How Can I Encourage My Baby to Sleep Better Through the Night?

Hi J.,

He might be teething now. That happened with my daughter. Every time a new tooth came in she would have trouble sleeping through the night. It went on for awhile.

L.

He could be teething. Look in his mouth for swollen gums, and maybe give him some tylonol or motrin for the pain.

I don't know that I'm on board with the "more food" suggestions...with the exception of if your child seems hungry then meet his/her needs via nursing, etc. Your post indicated that your baby is waking (but not necc because of a desire to eat). Anyways, other things I would suggest: at 5 mos we introduced a "lovey" that my daugther sleeps with nightly (this has been a big help), keep all the items in your child's room/crib consistent. So, what he/she sees during the day is what she'll see when she wakes in the middle of the night. Play in your child's room more during the day so they are comfortable with the surroundings as their awareness of it grows. Sometimes babies wake more frequently because they are growing...this may occur for a couple weeks and then you'll see she'll sleep through the night again next week. Did she/he learn to roll over? That will also startle a child and wake them up. Again, until they get used to rolling around, it may just take a bit. Introduce other self soothing methods such as the use of a pacifier or thumb? Or other method that perhaps you know of??

My daughter went through this at around 7 months. The turning point for us was when we stopped picking her up in the middle of the night. I would go in for a few minutes, rub her tummy, kiss her forehead, let her know that I was there,but I would NOT get her out of the crib unless I could detect something that definitely needed attention (i.e. dirty diaper). It's really hard to let your child cry, but he needs to learn how to self-soothe and fall asleep on his own.

Also, I don't know if you're putting your baby in his crib when he's already asleep. Soon I would suggest putting him in when he's slightly awake so he can get used to going to sleep without you. It's a learned skill.

I don't know if your son might be teething, but if he is, then he does need a midnight cuddle! I found that a bottle with icy water really helped (especially if my daughter had enough calories through the day). I think we were sleep deprived for about a month when my daughter started teething around 4 months. Then when the next round of teeth came in, it hardly impacted our sleep at all!

Hope that's helpful!

perhaps he is teething? My 10 month old always does the same thing when she is teething. I created a monster when I tried nursing her each time because then she got so used to it even though she didn't need to eat! We started giving her Tylenol before bed and that helped tons! Motrin also works great and he'll have relief longer but I think he should be 6 mo before motrin? Hope you get some sleep soon!

Have you started feeding him solids?? Sometimes when babies have been sleeping through the night, they start to wake again when they are ready for more calories. Just something to consider if you haven't already.

When our son was six months old, after sleeping through the night for 3-4 months, we went through the same thing you're going through now. Our son's pediatrician suggested that my husband go and coax him back to sleep when he woke up in the middle of the night. As the ped explained it, our son is just looking for something to soothe him back to sleep when he wakes up, which is why he would fall asleep within minutes of nursing or not seem interested in nursing at all. If he was truly hungry, he'd nurse like normal. Now I must admit, that first night of letting my husband tend to our son was difficult, but it got better the second night, and by the third or fourth night, our son was sleeping through the night again. He put up a royal fuss because he wanted me, but when my husband was the one routinely answering his middle-of-the-night calls, he would give up and go back to sleep. The key was discouraging him from that behavior.

Hope this helps! :)

He might be hungry! Around 5 months most babies go through a growth spurt. Do you feed him when he wakes up? Does he get babyfood during the day? Maybe try uping his amount of food?

