Sleeping Issues

Hi my son is almost seven months and i am having the same problem. Except when he wakes up he wants a bottle I have tried to let him stay in there for a couple minutes just to see if he would go back to sleep but he screams and i mean screams and he drinks the whole bottle . So if you get any good sugestion please pass them on . Thank You M.

My son has never been a great sleeper in that he woke up frequently but he always went to sleep wonderfully. Then we had his first night of sleeping all the way through the night. I was thrilled, but it did not last long.

We have had a bout of up and down ALL night long for the last 4 weeks or so. He was getting up more often than when I brought him home.

We tried to let him cry it out but it ended up in hysterics.... Well ong story short his first tooth broke through this week and he is sleeping wonderfully. He is even falling alseep lying in his crib (while I am in the room but not patting him to sleep) This is a huge improvement!

Are you getting any other signs of teething? (drooling, biting, etc.?)

Hi Kristen,
I am another person who is totally against CIO! Children go through phases, sometimes you know why (sick, teething, full diaper) and sometimes you have no idea. My son is 22 months old and a wonderful sleeper. He started sleeping from 7-6:30 at 5.5 months old. However, every couple of months of so, he would start waking again just like you are describing. It would last 1 week, sometimes two. i would get so tired and frustrated! However, to this day, my son has never been left alone in a dark room to CIO, I always went and got him. Sometimes he just needed a little bit of light to be turned on or just to have me in the room for awhile. Most of the time, I would have to pick him up and rock him again. I always worried that I would be creating a monster who couldn't sleep on his own, but my experience has been just the opposite. I think he sleeps so well because he is so confident that if he needs me, I will be there. Just as quickly as the wakings started, they would stop. I would say it wasn't until 15 months old that these phases stopped happening and I have gone months now without seeing him in the middle of the night!
I truely believe that if they are up and crying, they need something. I am no expert, but I don't think you have to worry about manipulation until they are much older, more like 3 years old?? I guess I will find out!

Well, my advice is not to let him cry!!! Think about it... if he has been sleeping through the night means that he knows how to pacify himself, because all babies wake up at least 4 or 5 times through the night!!! make sure there are no underlying medical conditions like an ear ache or maybe a cold!!!
My other advice is to read a book by tracy hogg called: "the baby whisperer,solve all your problems." In it she gives you detailed instructions on how teach your baby to soothe himself and sleep through the night without leting him cry it out on his own!!! well, he will cry, but at least you will be there with him and it wont create a trauma for him. Some babies can feel abandoned if they are left to cry it out!!!
My husband and I followed the book to the t and it WORKED. our baby was 5 months old when we started (and it took a lot of work) but in a week he was already sleeping through the night with no traumas...
Hope this helps

K.
What you describe is totally normal for his age. People think that once a baby sleeps thru the night, it will always be that way but it is not. He is probably teething or other things like separation anxiety. Do you nurse? Some babies need the comfort of nursing at night or are hungry. Does he take a paci? This might help him self-soothe.

I highly recommend a book called, Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West. Just letting him cry without a plan in place may not work and is very traumatic for you and the baby.

Best of Luck
P. (mom to eight month old Kate)

K.
I am having the same issue with my 3 month old and I had it with my son who is now 5 y.o. When young babies go through growth spurts, they often begin waking up multiple times throughout the night to get in some extra nourishment. It is completely normal! My son has always been a great sleeper but there were several times in his first 2 years that he would wake up during the night to feed. At first, I just tried to let him cry, but then found that if he was nursed well, he would sleep for several more hours, whereas if he just cried himself back to sleep, he would often wake up again shortly and be even more upset. Now with my daughter, I just give her about 2 minutes(to see if it is just a bad dream or something) and if she keeps fussing, I nurse her until she is content and then let her fall back asleep on her own.
Just keep in mind that when babies are growing, they have times when they need more food than usual. This may mean just more feedings throughout the day, but is often more during the night. With my two kids, the phases luckily only lasted short periods. So good luck! Try to get as much sleep as you can and find out what you feel is best for your babe. =)

K.,

My daughter is almost 6 months old and we have nights sometimes where she is like that. I think it has to do with teething. I can usually just pick her up and she knows I am there and goes right back to sleep. We had to rock her back to sleep a few nights. I can not let her cry it out yet, but my sister-in-law does with her son and has been since he was about 3 months. My daughter does not wake up a lot, but when she does, I can usually soothe her back to sleep pretty quickly. Good luck!

Hi K.. I have a 2.5 year old son and this sounds all too familiar. We started letting him "cry it out" around 6-7 months and it worked. He found a way to sooth himself back to sleep. BUT I will say I also grew to learn his cries. Most of the time, I could tell if he was going to eventually fall back asleep or if he needed something (diaper change, hungry, or cuddle). If that was the case, and I tried to stick with my instincts, we would address what necessary. My son was also really affected by teething, still is. If we thought he might be teething and was uncomfortable we would go in his room to reassure that everything was ok by holding him, singing and sometimes teething tablets or tylenol if he was really in pain. Hope this helps!

