Babies: 6 - 9 Months
laurmar21
member
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Sleep / soothing question
laurmar21
member
My son is 6 1/2 months old and has slept an 8 hour stretch one time. Most nights he is getting up at least once to nurse, sometimes (recently) twice. Usually his long stretch is maybe 6 hours, although recently it's been 4. Anyway, my concern is that maybe he doesn't know how to soothe himself back to sleep. Often, when I go in to him, he is on his back (he is a belly sleeper) and he is screaming (he does NOT like to sleep on his back). Anyway, every night before bedtime, I nurse him (so he goes longer til next feeding) and he falls asleep. I've been told you should lay them down when they are drowsy but not asleep. Which, sometimes that happens and he often does go to sleep. And for his naps, sometimes that happens too and he does go to sleep then. But most of the time, he falls asleep nursing. Should I be trying to change the bedtime routine to get him to fall asleep on his own more often? Is it so strange that he is not sleeping through the night yet without eating in the middle?
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Re: Sleep / soothing question
A 6 month old can go the night without eating. Since your LO falls asleep at the breast that is what he knows is an effective sleep aid. So when he involuntarily wakes, he needs his sleep aid. If you feed right before bedtime, feed him until he is drowsy and his swallowing slows (usually when you get that nibbling sucking instead of deep pulls).
I would recommend not feeding him past a certain hour no matter how often he wakes or just cutting him off cold turkey. Of course, he is going to need someway to soothe himself back to sleep without your nipple. You can start by holding him and giving him a paci or a lovey. Remember, not too much interaction or it will turn into playtime and he won't go back down.
I just cut my daughter off and gave her her paci and cuddling. She protested the first two nights but then was ok. Now we are down to just pats while she's in her crib and no waking up past 10:30 pm