Need Some Major Help Here

I would look into seeing if he is teething. My son is the same way now. He requires me to rock him to sleep and then wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to be with me. Not eat just be with me. Then he goes back to sleep. I can see some teeth in his mouth though!

He could be teething, it could be developmental, but first I would take him in to rule out an ear infection. If his ears are clear, you can talk to the doctor about what else to do. Ear infections sometimes just develop for no obvious reasons. Good luck.

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i do not give you this information out of any need to judge you and how you are parenting, i dont want you to feel guilty or upset at yourself for doing what you thought was best at the time... you just take the knowledge you have and use your instincts to lead you to the most appropriate solution. even this advice is only to be taken if you feel it is right for you, your family, and your child. only you know your babies!

see if you can find any info on crying it out.

first of all, i would assume that this is a teething issue, or at her age, it could be the rolling over or sitting up stage.. every developmental stage babies go through causes a sleep disruption. its how you deal with it that matters...

lots of parents try this cry it out thing out of desperation, but dont fully understand how and why it works.
what is "it" and where is "out"?
basically, you leave baby to cry (even with checking on him or her) alone in their room/bed, whatever. what they start to realize is that their only form of communicating that something is wrong is not being heard nor is there any comfort for their needs.. (needs and wants are the same to babies under one year of age - you will notice when this changes, my sons cries changed from urgent to a little bit more like "im ok, but you could do something" cries around 11 months) they do stop crying, but out of depression that they arent being responded to, not because they have "learned" to self soothe. no baby is born with the ability to do this, and it may not happen for a long long time... this must be learned over time, and the best way, in my opinion, to teach this is to always always always be responsive so that fear, loneliness and crying isnt associated with their beds and sleep. put it this way, if a baby starts noticing that being in the crib is where baby is alone, and crying, that doesnt really give baby a very good feeling about the crib does it? you might start noticing that baby is crying before you get to the crib, or maybe just when walking into the room cuz they think "uh oh, im gonna be left alone and crying again..."
more of us need to put ourselves into our children's shoes... realize how it would feel to be left alone and afraid.

my son first slept through the night when he was 15 months old, (off and on, he wouldnt stay asleep all night until 17 months old) and even as tired as i was, and as frustrating as it was some nights, my son is not afraid to be in his crib, he is not afraid of bedtime or naptime. i can put him down after prayer and snuggle, rub his back for a minute and leave the room and i wont hear a peep until he is done sleeping. my friend used cry it out on her kids and her kids all crawled out of their cribs at 8 months old.

i understand that you have 2 other kids to take care of, i have a child care in my home. i still managed to put in the time holding, snuggling, nursing, and making sure that there wasnt a need for any crying it out. the most useful item i ever bought was a moby wrap - it allowed me to hold and comfort my baby while i was taking care of other kids. he slept in it and i could lay him down and because he was wrapped up, he usually would stay asleep.

the whole idea that babies must be trained is very disconnecting, we train dogs, we raise babies. its going to be difficult, its going to be exhausting, its going to be frustrating, no one should ever go into parenting thinking it is easy. we have babies to change our lives, to fit our lives into a life with children, not so that we can fit children into our normal pre-children lives, or at least thats how we should see it.

DONT GET ME WRONG, if you are at your wits end, and theres no one there to help you comfort baby, PLEASE PUT BABY DOWN AND LEAVE THE ROOM. its more important that you can retain some sanity and not end up hurting your child at that point. that is how shaken baby syndrome ends up happening. however, i only found that in 15 months i ran across that feeling twice or three times, and afterwards i realize that what was keeping my son awake was my frustration and lack of relaxation. babies can sense that most of all.

anyway, sleep is a difficult thing, and requires a LOT of dedication and work.. its NEVER going to be easy. some kids just dont sleep for long periods. this is actually a good thing in babies, babies who do NOT sleep through the night have less risk for SIDS because they are able to wake easier if something were to interfere with their breathing or something. make sense? so actually you shouldnt want your child to sleep through the night, you want them to be sensitive to their environment enough that if something were wrong, they would wake up. im not saying that this is a guarantee cause or preventative measure, but reasearch seems to show that it helps.

anwyay, good luck and i hope that i havent offended you by this direct, no nonsense approach....