My oldest daughter was a champion sleeper and I had little trouble getting her to sleep, but I did have to let her cry it out for a few days until she learned that I wasn't giving in. She was about 10 months at that time. I stayed in the room with her until she fell asleep. My youngest is now 14 months old. I breastfed her until she was 12 months old and she woke up 2-3 times every night since birth. I was exhausted, but knew it was because I would nurse her back to sleep every time. Once I stopped nursing her at night and help her lay back down (or let my husband give her juice or milk)she quickly learned and in 3 days she slept through the night and has been for over a month now. I didn't attempt any "crying out" until both were at least 9-10 months old, but that was because I wasn't comfortable doing it yet. These are just my experiences, I hope you find what works for you.

My daughter is 14 months old now and still doesn't always sleep through the night. Typically her teeth are hurting her and I give her teething tablets and she falls back asleep. Are you feeding him when he wakes up? If he went for a whole week without eating in the middle of the night, then he doesn't need it the next week. I think that 6 months old is a pretty good age to let him cry himself to sleep. I think my daughter was a little bit older, but I think I waited longer than I needed to. My suggestion is to merely lay him in his crib awake at night (I didn't try it at nap time until bed time was solid) and after about 5 minutes go in and lay him down again and then leave and don't go back. I think the first night for me it took about 30-45 minutes, but then every night after that it gets shorter and shorter. I think after about 4 nights she only fussed lightly for about 5 minutes and was asleep. Now she goes to bed like an angel and even goes to the fridge to get her milk when I ask her if she wants to take a nap and she's actually ready.
The thing is that if you stick to not giving into him the first night, you can't give in the second night or you're backtracking. So, stick to your plan and if you absolutely can't wait him out long enough for him to fall asleep, then you should probably try again in another month. Hope this helps, good luck!

Perhaps he is teething?

Try letting him cry for a few minutes before you go in his room. Sometimes my baby would cry out in the middle of a dream or wake herself up but put herself right back to sleep. Also I found that if I pick her up in the middle of the night it is SO much harder for her to go back to sleep. When she would wake up and be standing up in her crib for me to pick her up I would make her lay back down-after doing that 5 or 6 times she finally got the hint and went to sleep. I read somewhere that when they are trying to learn a new skill they don't sleep very well. I know it's rough but it gets better!

I went through the same issues with my daughter when she was 7 -8months old. My perfect sleeper all of a sudden was waking up all hours of the night. I was very against letting her cry it out, but it got so bad, I gave in. It was the best thing I ever did. The first night was the absolute hardest- she cried a very long time and there was a lot of guilt and sadness on my end. The 2nd night, the time she cried was cut in half, 3rd night, it was only like 5 minutes and 4th night, she was back to sleeping through. I finally have my nights back and it was wonderful! If you can get through the first night, you are doing great! I don't think 6 months is too young, I actually think that is the perfect age, i wouldn't do it any younger. There are many people for CIO and many people against, only you can decide if you are ready and willing. Hope this helps!

I have a Two month old who I've been blessed with barely ever cries and is sleeping through the night. I've noticed that if it's to dark in our bedroom(we cosleep even though she has a crib) when she wakes in the night she'll just start screaming. And it's good to put ur baby on a strict schedule babies are like old ppl. They love scheduled feedings and activitieys But just remember to much napping during the day will make ur baby awake at night.But keeping them awake to much will give you the rough time when it's time to put him to bed. Also try alittle noise. We bought her a sea toy that hooks on the crib. It makes water noises and project's images for your baby to look at.

My son is also 6 months old and going through the same thing. Then last week he started sprouting teeth! We also noticed that he was ok if we went in and just put his pacifier back in. He was having trouble finding it, so we put three or four more in the crib with him when he goes down. When he starts to cry we wait for a minute to see if he finds one. Most times he does but it took a little while. As far as the teething thing, we would give him motrin or tylenol right before bed, and then also put baby orajel on his mouth too. It seemed to help. Good luck! Jen

Dear K.,

When my daughter was born she was constantly waking up every 2-3 hours. Then around about 2 months old, she began to cry every time that I laid her down and then become quiet when I picked her up. I nursed her and she was hungry every 2-3 hours. When she developed this "crying phase" at that age, I couldn't even lay her down just to take a shower without her crying and this was after I got her to sleep. The moment I laid her down in her crib, she would wake up and start crying. I asked my pediatrician what I should do about it and he told me that she would grow out of it. She was way too young to allow her to just lay there and cry because she wasn't trying to "get her way", she just simply was comfortable being held. The crying thing only lasted for about a month and then went away.

As for your 6 month old, I don't think allowing him to cry is the answer. He is far too young to understand the concept of control just yet, but he's close. With that said, I would look more toward the issues of comfort, perhaps hunger even though you might think he is full, and also stomach problems. Since he cannot verbalize to you what the "problem" is, the only thing that a baby can do is cry to let you know something is wrong in his little world. If babies could come out of the womb talking it would make our lives a little less stressful, but that is not the way God planned it, so you just need to learn which cry is for hunger, which cry is for soiled diapers, and which cry is just because he wants to be close to you. Letting him cry it out right now is not healthy because you could be masking a need that he has and is looking for you to fix or fulfill. Six months old is too young to manipulate you with crying, so I would tend to believe that it is something else that he needs.

