Trouble Getting 6 Month Old to Sleep in Her Crib and Sleep for More than 2 Hours

I keep recommending "Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Kim West to people and they keep telling me it did wonders for their kids. It is a gentle approach.

i bought one of those weighted crib rockers it was really neat and helped get my kids too sleep ...it has a sensor everytime they make a noise it starts up rocking--helped me keep sane when i worked and had small kids M.

I don't have any good advice for you, but I wanted to tell you that I am in the exact same situation as well with my 10 month old. She sleeps for 2-3 hours and wakes up, if I put her back in her crib she will sleep for another 2-3 hours and wake up. If I bring her to bed with me she will sleep for 3-4 hours but still wake up. I've also tried the cry it out method and it did not work for me AT ALL. So I am done with that. I am just hoping that she grows out of it and learns to sleep through the night.

HI-I also have a 6 month old and we have been dealing with the same issue for about 3 months, I've tried the "routine" thing and the "cry it out" thing and the "take them to bed w/you" thing, basically I've tried them all!!! I got him to sleep through the night 2x and both times I had fed him dinner(a container of food w/cereal & a bottle)at about 7:30, I tried to continue with this but he usually refuses to wait that long to eat and when I try feeding him just the food than he falls asleep before I can give him the bottle!!! I truly think that babies do what they want to do and can't be "trained" into a schedule, once they want to sleep through the night they will. My dr told me some babies just get very used to fully waking up every few hours as they go through their light/heavy sleep cycles, for the most part I can stick a nuk in his mouth when I hear him and he will be out again(now if he could only find that nuk himself and put it back in his mouth:) I wish you & myself luck!!

Try reading some books. Have you read anything from Kim West, the Sleep Lady? Or the Babywise books? Those books saved my sanity! My first daughter was waking every 2-3 hours until she wa 5 months old. I read Babywise and she slept through the night by the 2nd night! I know some people don't like those books (too strict, etc.), but if you use your common sense, they can really help you. It helped me to get her more on a schedule. Also, she may be overtired, and overtired children don't sleep better, they sleep worse. So make sure she's on a schedule during the day with naps, and make sure to put her down awake. I did those two things and they did the trick! Good luck!

Hi A.,

I would try putting your daughter to bed earlier. She may be waking because she's overtired. Have you read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child"? The author's name is Marc Weisbluth. I read it when our daughter was six months old. Now she's eighteen months and has been sleeping well at night for a long time.

Best of luck,
L.

This is tough! People do not take this seriously, because your child will stop crying as soon as you bring them into your warm cozy bed. So, in most people's eyes, problem solved. However, if you want your child to ever sleep in their own bed, not so great.

I personally believe that teaching a child to sleep on their own breeds a level of confidence, plus a life skill that many people do not have; getting a good nights sleep.
With that said, teaching this will not let you sleep through a few nights - because consistancy and wearing them out will teach them this skill.

First, start a night-time ritual. Reading a book (yes! even at six months!),prayers, let her chew on a tooth brush just to get used to it. what ever it is, do it the same way, same time each night.

When your child wakes, is she wet? hungry? or something in need? I say, if the reason is to wake and get to mommy's bed, then you can go to the child, say the words 'time to go back to sleep' in a soothing voice. leave the room! if it comforts YOU, you can sit by the closed door of the bedroom. every 10 minutes, say in that same soothing voice 'time to go back to sleep'. I do not vary what I say, and I say exactly the same way in a calm voice. And do not go into the room. The first night will be long. she will fall asleep, and wake up and do that same cry. you say your soothing words again.
This should take 3 nights, and she will be mostly done with it. Remember, seeing you in the middle of the night transfers the thought 'warm cozy bed' in their brains. So hearing your soothing voice, is re-assurance that you are there.

I have done this for three children. The 3rd could threw me for loop, as he had a very long stamina for crying. He did great with this technique. But as a warning, they can fall back into the habit of sleeping with/near you even when they are sick. This happened at age 2 for my youngest, and to do the same technique over was hard. My youngest is now seven, and loves to go to bed (and stay there!)

