Sleep help!

laurenshep

Hey y'all, I'm looking for some suggestions here... My LO (6mo) goes to bed around 7:30 every night and *most* nights sleeps uninterrupted or maybe cries for 5-10 one time. For a while, he was waking up at 6:30ish and we'd eat, then play, and eat again at 9:30 then nap for a little over an hour. I thought we had done it! We were falling into the suggested routine and he was going to have a predictable schedule.... Then teething happened. And he's so darn close to crawling... And now he wakes up at 5am EVERY morning. I refuse to go in before 6 bc my wishful thinking is he may fall back asleep and he'll get back on that glorious schedule we had before. i go in at 6 and he crushes his bottle. But now he is exhausted by 7:45 and he naps again before he eats, throwing the rest of our naps off a little.

My question is, do y'all have any tips or tricks to get babies to sleep in longer?? Or am I crazy and I just have to put up with it? (And be grateful he sleeps all night! Ha...)

AKOL0

I think you should be grateful for uninterrupted sleep. Lol. My LO is still waking up 2-3 times a night. Plus her naps are all over the place.

nicflo2120

Im on the same boat. My son was sleeping all night till like 8 am for the past two months and last week he got a cold so he was up alot crying didnt want to eat and our schedule was thrown off and now its all messed up and is waking up every 3 hours

kristyn831

Ha! Sounds like he is sleeping plenty. If you don't want to get up so early, try putting him to bed an hour later. My LO sleeps 4-5 hours max at a time.

lindseystans

Lol just be greatful! But yeah, try to put him down later and see if that works? My LO wakes up later (most of the time) in the morning if we put her down later.

laurenshep

Thanks y'all! I know I seem crazy for complaining, but I just thought we'd made progress so it was disappointing when he back tracked! 

We'll try to go to bed later... But that hasn't worked super well the few times we've done it. Maybe if I put him down later several days in a row, that will help!! 

benheathersummer14

I agree that you should be thankful you have such long interrupted stretches of sleep! The books make it sound like sleeping through the night is the norm, and then when your baby doesn't, you realize there's a large community out there on Google searches whose babies don't do that. And yes, teething is a huge sabotager (as well as hitting milestones)!

My LO (nearly 7mo) has NEVER slept through the night, and she's woken up 2-3 times a night since BIRTH. She had the 4mo night waking people talk about, and we were given misinformation by our pediatrician about nursing her which developed bad habits. Just when we were breaking those habits, she got sick, and has been sick for a MONTH (I thought breastfed babies didn't get sick...oh well). Cold/cough, then ear infection, then the flu, and continuing cough/cold. She has wanted to nurse for comfort--she's been pretty miserable. 

These night wakings for me have become a way for me to snuggle with her more. I have come to accept them as a new normal for the motherhood I have been Given. I know in your shoes your situation would be frustrating, but from my perspective, it sounds wonderful! I'm running on interrupted fumes for the past 6mo! What I wouldn't give for several hours of uninterrupted sleep! Be thankful, and enjoy that LO as I am sure you do

tibi5

My six month old also started waking up super early as well all of a sudden. 5am as opposed to 7am. I've googled it and think it's a common phase related to teething, or perhaps a growth spurt. I originally tried to avoid going in and feeding him, but I actually think he is hungry, and sometimes goes back to sleep for another chunk of time after eating. Anyways, no advice really, other than I think it's normal and bet it will change again over the next few months. Wanted to acknowledge your original question, instead of just telling you to be grateful, lol!

laurenshep

@tibi5 haha thank you! I was starting to feel guilty for complaining. I know how lucky I am that he sleeps so long, I just wasn't sure if I could do anything to get him back to where we were! I'm not surprised that it could be teething/milestone related... That makes sense! Putting him to bed later has not helped. And I feel the same way as you do, he's usually hungry when he's up! 

I got got some advice to just be strict with a wake up time, just like you should try to be with a bed time. So no lights on and not to "wake" baby by picking them up until the time you designate. It helps them get a body clock set and they should kind of just fall into their own nap schedule nicely after that. 

Good luck to you too! Hope you get all of your zZzZzZz's back!