Hello. My daughter is 6 months and a week or so old. We have a great routine for naps and bedtimes, but recenlty she has been tough to put down. I am able to put her down awake and she will make her baby noises and then go right to sleep. For a week or so she would only get up for one feeding and at times would even sleep from 6pm-6am.
She still has three naps a day. Now, she may not take her 3rd nap which means she goes to bed earlier. She goes to bed around 6-6:30pm. Recently, she has been waking up 2-3 hours after she goes down and we went in to check on her and she would want to play. We then follow the bedtime routine and then put her down. Sometimes, though she would need to be rocked to sleep or I would have to go in and rub her back to sleep. She woule be hysterically crying at this point. I am not sure if it is sepration anxiety or teething. I have given her tylenol, but again I am not too sure if it toned down the pain or she is just so tired.
Also, she seems to get up at 4:30am. Ususally, she would go back to sleep, but again she seems to be up and wants to play. I just feel as though she is "off" from her schedule. Any thoughts or feedback would be great. I am puzzled!
Thanks
JO
Thank you to all that have responded it has given me some insight to what maybe going on. I appreciate the emails it surely helps me ease my mind!!
When my youngest son was teething he would want to play. It would seem to be the only way to comfort him. Then I would try to put him down about 30 - 40 minutes later with a bottle. I would give it a week and see if it changes. My oldest only wanted to be consoled when teething...but my youngest just wanted to play. I don't think she's overtired because you are putting her to bed earlier.
Hope this helps!
Hi J.,
It's so frustrating when you think yo have a routine worked out and then the baby goes and changes the game. She might definitely be teething - can you see the teeth trying to come through? As for the sleep schedule - At 6 months, she's probably ready to switch to 2 naps/day. a typical schedule look might look something like this:
wake at 6:30
Nap from 9:00 - 11:00
Nap from 2:30 - 4:00
bedtime by 7:00
A baby needs 14 - 16 hours of sleep per day and is awake for no more than 3.5 - 4 hours per stretch. Going to 2 naps should help her sleep better at night and you might even get longer naps during the day. As you transition from 3 to 2 naps you might have to put her to bed a bit earlier, like 6:00, but she should still wake at the normal time.
Hope this helps!
J.
You hit the nail on the head it may very well be teething or separation anxiety! My son went through the separation anxiety thing more than once too, so beware. But it did not last that long (although every child is different).
Try Hyland's teething tablets they are homeopathic & totally safe. CVS & others have them & they work great. Also they are safe & will not hurt your baby like Tylenol & things can. So if it is not a teething issue than you don't have to feel bad for giving her "medicine" for nothing.
If that does not work it very well may be separation anxiety & all you can do for it is let her CIO but keep going in to her just don't pick her up! Also only stay 1-2 mins and no longer. She will get over it.
Oh I also noticed when my son was approaching a new milestone he'd go to sleep okay but would wake in the middle of the night & have trouble getting back to sleep. Then once he got to that milestone & mastered it he was sleeping well again.
Try Ferberizing. You may have to google it to fully understand it. It is basically teaching your child to self sooth. It was hard to let my son ( now 1) cry it out the first few nights, but it was well worth it. Once they are on a sleep routine, it's so important to stay on it. They depend on it and once they learn to self sooth, if they do wake up in he middle of he night, they can get themselves back to sleep. Hope this helps : )
Hi!
I have a girl who is 18 mo. She has been sleeping through the night for months, but I remember when she wasn't of course! Basically, I think what your daughter is doing is typical. At about 6 months, my daughter also woke up after about two hours of sleeping-very awake-and for weeks! It was frustrating. She also would get up really really early as well. Eventually, she just stopped. I would keep doing what you are doing, although it is tiring, and just wait it out! It WILL end!!
For me, it was anytime I got used to a schedule with either of babies, they changed. They are in constant development, and the schedule will morph, and change as they do. It is hard, but soon you will find what works, and work around that schedule. Sounds like you are doing the right things to soothe, just go with your gut on what she needs to settle.
Good luck,
D.
My 6 mo old would take a late evening nap and then wake up for sometimes two hours and go to sleep at 10:30 or eleven. We would feed him a bottle and then he would eventually go to sleep. He would also wake up at 4:00, we would feed him and he would go back to sleep for a few hours. So this could just be a new pattern which should get better and this could definitely be the result of teething. Try motrin if tylenol isn't working. When my son was teething he would wake every 2 to 3 hours. A nightmare. Or she may just be hungry (growth spurt). Perhaps you need to give her a bottle late night so that she can sleep longer. The night waking will decrease over time, but perhaps you are putting her to sleep too early. Our son goes to sleep at 9pm and sleeps until 9am. But when he was a baby he would go to bed much later. His third nap of the day was a late evening nap (after dinner). Try feeding her again and see if that works. 6:30 bedtime seems a little early for this age (to then not eat again until morning.) I know I just rambled but hope I said something that may help.
I think the problem is that she is phasing out her third nap ~ be grateful you've had it this long, my kids lost that one *way* earlier on (and I'd bet most moms would say the same :) You may want to start losing the third nap and then trying to stretch her until 6:30 so that she's tired enough to get (and stay) to sleep. Also, it sounds like she's developed a sleep habit of waking so don't be surprised if she still continues to wake even after the removal of the third nap. After a few days the exhaustion will kick in and she'll develop a new pattern.
Goodl luck!
L.
p.s. I am an sdmitted modern medicine girl and used to turn up my nose at anything homeopathic (ironic since that's where our medicine comes from). Anyway, after reading a million posts here swearing by Hyland Teething Tablets, I happened across them at CVS in the baby aisle and gave them a whirl. I swear they've worked better than anything else, and I only wish I'd been a member of this board when my daughter was little so I'd have known of them sooner! :)
Hi J.-
Sleep needs shift as they get older, and I found that the transitions (from 3 naps to 2, then 2 to 1) can be tricky. She's probably ready to give up that 3rd nap, but it usually doesn't happen overnight. When my kids did 2 naps it was around 9:30am and 2:30pm, each about 1 1/2 hours. If she's getting up at 6am, 9:30 can be a long time before nap (lots of babies will want to nap about an hour after they wake up)-- so you'll have to try to keep her up, and stretch that time later into the morning each day until you're on the routine. You may want to try to pull her bedtime back more to 7 or 7:30pm too, so she can sleep a little later in the mornning. In the beginning, you might have a cranky/overtired baby, but she should adjust within a week or two.
It's hard to tell about teething, isn't it? But, if she's waking up and wanting to play, or is immediately comforted if you pick her up, she's probably not in pain.
Good luck!