You will find many people say that bringing the child into your bed is great and should be done. I believe that nurturing your child during thier waking hours (love/hugs/attention) is better than in the evening when they are asleep. Getting a good nights sleep for MOMMY is extremely important for the developement of YOUR child! So, just in case you get a few of the emails stating that you should have your child in bed with you, there is a reason that you shouldn't.

Teaching your child to sleep is one of the greatest gifts you can give to them! Good luck!

My daughter is a few weeks short of 6 months and is on solids I use to break it down to 2 times a day but not I only gube it to her at night the reason for that being is because she will sleep for 8 to 10 hours now its amazing. You might want to try that just make sure you do it the same time each night. Also she has to want to eat a few things I have learned along the way. Hope this helps

I have now a 20 month old. Sge would do the same thing sleep for 2 hours. The wake up and she did for at least one night cried for 2 hours. We did the cry it out thing after she was a year old. It is the toughest thing to let your baby cry for hours. All you can do is keep on trying. Have routine too. I know that my daughter is older than yours but it nice to have a schedule. I am a SAHM too. I need to have a little time to myself.Good Luck! Remember everything is temporary when they are still so little!

She's only 6 months old. She's far too young for CIO. If your baby is crying,it's because she needs something. Hungery, wet, scared, any number of things. By letting her just lay there and cry, you're doing more harm than good. You need to respond to her at this age. Go in, let her know you're there, pick her up, rock her, just let her know you'll be there when she needs you. Not all babies sleep through the night. Mine are now 2+ and still occasionally wake in the night. Just be consistant with a nightly routine, make sure she's not overtired when you're putting her down and try to put her down sleepy, but awake, so she learns to fall asleep on her own.
I know it's very hard, especailly when you're sleep deprived, but at this age, please respond to her.

I had the same problem. Actually my daughter has always been an odd sleeper. At about her 1st birthday I called the office in tears and a little sleep crazed. The Dr. suggested to read something by Ferber. She said even though I was doing everything right he would offer some good suggestions. The doc. also understood that my little one is a bit strong willed and "crying it out" just wasn't gonna work. Then she (the doc.) pointed out something. Kids just have different ways of sleeping. Lets face it, some adults need a lot of sleep while other need very little. Face the fact that your child is going to sleep how they sleep and take comfort in knowing it will even out as long as keep trying to make her sleep at the right times and where she needs to.

My little one is almost 1.5 now and doing much better. She will wake in the night about twice a week, get a little milk and go back to sleep. Also, so no one gives me any heat, she's very thin and tall. Dr. said it was fine as long as I swab out her mouth.

Anyways, hope it gets better and if you need someone to cry to feel free to write me. I feel your pain.

We are going through something similar with our 6mo. son. We don't bring him into our bed, but my husband and I take turns holding him while we (try) to sleep in a reclined position on the couch.

We use a bedtime routine that we established when he was only a month old and never have any trouble with him going to sleep. He is just having trouble when he wakes up at night. This week he has woken up every night anywhere from 2-3am.

I am VERY reluctant to let him "cry it out" -- one of my reasons is that he uses a pacifier for soothing and if he loses it, then he will even be more distressed. Also, I don't think I could handle letting him cry for hours -- we've just never done that.

So, I guess I am also looking for suggestions. Something other than "cry it out". I don't want to spoil my son, but I want him to feel comforted.

Like one of the other mothers said -- know you are not alone. I guess there are several of us out there who are up late at night too.

I think the first thing you need to do is not take her into bed with you. Trust me I know it is the easier thing to do but the sooner you break that habit the better. I have been in your shoes and I know how exhausting it can be. Pick a night that you want to start comforting her and putting her back to bed. Once you start don't go back. Go in and comfort her, get her back to sleep and put her in her crib. It will take a few nights (maybe a week but she should be better about it). Then start putting her back to bed while she is still awake. Once she does that you can go to comforting her while she stays in her crib. It will take time but she will learn it. There are many books out there that say let them cry it out. I don't believe in that.

