Sleep Advice for a 6 Month Old

sounds like people arent being so positive about the cosleeping. i say keep it up -- you will reap so many benefits. my first kid was a lot like yours, and i have made a point with my 4 month to do things a bit different. for one thing, i am way more savvy about wearing him down in a sling and transitioning him to his cradle while still in sling, essentially swaddling him with it. (we use a cradle by our bed, which has pillows and blankets to make it a snug nest, then transfer to bed with first wake-up. highly recommend for the hubby snuggles) also, i am not afraid to let my kid sleep on his side. the back-only system was so much work with my first, and this guy just sleeps so much better on his side with a pillow real close to reach out and touch. i know this is all so anti-SIDS propaganda, but its what works for us. i would mostly just try to weigh her down a little -- we have even used rice bags as a little weight on the arm or feet to trick them. also, dont know what your nighttime is like for yourself, but sometimes its better to wear her around asleep than to constantly try to get her back to sleep. by the way, i have totally been where you are at and my kid is 3 and loves his own bed. he loves to come into our bed for snuggles too, but i feel there is not only black and white on the cosleep issue. most people who have that idea have never tried it.

Sounds like your snuggling is now part of her sleep routine. You have to decide to continue and have this effect or give her space at night and she will slowly increase the incrimentsof sleep until she doesn't wake at all if your not there. That is my suggestion anyway, good luck and know you aredoin the best you can.

Hi S.,
Hooray for co-sleeping! We co-slept with our little guy until he was 13 months...and that's only because he wasn't getting good sleep, he'd wake too much because he smelled me. But, what I did before we transitioned out of cosleeping, was I started napping him in his crib in the day time around 4 months. You aren't very far off, this could work....but all babies are different. Then, I started putting him down at night in his own crib as well. Once we went to bed, and whenever his next night feeding was, we would bring him into our bed. This way, there's no worrying about falling out or having to lay with them when they first go down at night.

When you get to the point where you are tired of being her pacifier....email me and we can chat again. I kept it up for 13.5 months because I didn't mind. It's not that I didn't want him in our bed, I just couldn't get him to go back to sleep on his own without latching on again.

Good luck!
A.

Maybe put clothing or bedding which smells like you near her?

All I have to say is I would make sure to break her out of sleeping with you as a baby. I to enjoyed her sleeping with me when my daughter was young and it was easier to feed her. She likes me to lay with her and she also likes to lay on my arm and snuggle or at least be touching me in some way. However my daughter is 11 years old now and has never broken out of the habit as much as I have tried to. I am a prisoner at night to her going to bed when she does or she doesn't get enough sleep because she will not go to sleep unless I am in there. My advice is start early.

How about a hot water bottle?

The only thing to be aware of is that they can slowly burn at your child's skin, so make sure that t's not too hot, and put it inside a wool or cashmere cover for extra safety.

I made my son's hot water bottle out of an old cashmere sweater that I bought at the thrift store. Wash the cashmere in the machine in hot water to felt it a little, then you can cut it up and stitch it into a cover.

She will either like it or not, one of mine did & the other didn't but my daughter loves her lovey, not sure if it's the real name but those little blankies with a stuffed animal head, if she's tired fussy, usually I can give her her lovey and she'll grab it turn her head, suck her thumb and close her eyes. Sometimes I have to use the swing t get her asleep but a lot of times her lovey is enough.

K.
momma to 8 month old girl & 3 yr old boy

Hm, we didn't co-sleep, but I will say this. When I'm separated from my husband for the night, I have trouble sleeping. It sounds like your daughter is used to you being there and is more comforted that way. Sounds completely normal. She's probably too young at 6 months, but I would think about introducing a comfort item at some point. A night shirt you wore? Maybe some music you know she likes?

Hi S.,

I found that closing them in helps. When I got out of bed, I would put a pillow behind my little ones back (they slept on thier sides) and either another pillow, or bunched blankets in front of her (or him). This seemed to help with the 'someone is still next to me' comfort issue. :)

Hope this helps :)

R.
www.HomeWithMy4.com

Before you can settle her down to sleep without you, you have to first decide to have her sleep on her own. It has to be one or the other. Sleeping with you is a part of her routine, and until you decide to have her sleep on her own, the situation will stay the same. Good luck

I think my little girl did this, too, at that age. With my current tiny one, I have a baby hammock. He sleeps pretty well in it, till I go to bed, at which point I change him and take him with me to nurse and sleep. I think the hammock feels enough like a sling (he spends time in a ring sling every day, too), or something.

Hey S.- my almost 8 month old is the same way. We have trained her to be rocked to sleep as she was a colicky newborn. She now can only be rocked or worn to sleep - and usually is held by one of us tell I go to bed with her.

I also like the cosleeping and night nursing - would however love to be able to put her in bed and stay up a couple hours to get some stuff done. It is a huge issue between my hubby and I as he gets a lot of pressure from his mom and co-workers to let her cry. I do not want to do this as she is a very dramatic little one- screams her head off in the car seat to wear she can barely breath.

I would love to keep a dialog with you as to what works for both of us and hopefully we can help eachother out.