But, whatever your baby's (lack of) sleeping pattern, this is also the beginning of a more equal relationship between the two of you. Not only is she developing a few ideas of her own about what she'd like to do, but soon she'll also be putting them into practice.
Physical development at six months old
Hand-eye coordination is coming on apace. She will pat her image in the mirror and keep her eyes fixed on an object while she reaches for it. Remember a few weeks ago, when she didn't even realise those hands she could see were hers? Now she will not only reach out for an object but also grasp it tightly, cupping her chubby hand round it and securing it with her thumb.
Everything goes straight into her mouth where she can explore it with her tongue and lips – so keep a careful eye on what's lying within baby's reach.
As her hand control improves, her fingers will become more nimble. She'll also be able to bang things, like saucepan lids, particularly if she suspects you have a hangover.
She may also now be able to roll from her stomach to her back as well as from her back to stomach and is finally on the cusp of crawling. She may even surprise you and be an early crawler, in which case you'd better babyproof your home sharpish, as she'll have an unnerving knack for finding the bleach.
Some babies seem to have a lot of muscle tone and you may find she stands, supported by furniture, for a few moments at this age. She may sit unsupported for a little while, too – best done with cushions around her so that when she topples forwards (or backwards or sideways), her head doesn't make a horrible noise on the floor.
Is my six-month-old teething?
Your baby will have (or will soon have) some incisors – the two central top and two central bottom ones. At this point, she will want to bite everything and dribble over everyone. It's worth starting to clean any teeth, even just with a flannel, as soon as they appear.
Hearing at six months old
She can tell the difference between tunes and respond to her name. She will reach out for a toy that makes a sound but will soon stop doing this – unless she can see and is interested by the toy – because she will learn that you can't physically touch a noise.
Sight at six months old
At six months, she's heavily into small things and small-form patterns, so will stare at ditsy floral prints and tiny, pretty buttons happily for minutes at a time. Take her into Cath Kidston and watch her go into a trance.
She can see small objects of 15cm or less from up to three to six metres away but she won't stare for long at an object that is far away. If she could voice a colour preference around now, it would be for red or yellow.
How can I encourage my six-month-old's physical development?
If you put her on her tummy she might bend her knees with her forearms on the floor in front of her and start to push off as though about to crawl. Or she may rock to and fro, wondering why she's not moving. Either way, she's getting plenty of practice for the first stages of crawling and is strengthening important sets of muscles.
Cognitive development at six months old
By six months old she realises that people and things continue to exist even though she can't see them. She also realises, from playing and making things happen repeatedly, that 'if I do this, then that happens'. These are big steps in baby psychology. (Some adults still have a problem with the thorny old concept of cause and effect.)
From being able to move one object from one hand to another she realises that her body has two parts that meet in the middle.
Best of all, she will hold her arms out to be picked up and adore being cuddled (most babies do as long as you don't squeeze them too tight). It's like the first few weeks of a romance all over again. This is the sweetest of times, when you can believe that your baby really, really loves you. No longer does she smile indiscriminately but she saves her best smiles for you. She will look at you lovingly, patting your breast or the bottle, or reach up to pat your face, sometimes more vigorously than is comfortable but you don't want to hurt her feelings.
You can make her laugh (who cares if she's the only one who thinks you're funny?) and she will kick her legs frantically to show how pleased she is with you.
But your baby will also now show fear, occasional anger and simple dislike. She will develop preferences for foods (see more on weaning for advice on what foods to give her when). She will also become more sociable and, instead of blanking other babies like she used to, will now reach out to touch them.
In fact, she's reaching out to touch just about everything right now and is fascinated by exploring various textures with both her hands and her mouth. It's worth encouraging this, as exploring new textures is what the early stages of weaning are all about – it could make the difference between her merrily chugging down your carrot puree and spitting it at your kitchen wall.