a combination of books, including Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby.

Have you tried swaddling him when you put him to bed wrap him tight . They make blankets just for swaddling . I used them with both mine they loved them . You can get them at Target or Toys R Us .

I found bed sharing to be the best solution to that problem. I also found wearing my kids in a wrap helped so very much, especially with my second. I'd wear her in my wrap or Beco carrier and let her nap in there, but at the same time, I got to play with my son, cook, clean, etc... For the mid-afternoon nap, I'd lay my son on one side of me in bed, my daughter on the other side of me in bed, and I'd sit in the middle and pay bills, or whatever, while they napped. We still do that. It works great! I get some down time, they both get sleep.

Hi Mom,
(Just some words of encouragement).

I feel your pain! It is so easy to get a baby used to needing more and more attention in order to fall asleep, when all you want is for them to learn to settle themselves to sleep (so you can get stuff done, or even get some sleep yourself)! I struggled with this for both children.

Good sleeping habits was a gift I gave my 2 boys. It was such hard work, and yes, there were some very uncomfortable times to get them there; but I knew in my heart it was the right thing for my family.

It's going to be up to you, but it is SO worth it. I hope your family is giving you the support you need :)

Good luck!
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I think much of it is just personality. I think parents take too much credit for "good" sleepers and too much blame for "bad" sleeping. Some kids just need that proximity and some don't care so much and others hate it!
My boys are on each end of the spectrum. I planned on co-sleeping for the first couple of years--my 5 year old still would every night if we gave him the choice but my 2 year old wouldn't do it after 6 months, he wanted his space.
The funny thing to me is that my younger one is the "good" sleeper by most counts--he won't nurse to sleep, sleeps in a crib in his own room, and sleeps thru the night. But he's a pain in the butt to take anywhere overnight or if anything is going on around him. He is a slave to the routine.
My older will sleep anywhere if someone is with him, sleeps thru everything--it doesn't matter what else is going on or where he is or who he's with, as long as someone is there then he will sleep. Way easier in many respects.
Sounds like you have your hands full with a busy house! :-) Do what you need to to get by, but as far as baby goes if he is well rested then how he gets it doesn't matter so much (for him, obviously it can be different for you!).

Have you tried the 5 s's by Dr Karp? They are great techniques that work - check out his website
http://www.happiestbaby.com/

there is also a you tube video on his technique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ

good luck!