How can we improve the chances that our infant son will sleep more during the night?

Question

We have a baby boy! He is 6 and 1/2 months old, very healthy, and surprisingly active for his age. He is breastfed, cutting his first teeth, eating solids without difficulty, and trying very hard to both crawl and walk.

He is a wonderful baby, but he keeps my poor wife up all night. He generally will not settle down to sleep until about 2am. He won't sleep in his crib, no matter what we do or how long we leave him there. The only way we can get him to sleep more than a single consecutive hour is if he sleeps in our bed next to my wife, which isn't really the best option. He is a very very light sleeper and almost any slight noise wakes him.

The thing is, my poor wife is feeling sleep deprived. Add to this that during the day, he won't hardly nap. He will sometimes sit and play by himself, but grows bored after about 15 mins at most and wants attention. The kid is very stubborn and hard headed - it runs in the family :D

I know this is all part of the baby stage, and we won't conquer it entirely, but is there anything we could do to improve his sleeping, or to help him sleep in his own crib? Getting him on a schedule is probably out, as we cannot keep one ourselves due to my erratic work schedule. Besides that, we don't know what else to do. I would stay up with him, but as he is breastfed and refuses to take a bottle, I cannot feed him, which prevents me from taking care of him if he wakes up.

Any ideas?

Tahmina Tariq · Accepted Answer

My son is 4 months and 5 days old and he is also a very light sleeper. His pediatrician suggested we start him on solids and he is taking it very well. So what we do is around 7 pm give him a little bit of solid food then give him a warm shower and a massage with lotion. Let him play around until he's hungry which is usually around 8 pm. Then give him warm milk and 2 teaspoons of baby oatmeal in his 6 oz bottle and then make more milk if he's still hungry. Let him play again until 9 or 10 and that's usually when he start to get tired if not earlier. And he sleeps until 4 am and wakes up to come to bed with us and will usually sleep until 6 or 7am. I can't say oatmeal will help your baby sleep because I have read a lot of articles from parents saying it didn't help at all. Some said to add rice cereal instead but that didn't help our baby at all. But maybe you can try the oatmeal to see if it does the trick. Good Luck.

yaya · Answer

My son started sleeping though the whole night since he was a month old. He sleeps next to me and he is also breast fed, i never woke up to feed him since I sleep without a top and he helps himself to feeding. He can't take a nap after 6 and a bath always helps before bed time.

Anonymous · Answer

Is he in his own room? 
Is his room dark? Have you tried music?
My son (6 months) will not sleep unless it is very dark in his room. 
My daughter (3 1/2 years) will only sleep with music.

Anonymous · Answer

Bath time! Before bed try if you haven't already my little girl (8 weeks) slept from 10pm to 6am

Abraham Archangel · Answer

Apart from your love and care, comfortable infant care accessories will definitely help.

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How can we improve the chances that our infant son will sleep more during the night?

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