6 month old sleep issues, help, advice needed!!

[Joey246]

My 6 month old was doing ok with his sleep up until 2 weeks ago. it coincided with his ability to roll from back to front but I'm not sure if that's the whole story. He's a small 6 month old, only just 6kg but a term baby he can do the back to front but has no interest in going back again, was self settling well mostly, but now it's going one of 2 ways:

1. goes down settled, often needing a feed to sleep session to do this, rolls onto side or front, wakes himself up and screams, this despite the fact he seems to want to sleep on his front or side. Maybe he does just want to roll back but if I do that he's back on his front/side within seconds.
2. Despite appropriate awake times, sleep cues galore, screams as soon as you put him in his cot and carries on screaming......and screaming.

I'm trying to settle him in his room, it's damn near impossible either in his cot or being held, and if he does he starts screaming as soon as you put him down again, if he hasn't been fed, he ends up being fed. Hubby generally gives up after 5 min and brings him down and eventually I give in too.

We've also gone from one wake over night to 2 hourly and struggling to get him down in the evening. I'm shattered, the old methods of shushing and patting no long seem to work and I'm at a loss of what to do other than leaving him to cry, but he has cried for over and hour in the car before and didn't settle....help!!!

Oh bless you! It sounds like you are having a really tough time! It’s clear from your post how much love and care you are pouring into your baby - he is very lucky to have such a caring Mum, even if he’s not showing it right now!

My son is about the same age.

He was doing the whole getting stuck rolling thing until about two weeks ago. My God, Id forgotten what sleep was like. I tried everything but in all honesty, it was just a case of waiting itnout until he could roll both ways confidently. I know this isn’t much help to you now, but know that it isn’t anything you are/aren’t doing!

With the screaming....well, I just hold my LO for naps 🤷‍♀️ We cuddle up on the sofa and he drifts off. I sing a song and lightly pat his bum but I’m not actively tying to get him to sleep - all that does is stress us both to buggering hell. I tell myself that if he is cosy and happy, he will sleep.....it may take a while, but it works. He has no idea that sleep is coming and I think this helps, haha.

At night time, we have a clear routine to signal to him that this is not an a nap, it’s the ‘big sleep.’

I’m sorry that I don’t have any magic answers - I suppose my advice is to ‘stop trying’ in a sense and just make the environment so peaceful he can’t help but drift off.

I feel like I should have started by saying that my attitude towards baby sleep is very relaxed - feed to sleep, cuddle to sleep, whatever as long as it works! But I appreciate that some people aren’t as laid back so if you’re of a different parenting style my advice probably won’t suit

Thanks, it's nice to know it's not just my boy, everything's a phase, I'm hoping this is a short one and we can get him rolling back soon, but he's got no interest so I'm struggling to encourage him.

The issue we've always had with him is that he needs no stimulation to sleep, sleeping the pram/carrier/car etc has always been hit or miss at best and for the past 2.5 months he won't even sleep on us.

Basically a dark room is where it's at and even trying to lie down on a bed with him leads to him rolling and pulling at my face and clothes and wide awake then gets bored and upset.

This evening, dog tired, he has a pretty clear bedtime routine, was pretty much asleep during feed then decided just as he was finishing to wake up and is now screaming. 😭😔

@Joey246 Oh yes, everything is a phase! The good and the bad.

I think it lasted a couple of weeks, but I might be wrong, I was so tired 😩

Ughhh the face pulling is the worst! My son does this and MY GOD does it annoy me. I bought a silk head scarf in the end and he holds it - if he lets go I hold it in front of him and just run it through my fingers - which can help to calm him if not put him to sleep. Obviously I take it away if he does fall asleep. Could be worth a go?

The no stimulation thing is tricky. I’ve always had background noise when baby sleeps, but I’m not sure if you could introduce it now? Soft sounds to start with etc

Singing is my greatest weapon against resisting sleep. I have been known to sing ‘miss polly’ on repeat for 45 mins.

I was also given the tip to keep at something for longer than you want to as changing soothing techniques can just add stimulation - like changing from rocking to bouncing just adds to their wakefulness. I thought I was trying something for ages until I timed it - I was only doing a couple of minutes before I got frustrated and moved on! By sticking with it, even if it didn’t seem to be working, for 15 mins really helped (although obviously not letting baby get super distressed!!)

Oh no that’s so frustrating!!! Oh I feel for you, when that happens I could just cry!!

Do you have a next to me?

@Eggcellent29
Thanks, it's just nice knowing other people have been through it, I know there's not necessarily any miracle cures.

Fingers crossed its no more than 2 weeks, we've made a plan to really focus on helping himself roll back. He tends to do tummy time then quickly end up with his arms behind him, with his arms/legs and head all off the floor, great for core strength but not for arms and pushing up. So we'll try and help him here too and as much as he wants to sleep on his side or stomach, (I know not advised but I rolled him back 15+ times one night for him to only roll back 2 seconds later), he obviously at times wants to roll to his back too.

White noise has been our friend since day one, it gets played in the car even to help him sleep there if we're out. It's more visual stimulation that is the problem but a scarf or similar could be calming for him.
He's actually in his own room and out of his next to you, he slept far better in his cot bed, as do we since he moved, well before this started!

This is normal around the 6months stage it's the time where they start teething and they go through sleep regression. Mines just coming out of it

DS is 5 months in a few days time and has been rolling back to front for a few weeks and this is when the sleep disturbance started. He has always been a tummy sleeper but since he started to roll, he pushes him self sort of side wards, bum in the air then wakes himself up. Despite the fact in the day he can quite easily roll him self both ways, apparently at night he can’t do this himself 😂. He is also not far off crawling (he gets into position and rocks back and forth) which he is also trying to do in his sleep and then hits his head on the cot bars 😳. I remember DD doing this as she was learning new skills then once she mastered it the sleep got better! I know this won’t solve your problems now but might help knowing it’s only a phase.

@1Pinkfluffyelephant
@pinkpetal2
Thanks both, I was hoping for reassurance that this was a phase, everything's a phase with babies and this was definitely one. We're having a better night tonight so fingers crossed we're over the worst x

I don't know about you but I feel like everyone lied to me about asleep! 'It'll get better after 12 weeks and they'll soon be sleeping through the night'. Lies. So many lies. My baby was a pretty good sleeper to begin with but now she has a personality change every few weeks! I'm also at 6 months and she's awful to settle. She's really trying to sit up by herself during the day and I think it's occupying her thoughts and she can't settle at night. Last night we had the same issue as you in that she was sleepy and fell asleep, but as soon as she was in the cot she woke up screaming. I'm just hoping to ride it out! My partner is furloughed so we split the night in two for feeding so we both get a good stretch (she also wakes up every two hours). I started supplementing her feeds with formula this week to take the pressure off myself having to express enough for enough for my partner to feed her. It's greatly improved my patience and sense of humour! I was turning into 'ogre mum' last week