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What happens at 6/7 months to baby's sleep?

  1. #1
    1sttimemom is offline Registered User
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    What happens at 6/7 months to baby's sleep?

    About 10 days ago, my 6 month old's "stage 1" separation anxiety kicked in and I suspect because of this she was waking a bit more often at night. Now the separation anxiety is gone/invisible for now, but the bad part is she is now waking around 530am and won't go back to sleep.

    I am still waiting til 630am to pick her up, since she previously woke around 6-7am.

    Before, if she woke up early, she'd go back to sleep either on her own or my help (by entering her room and making her comfy/giving her a hug without picking her up), but now she will just babble til 6 then start whining.

    Has she just grown up? Do I need to adjust her bedtime (now 7pm) if I want her to sleep til about 6/630?


  2. #2
    thanka2 is offline Registered User
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    Hmmm. It's really hard to tell. Actually, my son only started sleeping through the night when he was about 6 months old so that was the time when we were really celebrating getting a good night's sleep even if he was up at 5:30 or 6:00 am--at least he'd slept during the night!

    If you're able to let your child lay in bed for an additional hour after she wakes up I assume she must not be screaming her head off so I would say that actually 6:30 am is quite a reasonable time for a baby to sleep in until. (Now, if she was getting up at 3:00 or 4:30 am, it might be a different story).

    Does she take long naps during the day? If so, I would cut out her latest afternoon nap and get her to bed at the same time--but she'll likely be more tired and may sleep longer. Are there any other changes that have happened in your house recently--even little things that may have affected her sleep?

    Personally, my son didn't really experience true separation anxiety until he was about 8-11 months old and it was a pretty passing phenomenon that had more to do with him being left in another room without me during the day. Before then, for example, I could take him to the creche/nursery when we attended church and he would contentedly play for an hour or so without really noticing I'd left. When the separation anxiety hit he didn't want me to leave his sight.

    “Many women have described their experiences of childbirth as being associated with a
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  3. #3
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    carang is offline Registered User
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    i found that both of my kids were great sleepers UNTIL they hit 6 months. they started sitting up/rolling over/getting stuck/standing up then they couldn't get back to the "sleep position" on their own. this happened even though they both had sleeping bags on.

    for me, they started waking up at least once per night and this lasted with my son until he was almost 3 and my daughter, who turns 4 on saturday, gets up at least once per week.

    it was just something i learned to live with.


  4. #4
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    nicolejoy is offline Registered User
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    My first born was a terrific sleeper until 7 months old. Then she started waking at least once a night consistently until she was about 15 months old. Now (28 months) she sleeps through probably around 70-80% of the time, but she's generally pretty good.

    My six month old is still a fantastic sleeper and I'm hoping she stays that way! She's bottlefed instead of breastfed and I think that she takes less feeds comparatively - so hopefully that means that she's less likely to need another night feed??

    Both of my girls had a small amount of "separation anxiety" at around 4-6 months where they would cry if I left the room or gave them to a stranger, but they got over it pretty fast. My six month old is like that if she's tired or if she's just woken up - but most of the time she's happy with anyone...


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    1sttimemom is offline Registered User
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    Thanks for the comments all!!

    If 530am is her regular wake time, I will adjust her bedtime accordingly as I want to work towards at 630 wake up time. As for her naps possibly affecting her nighttime sleep, there have been times where she has refused her 3rd nap or just not slept for more than 3 hours. Result is her being overtired and taking 40-60mins to fall sleep at bedtime. Today, I let her have a 430-5pm nap and she fell asleep at 7 easily. Must admit.. I can't read her tired signs very well. Seems like she yawns/rubs her eyes when she remembers she's tired. If she's too occupied with something, she won't show any signs. When I start the nap routine, all the signs reveal themselves!


  6. #6
    Macaron is offline Registered User
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    I'm having some trouble at the moment as well. I attribute it to having just come back from Sydney where there has been a record heat wave, and my 7.5 month old bub just has not dealt with it well at all. It's day 2 back in HK now, and still waking up in the middle of the night, only soothed by a bottle.

    He also learned to roll over in the last 2 weeks and all he wants to do when I put him down is roll over, and then gets stuck, and can't roll back to his sleeping position. Sometimes he sleeps on his side but wakes himself up after half an hour. As a result his naps have been much shorter nowadays. He used to be a great sleeper .... :(


  7. #7
    TNT
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    My experience was very similar to Carang's with my daughter and my son only slept through the night twice until he was about 14 months old - although now at 19 months he sleeps through 99% of the time. And he has always been an early riser, no matter what time he goes to bed he wakes around 5.15-5.30am (his normal bed time is about 7pm also). I also have just learned to live with it (helps that my husband is alsow an early riser) and enjoy it when he occasionally (for no apparent reason) sleeps in til 6.30am...


  8. #8
    1sttimemom is offline Registered User
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    @ Macaron - it's only day 2 or 3 now, so don' t worry! Things will improve. My daughter regularly naps short 1/2 hr naps. I used to think it was because she didn't fall asleep on her own during naptime (bedtime's never been an issue), but she falls asleep on her own now and still 95% of the time her naps are 1/2 hr - 40 mins. Result = I get nothing done. :( As for the rolling over, maybe you can try gently leading him and teaching him how to roll back over? It will certainly take time, but this is what I did with her at the suggestion of a sleep specialist, and it improved her sleep as it allowed her to find her own most comfortable position. Good luck!!


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