6 months and no sleep

bellelamb · November 2012

I know it's normal for sleep to change but it doesn't make it easy. Lucas used to sleep from 7:452 then was up at 4 and 6 when his big brother and I are up for the day. He'd wake nurse and go back to bed in 30 mins or less. But for the last week or so he's been down at 7:45 or 8 up at 12,2,3,4,5:30 and 6 and he wants to nurse or cuddle for an hour so as soon as I put him down and fall asleep he's back up! Not to mention his brother wakes up once a night and I have to go tuck him back in. I am so tired!!
Any advice??

ke19 · November 2012

Have you tried sleep training? I know it's controversial, but 6 months is definitely not too young. We read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and it was an amazing book. We sleep trained last week and DS cried for 13 minutes the first night (with us going up to soothe him after 5 minutes), 4 minutes the next night and not at all the 3rd night (rolled right over and went to sleep).

He also slept through the night from the first night of sleep training, which he hadn't done in over a month. He had been waking up just like your son - 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am and then up at 5am for the day. He's teething, plus new development milestones and it was horrible for all of us. He now sleeps until 6:30am after the sleep training. I would highly recommend that book and it's techniques. Good luck!

tjkdlhb · November 2012

DD's sleep patterns have changed... we used to get 10 hours!!! Then it was 2 wakings in a 12 hour period, which wasn't bad. Now she's waking 4-5 times a night, but she nurses and fall right back to sleep, so I think it's just hungry...since I don't have anywhere to be I haven't done sleep training. Most of the wakings tend to be closer to the morning. It's not as exhausting now as it was when she was younger, because she nurses much quicker now... 10 mins opposed to 45! And I usually fall back to sleep right after.

No advice... sympathy though!

selockar · November 2012

LO was a good sleeper. At 4 months it started getting bad and last week was awful. Basically what you described. Thursday night I just couldn't get up when he woke up 1030. He had just eaten and fallen asleep at 945, so i knew he didn't need anything. I let him cry for about 5mins, then he started calming down. It took about 20mins of on and off crying, but he fell back to sleep. Friday night was amazing!!!! He went down at 930 and woke at 630!!!!!

MommaJB · November 2012

We had the same experience, starting about a week ago. As an earlier post said, I know sleep training is controversial but we ended up doing it. DS went from waking up on and off five or six times and then wanting to wake for the day at 4AM, to waking up only once to feed and then sleeping until 6:30/7:00. I was lucky in that sleep training was pretty easy for us. The first night he cried for 35 minutes, then after his night feeding only for five. The second night he cried for five minutes, and then not at all after his night feeding. Last night, no crying at all when going down for bedtime or after the night feeding! He woke and fussed a little, but put himself right back to sleep. I feel like a new person! It's the most sleep I have gotten since he was born! He seems way happier and rested during the days.

NatPhoto09 · November 2012

my Lucas is a terrible sleeper but it has gotten a little better now that he is in his crib. I will be doing CIO once he gains a little more weight and after the holidays. I'm exhausted too. my fav sleep book is the sleep easy solution.

bellelamb · November 2012

Thanks for the responses, my problem is he goes to bed just fine he's just unhappy at night. It's compounded by the fact if I let him cry too long at night he wakes my two year old, they share a room and then they are both awake and crying, which is not good for anyone. Also Lucas is in the 15 for weight but 60 for height so if he's hungry which I think he is I need to feed him he has no extra reserved

I'm trying starting today to feed him more often during the day, even before he asks, to see if that helps.

stemms8810 · November 2012

My LO used to be a great sleeper until about almost 2 months ago. Now he has been waking about 2 times per night. But recently it's been hit or miss, sometimes he will wake once, sometimes twice, and occasionally three times. I feel like his sleep is unpredictable right now. I have been thinking about sleep training but last night he slept for almost 7 hours straight so I am thinking it may not be necessary. Sorry I don't have advice, just wanted to let you know my LO is all over the place with sleep sometimes.

