6 month old crying in sleep

[Beck93]

Hi everyone, I know there’s already a lot of threads on babies not sleeping..
however I’m really struggling with my little one at the mo..
He is 6 months old now and cries all night in his sleep with the odd hour off, nothing seems to be settling him.
He has always slept reasonably well and up until a couple of weeks ago he was sleeping through, he now some nights only goes 10 minutes before he’s crying in his sleep, it’s taking at least half an hour to stop him either by tapping his bum or if he cries himself awake we have to rock him back off.
I just don’t know what else to do now, can anyone give any advice to possible problems? He is already on products for wind and he has pain relief when he’s teething but this is happening every night now and I’m exhausted and at a loss with what is wrong with him and what to do! Thanks in advance.

[Z0rr0]

I know it's really hard, especially with the first one, but really try not to rock them to sleep. We did that and I now have a teenager who never really learned how to get off to sleep and it drives me mad worrying about her lack of sleep and how it impacts her.
The second we did leave her to it more and she sleeps fine. When she got out of step we did controlled crying for a couple of nights which hit the reset button and she went back to normal.
Could your baby be hungry? Perhaps a growth spurt has made him more hungry than before?

[Beck93]

Thank you for your reply.. I have tried offering him milk but he won’t have it so he’s not hungry no. Last night he started when he’d only been in bed 10 minutes!
May have to try the controlled crying method.. how did you go about doing that?

[Z0rr0]

Jeez, now you're asking! It was a long time ago for me.
I'm sure it's Googleable and you should check because it might not be recommended for a small baby, but it was about laying them down to sleep and leaving them for a few minutes to cry, going back and checking on them, reassuring them (without picking them up), then going out and leaving them for a for a tiny bit longer, going back, reassuring etc etc.
There was a whole way of doing it. I can't remember if you were supposed to sit with them for a bit and then gradually move off, or what.
I do remember it was hard to begin with. Leaving them to cry for long periods is hard on a mum. And it feels way longer than it actually is.
I would usually do it after a cold had disrupted her sleep and she got out of the habit. Once she was better we would do controlled crying for a couple of nights and then she'd be right back to sending herself off.
I know some people aren't keen on it. It can feel cruel leaving a baby crying for ten minutes or something, but as long as you know there's nothing physically wrong and they are safe, I don't think it's dangerous.
If you've eliminated hunger, nappy, illness, teething, colic or pain then it may just be to have a cuddle!
Is he trying more solid foods?

[tornadoalley]

If he is crying himself awake or crying in his sleep, how will the controlled crying method work?

[Ohalrightthen]

If he's crying in his sleep on a regular basis, i would assume there's something wrong. Have you spoken to your GP or HV?

Controlled crying isn't going to help with this, because he isn't awake.

[Mylittlepony374]

Teething? My son cries in his sleep while teething. Might be worth trying some calpol ?

[Beck93]

I’ve read that it’s because he’s struggling with going through the sleep cycles.. it’s not a pain cry and he stops if I comfort him back to sleep.. I can only assume it’s because I’ve always had to rock him to sleep from birth and now he’s older he’s waking and then struggling to go back to sleep by himself?

[Z0rr0]

Feel for you @Beck93. We spent so many nights rocking our oldest off when she was little and it was exhausting and frustrating and then she would wake when we finally put her down and you'd have to start all over.
If you can try to ween yourselves off that gently it will honestly be much better for you all. Take it slowly, don't beat yourself up. Two steps forward, one step back is fine. Wish I had better advice for you really. Good luck!