Hello,
My son will be 6months old next week. 2-3 weeks ago we started sleep training him. Things were going well until he got the croup...not fun. We put the training on hold until he was better and then started again. Our usual routine was to put him to bed at 6pm. He would then wak up between midnight and 2am for a feeding. I didn't think this was a big deal since it was 6hrs later. The problem was he would wake up at 5am in the morning ready to go so we started trying to push his bedtime out a little, closer to 7pm which has helped a little. Here's the new problem. Recently he started waking up every 3hrs hungry! My husband and I are thinking it may be a growth spurt but he's not always eating a lot. We're a little reluctant to let him cry it out for two reasons: 1) he has a cold and is very congested...this gets much worse when he cries it out and 2) when I pump I don't always get a lot so we're wondering if I'm producing enough milk to settle him but not enough to completely fill his needs. He's not on solids at the moment, just me and is about 20lbs. We noticed his little gut has gone down and he's getting longer so that seemed to fit out growth spurt theory but are not sure.........too sleep deprived to think straight at the moment.
Any advice would be appreciated!!!!!
Thanks moms!
You should start him on cereal now that he is 6 months. I'll bet that helps.
It may also be because he is so congested and is having a hard time breathing. If you don't already have one put a humidifier in his room (I'm sure you do if he had croup). Try putting a wedge under his sheet (they sell them at baby stores) so he sleeps more upright instead of flat.
Good luck!
As the mother of 5 and the grandmother of several your baby sounds normal to me. Our 6 month old grandson sleeps little during the day and is up every 4 hours at night. Which makes it hard on both parents as one gets up at 4 am for work and te other has to leave the house at 7 am to get to work. All I can tell you is that they do have growth spurts, teething and changes at this stage and along the way to the 1st year. I have never bothered with "sleep training" as I think the child will set the pattern as they are only babies and it's the parents that need to adjust so I wish oyu great luck with it.
Parenthood is a great adventure and one that has a new surprise around every turn so enjoy the adventure and know soon you will get all the rest you need til then take a nap when ever you can. My daughters with newbons-1 year take an alarm clock and go take a nap in the car for lunch if that helps.
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At 6 months you may want to start him on solids. If he is having a growth spurt he is hungry. I did sleep training as well but only when I knew there was nothing else going on like hunger, illness etc. I would never have been able to do it otherwise. Rule out everything before you do sleep train. I would try cereal in the morning and at dinner time. If you do not see an improvement, and he is not sick then you can assume it is just habit. Good luck!!
A little cereal goes a long way to having a baby sleep for a while. You will be amazed.
