My almost 6 month old won't sleep through the night!

[HollyN]

I'm really hoping to get some help here.

I have a 5 and a half month old son and he has been in his own cot beside mine and my partners bed for nearly a month, yet he still won't sleep.
Everytime he stirs he is rolling onto his front and this is causing him to wake. When he does wake he is always wanting a feed and he will not settle in his cot by himself as he ends up rolling onto his tummy.

My partner is a snorer so he is constantly sleeping on couch as I am worried this isn't helping, but it doesn't make a difference to our son's sleeping.

I am really stuck with what to do. Please help!

I would advise you just go with it
not all babies sleep through no matter what you do
I very much doubt it is your husbands snoring

and just to make you feel better or maybe worse

gecko is 3y 2m and she still wakes every two to three hours

I find it helps if you stop expecting to be able to sleep at night

My ds2 is 5 m tomorrow, he sleeps in a crib next to our bed too.
He wakes once or twice a night aswell. I feed him when he wakes, I feed him to sleep then put him back in his bed. Sometimes he stirs awake and I have to do this again. And again.
My dh snores too but I don't think has any link, bring your dh back into your bed!!

ds1 and dd didn't sleep through till they were 2!!!!

Sorry but this is what babies do!
Sleep as much as you can, I go to bed shortly after ds2.

Have you thought about moving your LO to his own room? That way your DP can sleep in his bed again and you won't wake everytime your DS stirs. It is totally normal for a baby to wake throughout the night - however, where I disagree with the other posters is, that babies need to learn to resettle themselves on their own i.e. not by being fed or rocked back to sleep.

I think it is important to let them cry a little (max 5 mins), then go in and soothe them (by stroking/shhing). Leave the room and leave them to cry for another 5 mins and so on. This way, they learn to resettle without the comfort of food etc. It doesn't work straight away but over a few weeks, you should have a LO who can sleep at night on his own.

As for rolling on the tummy, you could try tucking them in tight with a sheet? Once he can roll back again, it doesn't really matter if they sleep on their tummy - in fact my DS sleeps better on his!

Lastly, are you sure your LO is not hungry at night? Is he on solids? Is he having enough calories in the day to enable him to sleep throughout the night?

I hope things start to improve.

cannot help with sleeping through as my ds aged 4 still wakes and shouts on me a few nights a week, but have you tried tucking the sleeping bag into the bottom of the cot, hence stopping your ds rolling onto his front when he stirs? i had to do that for a couple of months until my ds had the strength to get back himself or just be happy on his front.

My elder two didn't sleep through reliably until they were over 2 years old. The youngest, the one I think of as my wonderful sleeper, didn't manage a full night till nearly 7 months (and I was so impressed and pleased with that!). Now, at 7, 5, and 2, I probably get more unbroken nights of sleep than broken ones, but only just.

Bless you Addictedtofrazzles, don't you think if it was really that easy for all babies, none of us would have non-sleeping toddlers? You're not disagreeing with anyone on here when you say that babies need to learn to resettle themselves. We all agree with that, it's a great theory.

One of things I found most demoralising with dd and ds1 was when other people would tell me some simple little thing that I should do that would result in them sleeping through in a matter of days or weeks. Hah! As if.

OP, lower your expectations and sleep when you get the chance.

When I had DS1 and he didn't sleep through by 6 months I thought that I was a terrible mother and that I must be doing something wrong. Everyone else's babies seemed to be sleeping from 7pm and 7am.

What I know now (with DS2 who is 7 months and waking 2/3 times a night) is;

1. Some babies are not great sleepers
2. 6 months is very young
3. LOs do eventually sleep through but that could be a while yet.
4. This is not uncommon and some of my friends/acquaintances with babies are fibbers.

You need to remember that it is NOT YOUR FAULT and IT WILL PASS. In the meantime you need to try to find a way of coping, as a family with the sleepless nights. We do alternate nights here. Good luck

it's perfectly normal for a 6mo not to sleep through the night, many don't (mine certainly didn't!)

Agree 6m is very young.

Agree people lie fib re their dc's sleeping all night.

And yes I do think babies should be able to settle themselves, but at 6m (actually at any age!) they are young, small and vunerable and should be comforted/fed when they cry imo.