9 reasons why a 6 month old baby often wakes up at night

The first six months of a baby's life are over. The child is actively developing, growing and has already acquired many skills and abilities. All these processes are largely determined by the quality of the baby's sleep - proper rest provides invaluable assistance to the normal development of the child's body. During this period, the baby needs a lot of energy to explore the world around him, so it is very important for him to get enough sleep, which can restore the strength spent during the day. Sometimes problems arise that cause a 6 month old baby to have difficulty sleeping at night. Why does this happen, and how to fix the situation?

Infant sleep disturbances are common

Restless sleep at six months

A six-month-old baby needs a long rest - 14-16 hours a day. During this period, important changes occur in sleep patterns - a transition from 3 daytime sleeps to 2. The total duration of daytime rest is 3.5-4 hours, and nighttime - from 10 to 12 hours.

Children's sleep is significantly different from the sleep of an adult. About 50-70% of a baby's sleep occurs in the active phase, during which the baby sleeps shallowly, so it is very easy to wake him up. Gradually, as we grow older, the ratio of active and deep sleep changes in favor of the latter.

On a note. Deep sleep in newborn babies does not last long, so the risk of problems in the form of frequent awakenings and restless behavior during rest increases significantly.

A sharp jump in his physical development has a strong impact on the quality of rest of a six-month-old child:

• children become more active, constantly move, learn to sit and even crawl;
• “training” skills can often occur during sleep, which leads to restlessness and constant awakenings in the middle of the night.

Mental development also largely determines the quality of a baby’s sleep:

• By the sixth month, the child, regardless of gender, reaches a new stage in mental development: he begins to understand that surrounding objects occupy a certain place in space and are at a certain distance from him;
• When a baby makes such a “discovery,” he feels fear, helplessness, and confusion;
• Such sensations directly affect the baby’s behavior during night and daytime rest - sleep becomes anxious, restless, the baby begins to spin and toss and turn in bed.

Another common factor is fear of distance from mom. A six-month-old baby reacts very painfully to the absence of parents nearby. Just leaving the children's room for a couple of minutes can cause a real hysteria in the baby. Such a reaction is normal - the baby has grown up and now understands that the mother is a separate person and cannot always be nearby.

The duration of one day's rest ranges from 40 minutes to 2.5 hours. Sometimes the third sleep at six months still persists, then each of them lasts 1-1.5 hours. However, closer to 7 months, a gradual “reset” of the third dream will begin to occur. A signal for this is the reduction of the last day's rest to 30-40 minutes or refusal of it in some cases. If the baby is able to stay awake for 3 hours without a break, then he is ready to switch to 2 naps.

On a note. If the third nap pushes bedtime later, this is another sign that it's time to give up the third nap.

Six-month-old babies only have a long rest without a break once a day. As the baby gets older, the frequency and number of night awakenings gradually decrease, and the duration of continuous rest increases. At six months, a child can sleep continuously for 6-8 hours, since up to 10 months he needs night feedings (wakes up at night to eat).

Night feedings may interrupt a 6 month old's sleep at night, but this is not a problem at this age.

Norm for six-month-old children

It is worth considering that a month-old baby and a six-month-old baby need different amounts of sleep per day.
With age, the period of wakefulness of children increases, and the period of rest decreases. At six months of age, babies should sleep a total of 12-14 hours a day. Daytime sleep is allotted twice for 40-60 minutes, and at night the baby can sleep for 7 hours in a row. However, these are only average, one might even say “idealized” data. In reality, everything happens completely differently. A 6-month-old child sleeps poorly and sleeps little at night if he is bothered by any problems. It is worth considering that “bad sleep” does not consist of a deviation from the norm for 10-20 minutes, but of the baby constantly waking up at night, difficulty falling asleep, irritability and moodiness.

If children sleep 1-2 hours less than expected, but are steadily gaining weight and do not have any diseases, there is no need to panic.

Why does a child wake up and cry?