M., I'm not saying it's a sure thing, but my daughter has had her off and on sleep patterns (she's 17 months). But if something is affecting him that dramatically, I would double check there is no ear infection. They are hard to diagnose!!! I learned the hard way one time & when I finally took her to the Dr. it had gotten really bad & sleeping was the hardest because of the pressure when she was laying down. I would also consider 6 mo is about when the first tooth is coming in. You may try a little tylenol or ibuprfen before bedtime to allow them to relax. He sounds uncomfortable.

Hi M.

I have twin seven month old boys and we had a very similiar situation happen to us recently with one of our boys. I thought at first that he must be teething or have an illness but over the last month have discovered that it seems as though he is transitioning to a new sleep schedule. He used to sleep a couple of hours in the morning and then take a long afternoon nap (3-4 hours) but around the time he hit six months seemed to want to change to about 45 min to an hour in the morning and then 2 hours in the afternoon. Like your son he went several days with just taking cat naps here and there but within the week had worked into his new sleep schedule. I also noticed that this change happened around the same time he started crawling, eating solid foods and sleeping 11+ hours at night. Could your son be working through a developmental stage or perhaps be transitioning to a new sleep schedule? Is he sleeping more at night? Have you introduced a new food into his diet that may be giving him tummy troubles?
Best of luck getting him back into a regular sleep routine! I know how much of an impact it can have on everyone in the family when one person is off their sleep schedule. Let us know how things work out!

C.

Is he teething? My son cut his first tooth at 5 months. I'd look at that. Maybe he's just uncomfortable because of the teeth.

I would get a sleep book if I was you. We use Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West. It just sounds like your child needs a little sleep training. The 30 minute naps don't count they are not long enough. You child is having a partial wakening and needs to learns how to fall back asleep. He just sounds like he is getting overly tired. If you get a sleep book it can help you with a schedule. And nap training is the most difficult. You will have to be patient. Good luck.

He's half a year old, and changing as he grows. This is normal and good. Establishing a schedule with an infant is crazy-making and will only stress you out. Take the cues he is giving you and you will both have lower stress. He is probably teething. Teething is painful and scary. Rock him to sleep when he wants it, because he's told you in his own way that it is what he needs so he may sleep. We all need sleep.

I think you need to take a look at the pros and cons are of making an infant 'cry it out'...then compare your results with the pros and cons of responding to them and giving them what they're asking for. You will all get better sleep if you allow yourself to listen to your instincts and respond to him. It may be inconvenient for you now but it means the world to him. Literally...the world...you are it. It is really really difficult to go through day after day with a newborn and more while you are trying to work where you live/live where you work. I know this first hand. Keep the people close to you who understand how exhausted you are, and give yourself a break. Good luck!

Has your son had a cold recently? The reason I ask is because his behavior sounds a lot like my son's when he had an ear infection. I had to nurse and rock him to get him to sleep and even then he'd wake up when I layed him down. (My son is normally a great sleeper when he's well.)

Michellle-
I don't know if I have the advice that will make your problem go away but 3 things pop into my mind. One is maybe he's growing out of some of those 30mins naps and only needing one big one in the middle of the day, some kids don't need as much sleep as others. Maybe that's why he's putting up such a fuss when he knows your puting him down for a nap? Second,if you are staying and rocking and rocking and rocking him, he's in control. I really believe even babies who can't talk can try to get what they want just like big kids who wine! we would never let our older chilren have so much of our attention when they do that, he's going to cry when you put him down, b/c you've gotten into the habit of staying and putting him to sleep, you've got to let him cry it out!! Thrid, Hang in thier and keep your cool and I know as a mother of 3 little one and and the 4th on the way, it's frustraing when we don't know what is wrong with our child . Keep being a great MOm and loving your job and this will work it's self out.

There could be a million causes for your son's sudden sleeping problems. The most common problems my kids faced were either teething, allergies, or colds. If he's got a tooth coming in, try giving him either Motrin or Tylenol to ease the pain so he can sleep. Perhaps an allergy has developed to either a seasonal change, new laundry detergent, a new food allergy, etc. The possiblilities are endless. He may be getting a cold making it difficult to breath when lying flat. Try propping one end of his mattress with a rolled up blanket. If none of this helps, call your pediatrician's office. Most of the time the nurses there can give you some ideas over the phone!

I agree with the other poster, this sounds like a developmental thing. My kids did this when they were going through a growth spurt or developmental change, and continued to do so until they were about 1 1/2 years old before they seemed to even out more.

One thing that helped greatly, at the advice of our pediatrician, was to up the amount of food our children were getting when they'd get owly, but weren't sick, a diaper rash or teething. Usually, the growth spurts meant they were more hungry and thus needed more food.

