Babies: 6 - 9 Months
macbook
member
Sleep training
macbook
member
Hi! I would really appreciate all of your assistance about this issue.
My baby turned 6 months about a week ago. I put her to bed consistently at 8:30 pm but the biggest problem is she doesn't stay asleep and doesn't know how to put herself to sleep. Normally she feeds around 2:30 and 5:30 am (which the pediatrician says she we should eliminate since her growth is good and she should be sleeping 12 hours). Anyway, that hasn't been working. She said put her down and if she cries wait at least 6 minutes.
Last night, I would sooth her by rubbing her back and saying shhh. I didn't run to her immediately like I normally do. She fell back to sleep like once doing this. But all the other times she would cry and cry and work herself up. I ended up picking her up, rocking her and feeding her at 2:30 and 5:30 just like usual! What am I going to do to be able to get her to go to sleep? Please help! I will be going back to work in two weeks and need to have a plan. Thanks so much!!
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Re: Sleep training
Does your H assist in middle of the night wake ups at all? I know that when we were trying to space out feedings it helped if DH went in to soothe since they didn't associate him with feeding. I would try to soothe your LO with back rubs or rocking for a bit. But if your LO is getting upset night feedings are normal at 6 months. Good luck.
I really like Ferber's Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems because it gives a lot of good info on sleep in general. He advocates progressive checks. So going in after 3 mins, 5 mins, 7 mins, etc. the most important thing is to make a plan that works for you and to stick with it. I would also take turns on checks with YH so that one of you isn't dealing with the bulk and therefore getting more stressed out.
I would just continue feeding her if she is hungry, eventually she will drop one of those Feedings. Also make sure she gets enough breastmilk or formula during the day before considering cutting out night feedings.
My LO is almost 8 months and wakes once to eat- sometimes I don't think she is really hungry but i still nurse her- gives us extra time together.
It is manageable, but yes, I admit, there are times when I wish he would drop a feeding. I'm leaning more towards letting him self wean, (or seeing if he will), before I try to take charge and change his eating habits.
He's my first baby, so everything is new, but I just hope I'm doing what's best for him. It's comforting to know that other people are having a similar experience with their baby, (and I'm also happy to have read the comments that the night feedings are still normal at this age). Good luck with your baby girl, I'm sure that eventually everything will work out!
I've had lots of work days on three hours of sleep and 28 third-graders all day. It sucks.
I don't know if I fully believe that but I did do this a lot when I was still on maternity leave. I talked to my kiddos and told them "Mom and dad have to go back to work in X amount of days so it's time for you to start sleeping longer. Mom can't be good at her job if she is so sleepy all of the time." Then, yes this is silly, I would give them a goal. "Let's sleep for 6 hours tonight." I would tell them these things every night and every morning and if they met their goal I would tell them how proud I was of them.
By the time I went back to work, they were only waking up once to eat which was much more doable for us. Like I said, I don't know if I fully believe it but it worked for us. In the books, they say the babies are a part of the family so they need to do their part too - which is sleeping, I guess!
My son needed me and I was too selfish to see that, I felt like a bad mother for wanting to have more sleep. He needs to eat during the night and that's the facts.
I love my son and want him to know that I will always be there for him.
I have 2 kids. 5 yr old boy & my girl is 4 months.
Have you tried dream-feeding your baby? I do this around 10.30pm as the last feed of the night (bottle or breast). The idea is you don't wake them but they get more food in to keep them going. You may get through to 5am that way.
I've done that with both of mine, and had to go back to work too so needed sleep.
Sending your partner in (as someone else suggested) also worked well for us. You may have to sleep in another room with earplugs for a few nights though (as I did!).
Hey - whatever you decide, you're doing an awesome job. I hope you find a solution. And best wishes for the transition back to work. Just know that you're a caring mum who's going what she needs to for her family. xxx