Baby sucks breast

The causes of restless sleep and frequent awakenings can be divided into 3 groups, each of which includes several sub-items:

1. Physiological factors:

• Developmental leaps and other changes characteristic of this age in the baby’s body;
• Health of the baby and his mother.

1. Sleeping conditions:

• Temperature, air humidity in the nursery;
• Comfortable clothes, comfortable bed;
• Sounds, lighting.

1. Psychology:

• Organization of rest and wakefulness (daily and nutritional regimen, bedtime rituals, etc.);
• Independence;
• Motivation.

The result is a kind of pyramid of reasons, distributed according to the principle “from simple to complex,” if you go down the list from bottom to top. The factors influencing the quality of sleep are very numerous and most often occur together, regardless of the level of location in the “pyramid”.

Should you see a doctor?

If you yourself cannot understand the reason for your child’s restless sleep and frequent waking up, then consult your pediatrician.

We recommend reading! Click on the link:

Methods for getting your child to fall asleep independently

If you experience any of the following symptoms, be sure to consult your doctor.

• the child’s poor sleep has become regular, and you cannot improve it yourself;
• breathing disorders, including stopping during sleep;
• sleep problems recur not only at night, but also during the day;
• allergy;
• your baby has other symptoms that worry you.

All these symptoms are a prerequisite for contacting a specialist. Perhaps the problem lies deeper, and the child’s body is signaling health problems. Sleep disturbance is characteristic of many diseases of the nervous system, as well as anemia and rickets. In any case, the doctor himself will make an accurate diagnosis, conduct the necessary research and prescribe treatment individually for your case.

If your efforts to normalize children's sleep do not produce results, and the baby gets worse, then you should consult a doctor. Perhaps the baby has health problems or lacks a full range of vitamins and microelements necessary for development, so he sleeps poorly.

Causes of restless sleep

Loose stools in a breastfed baby

The most common causes of sleep disturbances in 6-month-old infants are:

• Incorrect daily routine or deviations from it. Too much or not enough sleep;
• Non-compliance with rituals;
• Formation in the baby of negative associations associated with going to bed;
• Uncomfortable environment in the room in which the child sleeps;
• Negative psychological atmosphere in the house;
• A sharp change in activity;
• A leap in development, learning new skills, active study of the world around us;
• Late bedtime in the evening;
• Lack of parental attention;
• Diseases and other disorders related to the health of the infant;
• Inconstancy and inconsistency of parents in their actions;
• Early “movement” to a big bed.

Active games with a baby before bedtime are unacceptable

Learn more about each of the following factors:

1. Wrong schedule and amount of sleep. According to research by specialists, special cyclical processes occur in the human body, including an infant, at certain times. At these moments, the hormonal background changes, which contributes to easy and quick falling asleep (metabolism slows down, body temperature decreases). The sleep hormone reaches its highest concentration during the following periods:

• From 8:30 to 9:00 (first sleep for babies under six months old);
• From 12:30 to 13:00 (daytime nap);
• From 18:00 to 20:00 (ideal time to prepare for a night's sleep).

On a note. Each child has his own norms for the total duration of rest and intervals of wakefulness. They should also be taken into account when creating and executing your daily schedule. If you ignore this point, the baby will become overtired and will not be able to fall asleep soundly (untimely bedtime leads to the release of a large amount of the stress hormone - cortisol, which does not allow the small child to calm down and fall asleep).

1. Failure to comply with usual rituals. Babies are not able to tell time by a clock, so they have to rely on the repeated actions of mom and dad that precede rest. It is necessary to create rituals and accustom your baby to them from the very moment of his birth. In the future, all that remains is to slightly modify the procedure, adjusting it to the age and needs of the baby. The standard bedtime ritual includes hygiene procedures, changing clothes, massage, reading books or listening to music, hugs and kisses. An interruption in these processes can occur due to travel, sleeping in an unusual place, etc. As a result, preparation is disrupted, which leads to crying, capricious behavior, and restlessness of the child before bedtime.
2. Negative associations. Parents often resort to a variety of ways to put their baby to sleep, namely:

• The presence of mother nearby;
• Rocking in a crib or in your arms;
• Breast-feeding;
• Dummy;
• Traveling in a car;
• Sleep only in a stroller.

