Wakes Every Two Hours

If you haven't already tried it, put her to sleep on her tummy. Teething is tough because all the soothing agents wear off and they wake up regardless.

What is she eating? At 6 months, you should have already started her on some baby foods. She could be waking up because she is hungry.

Also, I used teething tablets for my son when he was teething. They worked wonders. They are made by a company called Hylands, I believe. You can get them at Wal-Mart.

I went through the same thing with my baby. Here is what I learned - the teething is not what is making her wake. Babies go through separation anxiety around 6-7 mos. She is waking out of habit now (are you nursing her back to sleep?) I would stop the Tylenol. It is not good for her liver to take it regularly. Only use it for high fevers or extreme pain situations. Teething tablets work great with no side effects.
The other's advice about needing more food is also an issue. Try feeding her more throughout the day. Then cluster feed her before bed (like 6pm and 8pm). You may have to have Daddy rock her back to sleep or try pickup/putdown (see Baby Whisperer's book). Just try not to keep nursing back to sleep because the habit will be harder to break the older she gets. Hope this helps!

It sounds like she is hungry and needs more.

Tylenol won't end all her pain/discomfort. She may also be going through a growth spurt and need the extra food.

Hello K.!

I highly recommend "Healthly Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He talks about sleeping and how to help your child sleep better and longer. He talks about several options so if you are not a cry it out mom he talks about other methods. This book saved my sanity. I hope it helps. Good Luck!

I had the same problem when my daughter was 4.5 months so I talked with the doctor. He asked where she was sleeping, it was in our room in the bassinet, and he said we were disturbing one another. It took about 2 weeks before I moved her into her own room but once I did, 12 hours and never turned back, she's now 3.5. Not sure if this is your situation but wanted to throw it out there just in case.

Good luck.
S.

I feel your pain, I do. But know that this is normal. At 6 months, she is going through a growth spurt, most likely, and she is teething. Good reasons to be up all night nursing! Even with Tylenol, the teething probably doesn't feel "right".

Breastfed babies typically go through several growth spurts: at 3, 6, and 9 weeks, and then at 3, 6, and 9 months (around there). THey want to nurse all the time to increase your supply to meet their demand. Feeding her solids during the day is NOT going to help her sleep. Her main nutrition right now should be breastmilk, and she's trying to help your body make more.

Just nurse her and comfort her until this is over. "this too shall pass...."

And all those "wonderful" 12 hour sleepers....Well, that's not really that normal for a breastfed 6 month old! They often still need to nurse at night, and when growth spurting they need to eat a LOT! .

All this to say that it's completely normal and will be over.

Co sleeping safely is an excellent way to get more sleep while being in tune with your baby's needs! If you don't feel comfortable with her in your bed, you could use a co sleeper (Arm's Reach makes one) or I've seen people put their cribs up next to the parents' bed to act as a co sleeper. That way she is right next to you but in her own space. When she wakes to nurse, you scoot her over, and lie down nursing her. You'll be more rested that way.

I would give her some solid food--cereal or a fruit or veggie--just before you put her down for what you hope is the night to help carry her through a little longer. Also keep in mind as you stumble around exhausted beyond belief (I know, because I've been there, too!) that she could also be going through a little growth spurt where she needs to eat more often, and within a few weeks, she will likely go back to her regular schedule. Also, if you're not opposed to it and feel comfortable with it, family bedding for a few nights can really help you through those times of nursing every two hours. You can just pull your shirt up, give her a breast, and you can fall back to sleep without much trouble since you haven't had to come fully awake by getting out of bed. Good luck, and just remember that it will get better!

When I brought my 3 kids home from the hospital I was told to take a travel clock that winds up & use a plush door knob cover to insulate the clock.(We found a doorknob cover that was red, black & white that looked like a bear head) Place the clock/doorknob cover into the bassinet when I would put them down to sleep. The clock sounds like a mother's heartbeat. This was before the teddy bears with the womb sounds etc.
PS I breastfed also & I would also take the clock into restaurants to put into the carrier
Good Luck!

She is growing and needs more food. You can keep feeding every two hours, or add some cereal to her meals. By six months, my kids were doing all kinds of baby foods. They are not overweight, nor do they have allergies as some will say that will cause. When you do decide to add food, add one thing i.e., a single grain cereal like rice. Only do that one food for two weeks, seeing no adverse reactions, you can add a 2nd food. Cereals should be first, followed by fruits, vegetables, and lastly meats. Hope this helps! Good luck :)

Oh I remember six months, we had a rough few weeks in there and then things got better. I think I increased my son's feeding during the day to help him sleep better at night and I remember I would hold a pacifier in his mouth sometimes until he was asleep, bc he never liked one but would chew it while teething if I held it in there until he crashed out. We also gave him a few minutes to cry and settle himself as well. 90% of the time he was back asleep within a few minutes. Good luck, it gets better, I think 6 months is a typical growth spurt time or something I know a lot of folks who have some difficulty at that age.

