Need Advice for 6 Month Old Sleep Issues

My daughter was a great sleeper right from the start, my two sons were the opposite. They also shared rooms so I know the problem you have. My son ended up not sleeping through the night til 18 mo because I didn't want him to wake up my daughter. If I could do it over I think I would have had her sleep with us for a week or so until we broke him of it. With my one year old who did not share a room as an infant and also had sleep issues, we tried this: Let him cry, after 3 min went in, said ok go to sleep patted his back a sec and left. After 5 min, went back in did the same thing, after 10 min or so went back in and so on until he fell asleep. I did not pick him up as that prolonged the process. After a couple weeks of that he was falling asleep fine at naptimes and sleeping through the night. He was 10 mo and before that would only go to sleep in a stroller or in my grandmothers lap and then we transferred him to his crib.

I agree with the doctor. If she's ok with Water give her water. First it will give her something she's willing to accept and it won't give her extra calories. It is a habit she will keep forever. (drinking water) next it will get old and she will be less likely to keep waking up for it. Milk tastes good and she's willing to wake up for it (just like if we gave you your favorite food every night. You would start waking for it if it was available. Water isn't like that she would get tired of it. Don't turn on the lights when you give her her bottle, don't talk to her keep it quite. Give her nothing to benefit of getting up. It will get old and she will stop. I would also let her yell for a min before entering her room give her a chance to change her mind and go back to sleep. Each evening i would wait a little longer. 1 min the first night 2 the sec. and so on. Some times parents run in on the first sound when they will go right back to sleep if they didn't. (everyone wakes up but us grownups don't have someone running in to give us things when we do)
good luck
R. H.

My kids also share a room, and my second was a terrible sleeper, so I hear you! Mine are also both under two (13 mos apart). I ended up, purely out of survival, bringing my daughter to bed with me after about the second time she got up each night. I stopped feeding her at all at night after 4 mos -- no more bottles no matter what. I weaned her off slowly -- from 6 oz, to 4 oz, to 2 oz, to 2 oz water, to nothing. But after that, I didn't feed her. And because you can't let one child "cry it out" when another one is sharing a room, I just brought her to bed with me for a bit, until she fell asleep, and then put her back in her crib. Mine did take a pacifier, though, so that helped. It really helped to help her find a way to soothe herself. I realized my daughter had a crocheted blankie that she liked to bury her face in. Once I realized that was her "lovey" I let her take it with her to bed at night, and offered it to her whenever she would wake up during the night. To this day, if I hand her the blankie, she will snuggle up to it and go to sleep.

My daughter didn't sleep through the night until at least 6 mos old b/c she had acid reflux, and it used to wake her up. Now she's almost one, and she still wakes up from time to time at night. Like one PP suggested, if I go in to her at night, I leave the lights out, I don't speak to her or make eye contact, and I just gently soothe her with a back rub. It took a lot to get to this point, but now it works.

My biggest suggestion for sleep issues -- Dr. Weisbluth, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." That book is a godsend.

Good luck!

Hi A.!
I really loved "Babywise"...not sure if you've heard of it - but it's a book...used it with both my kiddos and they both did wonderfully with it...It can be tough at times - but if you can, just stick it out. My wishes of good luck to you!
J.

Check out the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth (sp?). The philosophies in there sometimes go against what you would normally think about sleep, but his ideas have helped our family tremendously. I have a 2 year old daughter that was extremely easy when it came to sleeping, but my 1 year old was much more difficult (I had to follow the book's guidlines much more strictly with her!). Our girls share a room as well, but we had to move our younger daughter into our room for a "sleep bootcamp" until she slept through the night. Not ideal, but it worked. I'd say read the book and give it at least 2 weeks of putting the ideas into place. It really is worth it!

Hi A.,
I am having the same issue right now w/my 6 mth old which is why I am looking for similar past advice. The only difference is that he is in my bedroom (so I won't wake my 4 yr old daugther up) and he does use a binky in which case I still have to get up and pop it back into his mouth. I am desperate for some sleep! what worked for you??
M.

Hi A.,
First thing I would do is to try and offer a bit more in the first nighttime bottle. Then if she wakes up in the night, offer her the bottle of water, not the formula. It could be that she is warm and just needs a drink.
M.

My six month old has had the same problem (and ironically my two year old is a sleeper like your first!). Is she getting formula or are you taking any supplements for BF? I took fish oil supplements since I hate fish but want the nutritional benefits. I noticed that when I ran out, my little one suddenly slept better. I started up again, and she was bad again (and now I've stopped and she's fine). Perhaps your little one is not responding well to formula or something in your diet (fish, milk and peanut butter can be big problems - my olders was bad with milk in my diet). Eating can temporarily calm their tummies. Something to consider.

I have an exclusively breastfed 7 month old who has never slept through the night. This is because he doesn't get an entire day's worth of milk between 6:30 am and 8 pm. When he spent the night at my Grandmother's a couple weekends ago, I left 20 ounces and it was all gone before I came to pick him up early in the morning, even though I'd fed him when we got there at 6 pm. This indicates to me that I need to somehow get him eating more during the day, or else just deal with waking up in the middle of the night. I've decided to just deal with it, since he's in my room and I've been dealing with it all this time just fine. I don't know how to get him to eat more during the day, since he doesn't usually take more than 4-5 oz at a time.

Hi A.. I see that one other respondent suggested the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth and I just wanted to add my 2 cents. I love this book; my friends and I call it the sleep bible. I've read it from cover to cover twice and now I just read selections when I have questions or feeling unsure a/b my son's sleeping schedule. It explains the physiology of sleep which helps you understand why your little one is doing what she is doing. It can be a hard read (it's certainly not a 1-2-3 book) but so worth the effort. It debunks a lot of myths/tips about sleeping and gives great action plans to follow. Everyone I know that has read it swears by it.

To state the obvious, each child is different and you can't force a baby to sleep through the night. (Mine is 20 months and still awakes several times during the night.)

Since the baby is satisfied with the water, she might be getting thirsty in the night, in which case you can ignore her waking up, but until she is old enough to reach for the bottle of water on her own, there will be no substitute for giving her a drink.

I would make sure to keep the air moist in the children's room and keep it on the cooler side of comfortable to not dry out baby.