Hope this helps.

T.

Waking during the night is very common - hence the multitude of books and magazine articles on how to get a baby to sleep. Many people let their babies cry until they give up and learn that they can't count on their parents to console them at night. Others believe babies have real needs to be consoled at night. There have been studies suggesting that being left to cry can cause an increase in the stress hormone, cortisol, which can lead to increased stress and anxiety later in life.

I suggest reading about sleep and night time parenting on the Dr. Sears web site http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp or try the book The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/content/sleepbooksummary...

You do not eventually have to let him cry it out.

I also have a 6 month old son and we are going through the same issues. I attribute it to teething and growing pains for the most part. I would offer the same advice as Wanda. Many believe in the CIO method, however it is a personal choice, and not for everyone. I have a 6 year old daughter that is a wonderful sleeper, and has been for years, with out ever using CIO.

Hi K., my name is L.. I had two things I thought of to share with you. First being, when my 12yr old was about 6mths he went through this stage for a few weeks -- he would arch his back, stiffen, and just cry at the top of his lungs, all while ur holding him. They called it colic/stress. It happen generally around the same time, and only lasted a few weeks. He was also inconsolable, no matter what I did, it didnt help...... and he was my third.
Second have you heard of giving him a cereal bottle before bed?! You make a regular bottle and add baby cereal, testing consistency. You dont want it too liquidy or so solid it wont come out. I believe they may make nipples for this, but I'm not sure... its kinda been a while since I've had to pay attention, lol :}. If you cant or dont wanna buy extra nipples, you can cut one for the same purpose. You just cut an x on top, not too big. If the bottle is not an option, you also can may a bowl of it, just like us :}, and spoon feed him.
I learned this from my Mom and the Pediatrician said no problem. Alot of times a baby will wake up because their belly is empty, and they use to the scedule of wake up/ eat. So by giving them cereal just before bed, they have a longer happy belly. (I personally found Gerber rice to be the favorite)
I hope this helps, it sure did me! :}

He's only six months. Sometimes my son would cry at night because he was cold and as soon and I would wrap him up warm again and rock him for a little bit he would go right back down. I think that babies will cry at night for a reason. I use to let my son go to bed and settle himself in and fall asleep rather than rock him so when he was crying at night I knew there was a reason. There will be off and on periods where they sleep through and then they don't. I know it's hard but they will stop doing that. It just takes time. I know it won't last longer than the crib stage. Ultimately do what you feel comfortable with and what you feel true for you. I didn't breast feed and I feel great about it. It's not for me and I would have been robbing myself of great quality time because of how uncomfortable I felt while breast feeding. If you feel he needs to settle in on his own then do that. If you can't stand to listen to him cry, then get up and find out why he's crying. It is a common for babies though.

Hi K. -

Everything I've read about letting a baby cry it out at the age of your son says that you should not let them cry it out at this age. He is much too young to understand or manipulate the situation at this point. The best advice I can give you is to go to him, soothe him, and then leave. You don't necessarily have to wait until he is asleep. Just soothe him so he knows that you are there for him. There is plenty of time for him to learn to pacify himself.

Good Luck!

My son is 10 months old now and he was getting up at night too. My mother n law suggested that my husband and I put some toys in his crib. They didn't make noise. When he woke up he played about 10 minutes and then fell back asleep. Is there a night light in his room. He might be afriad of the dark. I hope this helps.

I have 7 month twin boys and have been going through something very similar....my first question is how are you feeding him right befor you put him to bed? I found out I may not have been feeding him enough. I have started giving cereal (with a fruit mixed in) around 7:30. then it's queit time and a bottle around 8:15. One of my boys is going all night now..the other is still waking up several times. My pediatrician said...let him try to put himself back to sleep! I've put several pacifiers in the crib with him and usually let him go for about 5 minutes before I go to check on him. Last night I did this 3 times..each time once he got his pacifier back in his mouth he was asleep. I didn't pick him up once! A first for me! It's hard I know...but I do think your son is old enough to try this as well.

Good luck!

Kristen,

I have been having these type problems since day one with my 9 1/2 mo old. Her doctor finally told me to get the new book by Dr. Ferber and follow it to the letter.

The concept behind it is to put them to sleep in the same atmosphere that they will experience if they were to wake up in the middle of the night. So if you have music playing when you put him down it needs to play all night or if you rock him to sleep he is going to need that every time he wakes up. I wasn't willing to do those things (most parents aren’t) so that is why he says to make sure you are putting them in their crib awake but sleepy. They learn to put themselves back to sleep with this consistency.

Dr. Ferber says when they begin to cry you go in at 3 minutes and settle him down, if he continues to cry you go in at 5 minutes, then at 10 minutes, until he falls asleep himself. This really worked for our daughter who now sleeps consistently 12 hours a night. You really should read the book to get a better understanding of the whole concept but it was really great for us.

Good luck,

S. and Emily