Not Sleeping All Night

Hey A.! I use the Bedtime Bath in her bath water every night and also I put the Bedtime Bath lotion on her after her bath. It relaxes them! I don't know if you already use it but I started doing that when she was about 2 months old and she has slept thru the night since then. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

A.,

I feel your pain! I'm not sure I'm the best person to offer advice on this issue, since both my girls were still getting up a few times a night until past their first birthdays. Eventually, out of exhaustion, I just stopped going into their rooms when they cried, and either they grew out of it or just stopped trying to get my attention since I stopped coming. There's a good book called "Sleeping through the night" by Jodi Mindell that may give you some suggestions - I'm sure you can get it at your local library.

good luck
S.

Have you tried having her stay awake longer during the day? I am sure you have tried everything. i have a 11 week old and he naps all during the day of course but no longer than an hour and half to 2 hours MAX>>> then i wake him play with him feed him. His routine is like this wakes up at 7 for feeding. goes back down until about 11 then wakes up eats plays etc until around 1 sleeps for about an hour then wakes at 2 to eat. then sleep agbain around 330 until about 5 .. then of course back down for a hour or so but not longer than 7pm. gets up bathes i feed him around 830 and he goes down around 10. and to back up again he wakes around 5. I can't wait to feed him cerel to see how it goes.
Another thing when she wakes do you play talk to her. That gets them wide awake. So does diaper changing. I put him down with extra cream on his bottom so he won't get a rash.
Just cut back on her naps and feed her more at bedtime. Good luck Hope this helps.

Is she teething? She may wake up because of the pain. Try giving her baby motrin at bedtime.

Are you using formula or nursing? I found my dgt did better when I gave her a bottle of formula at bedtime. She was sleeping through the night by 6 weeks.

Try to keep her awake more during the day and she may sleep better at night.

Good luck.

Do you breastfeed her? If so, it is b/c the breastmilk goes through her tummy faster than formula. Try to incorporat formula.
Also, we had the same exact problem. It was awefl. It got to the point where I was so drained during the day. So I read a great book and basically, do whatever you feel is comfortable to you. But, what we did was we would let her cry for 15 minutes before we would go in there. We'd rub her back (never picking her up - it makes it harder for you both) and turn on her ocean wonders aquarium and leave. we'd do it every 15 minutes til she fell asleep. They'll get the idea in a couple weeks that hey, you wont come to the every single time. Then, they learn to make themselves go bak to sleep. She is so dependant on YOU to make her fall asleep. She needs to learn to do it on her own. It sounds harsh but I swear you'll never regret doing it. Ava now sleep through the night. Bedtime at 7p, early a.m. bottle at 6, then up for good at 9am! I never thought it'd work for Ava but it did. It took a bit longer, but you HAVE to do it - for her own good. Good luck
Let me know if I can help you more
K.

at 6 months its very common for babies to not be sleeping through the night. You really shouldnt expect her to start sleeping through the night till around 9-12 months. Some babies sleep through the night from day one some take much longer like my daughter she didnt sleep through the night till she was 3yrs old. My son at 12 months was sleeping through the night. Both raised exactly the same way. Sleeping through the night is classified for babies as sleeping 5-6hrs w/o waking thats what they mean by through the night its not put to bed at 8pm then not awake till 7am the next morning.

there could be a number of reasons she isnt sleeping through the night she could be teething , or overtired if the are overtired they are much less likely to sleep through the night. When you put her to bed watch for her cues dont go buy the clock watch for her tired cues like rubbing her eyes , yawning starting to get grumpy. Also with my kids theres a fine line between tired and overtired its a trial and error type thing. Give her time and your self time yall will get it.

I would suggest a couple of things:
1- 2 hour daytime scheduling...eat, awake 2 hours, nap, eat, awake 2 hours, nap (with each nap lasting 1-2 hours, no more than 2)
2-have a good night routine that starts an hour or so before bedtime
3-fill her up with 2+ feedings within 4 hours of bedtime, make sure she is full before bed but don't let her fall asleep while she's eating then lay her down, lay her down drowsy but awake
4-try the "5 minute rule" when she wakes up in the middle of the night...see if she can fall back to sleep on her own before you intervene, if not, see if you can console her without picking her up (if these fail, of course, do what you think is right!)

I found that in the end, you just have to do what you feel is right, don't force someone else's philosophy on your child if it doesn't set well with you. Also, I know it can be annoying when babies wake up all night but every baby is different with different needs.

I hope this helps. I had good luck with the tips I listed above. My baby slept 8 hours by 6 weeks and 10-12 hours by 2 months and she has stayed pretty consistent with it. She does that while also taking 2-3 one and a half hour naps each day!

