6 month old sleeping less and less

[EmilytheStrange]

Google '4 month sleep regression'.

My daughter went through it from 3.5months to 6.5 months. This is very big for their sleep cycles.

Sounds like your LO started theirs right on time at 4months. Very normal. Unlikely to have much if anything to do with the shots - just coincided timing wise.

It can last awhile and can meld into the 9 month one if not 'fixed'. But as for fixing? I don't know what to say - my DD just eventually grew out of it. I mostly swaddled, used the pacifier and coslept.

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange Google '4 month sleep regression'. My daughter went through it from 3.5months to 6.5 months. This is very big for their sleep cycles. Sounds like your LO started theirs right on time at 4months. Very normal. Unlikely to have much if anything to do with the shots - just coincided timing wise. It can last awhile and can meld into the 9 month one if not 'fixed'. But as for fixing? I don't know what to say - my DD just eventually grew out of it. I mostly swaddled, used the pacifier and coslept.

Thank you for this!

[momtojande]

Originally Posted by Urchin I just don't know where to turn. If this is normal, I'm fine with that. I'm just concerned that I've somehow created a monster with bad sleeping habits!

My son went through the 4 month sleep regression. Well, he was never a great sleeper to begin with, but got much worse at 4 months.

Um, it never really got better. When he was 20 months old his sister was born, and within a couple months she was waking less often than he was. She has slept through the night, without regressions or problems, since 7 weeks old. He's 6.5 years old, and still wakes up at least once at night.

The kicker is, I am the same mom and did the same things with them. They have the same bedtime routine (and always have). They eat the same food. I respond just as much to one as the other. So I don't think I created DS's sleeping difficulties anymore than I created DD's awesome sleeping.

[Hungry Caterpillar]

Originally Posted by Urchin I know this is probably asked a million times a month, but i need ideas. I tried googling for ideas, and all I can find are forum posts of people recommending improper use of the Ferber Method...I couldn't handle reading any more... SO, here is the dealio. My LO has been an awesome sleeper. She's been sleeping in her crib happily since 3 weeks of age. At 2 months she went from waking every two hours, to eventually sleeping 5-7 hours straight at night. She'd also have about two 1-hour naps each day. Then she got her 4 month shots. Her sleeping went to heck in a handbasket. She had a hard time with those shots (got a fever of 102) and didn't sleep very well that night... and from that night onward her sleep has been getting worse and worse. I'm not blaming the shots at all, I just remember very clearly when she suddenly stopped sleeping so well! At first it was no big deal, I figured she was having a growth sput, then I thought maybe she was teething... Now I'm just lost though. Her sleep is getting worse and worse. She doesn't nap during the day unless we're in the car or if she falls asleep while nursing. I will literally sit here with her on my lap for an hour just so she'll get a nap in. If I try to lay her down she wakes up. She used to suck her thumb or take a paci, but has since shown no interest in doing either to soothe herself. She freaks out if I put a paci near her mouth. Night time is progressively getting worse, like I mentioned. If I am lucky, she will sleep 3 hours when I initially put her to bed around 9:30. But after that she's up every hour and a half. Each time she wakes, I nurse her until she falls asleep and then put her back in her crib. If I am lucky she'll stay asleep, but usually once a night she wakes as soon as I put her in the crib. This can go on for 4 or 5 attempts, at which time I "give up" and bring her into bed with me and nurse her there until we both fall asleep. Bringing her into bed with us seemed to be helping her sleep longer at first, but that has since ended and she wakes constantly there as well. I just don't know where to turn. If this is normal, I'm fine with that. I'm just concerned that I've somehow created a monster with bad sleeping habits!

I haven't read any of the other responses but my baby is 6 months old and did the same thing. I finally started watching him when he is awake and when he first wakes up, and I think the answer is that he is just more aware of the world around him, and really became aware at around 4 months. Now, everything is interesting. He doesn't care for the paci anymore and when he wakes up, there are so many things to look at and so many sounds and such that surrendering to sleep is just not as interesting as looking around.

