6 month old up every hour

[gromalagraphics]

My son just turned 6 months. Some nights. he sleeps 4 hour stretches, but nights like lastnight, he was up EVERY hour from 9 p.m. to 8 am. My husband and I are ready to try crying it out-since weve tried everything else. Has anyone done this method? How do you do it without being cruel and how did it work for you?

[ra11en]

We used a variation of CIO, and it isn't a one time time deal either. Every time my DD gets sick or has something change up her normal schedule we have to go back through sleep training. The worst was moving from the crib to twin bed! Yikes!

We went through initial "CIO" training around 4/5 months, and it worked like a charm. First, make sure you have a good solid routine for night night. For us, dinner usually around 5:30, play time, bath at 7:00, downtime (no TV, no horse play, all lights are dimmed) starts at 7:30, story time at 7:50, bed time at 8:00. When she was an infant, it was almost exactly the same routine although bed time was 7:30, not 8:00. And she was still getting a bottle right before going into the crib. As soon as bath time hits, DD starts yawning. She knows its night night! Most of the time she goes around saying night night to all her toys, hugs / kisses from Daddy or Mommy (whichever one doesn't have bed duty that night). She knows once the routine starts, its time to get sleepy.

We tried to make sure she went into the crib awake. Sometimes we had to nudge her awake a little. We gave her kisses / hugs, and into the crib. She was pretty easy and almost always went to sleep right away. If she didn't, it was the same routine as when she woke up in the middle of the night. I would go in and take her out of the crib (usually a no no for strict CIO), change her if absolutely necessary, rock her for about 7 minutes, and back into the crib. I tried to refrain from talking to her / making eye contact, both of which can raise their blood pressure and wake them up even if they were groggy. If she started crying again I would let her for 5 minutes before going in and comforting her again in the rocking chair. If she cried again, I would wait 10 minutes before going back in the room. Adding 5 minutes to each waiting session. I usually went out onto our patio so I couldn't hear her crying (aka screaming, wailing, etc) otherwise those 5 or 10 minutes felt like an eternity!!

The first night we had to go through this, it was pretty much all night of this. I think I cried as much as she did!! She would sleep for a couple hours, up crying, 45 minutes of this CIO stuff, then a few hours of blessed sleep before repeating. The second night it was MUCH easier with only 1 instance of wakefullness to battle. The third night she slept all night.

Every time she got sick - ear infection, teething, cold, etc - we would have to go through this all over again once she was feeling better.

She is 2.5 yrs old now, and looking back I would do it the exact same way. If we decide to have another one, we will be just as strict on bed time is for sleeping. She NEVER slept with us as a baby. She started sleeping her crib at 8 wks, and had a regular bed time and routine at 12 weeks. It definitely wasn't cruel even though it certainly wasn't easy. She needed us to teach her healthy sleep habits, and how to self soothe. We tempered teaching her good sleeping habits while letting her know we were there through it all to love her. At 2.5 yrs old, we never battle bed time or nap time, and rarely when she wakes up from a bad dream it is usually only a 2 or 3 minute comforting session before she puts herself back to sleep. So, in the end, it worked for us COMPLETELY.

[j-love]

My baby girl is starting to teeth and she just started doing that...every hour to 2 hrs. she has been waking up fussing. She will be 6 mos. next week. Luckily, all we have to do is put the bo-bo in her mouth and she will fuss back to sleep within 10 mins. Hopefully she will go back to her normal sleep pattern after teething is over.

[lacykeith]

My little girl Kayden is fixing to be 6 months old. She already has her two bottom teeth. For about two months now, or maybe even longer she wakes up every morning around 3 a.m. to drink 4 oz. with cereal in it. I was wondering if there were any suggestions as to how I could get her to sleep on through the night. I have her on a schedule somewhat of between 7-8 a.m. she eats one fruit and and 1-1 1/2 hours later she drinks 4 oz with cereal in it. Then by 11 she is napping and waking up at 2ish...then she gets a vegetable and a bottle 1-1 1/2 hours later (4oz). Then by 7 p.m. she eats a dinner and then a bottle before bed...She still wakes up at 3 a.m. though...Am I not feeding her enough or how do I get her out of that kind of routine?

