6 Month Old Getting up at Night!!!!

My 16 month old still gets up 2-3 times a night...I just don't think some children are meant to sleep through the night, and I almost think all those mothers are LYING to me! (My older one never slept through the night, either...until she was 3...)

Good luck. I wish you the best! :)

Please don't take the binky away. He still needs to be fed during the night by bottle or breast until about 9 months of age unless of course he sleeps through the night. My babies nursed at least 1 time during the night until after 1 yr. Every baby is different. It's very normal for babies to wake at night, so please don't neglect him and let him cry. His needs are genuine, he just lacks ways to tell you other than by crying. Please take time to read this article when you are tempted to let him "cry it out": http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/fussy-baby/science-says-.... Parenting is a 24 hour/7 day a week job--that's why it's so TOUGH. If you invest in your child's security by meeting his needs in infancy, it pays huge dividends later. I know that because I now have a secure, well adjusted 6 yr old who used to wake 4-5 times a night many nights until she started sleeping through the night after 18 months. Midwife Mom of 3

**Binky is not a substitute for when a baby is hungry.
Solids, is not a substitute for when a baby is hungry.
If/when hungry, a baby needs their breastmilk/Formula.
He is crying and taking out the Binky... because he does not want it. Because he is hungry. When a baby is hungry or does not want their binky, they will spit it out.

Ya gotta feed him... nursing or bottle whatever he uses.
The thing is, 6 months is a growth-spurt time... and a time of developmental changes and hitting milestones. Hence, they get hungrier and more often, 24/7 day and night.
Intake... has to keep up WITH them.
Solids is not as nutritionally dense, as breastmilk or solids.
Always nurse/feed bottle, BEFORE solids.

KNOW his cues.
Don't confuse 'need' for binky, and hunger.
2 different things.
In other words, he may need a feeding. Not the binky.
Feeding him a lot (of solids/food)... before bed, does NOT make a baby sleep more or make them not wake up.

My kids as babies and at that age, they woke MORE than your baby and they had GINORMOUS appetites, and I nursed and I woke a lot... per their hunger. They would drink me dry, each time, and I used both breasts per session.

For the 1st year, nursing/Formula is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition and to feed on-demand.
They are growing and changing a ton. And need intake.

He is hungry.
Scheduled feedings do not work. It needs to be on-demand.

A Binky, is NOT a substitute for hunger or missed feedings. If he is hungry, you need to feed a baby. This is how it is for at least the 1st year of life.

A baby's sleep is NOT static. They wake. Your baby is not waking much. And sleep patterns change per development and age of a child. It just is.

Also at this age, some babies are teething. This wakes them, too.

6 month olds do usually wake at night. At least most do.
Have you tired feeding him when he wakes? There is a 6 month growth spurt.
Also if you aren't you can try putting him on his tummy to sleep it will help keep the binky in his mouth.

I have a great sleeper but she too spent about a month around the 6 month mark waking up at night and needing her binky. Unfortunately, it took a month or two for her to be able to find it on her own. In addition, she kept knocking it out of her mouth too. I stuck several in the crib. When she would wake up, I would give her 5 min or so to find one and calm down on her own. If she didn't, I would go in there, give her one, pat her back but not pick her up. Eventually she figured it out on her own. Good luck and hang in there!

I know all babies are different, but I was nursing my daughter twice every night at 6 months. Actually, until 11 months she ate at 1:00 and 5:00 every night, then just once per night until 13 months. Then she slept all night. Have you tried feeding him instead of giving the binky back?

Food I don't think is going to help this situation since it is the binky not being in his mouth when he goes to suck on it in his sleep. The only thing I started doing when my dd was still using it was take it out of her mouth right when she was on the verge of sleep right in the middle of one of her sucks and take it out. That way she goes to sleep without it. It took a few nights of her figuring it out but she hasn't used her binky at night since like 4.5 months old and she self weened herself from her binky at 5.5 months. Plus he might be going through a growth spurt right now anyway which could be not helping the situation. I would start to ween him off of the swaddling now. I started not swaddling the legs then moved to the arms. I still wrap her midsection with a blanket that is folded to be just width of her middle. She won't sleep without it. Good luck!

During the day help him figure out how to get that binky into his own mouth.. We had a neighbor who's little girl had to have that binky to sleep. Her crib had 5 or 6 of them in there each night, so she could just reach around and find one. It was pretty awesome.. she did it with her eyes closed!

Also if you do go in at night to check on him when he wakes up, do it all in the darkest way possible (only a night light) and no eye contact and no conversations. He will eventually get board.

I agree this could be a growing spurt and he really s hungry.. so do that in the dark, no eye contact and no sounds or conversations.

This happened to my son! It was terrible. Until he could get the pacifier on his own it was me getting up a half dozen times a night to put it back in. If it means that much to him he will learn how to get it fast. My son was a terrible sleeper from birth until about 4! Good luck just take a little comfort in knowing it won't last forever.

Let him have his binky. It comforts him.
S.H. and Rachel had great advice for you!

This happened with my son at six months. I followed the Teach to Sleep method which should be done no earlier than six months. It involved removing his binky for sleep (he was allowed to have it during waking times), and crying it out. It took him 20 minutes, and he has slept beautifully ever since. I was lucky with him. With my subsequent two boys I did Teach to Sleep at about eight months and ten months, it took up to two hours the first night, then maybe 30 minutes the next night, then maybe ten minutes the next. But, they learned how to sleep through, they were safe, Mommy and Daddy were checking on them, and they developed excellent sleep habits (for the most part). They lost the need for a binky to be able to sleep, but they still had plenty of sucking from it during the day, and they were also breastfed. If you can get it, the Teach to Sleep method is detailed in the book 'Baby Love' by Robin Barker. Robin Barker is an eminent Pediatric Nurse from Australia. This was my bible when my children were little babies - it has everything in it, including the Teach to Sleep method.

Okay, first of all, you need to understand that the binky does have to go. My kids never took to those, but they did have the "addiction" to the bottles. It is going to be hard, in fact VERY HARD, but it will be well worth it in the end. You can use soothing baths to help tire them. I have found that the aroma therapy works well. You play with them and engage them for about an hour or so, and then a nice soothing bath of lavendar and chamomile (you can find this in the baby isle of bathing supplies), and they even have a shampoo, so you can have it for all areas. Then, put the little one to bed, and let him cry it out. It is okay for him to cry it out. At 6 months they have to learn independence. I thought that was wrong myself, but my kids' pediatrician assured me it is a pivotal step. They will still depend on you, but they need to know ways to soothe themselves. If not, you will never get the rest you need, and it is important for you to do so. For the babies sake and your own, allow him to cry it out. It may take up to a week, but you need to be strong. You will be happier in the end that you did it. (My kids took a little over a week with the bottle, so it does happen and every child is different.)

My 6 month old son wakes in the night when his binky falls out as well. I was interested in seeing your answers. Don't ya love the moms that tell you to take the binky away even after you said you don't want to take it away yet? LOL! To each his (or her!) own. I give my baby a binky and when it drops out, I give it back to him when he screams for it, which is periodically throughout the night. It's exhausting. My oldest son was majorly addicted to his binky and he slept through the night though. So it may not be the binky falling out that wakes him. Maybe our boys ARE hungry?! I've read that they go through a growth spurt at this time. I've also read in numerous different resources AND heard from my ped that babies this age do not physically need to wake in the night to nurse. They should be able to sleep through the night. HOWEVER, they consider sleeping through the night to be 5 or more hours. Good luck!!