My 6 Month Old Wakes up Almost Every Hour at Night!!!

Try reading this book: Sleeping Through The Night by Dr. Jodi Mendell. She not only explains what you can try, but also why it might be happening. She does a modified CIO and I used it with both my sons. It worked for me! My first around 8 months as he was a nightmare and my second at 6 months as I was determined to not have the same problem as I had with my first. My first wanted to be rocked to sleep and it would have to be done when he awoke at night. He was a big baby, so this killed my back!
She also addresses sleep issues that crop up later on like transitioning from crib to bed, time change adjustments, going to Grandma's, sleep terrors, etc.
But you have to be comfortable with whatever method you choose. And consistency is key. Good Luck!

He might be hungry you don't say what else he has other than breastfeeding. is he eating babyfood? cereal? might be time for a big bowl of rice cereal before bed. that always helped my kids

Our solution was to bring them into bed with us. Seriously. It worked about 90% of the time. If you are open to the idea, I highly recommend it. Being in bed with you makes them feel safe and secure. Even if they wake again later in the night, they are more likely to go right back to sleep, as they very quickly notice that Mommy and Daddy are right there and everything is right with the world.

Do you still breastfeed? Is nursing him back to sleep no longer working? Our ped told us at 6 months that our son no longer needed to eat at night. Well, try telling our son that. He was hungry. So as much as I do trust doctors (and I really do), my husband very logically said, "The ped might say he doesn't need to eat at night, but no one told him that. He's hungry, feed him." You have to do what works, right?

Honestly, at that age I picked up our son, put him in bed with us and nursed him back to sleep (lying down) and usually fell right back to sleep myself.

Good luck!

We used the Ferber method. It worked for us.

With a healthy, sated, and dry baby, you can do the graduated waiting approach advocated with Ferber.

Can't be done inconsistently though, must be done each and every time for 3-7 days until baby is self soothing himself to sleep and back to sleep.

My advice, since you are all pretty worn out. see if you can get baby to a sitter, or to grandmas for a day or even for an overnight, you'll all survive Ferber much better if you are feeling fit and strong at the start.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

TRUST ME. It's hunger. Even if you think he's eating enough. BELIEVE ME, He CAN eat much more during the day or he would not be waking up. If you offer food CONSTANTLY and increase his food intake substantially for three straight days all day long (not just before bed and it takes a few days for body to realize it's satisfied and register the change) he WILL sleep like a rock. Promise. I learned this fact from a mother of 10 who got all her kids to sleep through night by 3 months. It worked with all mine, I just had to CONSTANTLY feed them until age 2 years old to keep them from sleeping less. If I slacked and they had light eating days-BOOM suddenly they would wake up hours early or during night all over again.

Well, I do believe in cry it out and for us it worked great but I don't think I'd try it this young at all. I would do what you did where you just go in and pat him and then leave when he falls asleep if this is not an all night thing and you don't have to stand there long. At this age they are noticing your not being there more but maybe he's hungry too. Talk to your pediatrician about giving him some food before he goes to bed. I don't know if they start at 6 months now with cereal or some small amount of something more filling. I think he still needs naps. Our kids slept about 2 hours for naps and still slept at night. Maybe he's not getting enough sleep and that can make a baby fussy too. I would talk with your doctor about it. Don't run in the room the minute he wakes and cries though because he does need to learn to go back to sleep on his own.
EDIT: Listen to your doctor. Anything you start now will become a habit to break later.

You need to get your child to consolidate naps. A few minutes before you think he will wake, go into his room and make a little bit of noise, enough to stir him. He should roll over and reset his sleep clock. This will help him learn how to roll over and go back to sleep. Anything less than 45 minutes in a row is not a nap.

Ferber works, but as Fanged Bunny said you need to be consistent. It's not healthy for anyone to be up every hour all night long. Ferber is not the same as Cry it Out.

