Sleep for 6 month olds

At 6 months, your child should be sleeping undisturbed throughout the entire night. At this age, children should be placed in their cribs for bedtime groggy but definitely awake. Children need to learn to calm themselves down and put themselves to sleep. You cannot continue to rock or nurse your child to sleep as it will soon cause problems. The phrase “slept like a baby” holds some truth as babies typically fall asleep and then wake up. Adults sleep in “sleep cycles” that average four hours. Every four hours the average adult wakes, fluffs their pillow, changes position and falls back to sleep. Adult sleep patterns typically develop around this age. Many children who are soothed to sleep begin to wake at this age in the middle of the night. They want to go back to sleep and cry to ask their parents to rock or feed them back to sleep. Sickness, travel and visitors often cause sleep problems for children who were “sleeping well”. During these times, we as parents often go to the child when we normally would not. Often parents have to “work” to get their child back into good sleeping habits.     Written October, 2010 by Dr. Gordon, Orlando Pediatrician

Screaming while Sleeping

My 6 month old son has started a screaming cry when he awakens from sleeping.  It's a different cry than I've heard before...more desperate than anything.  We have begun feeding him solids 3x/day.  He goes to be (...more on Screaming while Sleeping)

6 month old waking at night

My son is turning 6 months in a few days. He is not sleeping through the night. Right now he sleeps from 7pm to about 7am. He has had a consistent bedtime routine since 3 months. Going to bed isn't the issue, (... more on 6 month old waking at night)

Sleep problems in a 7 month old

We have a delightful 7 month old who is a terrible night time sleeper, much unlike his big brother. We do everything the experts suggest: plenty of day time stimulation, he is eating nutritious solids and  (...more on Sleep problems in a 7 month old)

Waking in the middle of the night

Our 7 month old goes to bed around 7pm and sleeps pretty consistently until 2 or 3 am. She usually wakes up and I nurse her back to sleep. The rest of the night isn't quite as predictable but most nights (... more on Waking in the middle of the night)

Rolling over and SIDS

Our son was down to only waking up once a night and now has reverted to waking up every 2 to 3 hours.  Randomly, he was put down for a nap on his tummy and slept better than he had in two weeks. (... more on Rolling Over and SIDS)

Waking up early in the morning

Do you have any suggestions for getting our ten month old to sleep later in the morning?  She regularly wakes around 5am.  She still takes two naps and sleeps at night from 7pm to 5am. Having a large (... more on Waking up early in the morning)

Feet stuck in crib bars

Our baby is about to transition to her crib, and does a lot of position shifting.  She maneuvers to where her feet stick through the slats.  Is there a danger here?  If so, any suggestions? (... more on feet stuck in crib bars).

When children 6 to 18 months cannot fall asleep on their own and are waking throughout the night:

First, I recommend working on falling to sleep and then working on the rest of the night later. Parents should go through a strict bedtime routine and then place the child in their bed awake. (... more on crying it out)

Crying it out not working

Our almost 8-month-old daughter wants me to hold her all the time and cannot self soothe - I can't walk out of the room for one minute even when I'm in eyesite; she wants me within arm's reach constantly. (... more on crying it out not working)

Moving Bedtime Earlier

I just wanted to thank you for posting information on your website about putting newborns to sleep.  We put our daughter down each night around 10:30 with the same routine (bath, dress, bottle, rocking baby to sleep),(... more on Moving Bedtime Earlier)

5 month old not sleeping at night

Our almost 5 month old has yet to sleep through the night. He slept an 8 hour stretch once a few months ago and a 6 hour stretch once. We used to be able to go 3-4 hours between night time feeds, but now he (... more on 5 month old not sleeping at night)

gregorygordonmd.com is intended to help parents understand the needs and behaviors of children. The information presented in the site is the opinion of Gregory Gordon, M.D. and does not reflect the opinion of his partners. The advice in this site does not apply to all children. Always consult your healthcare provider for your individual needs.

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