6 Month Old Sleep Regression Signs to Watch Out For

Has your baby been waking up at night crying or taking short naps? Check out these 6 month old sleep regression signs to look for.

6 Month Old Sleep Regression SignsYour little guy used to sleep so well. You’d simply nurse him before bedtime and he’d snooze for a good eight-hour stretch before waking up to eat just once. He’d fall back to sleep for another three hours before it was time to start the day.

But now, at the 6-month mark, his once healthy sleep habits have gone down the drain.

He wakes up every two hours at night and only goes back to sleep with nursing. He’s up at four in the morning like clockwork, intent on crawling, babbling, and rolling. And sometimes you have to co-sleep just to get him to finally settle down.

Our pediatrician told us this typically occurs with babies around 6 months of age, despite having had good sleep before. This can happen because of growth spurts or developmental milestones like teething, eating solids, or separation anxiety.

So, what are a few 6 month old sleep regression signs to watch out for? Take a look at these top culprits:

Teething Baby Won't Sleep Unless Held

1. Your baby plays instead of sleeps

Putting your baby to sleep used to be so easy. You’d lay him down and know that he’d be asleep within minutes.

These days, it takes him forever to fall asleep. You find him trying to crawl on his fours and scooting his body forward and back. Other times, he’s rolling like a barrel from one end of the crib to the other. And he talks and babbles away instead of dozing off to sleep.

The same is true when he wakes up during nighttime sleep and he’s still awake even though he usually falls asleep after a feeding.

This is understandable, considering that he’s realizing all the new things he can now do. According to Nationwide Children’s:

“Developmental milestones, including pulling to a standing and crawling, may also temporarily disrupt sleep.”

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2. Your baby wakes frequently through the night

Playing and babbling might be cute, but hearing your baby wake up crying throughout the night is not. In the past, he could easily sleep through the night—if not for the whole stretch, then at least several hours. Now, frequent night wakings are becoming more common.

I knew my babies were going through a regression when, instead of their usual full stretch of sleep, they’d wake up crying all night.

This is yet another clue that your little one is going through a rough patch in his sleep schedule. Maybe he feels afraid to be alone in the dark or has grown used to being put to sleep that he can’t soothe himself anymore.

3. Your baby wakes up to feed

One of the perks of weaning nighttime feedings is that your 6-month-old can fall asleep on his own without needing to wake up to eat.

But these days, it seems like he can only fall asleep by feeding. Sometimes he’s not even eating at all, but sucking for comfort. Other times, he truly is hungry and is waking up wanting to eat.

Sleep disruptions such as being sick, teething, or going on vacation can cause him to revert to middle-of-the-night feedings. Or he could be going through a growth spurt and needing extra calories to tide him over.

4. Your baby isn’t interested in naps

In the past, your baby took predictable naps throughout the day. You could even time it down to the minute, from how many naps he took to when he would wake up.

But now, he’s simply not interested. It takes him forever to finally fall asleep only to wake up crying from naps soon after. Shorter naps are becoming more normal, as are his fussiness and grumpy mood from not getting enough sleep.

Erratic sleep patterns usually told me that my babies were ready to change their sleep routine. I’d play with start times, extend how long they’d be awake, or even experiment with dropping a nap.

As your baby grows, he’ll likely need fewer naps than he did when he was a newborn. Coupled with his desire to explore new abilities, naps aren’t a big priority for him as much.

5. Your baby fights sleep

It’s not so much that your baby won’t sleep so much as he fights it to begin with. All the usual tactics like bouncing on a yoga ball or swaddling aren’t working any longer. And any time his eyes begin to droop, he snaps them wide open, almost upset that he had fallen asleep.

Dealing with this is exhausting, especially when you know he needs the sleep (as do you). More than likely, he’s overtired to the point that he has a difficult time falling asleep.

Experiment with naps and bedtimes and avoid stimulating activities to help him catch up on lost sleep. Consider sleep training to help him soothe himself. You might also want to put him down earlier than usual for naps to shorten the period of time he’s been awake.

Conclusion

If your baby suddenly doesn’t sleep well, watch out for these 6 month old sleep regression signs that are all too common for this age.

Maybe she plays in the crib or wakes up frequently throughout the night instead of sleeping the whole stretch. She might be waking up to feed at night again, whether for comfort or to meet her growing needs.

Naps are all over the place, from taking forever to put her down to missing them completely. And she fights sleep hard, screaming and squirming as if trying to stay awake as long as possible.

Rest assured friend, these signs likely point to the 6 month regression. Like all phases, this too will pass, and your little one can start sleeping well once again.

6 Month Old Suddenly Waking at Night for a Feed

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2 Comments

  1. Simply T. says:

    6 month sleep regression is not new to me my baby has been doing these things since birth. I’ve discussed ot with his pediatric dr. But she doesn’t seem concerned at all. His naps are no more than 15 to 30 minutes max, he is up all throughout the night, he is always fussy. We don’t know what a sleeping baby is in our household. He has been teething since 3 months (2 teeth). At this point I am really worried about his sleeplessness affecting his development. He has been crawling since 5months and pulling up standing on his own but this not sleeping thing can’t be healthy for any of us. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Nina Garcia says:

      Hopefully the pediatrician is right in not being too concerned. Perhaps you can consider sleep training him so that he can sleep the whole night? Once he knows how to put himself to sleep, he can do so when he wakes up throughout the night and settle back (just as we adults do when we stir at night). Hopefully you’ll find a solution soon!