Sleep Problems - Shelbyville, IL

You should put him to bed earlier. Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD. It doesn't give you a clear answer, but some of the ideas he has makes sense. Good Luck!

You are putting him to bed to early try keeping him up a little longer, feed him and give him a warm bath around 10pm and change his pamper through out the night so he can be warm and dry and warm his milk too

Two things you could do:

#1. Start putting him to bed earlier. When I first started doing this I was in a panic that "30 minutes to bed earlier would mean 30 minutes awake earlier". It never happened! In fact, he slept a little later than normal. You will hear the phrase "sleep begets sleep". It's true - give it a try.

#2. If he wakes up at 5:30, don't just race in to greet him. Of course since you're mommy, you're a lot of fun and he really loves you and wants to play with you at 5:30 in the morning! Have you let him be for a few minutes? On the weekends, our baby will sometime wake up at 5:30, make some noise, talk to himself, turn on the aquarium, then fall back asleep until his usual wakeup time around 6:45-7:00. Try to let him entertain himself or even fall back asleep before running in at the first sound of his voice.

Our daughter is almost 4 months and I've been reading Dr. Weissbluth's book, "Healthy Sleeping Habbits, Happy Baby"....they suggest that maybe your little one isn't napping enough during the day and so you should try an earlier bed-time. So try putting him to bed by 7:30 for 4 nights and he should start not only sleeping longer, but also napping better (if he isn't a good napper)....hope this helps

I know it doesn't sound like it would work, but try putting him down a little earlier.

He may be teething. Also, thier schedules vary throughout the months and years. :)

Chances are your son is going through a growth spurt/learning a new skill. Some babies have a disrupted sleep pattern every time they learn to roll over, sit up, stand up, cruise, etc. My duaghter was certainly one of these children. Six months seems about right for his sleep schedule to start changing a bit.

Try feeding him cereal at night before he goes to bed. Even if it has to be 9 instead of 8.

C. R

Take a look at the book "Good Night Sleep Tight, the Sleep Lady's Guide..." by Kim West. It's a great resource for sleep information!

All babies go through sleep phases and early AM wake up calls. It could be that he's starting to teeth or that his inner sleep schedule is changing. When my daughter used to wake up early like that I would just hold her for a while and she would usually drift back to sleep. And if she didn't, well then my day started really early.

It's hard to say why, some kids are just early risers. I wouldn't sweat it though, we change the time this weekend and then he'll be getting up at 6:30! That's more doable than 5:30. Good luck. Whenever you think you've found a schedule, they change. I think they like to keep us on our toes!

Sounds like baby needs a little more food to carry him through the night. Actually, he's already sleeping more than most babies. Try putting him to bed half hour later and make sure he has a little extra to eat at that last feeding. Bless you and enjoy every moment with your child.

Maybe you should try introducing a small amound of cereal before bed time. He may be waking up due to hunger. Good luck.

Every child goes through phases. The light might be coming in his window and waking him. Try to darken his room if there is light coming in. And then just tell him it is not time to get up and he has to lay back down...period. That is what I do with both of mine.

My little girl when through that same issue. She was sleeping through the night since 2 months old and all of a sudden she started getting up at 4 or 5 a.m. One idea is that he is teething and it wakes him up. I also read on baby center that at 6 months the babies really start to develope their motor skills and they will wake up in the middle of the night or early morning to do that. This happen alot when my little one started crawling and moving around a lot. She would sit in her crib and work on it. It probably won't last but a few weeks. I know with mine for a few months she would wake up about 4a.m. once or twice a week. Even still I will sometimes hear her playing at 4a.m. in her crib. She is almost one year. I would go to baby center and see if you can get more information, but don't worry your son will go back to sleeping through the night.

Rachel,
I would check to see if he is teething.Are you getting up at 5:30 with him? I know it's hard but let him fuss his way back to sleep or learn to amuse himself in his crib.Favorite toy something chewable or even a mirror helps to get his attention off of you needing to come sooth him or entertain him.He may be taking in more fluids late? Heavey wet diaper will wake him too...Change and put him back down.If you go along with this new wake-up time your hooked! Good Luck

Hi Rachel, I have 2 boys; 8 and 4 years old. I remember sleep pattern changes every few months their first couple years. It seems that we would get into a nice routine...and then all of a sudden a change would happen....AGAIN!! I always thought of it as one more change to adapt to and would wait to see if the old pattern would return. Don't forget we change the clocks next Saturday....so more than likely what's happening now could change again! Good luck....C. M.

It sounds a lot like teething, but keep an eye on him. I have a 2 little guys and I remember feeling like, finally you are sleeping through the night and a couple of months later they would wake up at weird hours again. Usually within a couple of weeks teeth were sprouting up. Your bedtimes seem fine, but it wouldn't hurt to try putting him down at 7:15 and eventually 7:30 just to see if there is a change. Well, on the otherhand...you might not want to try that we have "Spring forward" this Sunday and the clocks are already moving up an hour. That's another tough change (but certainly more on mommy & daddy). Good luck!

Hi Rachel,

My first thought would be growth spurt. All babies go thru growth spurts at 3, 6, and 9 months. It may be that he is hungry and wants to feed then, since he is needing more calories to grow. My daughter was sleeping well at 3 months, and then one night, for 6 night in a row was up a lot and was just plain hungry. Same happend at 6 months, but she didnt wake up as much. Keep an eye out, especially how his footsie PJS are fitting, you may find that he just grew out of them.
Wish you luck,
A.

Sounds like a growth spurt to me. Six months is traditionally the time for one, and when babies hit a growth spurt, their schedules get out of whack. Just continue to do whatever you've been doing and in a week or so he'll be back on schedule. Whatever you do, don't feed him at 5:30am or he'll start to expect it. Wait until the normal breakfast time to feed him. You can try giving him an extra amount of breastmilk/formula right before he goes to sleep, but don't feed him in the early morning! When my daughter was 6 months old she went through this, and as I was nursing her I would tickle her nose to keep her awake and sucking for longer than normal right before bed. But, within a week or so, she outgrew it and began sleeping longer again.

Hi Rachel,

It could be a growth spert which would make him hungry or he could be teething. It is not uncommon for babies to continually change their sleep patterns. Just be thankful he sleeps as well as he does.

Has he started soldis? Maybe it's a bowel/gas thing. BTW my son routinely wakes at 5:30 too. I usually just nurse him back down then he sleeps a little longer - but I don't mind.