Waking up at Night - Bethel,MN

I was just thinking along the same lines as the growth spurt thing. My daughter didn't sleep long until she was 7 months but I was bf her at the time too. Usually she'd want to eat more during the night and cluster feed in a growth spurt. If this is an unusual behavior that just started then that's all I think it is. You might want to try cereal in the bottles too. They have a special bottle for that. That might help keep him down longer during the night feedings.

How long has he been eating cereal? If its a new thing, I would say its the rice cereal. Rice is a binder and can really constipate little ones. If thats the case, try oatmeal instead, and NEVER put cereal in a bottle! Babies are experts at regulating thier food intake and putting cereal in a bottle gives them too many calories and they don't learn to stop when full because they get too much before they realize they are full.

And its very common for a 6 month old to wake at night, and he is probably in the middle of a growth spurt. Like the pp, when my boys woke at night and acted hungry, I would nurse them back to sleep. My 4 1/2 year old and my 14 month old are both wonderful sleepers, and it has done them no harm to nurse them when they woke at night.

He may also be teething, so check his gums for redness and swelling. Hylands teethign tablets work great, just give him a couple before bed and it should hold him over until morning.

I think this is fairly common. Mine seem to go through phases where they just won't sleep through the night due to teething, gas, hunger, or just wanting to spend time with me. I've also figured out, as many other moms will probably tell you, once the baby wakes as a specific time, a few nights in a row, their body clocks change and they will get up at that specific time for a while. Eventually, it works itself out...but it's frusterating when there isn't anything you can do to calm it. Also, at 6 months, he may not yet be real trained in calming himself to sleep at night, so that would require your attention, as he may be dependant on your help to get him to sleep. It may not be for food, but just cuddles, or rocking...etc. I'd be careful about feeding him alot at night again, especially if he was sleeping fine before. He may become dependant on the food for sleep...which is a whole other set of problems. If your son is 6 months, he may be getting his first tooth. Sometimes, those can take a month or so to cut through.

He's probably going thru a growth spurt. 6 months isn't so old that he necessarily is going to sleep thru the night. I wouldn't worry too much it should go on for too long.

My daughter started that and it went on up until right before her 3rd birthday. My fault completely for giving in. I should have done the cry it out method in the beginning but I didn't. Her bottle was her only security object. When she was pushing her 3rd birthday I couldn't take it anymore, I wasn't gonna get up in the middle of the night and refill her bottle (we did just water) anymore. I did the cry it out method and it was hard the first few night but got easier and she has slept through the night now for 2 years yeah! But because I woke up several times a night for 3 years in a row I'm just finally becoming more of a sound sleeper and just finally not waking up myself anymore. I was so use to waking up for her I had to readjust myself. So my advise is come up with another way to put your baby to bed no bottles in bed and donot go get them in the middle of the night let them learn how to fall back asleep.

I would be highly suspicious of teething like the other mom. Try a little baby gum number. Babies wake up for a reason. The hard part is finding out why. Neither of my children were sleepers as babies. Now my 3.5 will sleep in until 9-9:30am and stays in his bed all night. My 17 month old also sleeps through the night for the most part.

However, I will freely admit that when he was younger, and certainly for the first 12 months of his life, I would frequently give him a bottle in the middle of the night if he woke up and acted hungry. Both of my children are in the 95th percentile in height and weight so they are big. I learned early with my first son that it took 10 minutes to get up with him, heat up a bottle and feed him before he fell back asleep or it took over an hour to try the "patting on the back," "consoling him without picking him up," "letting him cry it out" methods that so many people said I should be doing. Not only did it take a lot longer to get both of us back to sleep, but I always felt like such a failure as a mother because I couldn't get him back to sleep without a bottle.

I decided that more sleep was better than listening to what other people told me I should do. So far, there have been no bad effects from this style of mothering. But then who knows, I suppose if they are trouble as teenagers I can always look back and think, "maybe I should have listened to everyone who was telling me what I was doing was wrong." But I doubt it.

And I'm also going to admit that some of the moments I felt my most motherly was in those middle of the night feedings when my sons were old enough to snuggle up against me as I fed them and look up at me with those content little baby eyes. Perhaps it was selfish of me but I feel bad for those people who decide that its better to let their child cry it out and miss those moments.

I'm with Patina. My son never slept through the night. I got lots of advice. Never pick him up, let him cry it out. So on and so on. I tried the cry it out method 3 times. Each time there was a reason he woke up. Once he got sick all over the place and the other 2 he had ear infections. I would hear other mom's say how there baby was sleeping through the night. I felt like a failure because i couldn't get him back to sleep without a bottle or him sleeping with us.

I was told NEVER to let him sleep with us. He'd never sleep in his own bed. The lack of sleep was taking a toll. I finally gave him a bottle and let him sleep with us. It may have taken 2 1/2 years but he has been sleeping in his own bed for the last 2 months. At first i couldn't wait for him to sleep in his own bed, but i admit i miss him. Even my husband say's he misses the little guy.

I have a 8 month old that will wake up and i give her a bottle and let her sleep with us. For a while it was all 4 of us. It was cramped, but i knew it wouldn't last. It's not like they'll be 16 and turning over asking for the car key's.

I don't know why he started sleeping in his bed all night. I think it's combination of things. His teeth are in and we talk to him. We tell him sleeping helps him grow and he'll be able to hop higher :) We alway's praise him for sleeping in his own bed all night. He get's the biggest smile on his face. He's a big boy :)

As with Patina, if i let him cry it out, i would have missed out on some wonderful moments. My son is a pretty active little boy and at night it was the only time I could snuggle with him.

I quess my advice is to take advice, but don't feel quilty for what YOU choose. Whether it be cry it out or sleep in bed with you. I felt quilty for crying it out and sleeping in bed with me (at first)
I see your son was born on June 2nd. My son was born June 2nd 04 :)

My daughter who is 2 1/2 now would also wake up several times during the night. I have a friend who is a pediatrician and she told me that children who were about to "have something big happen" (i.e. crawl, get teeth, start walking, etc) would have restless sleep. It was true for us. We tried the cereal before bed and the bottle during the night but our doctor told us to stop giving her a bottle at night. She told us that our daughter needed to learn how to fall back to sleep on her own. It was difficult but it only took a few nights. I hope this info helps you.

I don't know what his feeding schedule is as far as food but at 6 months I was giving my kids 4 meals a day and they slept through the night.
8 am: cereal and bottle
12 noon: fruit, veggie and bottle
4 pm: fruit, veggie and bottle
8 pm: cereal and bottle
I also include a 3 oz juice in there somewhere during the day.
I think he might just be getting hungry and he's eating at night instead of during the day.
Good luck,
J.