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Hi T.- I am a mother of 4 with my youngest 4 monthes. You have to decide what you want to do. In order for your son to sleep well you have to let him cry and fuss himself to sleep. I would recommend doing the same thing every time you put him down, pat his back and sinf the same song and put him down drowsy but awake. If he wakes up after too short of a period give him a little time to put himself to sleep and then pat his back and sing the same song. Watch the clock because when you are listening to a baby cry one minute seems like an hour. Just know this will pass and you have to decide how YOU want to handle this phase.
Good Luck
B.

Hi. I have an 8 mo. old son. He started sleeping 10-11 hours straight through the night at 7 weeks old. We did not do the cry it out method. I saw a respondent say you have to do this, but you don't. First, I would begin a regular bedtime routine if you don't already have one. This can include a bath, reading, massage, etc. My husband & I actually play with our son before bed (I know all the books are against this), but it seems to wear him out. He could be teething too. Baby Orajel works for that. I would recommend putting him in a sleepsack (rather than using a blanket) to make sure he is not cold. My son naps better when he's nice & warm. Good luck. Every baby is different. I think the most important thing is doing a nap routine & a bedtime routine that you do every day. Consistency is key! Also, after he wakes from a 20 min. nap I would try to rock him back to sleep. Sometimes my son wakes after 30min, then I rock him to sleep for up to 5 minutes, then he sleeps another hour. Maybe he is waking himself up between sleep cycles and is still learning to put himself back to sleep.

Hi T.,

My son is now 11 months old. For about a 2 week period around when he was 5 months old, he started sleeping through the night, 11 hours a night. Then as quickly as it started, it stopped again. He got in his first teeth around that time so I attributed it to teething. Over the next 4 months or so, I kept blaming it on teething or that he was sick or anything that I could possibly blame it on so that I could justify why I was getting up to soothe him so many times a night.

By the time we went to the doctor for his 9 month appointment, he was waking every couple of hours and I couldn't remember the last time I he had slept for 6 hours straight. I asked the doctor for his advice and he asked about his going to bed routine. I told him I fed him then rocked him to sleep. The doctor told me that it was MY fault the baby wasn't sleeping through the night because I was rocking him to sleep and every time he woke up, he expected me to come back in and rock him to sleep again, which I did. He told me that I needed to start letting him put himself to sleep, basically to follow the Ferber method.

In the back of my head, I knew all of that, but I was doing everything to avoid having to let my baby cry. But I didn't know what to do anymore, so my husband and I decided we had to at least try it. The first night was horrible, the baby cried for 5 hours straight and then only slept for 2 hours and was up again for the day. Over the next few nights it got better as far as length of time crying, but the baby would start vomiting as soon as I put him in the bed. So we would change him and his bedding and start over. He vomited for about 5 nights straight. After about a week and a half, he was going to sleep within 5 minutes and sleeping for 11 hours a night. He still has a bad night here or there when it takes him a hour or so to fall asleep, and once in a while he wakes up in the middle of the night too, but we just go in there and rub his back and he falls back asleep--we don't have to take him out of the crib and rock him anymore.

I'm not going to lie, the whole process was brutal and I wept every night and drank a lot of alcohol. But he is sleeping so much better now, he is getting over his illnesses quicker because he sleeps better, and my husband and I are much happier because we get a whole lot more uninterrupted sleep.

There is also a book called the No-Cry Sleep Solution if you are really against any cry it out method. My friend is trying this and it is slowly working over time. Whatever you decide, good luck to you!

L.

Have you spoken to your doctor? It's possible he's suffering from reflux or food allergies or something else. He also could be too warm or too cold. Maybe he likes more or less tight swaddling (if not anymore, maybe try swaddling again)

I respectfully disagree with Bethany in the fact that you don't need to let him cry. The points about doing the same thing every time can help for most kids, but not those with allergies and reflux (which could change from day to day). I agree with giving him a chance to settle himself for a little bit, but not to the point of no return where you know he's not settling himself. I should add i have done "cry it out" and do it still at times. It all depends on the situation. It's not that I'm against it completely.

Reflux related: Does he sleep better in the car? In the swing? Any where when he's upright? Has he ever slept longer laying down?

There's some great books out there - Pantley - No Cry Sleep Solution, Ferber, Weisbluth,

Kim West - Good Night Sleep Tight is my favorite http://www.sleeplady.com/ is her website

You have to trust your instincts and do what you feel is right for you and your son. Some kids do need to cry some don't . Some need help in going to sleep, some need medical help .

Allergy related: Is he fussy during the day? Eczema? Any poop issue? Mucus or blood? Are you breast feeding or formula? Could be he can't tolerate it. Try switching to soy or cutting dairy out of your diet (for example)

Every child is different. The books are guides for the norms not every individual child. You know your child best.

Hugs! Email me if you like.

hi! i swear by this book, healthy sleep habits, happy child. i use it for both my boys and they are very good sleepers. you can check it out at your library.
be patient and consistant. your baby is still young, and sometimes they need their own schedule at this age. it will get better! good luck

If your baby is 6 months old, it is possible that he is teething. Try giving some tylenol. Just a suggestion. Don't beat yourself up, motherhood is unfortunetly a trial and error thing especially with your first one. They can't talk so we have to try and figure out what is wrong and sometimes we never do figure it out, but the kids still grow up just fine.

My 12 month old just started sleeping through the night. Breastfed babies seem to take a little longer.

My son was very gassy which woke him up often, I had to figure out which foods that he or I ate caused the most problem and eliminate them.

I also had to stop myself from running right in to get him which often actually woke him up when he was just making noises in his sleep.

And I had to make sure that there was enough awake time between naps and bedtime. I know that for some babies set times work best, but for my guy it seems to be the amount of awake time - too little or too much and getting to sleep can be very difficult.

Our peditrician also explained that this is part of their development and babies mature at different rates in different areas.

Good luck!