Why has my 6m old stopped sleeping 😪

[19SCMSarah]

Baby is currently 6m old. He had started sleeping 3-4hour stretches by 4m when everything seemed to go downhill. Some context for his routine and what we've tried... desperate for some insight and mainly some sleep!! Not my first baby so have read/tried everything I can think of!

• We're weaning and he is on 3 meals a day
• Formula fed and has 4 bottles a day (not massively keen on milk since weaning)
• He's a sicky baby. Always considered silent reflux but seems very content and happy during the day, happy to lie down etc so never been certain. He's like two different baby's night and day - happy and content awake and for naps, absolutely livid at night
• On 3 naps a day, will sleep happily for hour and a half, has a third catnap and appropriate awake windows
• Most nights he wakes and cries every two hours. Sometimes it can be every 20/30 mins. He is not fed or rocked to sleep, he prefers his own space. He has a dummy but it doesn't really seem to help anymore. Sometimes he will do a 3 or 4 hour stretch but I've not seen any correlation as to when this happens. When he wakes in the night he goes from fully asleep to fully roaring, 0-100, if he did this in the day I'd assume it was a pain cry. Have tried everything, pain meds before bed to help with teething, teething gels, he has white noise, pitch black room, sleep bag, dummy, he's fed, winded, tired enough but not overtired, has a good bedtime routine... This has been going on for about two months so surely not a regression??? What is going onnnn?

I am beyond exhausted and at breaking point with a toddler too. Was prepared for sleepless nights for the first few months but it feels like he's gone back to newborn sleep 😭😭😭 Please help!

Bumping, advice please!

I'm sorry OP it's so tough isn't it. I'm afraid my DD was exactly the same at 6m. Even now at 9m she is often 2 hourly. We have some good nights with longer stretches of 3 to 4 hrs and some worse e.g. every 45 mins.

Things which have helped that you may not already have tried

• a zipadee zip transition swaddle bag - makes my DD feel cosy and she's done her best stretches in it.
• Little Ones sleep schedule. This restricts daytime sleep more than most other routines. I know some people have found it to be the silver bullet, for me it does help it but hasn't solved it fully. I don't follow it exactly but use it as a guide and it works for my DD as I don't think she needs as much sleep as the 'standard' baby.
• co sleeping- didn't think I would ever do it but started in desperation to get some sleep but tbh now I do quite enjoy the snuggles. She always starts in her own cot but comes into my bed from her first proper wake up (which can be quite early on!.
• ensure protein at the lunch meal and carbs at the evening meal.

It could be the 4 month regression as it permanently changes the way they sleep. My DD is yet to ever fully recover from it! She's 9m so hopefully soon...

You're doing amazingly well especially with a toddler as well.

A couple of other thoughts, is weaning causing any tummy trouble? My DD poos loads since weaning, and got a bit of tummy ache from it.

Also my DD has a dairy and peanut allergy, does he have any symptoms of allergies?

Sending you positive vibes for sleep x

My 6 month olds daytime sleep is not good, unless pram or contact. Nightime sleep is ok once she eventually goes down but it's the getting there which takes 3-4 hours and is so draining. After that she usually does a 5 hour stretch then 3 hours. So I can't offer any advice I'm afraid but we've just started weaning and all the advice from health visitors and the local childrens centre is food once a day, then at 7-8 months introduce a second 'meal' then by 10-12 3x meals a day.. is this not correct?

It's just to keep you on your toes.

I'm fairly convinced that DD knew when I was getting used to a sleep or feeding routine and would change it up just to stop me getting comfortable.

Luckily she's 9 now and I can say with confidence that each change was just a phase and did change after a few weeks.

Generally I found that sleep changes were led by either:

• growth spurt
• teething - try teething powder/frozen damp clean cloth/teething toy they can chew on
• mastering a new skill - you just have to wait this out but I found whenever DD was learning to roll/sit up/crawl/walk/talk it came with disturbed sleep.

Thank you for your replies and support. I was prepared to be exhausted with a newborn but had hoped by this age I'd be getting some sleep tbh! I was blessed with the opposite with my first - a great night time sleeper but an awful napper and I'm not sure what's best now I've got a good napper but an awful night sleeper!!!!

Yes have to admit to regularly cosleeping from the early hours - in fact this is where he naps in the day (in our bed with monitor on him) so am wondering if he just hates the cot! Can't do much about that unfortunately, I'd be a bit too nervous to do a full night as worry about being in a deep sleep next to him... but let's see how tired I get before I rule it out completely

@Bunny2006 I think weaning advice is generally follow their appetites. Both mine have been mega keen as soon as they've got a taste for solids, could well be upsetting his tummy as he adapts but he much prefers baby rice and purees over milk now tbh so not much I can do really