Sleeping Baby - Forest,VA

Hi S., Have you tried swaddling him? That helped my daughter sleep through the night if she wasn't hungry and just wanted to be held.

I have a 6 month old who has only slept through the night a few times. I started laying him in his crib awake at bedtime and he would play until he fell asleep. This has helped him to sleep better. I also cut out he night feedings about 2 weeks ago and started giving him water to drink. He used to wake up 2-4 times per night but since I have made these changes he is only waking once or not at all. Good Luck!

well 5 months old he could be teething. That would be the only thing I could think of that would be why hes getting up at night. Also I read this awesome book just before I had my first son who is now 2 called "Sleep Wise". Great Book. My youngest is about 4 months old and sleeps soundly through the night. Some suggestions in the book were:
1. Try to keep them alert as much as possible during the day, dont shy away from being quiet, vaccuum, talk normally, whatever while the baby sleeps during the day.
2. At night turn the lights down low, so he knows its night time.
3. Dont be afraid to wake him up before you go to bed to give one more feeding! (seriously it works) Change his diaper first and then just give a bottle or breast whatever you do. And he should go back to sleep.!!!
This has worked great with me the second time around!

Also if he is teething try giving him some tylenol before bed too!

I agree that it could be something disturbing his sleep. Teething or maybe gas - especially if you're starting to introduce solids. I'd recommend oragel or tylenol before bed for teething and mylicon before his last bottle for gas. My baby girl was gassy so we gave her mylicon before bed every night whether she was fussing or not. It won't hurt him, so you might want to try that first. I wouldn't routinely give tylenol though - just if you think he's teething.

As for sleep training - I'm a big fan of babywise. I followed it with both of my kids and they were sleeping through the night by 9 weeks. It's a good compromise between strict scheduling and feeding on demand. It basically establishes a routine that is based on a sleep, eat, play cycle rather than the clock, so you can be flexible with it. The only part of the babywise I don't do is the cry it out part. I'm sure it works, and I don't necessarily think it's mean or anything - I just couldn't take it. I did (and still do when necessary) the Ferber method for that. Let them cry for a few minutes, go back and check on them, talk soothingly, lay them back down, etc - but don't pick them up - and then leave the room. If they're still crying come back in another 5 minutes, and repeat that as needed - stretching the time out between visits to his room each time. I like it because there's an element of the child learning to comfort themselves, but also the reassurance that you haven't deserted them. We used this with my son when he transitioned from the nursery to his 'big boy' room at about 15 months. It took us 3-4 nights and then he was fine.

Good luck!

He could be teething. I had a good sleeper from the time he was 10 days old. Then the teething monster hit and he hasn't been the same since. Try rubbing some baby orajel on his gums before he conks out and see if that helps him.

Sorry to have to tell you but according to doctors, his only getting up one time a night IS concidered sleeping through the night. I wasnt verry happy to find that out.

hi S.,

My husband and I had a routine for our son since the day he was born. We read to him to calm him down from all the playing then we gave him a bath, lotion and PJ's. Then he got a bottle. And then it was sleep time. We keep the lights dim during the feeding so that he knew that it was bed time. Then we put on classical music while he was in bed before he passed out for the night. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 2 1/2 months old. He is now almost 13 months old and still has the same routine of sleeping through the night.

Not only could it be teething, but he's also at the age where he's about to hit a bunch of developmental milestones. That really does effect their sleep.

Has he started sleeping more during the day? If that is the case then it might just be day/night confusion, my kids didn't have any problems sleeping through the night but my Mom did with me when I was a baby. And she would put a lamp at the end of my crib at night and I would sleep through. But if he's not hungry when he wakes up at night then I would reccomend laying him down and just rubbing his back or head and soothing him back to sleep. This will prevent him wanting to be rocked to sleep when he does wake up. I hope everything works out for you. Good luck

Hi S.,

You gotta get this book. My son started sleeping through the night at 4 months. He is now 14 months. He is very happy and well rested.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
By Marc Weissbluth

Best wishes
K.

here is what we did it may not work for you.we are both restaurant managers and may work till midnight one night and have to work 8a.m. to 5 the next day. we needed our sleep. however our son was as simple as have a bottle a diaper change and back to sleep, then it started to become 2-3 times a night. 28 day to break a habit right? we waited longer each time before we went to him, he never cried more than 15 mins. (we did peek in on him every 5 mins to make sure he was ok.) within 12 days he sleeps like a charm. Once in a while he will still wake up, but i go in I tell him I'm here, (so he knows mommy is home) and he goes to sleep in 5 mins. It may seem harsh but I would not be pleasant w/o 6 hours of sleep at least per night.

My son didn't sleep through the night until he was about six months old. He was getting up numerous times through the night just as your son is, sometimes for good reason and other times for no good reason. I read a book titiled Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth (you can find it on ebay cheap) which I HIGHLY recommmend. My husband and I did as the book instructed for our son's age group and he really has been a great sleep ever since. Basically, if you know he's been fed, changed, and he's not hurt, let him cry. It may sound horrible and it feels even more horrible to do it but within a few nights (some children take a little longer) your little one will just go to sleep.

My daughter (now 11) slept thru the night from 4 weeks. My son however (now 6) was almost 3 before he did it regular. I just kept a bottle of water near his bed for when he woke up. I talked to everyone in my family and no one had any quick fixes that worked. Alot of the time, if we put him into bed with us, he would go back to sleep, but having a 2 yr old in bed with you is uncomfortable, to say the least. We just had to wait for him to outgrow it. I hope yours doesn't take as long as ours.

I think it just varies on the child my daughter who is now 2 1/2 didnt sleep through the night until she was 2 and about a week after my 2nd child was born. Shewas attached to her bottle the way some kids are attached to a blaknie or pacifier, she didnt even really use it to drink from she just held it and sucked on it. I finally got rid of it at 2 and after that she slept through the night. On the other hand my son is 8 1/2 months and has been sleeping through the night since he was about 6 or 7 months. I tried letting my daughter cry herself to sleep but that method didnt work for her. I just got lucky with my son sleeping I really thought he was going to be like my first and keep me awake for 2 years. best of luck! nothing wrong with your baby some kids just wont sleep through the night until they are ready...

I also had similar issues with my son's sleep. He had horrible colic and the whole sleep thing (or lack thereof) just took on a life of its own during those first few months!
Take a look at different "sleep training" books and related information and see if this is something that you might want to try. Some people bash sleep-training because of the cry-it-out approach that most of the biggies seem to advocate. You do not have to do anything you do not agree with! If you go into it with that frame of mind, then you can get some good information from the different philosophies that you can incorporate into your own sleep "strategy". Out of all of the many books on this subject, I got the most information out of "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". Although I don't agree with all of the author's philosophies or tactics, there was some interesting facts and statistics on baby sleep. Once I had a clearer understanding behind my son's need for sleep, everything else started to fall into place. He has been sleeping 12 hour nights since 4 1/2 mos, and now at 9 mos., is a solid sleeper and a happy baby. I never thought it could happen!

Ahhhhh, the pangs of motherhood! If he's not waking up to eat, have you tried playing soothing music in his room at night? I never tried this myself, but I know someone who made an eight hour tape of herself recting books, singing songs, doing things like Mommy's here I love you, etc to play in the room at night. It worked for her. All I know is that I made the BIG mistake: I always brought my son back to bed with me. It wasn't a great idea and I think I didn't really sleep for two years because of it. I wish I had nipped sleeping issues in the bud before he was out of infancy. Good luck to you. Everybody is individual and hopefully you will find what works for you and your son. Just remember, this too shall pass!