ElinJ · November 2012

My question for everyone who sleep trained is, when you say your LO "cried" what was the crying like? I have tried various methods, most recently "sleep lady shuffle", but my LO's crying just continues to escalate until he is hysterical. He cannot be soothed without picking him up. He's not yet 6 months though, so I'm hoping he'll be able to do it when he's older. I don't really believe CIO is for us, but I hope this other version can work in the future.

bellelamb · November 2012

Honestly I don't believe in CIO until much older and then in rare cases. I don't like going to bed upset or crying so I don't like making my kids do it either. I don't judge those who do it just doesn't fit into my family.

DeanaRoberts · November 2012

I can completely sympathize with you! My sweet little man slept like a charm from the time he was 2 months until 4 months. He would wake only twice a night for feedings. Then one night he started waking every hour! Needless to say I was miserable for a month! He was a horrible napper as well 30 minutes max 3 times a day. Then he turned 5 months, for 1 glorious week he was napping for like a champ 1 hour to 2 hours 3 times a day and back to his good nighttime sleeping habits. Then last week back to the waking almost every hour! Last night was the worst he was awake almost every 45 minutes didn't want to nap at all today one nap was 15 minutes not kidding!

So here we are tonight. I WAS TOTALLY NOT going to CIO or Ferber before he turned 6 months old BUT after we put him to sleep tonight he was awake after just 30 minutes! WTF?!?! He wouldn't sooth or go back to sleep even with me rocking him ssshhhing him. So my hubby I decided to use the Ferber or CIO method a little early. He ended up crying for a total of 29 minutes with checkins. Here's to hoping we are doing the right thing!

I know this in no way helps in the advice type way. But I find a little comfort in knowing there are others out their going thru the same thing! Best wishes to all the other sleepless mommas out there!

balibaby · November 2012

Our little one's sleep really tanked at 4months old, he was waking and wanting to nurse every 2 hours. It was exhausting. We did not do CIO, but did let him cry. We stayed right next to his crib and did everything to calm him down without picking him up, unless something seemed to be really bothering him (you will know the difference! This happened twice, both times I picked him up and he had a huge burp right away.) Everytime he cried we went in right away and patted him, etc. He eventually stopped waking up. And, now even when he wakes up, he just needs a few pats and will go right back down. Also, are you doing solids? That might help fill him up a bit at dinnertime.

bellelamb · November 2012

Thanks girls I did try to nurse him more during the day and he slept much better. I found with my older two soilds at dinner made it much worse and isn't great for my skinny kids. They need the calories not to be full of cereal.

hoping4sticky · November 2012

Just thought I would let you know you are not alone and basically you know it will be over at some point and try and figure out what works best for this child. My first was a preemie, hovered around 5% for weight, was EBF and slept from 7-7 at 6.5 months and has never looked back. She also would/will not sleep if anyone is around. We finally figured out that it would be an hour plus of her screaming while we rocked/bounced/etc or <5 min if we let her cry in her crib.

My DS is 20 lbs at 5 months, EBF, and sleep is a struggle. I finally got him to down to one waking (which I think he still needs) by getting up and rocking him, but not feeding him (works better if DH can do it though). After about 3 days of this he has dropped all but the one feeding. But I will say that we had a regression when I started him on solids. He started waking up multiple times so I have stopped solids for now. We might try BLW at 6 months, we will see. I am a big fan of the seahorse though or some other sleep association. We do also put him down awake and will let him cry/fuss a bit, but we don't do full on crying now.

And personally, I would consider moving the baby into your room, because I do everything possible to avoid waking up my older child. GL!

wheelsonthebus · November 2012

ke19:

Have you tried sleep training? I know it's controversial, but 6 months is definitely not too young. We read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and it was an amazing book. We sleep trained last week and DS cried for 13 minutes the first night (with us going up to soothe him after 5 minutes), 4 minutes the next night and not at all the 3rd night (rolled right over and went to sleep).

He also slept through the night from the first night of sleep training, which he hadn't done in over a month. He had been waking up just like your son - 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am and then up at 5am for the day. He's teething, plus new development milestones and it was horrible for all of us. He now sleeps until 6:30am after the sleep training. I would highly recommend that book and it's techniques. Good luck!

This book is awesome! Love it. We are in the same boat. DD used to sleep over 12 hours straight from 5 weeks. Now she is up all night long. She woke up four times at least last night wanting to nurse. I'm htinking it is time to let her cry some.

Want a personalized experience?

6 months and no sleep

Re: 6 months and no sleep

Choose Another Board

Search Boards