The change we made is making sure he is not asleep before sneaking him into his crib and just hanging out with him in his room and then while he is in his crib before falling asleep. Now he seems to have a memory of where he fell asleep, and when he wakes up out of a sleep cycle and looks around, he seems to understand that he is still there, it's really not that interesting, and we will hear him chatter to himself for a few mins before going back to sleep.

Good luck

[Arabesque]

DD went through the same stage, and is just finally getting out of it. On her worst night she woke up every 15-30 minutes.

Some things that we have changed, we stopped putting her in a sleep sack, we make sure to give her a bath and read a story every night, and we play a CD of classical music during nap time. We also stopped room sharing with her.

Honestly though, I think she was having a hard time sleeping because she was going through some major milestones all at once. She was rolling over, sitting, army crawling, and trying to pull herself to standing all within a few short weeks. Now that she's mastered most of those things, she's sleeping much better.

[socalledauthor]

My two cents: the reason the night sleep may be getting worse is that as babies get overtired, they may have more trouble falling and staying asleep. You might try any variation of 'sleep training', from slowly increasing intervals between comforts to letting them cry for an hour then declaring nap time over. Kids are not all the same, except in one way: the need for enough sleep.

Good luck. Hopefully, it will pass soon and your kid will go back to being a good sleeper.... Not turn into an insomniac like ours did. (it's not healthy fr anyone to be up for four or more hours straight in the middle of the night... And never make it up!)

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by socalledauthor My two cents: the reason the night sleep may be getting worse is that as babies get overtired, they may have more trouble falling and staying asleep. You might try any variation of 'sleep training', from slowly increasing intervals between comforts to letting them cry for an hour then declaring nap time over. Kids are not all the same, except in one way: the need for enough sleep. Good luck. Hopefully, it will pass soon and your kid will go back to being a good sleeper.... Not turn into an insomniac like ours did. (it's not healthy fr anyone to be up for four or more hours straight in the middle of the night... And never make it up!)

I'm sorry, but I will NEVER let my child Cry it Out.

I would like to update though.

Last night I swaddled her up (which I honestly thought she would hate) and gave her a pacifier (reluctantly).

She started getting sleepy almost as soon as I swaddled her. I didnt even have to nurse her to sleep. She slept for 4 hours before getting up to feed.

The only issue was that when she did wake up, she was VERY hot from being swaddled (even in a muslin blanket). I couldn't re-swaddle her because of this.

I did end up bringing her to bed with me about an hour after and she slept well with me!

So there is a definite improvement! Just need to figure out a lighter swaddling blanket!

[mrseum]

Originally Posted by Urchin I'm sorry, but I will NEVER let my child Cry it Out. I would like to update though. Last night I swaddled her up (which I honestly thought she would hate) and gave her a pacifier (reluctantly). She started getting sleepy almost as soon as I swaddled her. I didnt even have to nurse her to sleep. She slept for 4 hours before getting up to feed. The only issue was that when she did wake up, she was VERY hot from being swaddled (even in a muslin blanket). I couldn't re-swaddle her because of this. I did end up bringing her to bed with me about an hour after and she slept well with me! So there is a definite improvement! Just need to figure out a lighter swaddling blanket!

Ds2 still needs to be swaddled at a yr sometimes... Muslin is as light as it gets! If its hot, I dress him in only a onsie or tee/shorts. Glad it helped!

[Urchin]

Originally Posted by mrseum Ds2 still needs to be swaddled at a yr sometimes... Muslin is as light as it gets! If its hot, I dress him in only a onsie or tee/shorts. Glad it helped!

Yah, I think I will just dress her as lightly as possible tonight. We've had a hot couple of days here, so I think all of us were uncomfy last night!

Here's to hoping tonight goes well too

[MsGiggles]

That's awesome that the swaddling worked somewhat! We're going through the 4mo sleep regression (at 3.5 mos here) and so is my girlfriend with her 4mo LO. It is totally normal, but frustrating!

I would recommend a way earlier bedtime, too. With my DD we jumped from 10pm-ish, right to 7pm, and she slept WAY better (and still slept til 7am). She was definitely overtired and I had been missing the super early 6:30-7:30pm sleep cues. Now she's regularly down by 7:30pm.

Good luck & keep trying!