Rocking a baby to sleep as a prerequisite for falling asleep is a negative association for the baby

All of the above examples can become a “crutch” for the baby to fall asleep, but, in fact, they will only hinder the baby’s strong and peaceful rest. As a result of getting used to such associations, the child will not be able to fall asleep on his own - he will call his mother, ask him to eat, demand rocking and other types of help from his parents. It is necessary to get rid of a bad habit at six months of age (up to 4 months, such associations are quite acceptable).

1. A sharp change in activity. Babies do not know how to quickly switch from one activity to another - they need time to prepare for bed. That is why it is very difficult to put a child to sleep when excited by games or other active activities. In addition, as the baby grows up, it becomes more interesting to spend time with mom and dad, develop, and learn something new. Therefore, six-month-old children can consciously refuse sleep.
2. Uncomfortable environment. This category includes loud sounds, bright light (especially important for daytime sleep), fresh air (you need to ventilate the room at night), temperature (should not be higher than 21 degrees).
3. Late bedtime. An overtired baby is much more reluctant to go to bed. The child's sleep becomes restless and is interrupted by frequent awakenings and crying. Having woken up, the baby cannot fall asleep on his own. The ideal time for bed is from 19:00 to 20:30.
4. Diseases and other health problems. At six months, babies are no longer bothered by colic, but it often happens that the child wakes up at night and cries. 6 months is the age when newborns begin to actively cut teeth. This process causes severe pain to the baby. Also, babies often experience allergic reactions that are accompanied by itching. A cold can cause difficulty breathing, coughing and other symptoms that prevent your baby from sleeping peacefully.
5. A leap in development, active learning of new skills. At 6 months, the child learns to sit, tries to stand up in the crib, and moves a lot. Daytime wakefulness is not enough for him to “train” his skills, so he begins to be active in the middle of the night. It usually takes about 2 weeks to master one skill.
6. Lack of parental attention and care. If a child feels a lack of maternal love and affection during the day, then it is not surprising that at night he wakes up and begins to call for his mother.
7. Inconsistency in actions. It is important that all family members adhere to the same rules of behavior with the child and maintain the same day and night routine. Otherwise, the baby will get confused about what is correct in his behavior and what is not.
8. Premature “relocation” to a big bed. A 6-month-old baby is clearly not ready for such changes. The most suitable age for this is 2.5-3 years.

General information about sleep at 6 months

Each age period in a child’s life has its own developmental characteristics. Therefore, it is important to understand what kind of sleep is the norm, then it is easier to identify and pay attention to deviations.

Here are some nuances of sleep in a six-month-old baby:

• the duration should be 14 hours per day. This is exactly how much a child needs for normal mental and physical development;
• daytime sleep - 2 periods, no more than 4 hours in total. At night at this age, babies sleep for up to 7 hours without waking up;
• the active period of life begins, which affects the psychological state of the baby;
• new complementary foods are introduced and the diet changes, which also affects sleep. This is especially true for children with gastrointestinal problems. Sometimes eliminating just one food item from your diet improves sleep.

All these features, together with unregulated daytime and nighttime sleep patterns, can affect the development of your child. It is important to understand that at 6 months, unlike at an earlier age, the child is already able to distinguish between day and night. This means you should lay it down according to normal biological rhythms. Physical activity, which is associated with active cognition of the world around us, can lead to overwork of the fragile nervous system.

At each age, the mental and physical state of the baby changes, parents may not notice this. Therefore, you should be careful about all changes in the baby’s diet and mobility. If he wakes up every hour at night, this threatens lack of sleep and poor development.

