Babies: 6 - 9 Months

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Hi ladies,

I am visiting your board even though my LO is only 4 months. I keep hearing about this magical time called "6 months" in which naps become consolidated and longer, and schedules are more regular/predictable. Give it to me straight - is this a load of BS or is there hope of things evening out some?

TIA!! :-) 

image

View Full Size Image    View Full Size Image



Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

  • My daughter has regulated her nap schedule and is pretty predictable when it comes to when she will nap and go to bed at night. I would not say her naps have gotten longer (about 1 to 1.5 hours at a time, 3 times a day) I am still waiting for her "sleeping through the night" light to come on.....

     

    Good Luck... it does keep getting better!!

  • It truly depends on the baby. And I know that is a super annoying answer. I have had many girlfriends tell me that 6 months was this magical turning point for them. But, I have also had people tell me that 9 months was best for them. My LO is 6 and half months now and it has been great, but naps and MOTN wakings are more or less the same. He is on a good nap schedule and wakes once at night. He used to wake twice so that's progress. Also, his temperament, and ability to adapt to changes in his schedule have improved a lot. That is a huge deal! It depends on you as well and how to structure things. If something doesn't work, you just need to play with schedules and methods until you find something that works for both of you. 

    Only advice I have is that you can't be too hard on yourself or too obsessed with structure and schedule. I am all for a great schedule, but having the ability to adapt and change is important for LO. We only recently went out with LO during what should have been bedtime and it went way better than I thought and we desperately needed to go out after 6:30pm, haha. 

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Loading the player...
  • At 6 months DD was certainly more predictable and on a schedule. However, that didn't make it exactly "magical". Her schedule was something like wake up at 6am nap 8:30-11/11:30, nap again at 2-4/4:30 and then around 3 hours of trying to get her to bed for the night between 8:30-11:30pm. If she went down easy and was asleep by 9:30/10 that would often mean she was up at 3-4:30 am and would not go back to sleep.

    So yes we had a schedule, but it was of DD's making and one that we failed at adjusting a number of times. Also, nap times were not to be ignored for any reason in our house or DD would make us pay for days. This meant basically we could take her out of the house between about 11-2 each day, or in the evening. She would/could not nap anywhere but at home, or very briefly in the car, but would not stay asleep if you moved the carseat or the car stopped moving. This was basically the case until she was around 9-10months.

    From my perpsective with MY child (all kids are different/situations different) it started to get harder at 4 months (when I returned to work) and didn't really get better until around 9 months (when she finally was able to self sooth, moved her bedtime from 11pm to 9pm, and started sleeping through the night very consistently). Those 5 months were the absolute hardest of the first year for me.

  • For us it wasn't magical or accidental. I had read the No Cry Sleep Solution book when DS was about 4 months. That helped a little with getting longer naps. Plus, we started a night time routine that we still use that gets DS to bed by 9:30.

    At 6 months we needed to transition DS out of RnP and into the crib + we needed to ditch the swaddle. That's when I checked out Ferber's book from the library, read it, and implemented the method. It worked from when we started it. Longer, more predictable naps, and STTN (or with one waking, which I'm fine with).

     

    photo 9acca2d2-3800-4433-bb71-c445948b76cf_zpsd9667865.jpg

    Anniversary

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I am not to sure if there is any magical age.  I think that as a baby ages they will find some what of a schedule.  I kept being told don't worry she will grow out of it, some would say 3 months some 6 some 9.  I have come to believe that in many ways our babies need us to teach them.  My baby is just about 8 months old and I fought sleep training until 3 months ago.  She has gone in those three weeks from sleeping in my bed up every 2 hours to eat and napping in maybe 30 min intervals.  Now she is in bed by 7pm every night sleeps strait till 530 am and napping over an hour 2-3 times a day.  All I can say is check out the sleep sense program.

     

    Good luck

     

  • I hope it works out that way for you! About a week before my LO turned 6 months, she dropped her final MOTN feeding and started sleeping 7:30pm - 7:30am and has a very predictable nap schedule every day. I know between 4-5 months I was praying every day that her schedule would get easier, and one day it just changed.
  • imagekbruington:
    I personally thought 6 months is when things got so much better.

    Samsies. DS started STTN at 6 months, stopped waking up at freaking 4 am every day, and started napping longer than 30 minutes at a time. 6 months was a blessing.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Personally, I think every day gets easier. But, some days are much better than the others. For my LO, a little after 6 months he turned into a completely different baby, more personality, sometimes longer naps, more time between feedings, etc.

    Just remember that every baby is different, but it does keep getting better and better.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker


    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Thanks ladies! We're smack in the middle of the four month wakeful... I just needed some reassurance!

    image

    View Full Size Image    View Full Size Image



  • Not in this household. Sorry. The light has not been reached :(
      Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • not sure about the longer naps, but i think every baby is different. my friend and i have babies very close in age. hers is 2 months older but still gets up every 2-3 hours in the middle of the night to eat and takes really long naps during the day. my LO takes very short 30-1 hour naps during the day, but will sleep from 10pm-10am, crazy i know!
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker image
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"