WWYD re sleep

[lola88]

DS is a crap sleeper he only cat naps during the day and is up on average 3 times a night 2 for bottles one for his dummy and is waking at 6-6.30am everyday from 7pm.

He's always been ok with this amount of sleep but recently since he started sitting up and being more active (hes 6mo) he seems shattered all day. He wakes at 6 tired and moany then has short naps every 2-3 hours but after maybe an hour or so is seeming tired again.

I need to help him sleep for longer but not sure how so am hoping someone can give me some practical advice. He has no problem falling asleep at night usually with his bottle if not he is put in his cot left and will fall asleep in 10/15 mins. During the day he will fall asleep on his bottle sometimes other times he falls asleep in his buggy. I've noticed in the day he starts to wake after 20 mins if i catch him then i can sush him back to sleep in the buggy BUT if we are already walking he won't go back to sleep only if the buggy is still and i start moving it. At night he goes back to sleep without being lifted and if he doesn't go straight back to sleep i leave him alone in his cot when he crys i go back in and give his dummy he will them go straight back to sleep.

He slept sunday from 7pm to 8.30am with 3 very short wakenings and was full of life in the morning and happier through the day.

Please someone help my tired baby.

Some things might be going on, is it the 6 month growth spurt or have you started weaning recently? Could he be teething?

Agree though that mine always slept better at night if they'd had decent naps during the day. Have a read of this article and see what you think.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think you need to think about getting a structured routine together where he has naps in his cot at certain times of the day. Buggy sleeps will not be as restful as cot sleeps. At the very least try for two structured, cot sleeps per day. The other one can be a sleep on the go.

At six months, if you have a good routine in place, his night waking should stop completely. There's lots of habits learned in early babyhood that may be hard to break in older babies but it's worth investing some time into gently easing him on to a better daily pattern. It's not fair on a wee one to be tired all the time and it's really hard on you. You need to first decide whether you're prepared to put the time into getting a better pattern established, because it won't be easy. You may have to commit to being at home more than you're used to.

The Pick Up-Put Down method in the Baby Whisperer book is a good place to start for changing some of those entrenched waking habits.

As for routine, his routine might be something like:
7am wake, bottle
playtime
9am sleep - 1.5 hours
10.30am bottle and solids
12pm sleep - 1.5 hours
2pm bottle and solids
4pm nap 45 mins
6pm bottle, and begin bedtime rituals like bath, pjs
7pm bed

HTH

"There's lots of habits learned in early babyhood that may be hard to break in older babies"

No habits whatever are learned in early babyhood as small babies cannot form memories and therefore cannot have habits. 'Bad habits' is a myth peddled by parenting guru types. Also, hardly any 6mos sleep through.

However, I agree with kiwi that he ought to be having naps in his cot. At this age I also would expect three per day - about two hours awake and then a nap. Don't put him down hungry though as he'll wake up prompted by his tummy.