Sleep regression/growth spurt - someone please help me!!

[jade1991]

My baby has turned into a monster she was soo placid and slept so good (8pm-730am) and now the last week is waking at 530!!

She is almost 6 months and in the last week has been very fussy - bored easily - hungry all the time - her naps have gone from 5 to 3..

I was just wondering if this is a growth spurt or sleep regression or if my baby is just extra hungry now? I spoke to HV and she told me to add another meal in at 6pm ish which will fill her up before her bedtime bottle and help her sleep better?
What do you all think? Does anyone have any experience of 6 month growth spurts or regressions? Shes never gone through a growth spurt before so I'm clueless! x

 

[eulmh82]

Mine went through the same thing - he was horrendous - went from being chilled doing 10-6 to waking up again at 3 crying when I left the room and crying when I was there as well. he then got a tummy bug so was feeding so much during the day and night - it was a very low time for me. It did take 6 wks but he;s got there now. he sleeps better than ever and doesn;t even wake for his dummy some nights. he does 10-half 6 7 usually and he goes to bed at 7pm on the dot. We've worked out a routine for his food - because he;s weaning and that seems to have helped loads as well. You aren;t alone and it does get better

 

[Noelle610]

Hi there! We experienced a downward spiral in sleep around 6 months. Charlotte had just come out of the 4 month sleep regression and was waking twice a night, which is good for her, and then suddenly started waking every 1-3 hours. Torture!

I think it was a combination of a growth spurt, separation anxiety and learning new skills (rolling both ways). We still have good nights and bad, but just recently we've seen some better nights.

I think 3 naps is pretty normal for 6 months. How long does she sleep for?

I also wonder if you might have some success moving her bedtime earlier. 8pm is on the later side for her age. We had trouble with that early morning wakeup (more like 4:30am for us!) and when I moved bedtime from 7pm to closer to 6pm Charlotte started sleeping later. It sounds so backward, but sleep begets sleep in babies of this age and they tend to sleep better when not overtired.

Adding solids could help. We've seen less night wakings since Charlotte's been eating more, but I don't know if it is coincidence or not. I tend to think night waking and eating aren't typically related if the pattern goes on for more than a week, since growth spurts usually last 2 or 3 days.

 

[eulmh82]

Oh with regards to adding in another meal - whne he had a tummy bug he was having 8oz at 6pm thwn 10pm and then 2am. The issue was his nappy was leaking. It was changed at 7 before bed but we tried not to change it in night so as not to wake him completely but because he was drinking so much it leaked and woke him fully and then was struggling to get him back off so just be aware of that if you add in extra milk

 

[jade1991]

Thank you ladies!

She has 3 naps, mostly 2x30 min naps, one morning and one late afternoon and one 1hr/1.5 hr after lunch. I have considered moving her bedtime earlier, I might try that too.

Shes on solids twice a day and has 3x7-8 oz bottles, but my hv said she probably just needs more solids? xx

 

[eulmh82]

tbh mine went crazy when I started weaning him - feeding two hourly and the night times as well. I thought solids were meant to help! so don;t worry if it doesn;t help it's prob just coincided with growth spurt etc. Mine has settled now although he only goes 3 hrs between meals. And I have to feed him up good to get him to last for 3 hrs - so breakfast today was a weetabix and a banana - and that lasted him for 3 hrs! He;s gonna eat me out of house and home when he;s a teenager

 

[polaris]

My son went downhill with his night time sleep at six months after sleeping reasonably well from 4 to 5 months. Think it's probably just a developmental/growth spurt/sleep regression thing and it will pass with time. I can't remember how long it lasted, a few weeks probably.