Ugh teething . . . THE WORST!!! I remember with my first child I didn't realize when her teeth came in . . but with my second child . . . LOL. I did find out! LOL. I am not a fan of giving Tylenol unless my child wouldn't sleep for nothing in the world cause of their teeth. Have you tried baby orajel?? I know that its just a teaser for a while but usually it would calm my baby down for a while . . . But even at that if your daughter wakes up every two hours and you give her the Tylenol then I think its something else. Maybe she's not getting enough to eat before she goes down for the night. Do you have her on a routine for example, dinner, playtime, bath, massage, then sleep??? For me even at that age of six months, all my children I would shower them then a good lotion massage( I would use any lotion not a specific one) and give them their bottle or breast milk and they'd be off to sleep. Maybe your daughter just needs to know that you're there. . . Hope this makes sense. LOL. I haven't had a good night sleep either. LOL.

HI K.
I am sure you are going to get this message over and over- but is she is waking every two hours she is definitely hungry- she needs more nourishment and is most likely ready for cereal.
good luck and blessings

most babies dont do that 12 hour stretch of sleeping untill one year. They still need to eat every few hours. 2 hours seems a little short to me but each child is different. At six months they can have cereral and should be drinking plenty of formula or breast milk. when you pump see how much your actually producing. other tricks other than full tummy are dark room, black out shade for windows, white noise, cool temp room, only enough light to see to walk around in. it seems like our son was about 8 months before the real sleep kicked in...i mean 6 hours at a time was heaven! good luck. sounds like your little one is on track. oh i am sure other mommas have said something about tylenol, teething tablets never worked for us. and our baby hated oregel (sp) we did give him tyelnol and motrin switching the two as not to od on tylenol. we only gave him this about twice in a 24 hr peroid or every 6 hrs depending on his comfort. careful with that stuff ;) good luck momma...you will sleep again!

K., bless you! I know you are tired.

I went through this too. I would suggest you keep yourself well hydrated, it helps if your girl is trying to tell you she needs some more breast milk than she is getting.

I had the good fortune of having family in town, right close. I would beg for help (huh! I didn't have to _beg_ at all!) with taking the baby for a couple of hours, maybe to a local children's museum, usually just to their house to play, or the park, etc. Then I could fill in a couple of my missing hours of sleep. (I even had my husband to take some sick leave to come home and care for the baby while I closed the curtains and slept! I'm glad that he could do that. Maybe your husband has such an option.)

She won't starve in just a couple of hours and I found that this age (6 months) was when my babies started exploring foods. My oldest loved frozen green peas - out of the freezer and into his mouth, especially right where he was teething! Cheerios was popular as was those teething rings that you can put into the fridge to get them coldish.

I'm not sure if giving Tylenol (or generic) for more than a day is a good idea. Topical stuff like the orajel product might be an alternative.

One thing I found very fascinating is how well my babies did with co-sleeping. Especially my first (I guess because I didn't have other children wanting my attention), would like just being close enough to feel that I'm there and stay asleep. If you don't like the co-sleeping idea, having a bed-high crib could work or putting your bed mattress on the floor and a mattress pad for the baby beside your side of the bed (my aunt really liked that arrangement). What I found fascinating was that my baby boy would stir and just about wake up and when I just put my hand on his shoulder or put my arm up against his back, he would immediately calm down and stay asleep. I figured it was a baby's "where are you, mom?" and feeling reassured with a touch or light rub of his forehead.

It is about this age when I started wondering if my baby was trying to manipulate me. It helped to remember that babies don't have any wants (well, they have preferences!), they have _needs_.

It also helped to remember that this precious six-month-old won't be this age for very long! Before you know it, you will be working on getting a one-year-old to sleep (which, hopefully, will be easier!).

Good luck! Good luck! Good luck!
D.

around six months my daughter started doing the exact same thing, I took her to the doctor who suggested that after i breast feed her I should give her a bottle of formula, because she most likely wasnt getting enough to eat. I went home and that night breastfed her and gave her a 3 ounce bottle and she slept for 12 hours.

she needed that sleep as much as I did.

this was just my situation, and I had had a few production issues even before this. so im not saying that your daughter for sure isnt getting enough to eat. she could also just be about to have a growth spurt and even just teething could make her do this. we use tylenol but I also found phillips teething tablets which work REALLY well.