My daughter is 6 months old and in the past few months has gone from sleeping through the night with 2-3 large (over an hour) naps during the day to waking throughout the night periodically (not to eat or to be changed, just waking) and takes 2-3 short catnaps throughout the day, maybe 20-30 minutes each. She is eating solids, so hunger is not the issue. She is teething, but doesn't seem to be in pain and when she is, we use Tylenol and Hyland's Teething Tablets and they work wonderfully. When she lies down, whether it be at night or during the day, it's in a quiet environment, yet no matter what, she just doesn't sleep for long periods. Any ideas on how to get her to sleep longer periods or whether she even needs to?
Did she just have her 6 month shots? My youngest daughter slept through the night from 2 months til she got her 6 month shots and then she didn't sleep through the night again until she was 13 months. I think it was the shots. Too much of a coincidence.
A. Raymond
I'm a first time mother of a 7 month old baby girl. She started sleeping through the night around two months old. She usually take two naps during the day too which are at least an hour long. Once in a great while she'll wake a few times through the night but I've found that a box fan in her room drowns out some noise that I think helps her sleep better through the night.
Hmmm, that depends on your six month old! My daughter had 2 naps a day until she was almost 18 months. One shortly after breakfast and one about 3 pm. Each lasted about and hour and a half. My son on the other hand who is 6 months now takes a long nap (about 2 1/2 hours) after lunch and sleeps well through the night.
Sounds to me though like you may be going through teething problems with your baby. My daughter would not sleep at all when she was teething. She was not unhappy, just uncomfortable. We gave her Tylenol and teething tablets which helped some, but she still woke up at night. Tylenol really only works for about 4 hours. You might give it a couple of weeks and see if the teething lets up or see if switching her to 1 nap a day and an earlier bed time might help.
My daughter who will be 7 months old this weekend, it down to one nap in the afternoon (sometimes 2 hrs, usually 1 1/2 hrs), maybe the environment that she is in is to quiet, so that anytime there is any type of noise she wakes up. Our house is quite chaiotic (sp?). I have a 2 1/2 yr old little boy who we haven't quite found the volume control for!! HA!!
Cheers T.
I just want to say that I know as a first time mom you feel bad about waking them up or keeping them up if they are tired but don't. They'll be unhappy for the first day or two but stick with it and they will actually be a happier baby for the schedule that you put them on. Don't let her take the little cat naps and don't let her sleep longer than two hours at a time for a nap. 3 hours is the normal nap time in total that most kids get a day give or take. And don't rush right in in the middle of the night. 10 or 15 minutes of crying won't hurt her and she may go back to sleep on her own (it probably is her teeth waking her up). Then when you do go in don't really talk to her but maybe soft coos and wispers. Just give her all the signals that's it's night time. And maybe a little more Tylenol. Just a few suggestions. It's never easy. I know as a mom I'm always second guessing if I'm doing the right thing and every kid is different. But you'll soon find out what works for you. :) Sometimes I just can't wait 'till my daughter can talk to me. Well, as she's almost two she's getting close to telling me some things.
Don't put her down for so many naps during the day. I think around her age she should get a nap in the morning and a nap in the evening. That might be why she keeps waking up at night.
Hello,
I have 2 children age 6 and 4, I also run a daycare out of my home. Most all children will go through phases with naps and sleeping at night. All you can do is stick to your routine with them and they will begin to sleep again. I have an 8 month old right now that normally sleeps for 2 hours morning and afternoon, however this week she has been sleeping for about 1 1/2 in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon (we lay down at 12:30 everyday)and then around 4:30 she is starting to get sleepy again, but since this about the time the mother comes to get her I haven't been laying her back down. I have found that most kids will stay on a normal 2 nap a day until about 15 months. So just stick to it, unfortunately you can't make them sleep. But they will sleep what they need to.
Good luck.
Michelle
My son is now 15 months, but when he was about that age he went through a phase of taking several naps a day at exactly 20 minutes each. It was really frustrating, but thank goodness it turned out to be just a phase. It lasted for about 3-4 weeks, which seemed like forever, but when he started sleeping well again we were all much happier. I have had him on a routine from the start, and I tried to keep the routine throughout the phase, but it can be difficult. Just keep your chin up and you will get through it. Also, I like to keep some sort of white noise going in his room every time he's going to sleep... naps and nighttime. I have a small space heater that has a fan setting going when he's sleeping for 2 reasons. One is that it helps drown out some of the noises of the house (although there isn't much). The second reason is because the constant noise helps soothe him back to sleep when he does wake up. It's usually not a problem during naps, but sometimes he'll wake up at night but will only be awake for a few minutes at the most before he falls back to sleep. You might give it a shot to see if having some white noise will help soothe your little one back to sleep. I hope this helps! Good luck!
keep her up during the day after 2-3pm. Don't let her nap. wear her little toosh out playing
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I think it's supposed to be 15-18 hours of sleep per 24 hours. But she's probably enjoying the new wakefulness. Try to keep her up for the 3 hours before bed time then use a soothing wash, keep everything quiet on her end of the house.
It's at this time that children can get wired with sensory overload. We over-overloaded our kids to nap by using a noise machine, fan or vaccum. At the scheduled nap times I would just put her down in bed, let her play until the noise gets to her and she naps. Be sure to lower the bed in case she starts pulling up instead of playing.