[MariahsMommy1]

My daughter mariah is an angel im not sure how i got such a good baby? but the key to sleeping is schedules... if your baby doesnt have a schedule then chances are the baby wont sleep well at night.. now this is my schedule ...feel free moms to use it to your advantage ! it might just work .. my daughter is now 11months old and this is our routine!

Wake up at 9 breakfast and bottle then shes in her walker or outside till lunch around 12-12:30 - lunch time comes she eats , and then down for a nap ( make sure when your puttting your baby down for a nap you try to keep quiet speak softly and try not to make eye contact =) thats the bugger cause they look at you and start laughing thinking its play time!) she usually sleeps for 2 hours or so , now all babies arent the same but any kind of nap over and hour should do the trick! When she wakes up around 3 -3:30 i play with her in her playroom till around 4:30 or so just to try and start wearing her out before bedtime. around 4:30 she eats her dinner n then once shes done i try and keep her busy , helping her walk and letting her run around in her walker <---(walkers are god sent) keeps your hands free to do mommy stuff around the house. then around 8 i give her a nice warm bath and let her play untill 830. get her out dressed and ready for bed! she sleeps perfectly all night.. now this might not work with everybaby but if you keep on some type of schedule your baby will pick it up. try and make your own schedule if possible it might be tough for your lil one to adjust but trust me dealing with the fussing for the first couple days will be well worth it in the end!

Moms let me know if this works for you!
Feel free to ask any questions Too!

[MariahsMommy1]

remember snacks through out the day help your babys metabolism work faster which will help the process of tiring them out!

[weme21]

My daughter Abbie is 2 1/2 months old and she is up about every two hours. I have been implementing a schedule since she turned two months and it works a little, btu I guess she is still young. I am crossing my fingers that when she hits three months she will start sleeping a whole lot longer if not htrough the night. I hope things get better for you, becuase I understand how tiring it is waking up every two hours I am there.

[Mara'sMommy]

I am pretty sure that I am the luckiest mommy in the whole world. My daughter is 5 months old, and is sleeping for 12 hours straight every night. I know it's ancient, but my mother bought me Dr. Ezzo's "Babywise: Giving your infant the gift of nighttime sleep" when Mara was born. We started her on the Ezzo method (pretty much your straightforward 2 hour cycle) at about 4 weeks, and by 8 she was sleeping for about 5 hours at night. It's about a $12 investment, and totally worth it. In the meantime, hang in there!

[ging_rr]

My little guy is 6 months old and has always been a great sleeper unless his belly hurts.. Which is alot. He started doing what you are mentioning, crying all night..until I slept in the guest bed with him. I figured out it was the solid foods I had been giving him that was upsetting his belly.. No more crying and I get to sleep in bed with my husband again!

[jennallen]

My son is 5 1/2 months and was doing the same thing, up every hour or two. It seemed like he just wanted to be held because the second he felt me he went back to sleep. Well my body just couldn't take it anymore so we decided to try and let him cry. I figured if he was really wailing for a while with no results I would give up, but it has really been working out. The very first time he cried for like 15 minutes and the second night it was 10 and the third night it was about 3 minutes and he was out. I also rock him to sleep for naps but I stopped waiting until he was completely asleep and then I put him in the crib. Those times he went right to sleep, I guess he was used to me not running in there at night. And he's been sleeping big stretches ever since, maybe getting up once. So even though they say this is too young, those people are not living through what we are!!! Good luck....

[dball528]

My DD will be 5 months on Saturday and I'm going to try the sleep training now. Her Dr. says she thinks she's getting her first tooth (all the signs are there), and I asked the nurse if we should delay the sleep training until she's done teething. The nurse said no because we will be waiting longer than I can handle.

I'm learning a lot from these posts and I think we're in a pretty good position (we have a bedtime and a routine that works to get her to sleep). She knows how to wake up and go back to sleep on her own, she just moves around quite a bit at night and gets herself into positions that I worry about. Last night I went in and she was on her belly, which her doctor says is not ideal but ok as long as she can breathe. She was in a deep sleep, but her face was really close to the side of the crib. I have a bunch of rolled-up blankets wedged between the mattress and the slats to keep her limbs from getting caught and I was worried she would faceplant into one of them and suffocate.

So I moved her slightly.

And she woke up. I kicked myself later because she probably would have been fine and might have slept otherwise, but I don't know if I would have slept knowing she was that close to the side of the crib. I'll take the blankets out tonight, but then I will worry about her getting her legs caught in the slats :(