Is he on solids yet? If not, check with your pediatrician and see if he's ready. This might do the trick. Otherwise, up his milk feedings by one or two sessions, and see if that helps.

He is probably going through a growth spurt or begining teething. If it's teething motrin would help. Seems like every few months they have new changes and needs.

Ugh, Parker is pulling the same thing! And he also just turned 6 months! maybe it's an age thing. But Parker just got his vaccines (only the Dtap and polio though) so I am thinking it is that or a combo of that and teething. He has two teeth that have been trying to poke through for months now..not kidding, I've been able to feel them for at least 6 weeks in there! But I would first make sure he isn't sick and take it from there. Good luck to us both!

We had the exact same thing happen when our son hit 6 months old. My husband would be up all night with him rocking him and holding him, then I needed to repeat during the day. We decided to staisfy his needs not his wants. He wants to be held, but doesn't need to be. We would get him in bed and he'd be okay for 15 minutes then the crying would start. So we would get him out of bed and give him a bottle, when he wouldn't want that anymore, we put him back in bed. He'd be good for another 15 minutes, then would start crying again. So we would go in and change his diaper, then put him back to bed. After another 15 minutes he'd start up again and we'd give him some infant tylenol. And right back into the crib he'd go. After that if he kept crying we'd go in and sooth him without picking him up. He was having such a hard time because of his teeth. After some of his teeth came through it helped subside this problem. We still have occaisonal sleep issues, and we've decided to let him cry for 5 minutes before checking on him, and he usually gets to sleep after the first check. I hope this helps, good luck!!

maybe he doesn't feel good or he is teething or not getting enough to eat

I'm sure you've heard it all - I didn't read your other responses. My 10 mo old is doing almost everything that your son is doing right now. I have found this exact routine everytime his teeth are bothering him. Actually, the last two days he can hardly even handle the rocking b/c he's SO uncomfortable and is so tired at the same time. I've found that tylenol/motrin work at times but it also seems to keep him awake more too. Ugh! It's hard to be patient. It does pass but, seems to start up again every new tooth that comes in. Poor guy! I usually just give up on naps - we just do more low-key activities so that he is more content. Change in scenery is ALWAYS nice (for all of us) and just sitting outside helps calm him. Good luck and hang in there - it will pass!

Check for teeth coming in. Alittle tylenol goes a long way if he is teething early. fell around in his mouth. There might be growing pains as well. Rub his limbs while you sooth him. It may take away the ache. Good Luck

My daughter did the same thing! It sounds like to me he maybe coming down with an ear infection! With my daughter she would get relly fussy everytime i put her down but was fine the rest of day. Besides being tired! But she never ran a fever or pulled on her ears like every one has told me. Took her in and boom an ear infection one right after an other. The doctor told me every time i laid her down the pressure in the ears was keeping her awake! Maybe worth tring going to doc on this one! I hope this helps!

It seems like 6months is the turn around month. Lots of nice calm babies become crancky. It could be lots of things.

There is a growth spurt at 6 months. Is he extra hungry?

It seems lots of babies are teething at 6 months. Perhaps is gums hurt. Try letting him chew on a cold washcloth or chilled teether.

6months is also when they start to have attachment and abadonment issues. It could be he just doesn't want to be left alone. Trying to cry it out make him to upset to sleep. We tried letting ours cry for up to 10 minutes. It took her several minutes to calm down after picking her up.

Have you started solids? Some new foods (even cereal) gives our baby gass.

Has he just started to roll from back to tummy? Our baby would try to roll over to be more comfortable but it took so much effort she woke herself up. Now she can roll over easy and continues to sleep.

I don't have any great advise other than it's a phase that will pass. We spent a lot of time holding her. That's easier for us because she is the only child.

Hi M.
does he maybe have an ear infection?

My son is just over 7 months and he goes through "bad" sleep routines when he's teething, hitting a developmental milestone, and when he's going through a growth spurt.

At his age, that means - often. He'll go a week sleeping well and then bam! Poor sleep during the day, at night, doesn't want to sleep, is cranky, doesn't want to eat, etc...

I've basically gotten to the point where:

If he's hungry I feed him - regardless of when/what he ate last. If he's tired, he sleeps. That often means 2 2.5 naps during the day. If he won't sleep - he's started resisting naps/bedtime - then I sing him a song and put him down. He cries and complains for about 5-10 minutes and then figures it out and goes to sleep.

Good luck! This too shall pass... ;-)