I have a 7 month old who loves to be cuddled at night I don't want to let them cry it out so I do what is best for my kids & the lack of sleep I get I manage the next the day.It breaks my heart to let them cry knowing I can do soemthing about itMine never cried to the point I was unable to calm them down in just a few min. if that happened it was more than not wanting to go back to sleep ill fever,teething earache,cough,runny nose,poppy diaper something & if all of that has been crossed off lay baby back down & let cry for a few min. leave the room.However dad isn't on the same page he wants them to cry it out he says they need to learn to get themselves back to sleep w/out me bfing them.However I do understand that it is a bit much for my baby to wake up knowing that I just feed them 20min to an hr. prior to laying them back down.It is very frustrating to hear dad say to leave them alone.Last night I let baby cry it out & this morning it was like nothing ever happened how forgiving are they my baby greeted me w/ love hugs n kisses..I think dad has an issue w/ not getting the attention but thats just me & not very many will admit to it.Good Luck in the many nights to come it does get better..I do give cereal w/ fruit in the evening if baby didn't like the vegetable or eat very well,I do soemtimes substitue my milk w/ formula about 4 oz.

Hi M. - I have been there!!! I sooooo feel your pain. My daughter is almost 4 and she was the exact same way. She was a cat napper extrodinaire! Hang in there, I am here to tell you that in the long run it does get better...much, much better. In the short term its about consistency. He's going through alot of changes and it is going to affect his sleep but he'll get there. Is it possible that your son is teething? I could always tell when my daughters teeth were bothering her because it affected her night time sleeping. I recommend giving him some motrin - which will give everyone 6 hours of sleep! Check with your doctor but I recommend motrin vs tylenol because tylenol only works for 4 hours.

I'm sorry to say that other than that I have no magic bullet. A baby's sleep pattern is what it is. Maintain consistency and follow his cues as to when to put him down. No matter what you do you can't make him sleep (or eat or use the toilet :) ). Go by his cue and try to be patient. My daughter's sleep greatly improved once she dropped her morning nap at about 11 months. I know that seems far away but its not.

At around the age of 2.5 she dropped her naps at home anyway. She is usually asleep around 9 or 9:30 and up at 7. When she is in school she will still take a 2 hr nap but then she doesn't fall asleep until 10PM or later! She just doesn't need the amount of sleep that other little ones need. Just a heads up as to what may be coming your way :)

hang in there I know its tough!

I just read the recommendation to try Ferber (aka cry it out). Out of desperation we tried that too. Our daughter had the same reaction as your son. We tried it for 3 days and each time she cried longer, louder and became ill. I truly believe that that approach does not work for all temperments. I cannot recommend it for your son, wish I could. I still feel guilty about doing this to my daughter.

Your baby is about to have a growth spurt. Unless you have started baby foods recently then it's that.

If he's not ready for baby foods or any foods you might be feeding him the stuff is sitting in his tummy decomposing because it can't digest right. So don't feed him food yet, he's not ready.

If he's straight breast fed then he's probably about to have that growth spurt where he will eat none stop and then stop. He'll hardly be hungry at all for a day or two then you'll wake up and none of his clothes will fit anymore, he'll be like a different looking kid too.

Yes! I've been through this and it SUCKED! My two youngest were waking up constantly. Crying it out did not work for them. It made it worse. They would scream.
Something is waking him up- Gas, just a high needs baby, pain, hungry, allergies, etc.
With my first child, we never let him sleep with us. He wasn't a bad sleeper though. The second one never slept with us but occasionally slept on the floor in our room when she got older and scared of things. My youngest was the most difficult sleeper of the bunch (he had GERD, allergies, eczema) and I got so exhausted that I brought him to bed with us after a while. He's 6 now and sleeps in his own bed most nights. Occasionally he comes in and sleeps on the floor too.

Pick up Dr. Sears' book, "The Baby Sleep Book" It was a godsent to me.

