How to get 6 month old to sleep through the night???

amother

Wed, Feb 26 2014, 2:08 pm

So baby is 6 months old and we are working to get her out of our room. When she was in our room, I got when she cried, nursed her, and she slept the rest of the night in my bed. Now I am realizing that it is getting increasingly dangerous to do so because she is flipping over and moving around. I want to encourage her to sleep through the night without a feeding, so I've moved her to the hall next to our room. Last night, when she woke up, I asked DH to go get her and try to calm her down, but she got hysterical, and he couldn't. This happened twice. The first time I had just gone to be and wasn't sleeping, so I took her to the couch and fed her and she fell asleep on me. The second time I put her in my bed, put my arm around her so I would feel if she moved, and I think I stayed awake enough to let her fall asleep and either I or DH put her back in bed...don't remember!

This cannot go on like this...every time I fall asleep with her in bed I get so scared the next morning at what could have happened! What can I do to get her to sleep through the night? She is on solids, so DH said that maybe we should feed her a big meal before bed and then she won't be hungry...

Any advice would be helpful! Please no bashing...I have diagnosed OCD in the form of obsessive thoughts so a lot of the rant is my paranoia!

morah

Wed, Feb 26 2014, 2:14 pm

Many babies are not ready to sleep through the night at this age. Even with solids, they don't eat a significant enough amount at this young age. You can focus on getting her to sleep in her own crib and maybe to drop a feeding, but for sleeping through the night, you may just have to wait for her to grow a little.

lili

Wed, Feb 26 2014, 2:20 pm

Your goal at this point should be to get her to sleep in her crib.
When she cries, feed her but make sure to put her back in the crib after the feed.

if she uses a pacifier you can try that before feeding her.

good luck!

Ariella28

Wed, Feb 26 2014, 2:27 pm

Yes I agree with the above replies! It's very possible she is still hungry, if she eats very often thru the night maybe u can stop one feed...But the focus should be on getting her to sleep in her crib. My son used to eat every 2 hours day and night at that age. I was permanently tired from it, I dropped one or 2 feeds during the night. Made a big diff! Good luck whatever u do!

m+m

Tue, Mar 11 2014, 3:36 pm

My doctor said by 6 months they may want to eat during the night, but they are not hungry- it's just for comfort or habit.
It takes 3 nights of not giving food for them to learn that they will not be fed during the night.
When baby wakes up try to get her to go back to sleep without nursing. Perhaps use a pacifier. She may cry for a while, do the same thing the next 2 nights and she will probably not wake up after the first few nights.