This is going to sound really hateful. I had my daughter sleeping through the night when she was 6 weeks old. It worked with all the kids I know of. It will take 3 nights. When she wakes up at night, don't go in there. Don't turn on a light, don't feed her, nothing. It will be hard listening to her cry, I can assure you. She wakes up at night because she knows you will come in there. Stop it at the source and you can start sleeping again! I hope this helps!

If she naps during the day - do not allow her to sleep for long periods of time - this will make her more apt to sleep through the night. Basically cut her rest time during the day - if she takes a nap - wake her up half way thru the nap.
Hope this helps.

she is young enough to sleep with you and if your breast feeding like i did with both of mine it's just easier to keep them in the bed with you. start out the night with her in her own bed then when she wakes the first time bring her to your bed lay down with her and comfort her. they have shown that letting a baby "just cry it out" at night causes them to have low self esteem later on so seriously i would think twice about doing that. however the baby probably is crying out of hunger if your breast feeding because your not eating enough protein and vegies. after the first six months you can express the milk rather then direct sourse it and add baby cereal so that it is more filling. you'll find she makes it farther into the night when you do this and she is still receiving all the goodness of your milk.

Hi A.
I have a five month old son who also gets up once or twice during the night. I found that if he gets a few good naps in during the day he sleeps better at night. Also, I try to feed him 4-5 oz before he goes to bed so that will hold him over for at least 5 hours. Sometimes he will get up and i just need to rock him back to sleep for a few minutes. Not sure if this helps, but take comfort in knowing you are not the only one out there with the same problem.
C.
27 years old and stay home mom

Hi.

When I hear of this problem the first thing I wonder is what happens when she DOES wake up at night. Does she get kisses and hugs? If she's feeding is she getting other stimuli?

I had a friend who turned the tv on and played with her baby when he awoke in the middle of the night. Eventually she was complaining b/c my little one (same age) was sleeping through the night but hers wasn't. I told her the obvious.

So, objectively look at what's really happening at night. I used to keep all the lights off, I didn't talk to my babies at all, when breastfeeding I was "all business" with no hugs or kisses. It sounds cold but I got the message across that night time was for sleeping. Period.

Good luck!

I have a five month old boy and he only sleeps through the night occassionally. We are trying to figure out how to keep it regular. The nights he does sleep through (6-7 hours) he is very full when he goes to sleep. You may want to try making sure she has eaten enough before putting her in bed.

Hi A.,
I have read some of the other suggestions and I agree with a few in particular. As a mother of two, I have experienced the same problem with both. What worked best for me is giving the baby a bottle (with cereal and formula or pumped milk), along with motrin (for teething). This appeared to keep them setteled a bit longer. I had a difficult time with having them crying it out, but I did have to with the first one (once he hit 8 months), and the second one cries only for a few minutes before he "humms" himself to sleep. Every baby is different. Now whenever my youngest wakes in the night for more than a few nights, I take him to the Dr. to be checked for ear infections (my first one had reflux- which is why he woke).
Just remember, once your little one starts sleeping throught the night, that just one more step of growing up. I kinda miss the wakings :)
Good luch!!
T.

I have a 8 month old daughter and when she was four months old I started giving her cereal at night in a bottle. When I started that she started sleeping through the night, it seemed to keep her full. I also allowed her to self soothe for a few minutes before going to get her and that seemed to allow her to learn to get herself back to sleep. Good luck, its hard to have so much broken sleep!

Isn't that normal for a baby her age?

I wish I had personal experience to share with you, but unfortunately I don't.
I do recommend a book by Dr. Weissbluth, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child".
A friend from work has been raving about it.

My daughter has been sleeping through the night since she was 9months old. She never shared our bed and always slept in her own room. Every child is different, however Wendy Raine did not start sleeping through the night until I weened her. She cried for the first few nights, but only for a few minutes. Make sure she is Dry and Full, then lay her down ( I rocked Wendy to sleep)and if she wakes up just let her cry. Wendy's doctor told me that if a child was used to sleeping with her parents that lightly spraying the mom's perfume on a shirt and placing it in the crib would help a child start sleeping on their own and through the night.

I hope this helped...

O. Mead

Are you nursing her? She might be using you as a pacifier. Mine did for 20 months and didn't sleep through the night until I stopped b/feeding.

I know it sounds harsh but I used to let my son cry until he went back to sleep. I only let him cry for like 5 minutes max. I have no idea if that worked but he is 3 and I have never had a problem with him sleeping. I just never jumped right up and went to him in the night. I would just sit awake for a bit and wait for him to go back to sleep. I have a four month old girl now and I do the same for her. She sleeps from 8 pm to 7 am already. She will usually look for her binky once in the night. Hopefully she will be able to find that on her own soon! Hope this helps, Veronica