6 month old not sleeping through night

[niamh1009]

hello, just looking some advice. My 6 month old has started to not sleep through the night the way they used to, this started from 4/5 months. They will go to sleep on us but as soon as we put them down they wake up and are very unhappy. We have recently moved them into their cot as they outgrown the next to me, we thought this would help but didn’t

I'm in exactly the same boat! First we thought it was 6 month sleep regression, or teething. I also checked wonder weeks and she's in the 3Cs bit. But she's gone from sleeping through at 10weeks, to screaming every time she lies down, so DH and I have been taking it in shifts to stay with her. We are both exhausted. Im going to try tweaking her daytime schedule a bit - i got a bit lax on naps as baby classes clashed with them, so I was moving them, then introducing solids etc. So i think I'm going to have a couple of weeks and try to be at home as much as possible, get a good daily routine going and see if that helps? She is also moving into her cot this weekend so it will be interesting to see if that is an improvement or not for us.

Unfortunately, this is just how it is. They usually sleep better closer to you than away still at that age. There is often a bit of a reprieve between 2-4 months and then maybe again before 6 months, but 6 months onwards can be tough. It’s all the changes, starting solids, teething, separation anxiety, big developmental growth, any changes to routine like moving to the cot will probably throw everything in the air too unfortunately. You just really have to ride it out and take turns doing nights and going to bed early as much as possible.

Co-sleeping (safely) was the only way we survived at that age. Many, many babies do not want to be in a cot on their own at 6 months, they want the comfort of their parents (often their mother) nearby.

Gradual night weaning helped me at this age following Ferber’s night weaning method. I would always recommend it before any sleep training.

Have you tried sleeping with the sheets before putting them in the cot so the cot has a nice, reassuring smell? Are you warning the cot too before putting her down? Babies are very sensitive to smell.