I understand how hard it is to be woke up during the night, it seems that once a woman turns into a mother, that "right" goes out the window. If it is not a newborn waking, it is a toddler waking and if not the toddler, it is a preschooler waking up with bad dreams. I don't think our 5 month olds are "out to get us" by protesting their crib, but I do think a 5 month old can be lonely for his mom....we jut don't know what is going on in their heads. He may need more mama time during the day? Whatever routine your baby sets (seems like h had been sleeping through the night for 2 months - yahoo, count your blessings!) they will soon change that routine, that is one thing that is certain about kids! Whatever a first child does, the second child seems to make a promise to be different. I encourage you to ride out the waves and maybe lower your expectations for sleep. I did not sleep through the night for 7 years after having 3 kids in 5 years - someone was always up!!! We did come up with creative sleep alternatives so I was not walking into walls the next day. But I say it was good training for when I had teenagers and couldn't fall asleep till they were home; or college age kids texting me to tell me they were running late at 2am! Though at times it is hard to go without sleep, this too shall pass.

Great book recommended to me that I recommend to everyone:
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth

I feel ya though, our daughter is going through a rough patch just getting rid of her morning nap...

Hang in there!

I agree with everyone else, more food. We used to wake our son up before we went to bed and feed him. He usually didn't even really open his eyes, but he could suck down 6 oz no problem, then just go back to sleep. We used a dimmer light so it was still pretty dark in the room. He seemed to make it longer at night when we did this. Good luck.

It's important to develop a night time routine that involves soothing (rocking, reading, bathtime, nursing ...). No vigorous activity before bed. I agree with the writer who said don't rock him to sleep. It's so liberating to be able to lay him down and walk away knowing he'll drift off to sleep on his own.

It's hard, but try not to go to him when he cries in the middle of the night. At this age he needs to learn how to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up, much like we do when we wake up. If you go to him every few hours, he'll continue to do it because he loves your company. And it's easier to break him of this habit now than when he's a year old.

Get to the library and check out this book. It's called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He guides you throug all of the sleep stages babies go through and how to help them achieve optimal sleep. I followed his suggestions (as best I could, since my son is in child care), and at 5 months he was taking 2 or 3 naps a day and sleeping nearly 12 hours at night. We've hit a few rough patches here and there, but right now my 15 month old goes to bed about 645 and sleeps until 7am. The book is a lifesaver for a new mom who's hearing lots of conflicting advice like I was. Good luck to you!

My daughter has never been a great sleeper. She has yet to sleep through the night. Well, TECHNICALLY she will ... she will sleep 5 or 6 hours and then wake up. I have to put her to bed very very very sleepy otherwise she will pop up and cry as soon as I leave the room. If I stay in the room she's fine.

My sister is getting her Masters in Social Work and her concentration is on Child Development. She said some babies just need more checking in with mom and dad... typically with mom. She said for some babies mom is just the EVERYTHING to them and not having mom around really disturbs them. They just want to know mommy is around all the time. This is how my daughter is.

From what you describe it sounds like he just is wanting to check in with you. If he is not hungry, don't force him to eat. Just try to soothe him back to sleep. Rock, walk with him, pat his back etc... this all gives him 'tools' to soothe himself. Babies do not have the ability to calm themselves. What we do teaches them. (like when they bonk their head and we pick them up, pat their back and tell them everything is ok' ... that helps teach them how to react to that kind of situation). The idea of crying it out just teaches your child that you aren't there for him. Sorry, I know there will be plenty of moms out there who will tell you to just let him cry. Honestly, this does nothing for your child except to teach him you won't help him and drives you a little bonkers too. I do not like to cry myself to sleep...why would that be good for my child.

Also, keep in mind, it is not unusual for babies to NOT sleep through the night. Adults do not sleep through the night, but we know how to roll over and put ourselves back to sleep. This is what we have to teach our babies to do. But it takes time. They are growing and developing so fast that this development can throw things off. Many times an emerging new skill will throw off a sleep pattern. For example... has he learned to roll both ways yet? Or is he showing signs of crawling? Major new physical skills can often disrupt sleep. They want to practice. So, when they rouse a bit, they really wake up and then want to practice their new skill.

Just try to soothe him and help him go back to sleep. It should pass and he should get back to his normal routine.

As also stated, more food. It always helped our son. Also, if it's just a small noise, let him keep on sleeping. It's hard but they are also learning how to calm themselves and put themselves back to sleep.