That said, this may take some crying on her end (and maybe yours) for it to work. Let her cry a few minutes (maybe 5 to begin with, depending on what you can handle) and then go in. Slowly start increasing the time it takes you to get there. Then once you go in, you can try what I said above. Good luck, I hope it works. It did for me for both of my boys:)

I can totally relate to your dilemma. We had this issue with our firstborn, never brought him into bed with us, but he would wake up all night long. After about 6 months of this I read about a technique, similar to the last responder's. Start a routine at night, take a bath, read a book...whatever routine you set up for them. Then you kiss them, tell them it's time for bed and put them down while they are still awake. When they start to cry you let them go at it for 5 minutes, go back in...don't pick them up, tell them it's time for bed, then leave again. When they cry again, wait for 10 minutes, do the same thing, go back in tell them it's time for bed and leave. The next time you let them cry for 15 minutes then do the same thing, and for every time after that you wait 15 minutes before going in there. With our first one this was the hardest thing to do since he had already gotten himself into a routine of getting up all the time, but after 3 days of doing this consistently, he slept through the night and we never had the problem again. With our second and third child we started this as soon as we brought them home from the hospital and it worked so well. Not that they slept through the night when they were little, but they fall asleep on their own and stay asleep for 5-6 hours versus the 2-3 you're getting now.

It's really hard to sit and listen to your little one cry, but it is so worth it!

She might be hungry or might it be her ears? Is she teething?
I breastfed my son and he still was hungry at night until he was eating solids til about 12 months old. You might try laying her in the crib for short periods or just for naps at first lengthening the time as you can. We tried that when our son outgrew the bassinet and he was used to sleeping near our bed. He is happy to sleep in his crib now in his own room. we gave him a pacifer that he uses at night only and that was helpful to us too. Hope this helps you D.

Hi A.. I have two children, now 10 and 15 and both were like that! Your baby is young and is obviously needing your comfort now upon awakening. That is why she sleeps well with you. I know that many parents are 'told' to not sleep with their babies but throughout history mothers have slept with their babies and it actually helps both the mom and baby get sleep. That's the goal. I often think about how I feel. I don't like sleeping alone as an adult. Babies have such a need to bond and be assured........they have no sense of time. If your not in their vision......they don't know when your coming back. So my advise is to allow your baby in and enjoy the fact you both are getting sleep! There is a great book written on this subject called 'The Family Bed"......here's a link...http://thewellspring.com/Cat/Adult_books/family_bed.htmlB...

Hi A.:

I've dealt with this problem so hopefully I can help. You need to place her in her crib awake, when she's just about to fall asleep. If you breast feed and she falls asleep nursing then that is what she wants when she is aroused. So, it's very important that you lay her in her crib when she's still awake, each and every nap and at bedtime.
You could try soothing music to play softly in her room.....begin a ritual just before bed....such as a warm bath, gentle rocking in a rocker and/or reading a book and then setting her in her crib and allowing her to put herself to sleep. You do not need to stop breastfeeding her to break her of her new habits, it just takes time and consistency on your part, and she'll get it in no time.
If she still takes 2 naps a day try to keep them about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in length....this might help make her more tired at night, so she'll go to sleep quicker for you.
My daughter would fall asleep to a lullaby CD after hard work and consistency....it paid off for me.

I hope this helps A.

K.

Be sure that you are feeding her right before bed so she goes into bed on a full stomach. I would feed my kids rice cereal and a bottle at 8 pm and then put them to bed awake to soothe themselves to sleep. You just have to be consistant because if she knows you'll come in and get her she'll keep right at it. I know it's hard but she's not in pain, she's just mad :o)
Be sure to have a crib aquarium or something attached to the side of the crib so she has something to look at and listen to when she wakes up. She'll be used to it in no time. The sooner you get her into a consistant routine the better because once she's out of the crib and into her own bed you'll be running her back and trying to keep her in there, MUCH more fun :o) My kids sleep like a dream so I know it will work for you too.
Good luck,
J.

You just described our nights to a T!!! My little one is 6 months old and that is EXACTLY what we have been going through for weeks. We are exhausted! My doc said 'cry it out' and we tried (for about 20 mins) and i just couldn't do it, my heart broke and her voice was hoarse the next day! I will be looking to see if anyone responds to you with suggestions. In the meantime, know that you are not alone! I feel your pain haha!!