6 month old waking at 4am

[Tobebythesea]

Help! We are desperate.

Up until 2 weeks ago our baby slept 6-6 with a dream feed at 10pm. 2 weeks ago he started babbling in his cot at 5am for an hour. He was not distressed or crying. It was annoying for us but fine.

A week ago he starts properly waking at 4am and we cannot get him back to sleep. We have tried white noise, cooled boiled water, teething gel, teething toys, once or twice Calpol, shushing, patting, rocking.

90% of the time he has a dirty nappy which we of course change and then it’s game over. I really didn’t want to feed him at 4am as we don’t want to keep doing it but we were desperate. He drank a massive bottle and then went to sleep.

Please help! Any advice please.

If he goes back to sleep after milk then he's clearly hungry! He's only 6mo, night feeds are fine.

There is your answer.

He’s six months old, feed him.

I agree with the above poster in that he is hungry and waking for a bottle. Perhaps a growth spurt? I think you have been incredibly lucky with their sleep pattern so far, which means it’s harder when they start waking up during the night. Mine definitely went through a period of waking up that early and it was awful. I would just give the bottle at that time as it sounds like it’s what is needed.

My DS is a few weeks younger but he has days when he wakes up starving at 4am and then other days when he'll happily go until 7am. Feeding him at 4am doesn't seem to have created any pattern so I generally just assume it's growth spurt related

As others have said, hungry. At six months you're presumably starting weaning but he's not having much yet, so he's getting bigger but isn't having enough food to fill him up more yet.

Also when we started weaning my baby's sleep went haywire for a couple of months. He'd previously slept through since 3 months, so it was a horrible shock! It seemed to just be his digestive system adjusting to food, as he was always very farty.

You "don't want to feed him at 4am"???? Guess what - he doesn't care when YOU want to feed HIM!! He will wake up when he's hungry. You've been spoiled so far by him sleeping so well. He's just welcoming you to the real world of parenting!

Baby wakes soiled and hungry.

And you wonder why white noise didn't work

CHANGE AND FEED YOUR BABY.

It's not rocket science

Baby sleep is not linear. It changes as babies grow and develop. My DD slept 8+hours from 8 weeks or so, then started waking every 3 hours for a while, and then went back to long stretches with a night feed. She's about to turn 1 and only just dropped the night feed of her own accord, but she was still feeding at between 3-4am up until a few weeks ago, which is perfectly normal!

If a bottle of milk solves it then I don't know why you would be messing about with offering water or Calpol when he's clearly just hungry!

Just feed him. He sounds like a very good boy.

You are very VERY lucky that he has slept from 6-6 until now. If he is hungry feed him. He is only very little. Like others have said, sleep patterns change as baby develops. Perhaps try putting him to bed an hour later than usual?
My baby is basically 6 months and she has slept 6 hours once and that was at 2 weeks old. Every other time she has woke up between 4-6 times a night for a feed and that's between 12-8. Before then I don't count but she doesn't go down till 9ish anyway. Like I said, you are very very lucky.

If he hasn't been fed since 6pm then it's perfectly reasonable for him to be hungry at 4am. I think you are expecting too much from a very young baby. In comparison, my 2 year old has never slept more than 5 hours at a time and that's only been twice in his life...

Wow at 6 months old I'd have killed for that sleep pattern. DD is 18 months old and has just started sleeping though (she's still asleep now and I am in complete shock). He is clearly hungry - some adults would be hungry if they hadn't eaten since 6pm, never mind a still tiny baby.

Baby sleep changes all the time. My ten month old sleeps through a few nights now, but that’s very recent.

If he’s hungry, feed him. It’ll be the quickest way to get back to sleep.

Thank you for the helpful and positive comments.

@chuttypicks @Booberella9
I don’t need talk that. We’re tired and looking for encouraging support. We’re all parents trying to help each other out.

Also maybe try dropping the dream feed and he won’t wake himself up with a dirty nappy?

I think the helpful comments are from Mums like me who think your DS sounds wonderful! He sounds like a great sleeper.

*unhelpful

Change him and feed him. It’s very unusual for a 6m old to go 12 hours without milk. He definitely needs a feed when he wakes up

If he's drinking a full bottle then that's clearly what he needs. He's not old enough to not feed him when he's asking for it. Tbh my 2 dc are early risers and we are downstairs most days by 5.30. They are 4 and 2. Sometimes there is no answer to getting up early and sometimes it lasts for years.

Sorry, he's an amazing sleeper you are very lucky.

My 6mo also woke at 4am today and wouldn’t settle. Drained a bottle and went back to sleep. The night before he didn’t want a feed overnight. He was hungry this morning so I fed him. Babies are unpredictable and their feeding & sleep patterns change. You just need to go with the flow unfortunately. At least you’re banking a good amount of sleep by 4am and can go back to bed when the feed is done.

@MrsG010814

Oh no! My DS (ten month) wakes around 5 each day, sometimes, like this morning 4:45. What’s really annoying is he stays up for two hours then has an hours nap after breakfast! I was hoping he’d grow out of!

Their appetite fluctuates so if he is waking and goes back to sleep after a bottle it sounds like he is just hungry, once you start weaning onto solids (if you haven't already) you might find that he sleeps for longer- but sounds like one of those things. I do empathise though!

My don didn’t drop his final feed till 11 months. You have been very lucky