Solids does not make a baby sleep more or better.
For the 1st year of life, breastmilk or Formula is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition. Solids, is NOT as nutritionally dense... as breastmilk or Formula.
For the 1st year of life, a baby needs to be nursed/given his Formula, on demand. Solids, does not replace, these feedings.
At a growth-spurt, a baby naturally needs more intake and more often.
If intake is NOT keeping up WITH baby, they will always be hungry.
Nursing/feeding baby Formula, is 24/7 day and night. Their hunger/tummies do not just turn off, because they are sleeping at night.
When nursing... always do it BEFORE giving solids. Because, if you nurse after solids, baby will not be hungry... and then it will affect your breastmilk production.
This is all per our Pediatrician.

My kids as babies, had HUGE HUGE appetites. I nursed exclusively and they grew like weeds and were satisfied.

Per naps, both my kids napped ever since they were born.
You need to know, your baby's cues for tiredness.
And, if/when a baby is over-tired or overly stimulated, it makes it harder for them to get sleep and quality sleep.
I KNEW my kids cues. And they would nap. But, they would not nap, if on the go or in the car or in a stroller. They would ONLY nap, if at home in their crib. So, at nap times, I was home. And they napped. Their naps was for about 1-2 hours for my daughter. And for my son he'd nap at least 2 hours.
Also, my daughter was very sensitive to sounds. If a toilet flushed down the hall, it would wake her. I knew that.

Or, your baby is teething. As well.

Introducing solids, for the 1st year... is ONLY an introduction to foods. It is NOT their main meal nor their main source of nutrition. It is only to get them acquainted, with food. AND at 6 months, per our Pediatrician, we did not give solids 3 times a day, like an adult would eat. It was only once a day. And nursing was the main, intake.

I nursed my kids as babies, before any naps and after naps. And at night... when they woke due to hunger. I knew, when they woke or cried due to hunger. I nursed then. And I knew when they were needing more intake per growth spurts.

Ferber works well and as others have mentioned... it's a method, not a "free for all".

We have just gone through this with our little one. She was a champion sleeper right up until about a month ago when at nearly six months she started waking up every hour. It sucked. We were exhausted.

It will pass. Their little bodies are going through a lot right now. She's teething and her little body is processing solid foods. She's growing and if she happens to have a bowel movement while she's not in a deep sleep... well, we're up. At daycare she catnaps, at home she'll take 2 long naps. Regardless of her daytime naps, she's asleep at 8:30 and wakes up around 3:00 for a bottle and back down until 7:00.

Bottom line, sleep patterns fluctuate throughout our lives and right now your little guy is probably teething or going through some kind of growth spurt and he's trying to adjust.

We invested in the Nap Nanny Chill and I used it each and every night during that phase. It was our Godsend! It's kind of pricey, but we bought it when she was about a month old and have used it for naps when she can't be in her crib with great success. It's like a baby recliner and she sleeps like a champ in it!

Our son did this. I also was against cry it out but at age 1 we finally HAD to do a kind form of cry it out. I was so sleep deprived by this time I had no memory any more. I was a mess. I basically had gotten almost no sleep for an entire year. I had to leave the house when we did it because it was so upsetting to me. My husband had to take over. Our son learned to sleep 3-4 hours at a time from doing this and it really helped. To me it was worth it even though it was so hard and awful. He just never was a good sleeper as a baby and believe me we tried everything. He finally started sleeping better around age 2 to 3. He would only get up once then and try to get into our bed. I would walk him back to his bed each time and snuggle with him. He eventually stayed in his bed (age 3.5 to 4?). I feel for you. It's so hard.

I have more questions than answers, sorry. Is your baby on solid foods yet? is the baby nursed? have allergies been ruled out? if baby is on formula, is it a new brand? I don't believe in the crying out method either, but at six months baby should definitely not be waking up so much day or night. I feel there may be a food allergy involved and your baby maybe in chronic discomfort/pain. If food allergy is ruled out, then I recommend a nice starchy dinner. Good night and good luck :(