Utterly wrung out...

[Desperatelyseekingsleep12]

My 6-month old DDs sleep just seems to be getting worse and worse. She used to be a great sleeper until 4 months, sleeping from 9pm until 5am, having a quick feed and then going back to sleep until 7/8am. Then we had the 4 month sleep regression and things haven’t improved. She now wakes 4 or 5 times a night and gets up at 5:30/6:00 and each time she wakes I give her a bottle to get her back to sleep. This probably isn’t the best thing to do, but I’m so tired that I go for the quickest option.

Background: she was breast fed until three months, but she had terrible reflux which required medication to be mixed with expressed breast milk and she ended up with a bottle preference so we switched to formula and she seemed happy with that. She is very active and started crawling at 5-months. She now crawls very quickly and has started pulling herself up to standing and cruising. She sometimes looks frustrated and she really just wants to walk! She is constantly on the go and rarely sits still. She’s a very happy baby. Weaning is going well and she eats a lot. We do a combination of BLW and spoon feeding, so for example for breastfast she will have a bowl of porridge by spoon and will then suck on/play with (!) some fruit. For lunch she might have a small bowl of pasta by spoon and then have cucumber and carrots as finger food. Dinner is similar. She is still having 4 or 5 bottles a day so is taking in 25-30 ounces of formula on top of her food. She seems to eat more than other babies I know of her age and she is on the 55th centile for weight and the 51st for height so very average.

Some people have suggested trying some sleep training and I’m not adverse to the idea but I think ‘what if she’s actually hungry?’ When she wakes 4 or 5 times a night, she has a very quick feed and takes about an ounce of formula each time. So I don’t think she’s hungry and I’m pretty sure she’s doing this for comfort, especially given what she eats during the day, but how can I ever be sure?

I guess I’m asking what you would do, if you were me? Any advice would be massively appreciated. I’m so tired I constantly feel ill and I’m miserable. Thank you.

Well, there are a few sleep training methods but I'd recommend you research them properly rather than following any given by mn users as they can cause distress and damage if not done properly. Google 'sleep training' and find one appropriate for six month olds.

It's controversial of course, but since you asked what we would do, personally, I'd co sleep at this stage. If it's comfort she needs, you being there would hopefully be enough. Look up safe co-sleeping guidance. I'd then probably let her grow out of it naturally, but if you didn't want to hopefully you'd then be better rested and more able to implement sleep training effectively.

Gah just wrote a long post and deleted by accident! Essentially, a)if 6 months and doing lots (milestones etc) thst can impact on sleep so this may just be a phase and will sort itself b) does she self soothing day for naps? If not could be a starting point as it sounds like she is waking and unable to self sooth without aiding milk (mine all fed to sleep so I can't really talk, just know it meant they did take longer to sleep through/ self sooth as they always wanted milk - when they were big enough I would just give them a bottle and leave them with it!) c) try to sleep in day when baby naps to help you manage your tiredness levels. Not sure any of that helps x