What can i do to get my baby to sleep through the night? (6months)

[Ce5196]

Hey guys! So my baby is about to be 6 months old in 2 weeks, she wakes up all through out the night sometimes every 2 hours. We can only get her asleep through the feeding method and we are still swaddling. She breaks out of the swaddle throughout the night sometimes as well. She also likes sleeping on her boppy in her crib idk if that has anything to do with it but I’m so exhausted. Any suggestions?

[EnchantedGrace]

Have you tried a swaddle bag like a love to dream to stop her breaking out? However once rolling they shouldn't have their arms restrained so they can get themselves back over/ lift their head incase they roll.
Is she feeding regularly through the day and having enough awake time? Is she on solids?
Could she have a tummy ache? Tooth ache?
Is she warm/cool enough?
Sorry, but what is a boppy? Belly?
Have you got a predictable bed time routine?
Do you play music or white noise?

I feel your exhaustion, my 2nd wouldn't sleep any longer than 90 mins day or night.

I have no real advice, sometimes babies just don't sleep through until they are ready? 🤷‍♀️ My eldest was 6 before he slept all night in his own bed. My second was about 3y9m. My 3rd is 6.5 months and has by far been my best night sleeper. Sleeping 5+ hours most nights from young.... but last week he woke hourly for a few days and I was a wreck.... however he came good one his first tooth popped through!

[Bluebirdgirl]

I think a boppy is a feeding pillow?
Unless your baby has development issues I would have thought by 6 months they would be way too active to be fully swaddled. And a pillow wouldn’t be recommended past about 3 months in a crib.
It’s probably not recommended at all but typically most babies are not moving around much til about then.

Maybe she is waking because she is uncomfortable.
All of my babies at that age were rolling, some on to their stomachs to sleep. They didn’t stay in one spot during the night and wouldn’t have stood for being wrapped up.

I’ve known a lot of people (from past forums as my kids were growing up) that had babies still waking like this at this age. While terrible for mums sleep it can be normal for some!
I would ditch the swaddle and pillow if it was me. Gradually with the swaddle. I would be afraid of using a pillow of any type at that age all night long. Day naps maybe.

[Twinkletoes Sparklebutt]

I would work on ditching the swaddle and have a good read of the following resources:
https://rednose.org.au/section/safe-sleeping
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babie...sleep-settling

Reach out to your health nurse and get some help, they are a great, free resource with a wealth of knowledge.
Hang in there, there is no one size fits all approach to baby sleep.

[turquoisecoast]

i definitely wouldn’t be putting my 6 month old into her cot with the boppy pillow. as stated above it’s a feeding pillow. definitely not safe sleeping or sids safe.

is she rolling? even if she’s not, she’s probably not far off it, so i would suggest a sleeping bag with arms out. stop swaddling as a baby that rolls onto its tummy without ability to move arms could suffocate.

[Crunchyapple]

I remember coming to this very website and posting a similar query about my four month old not sleeping. I asked for advice and was basically told by everyone to suck it up and welcome to motherhood. It was very unhelpful and disheartening. This was 10 years ago. I’m glad no one told you this 🤣 hang in there. Babies sometimes take a while to connect sleep cycles. Have you tried some soft music and a nightlight? Is she too cold/hot?

[Crunchyapple]

I would work on ditching the swaddle and have a good read of the following resources:
https://rednose.org.au/section/safe-sleeping
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babie...sleep-settling

Reach out to your health nurse and get some help, they are a great, free resource with a wealth of knowledge.
Hang in there, there is no one size fits all approach to baby sleep.

Great advice! I second this.

[turquoisecoast]

are you still feeding back to sleep when she wakes up? are you breast or bottle feeding?

at 6 months she should be able to go through without a feed. i’d try resettling her (or send partner in to do it, i found this more helpful as dd couldn’t smell milk on him plus he’s more patient than i am 🤣). you want to try and encourage her to sleep through and not expect a feed every time she wakes up.

i would try (if you’re not already):

- age appropriate sleeping bag.

- ensure room is sufficiently dark all night, use block out blinds if necessary.

- white noise (i just loop a white noise on apple music on my ipad all night for dd).

- ensure room is a comfortable temp. i use a small column heater for dd’s room set to low all night. the gro egg says her room is usually 22-24C which i find nice and toasty but not too hot.

- dd sleeps with door closed to keep room warm and keep any other household noises (older siblings, toilet flushing etc) out.

also review the day routine. i’ve found a good regimented day routine sets us up for a good night.

[Kazza78]

How many hours of sleep in the day does she have ?