Babies go through stages and many are awake during the night off and on. It's normal. They're growing, breastmilk is digested quickly, they want to be close to their mom, they want to be cuddled etc. Try looking on the La Leche League website www.llli.org then click Resources then Answers. You'll find a lot of information on nighttime issues. One of the toughest things about parenting is the 24x7 nature of it, but that's how it is. Would you consider having him next to you in your room? I used to put my youngest on a mat on the floor next to me when she was too told for her small baby bed. I'd put her to sleep in her bed, then when she awoke, I'd cuddle/nurse her and put her down by me for the rest of the night. I got a lot more sleep that way! She grew out of it but it was quite awhile. You can buy co-sleeper beds but they're pricey.

Could it be a teething thing? Maybe he is napping too much during the day. When mine started that, I made sure that he didn't have a nasty diaper, and would hold him for a few minutes and then put him to bed and pat his back until he fell asleep, this was a long time. Then I gradually started leaving sooner and sooner. Until, I could go in and lay him back down and just reassure him. Good luck.

Do you think he might be teething? Every child handles it differently, and it may be enough of a sensation to keep him awake. He clearly isn't hungry, you might want to try a little Tylenol, give him 20 minuters in his crib alone, and see if that helps. If it is behavioral only, then go in and check on him, don't take him out, say nite-nite, go to sleep and leave. Keep doing this until he falls back to sleep, like every 10 minutes or so. Expect some fussing and crying until he gets into his old routine again. Something is waking him, and you need to figure out what. Hunger, diaper change, teething are the 3 biggest ones. You must be exhausated! Hang in there...

I don't know that solid food is an answer - be careful with that. As a mom of a child with food allergies (dairy/egg/nut), I keep reading about the risks increasing if you introduce food earlier than the recommended time frame. Also, if you do decide to introduce solids, keep an eye out for allergic reactions. Talk to your pediatrician to see what they think based on your baby's age and history. (And even if you do try it, realize it may not change a thing. Even when we started my son on solids at 6 months, it didn't affect his sleeping habits.)

I would develop a routine for night time and nurse/bottle feed him just before putting him down. He could be hitting a growth spurt or waking himself up. My son got up at least once a night until he was a year...ugh!! When he went through those spurts, I'd put him to sleep in his swing and he'd sleep longer.....it's not a 'forever' solution, but when you need a couple good nights of sleep in a row, it might help!! I probably did it for a good month or so. (Usually would put him to bed in his crib, then move him to the swing after he woke up and I nursed him.) He's also at the stage where he can wake himself up rolling, then have difficulty falling back asleep - try to put him to bed somewhat awake so he learns that he can fall asleep without someone holding him. (Or maybe you already do this?) Also, he'll soon be at the point where he realizes if he cries that you will come. I learned that sometimes if I let my baby cry for 5-10 minutes that he would just fall back asleep. Of course, that ability didn't come to me until he was a little older, but it might work for you if you had the strength to try it!

Best wishes...hopefully you find the right solution that works for you! Amazing how much needed a good night's sleep is! :)

We did the progressive waiting from Ferber "Solve your child's sleep problems" when LO was about this age. First night wait 3, 5, 7 mins then every 7 after until LO goes to sleep. 2nd night 5,7, 10. 3rd night 7,10,15 and then it continues up from there. We used it at bedtime putting LO down drowsy but awake and then nursed for night wakings which were only 2 at the time but still put back down awake. She didn't ever cry much during the night wakings and cut them out on her own after about 3 weeks. Bedtime took 7 days to get no crying with each night being a little less.

Is he beginning teething?

Hi Kathy,

I am having the same problem with my 5 month little girl. I was told it could be comfort thing. I just let her cry one night, she didn't cry for long, it wasn't that hurtful cry and she fell back to sleep. I don't like doing that by I had to, she is starting to sleep more at night now. She gets up now and just plays then goes back to sleep, does your little guy do that? Hang in there!