We recommend reading! Click on the link:

Common reasons why a child does not sleep at night and cries

How to improve your child's sleep schedule

Complementary feeding scheme for breastfeeding and artificial feeding

In order for the baby to be able to rest normally, sleep without awakening, not toss around, not to cry, it is necessary to establish the cause of the problem and select the appropriate solution for it:

1. Form a correct day and night routine, taking into account the physiological characteristics and biorhythms of the baby. When drawing up a schedule, it is necessary to comply with the norms for the duration of sleep and wakefulness for six-month-old babies.
2. If the reason for poor quality rest is a violation of usual rituals, then it is necessary to come up with a new unique family ritual for going to bed and strictly adhere to it. Active games and watching cartoons should be completely excluded from this procedure.
3. It is important not to allow a sudden change in your baby’s activities before bedtime. 10-15 minutes before putting the child to bed, you need to pick him up and try to calm him down. Toys are put away so that they do not distract the baby. It is better to fill the time before bed with quiet games, listening to “white noise”, and reading books.
4. An uncomfortable environment requires adjustment. In the children's room, it is advisable to install a thermometer, hang dark curtains, and install air conditioning.
5. Some parents put the child to bed later than the scheduled time so that the father, who returns from work, can communicate with the baby. As a result, an overexcited baby cannot sleep properly. Therefore, it is better to allocate time in the morning to communicate with your father or include your father in the ritual of going to bed at night.
6. If the cause of poor sleep is health problems, then you need to seek help from a pediatrician (he will examine the baby and prescribe medications, if necessary). Teething is a temporary phenomenon, so parents and the child can only wait out this moment. During periods of exacerbation of diseases, it is important not to deviate from the regime and adhere to the usual ritual of preparing for bed.
7. During the training period, it is necessary to ensure that the child has enough daytime time to “train” the acquired skills.
8. It is important to give the baby enough attention and care.
9. All family members must adhere to the same rules of behavior, maintain a daily and nightly routine, and be consistent and persistent in their actions.

Interesting. According to Dr. Komarovsky, “the child must adapt to the family model,” and not vice versa.

1. You should not replace the cradle with a large bed if the baby is not yet ready for such changes.

At six months, babies learn to sit and stand

In conclusion

Not all six-month-old babies can sleep soundly at night for the 7 hours allotted to them. This age is quite bright for the child himself; it is accompanied by new events and active knowledge of the world around him. This can cause psychological and emotional imbalances that negatively impact the quality of your sleep.

Also, children sleep poorly due to their physiological characteristics or improper organization of their life.

However, there are situations when sleep disturbance causes illness. To promptly identify the cause of problems with night rest, carefully monitor your little one and changes in his behavior and well-being.

Author: Dasha Pashchenko

Useful tips

If your baby is learning to sit and stand, you need to show him how to properly return to a lying position. Then the baby will be able to go to bed on his own and fall asleep without the help of his parents.

A sharp leap in the baby’s mental development requires constant physical and emotional contact with the mother. A close bond will restore confidence and calm to the newborn within a few weeks.

If the baby is afraid of moving away from his mother, you should demonstrate to the baby that his parents are always there. This period is not the best time for a child to develop independence.

The situation when a 6-month-old child sleeps poorly at night, often wakes up and cries is a completely natural phenomenon. However, sometimes the reason is the wrong actions of parents and other family members. In any case, it is always possible to, if not eliminate, then at least reduce the manifestation of negative factors affecting the baby’s sleep.

Tips to help prevent sleep problems

Most problems are easier to prevent than to treat. The rule also applies to insomnia. The impact of many irritants can be avoided if you remember the advice of Dr. Komarovsky:

• Create and maintain a positive climate in the family. In an atmosphere of love and care, the child is less nervous and falls asleep faster.
• Create a sleep schedule. You need to focus on generally accepted norms, broken down by age. If your baby falls asleep and wakes up at the same time, you will be able to avoid the consequences of lack of sleep and disruptions in daily biorhythms.
• Decide where the baby will rest. During the first years, it is permissible to place a crib in the parents' bedroom in order to respond in a timely manner to awakenings. From the age of 3, experts advise giving your child a separate room.
• Don't be afraid to wake up your baby if necessary. Children take naps 2-3 times during the day. In total, it should take no more than 4.5 hours, otherwise it will be difficult to sleep at night.
• Decide on a feeding schedule. At 6 months, the break between meals is 4 hours. At night, it is allowed to give food to the baby no more than 1 time. If the recommendations are not followed, problems with excess weight and digestion will begin.
• Fill your baby’s schedule with physical and mental activity. If you do everything correctly, by the evening you will feel a slight feeling of fatigue, which will help you fall asleep quickly.
• Try to remove irritants. In the bedroom you need to create a dark and quiet environment. Room temperature should not exceed 22° with air humidity up to 70%.
• Choose the right sleeping accessories. You need to start looking for a pillow from 2 years old. Bed linen is selected from natural fabrics. The mattress should not sag under the baby.

Six-month-old babies have difficulty sleeping at night due to exposure to irritants or physiological developmental differences. In more rare cases, insomnia is of a secondary nature and occurs against the background of other pathological processes. Treatment consists of eliminating the cause of the failure and meeting the criteria for good sleep.

Hourly night awakenings in a six-month-old child

In six months, a child masters many skills and receives a large number of new impressions. The immature nervous system is overloaded, which prevents the baby from falling asleep. A possible reason why a 6-month-old baby often wakes up at night could be teething and he may be thirsty.

Attention! The baby begins to form its own biological rhythms. Some children fall asleep easily and quickly, while others take much longer to do so. Babies may have different needs for the duration of rest, due to their individual characteristics.

Poor sleep is caused by the following factors:

• staying awake for too long;
• lack of fatigue;
• emotional overload before bedtime;
• fear of separation from mother;
• unusual resting place;
• disruption of the usual sleep ritual.

One or more of these reasons may cause your baby to become restless, anxious, and have poor sleep. At this age, the child may already consciously resist falling asleep. There are so many new and interesting things around, but vacation deprives you of these entertainments.

The concept of sleep regression in children

There are moments in the life of every baby when an already established stable sleep gives way to anxiety, shuddering, the child begins to wake up frequently, cry at night, and the slightest rustle can wake him up. This phenomenon is called regression. There is no need to panic, this is a normal physiological process. Such periods occur at the ages of 6 weeks, 4,6,9, months.

Pediatricians disagree about the causes that cause them, but there are common signs:

• problems falling asleep in the evening;
• reduction in the duration and quality of daytime rest;
• frequent urges at night accompanied by crying;
• changes in appetite;
• increased nervousness while awake.

The child demands attention, asks to be held, and does not let go of his mother. There are no symptoms of the disease, the baby is in comfortable conditions. He may simply drop his pacifier, want to eat, and in a state of half-asleep even a slight noise can wake him up.

Possible explanations for the phenomenon

Manifestations of deteriorating sleep in children coincide with phases of active growth. A period of restless sleep indicates that the baby is developing and forming. At the time of the third regression, when a 6-month-old child wakes up every hour at night, the internal restructuring of the body, the little person’s biorhythms, and teething can influence.

The baby does not sleep well at night due to disturbing pain, then he may get enough sleep during the day, and in the dark he will be capricious again. Getting used to sleeping twice a day takes two to three weeks and causes discomfort for the baby.

Progressive diseases and their symptoms

Typically, periodic sleep disturbances in infants are physiological in nature and are not a symptom of pathology. But if awakenings accompanied by crying and whims occur more than twice a night, continue for a long time and are aggravated by other disturbing manifestations, you should consult a doctor. These may be nervous disorders, epileptic seizures in childhood. They are accompanied by repetitive movements, the baby may arch his back and whine. There are other manifestations characteristic of each type of disease.

It is important to know! Sleep problems can occur due to sleep apnea. Breathing stops for up to 10 seconds are observed, up to 3% of infants are susceptible to them. The disorder can be obstructive, central, or mixed; the occurrence of one episode per 60 minutes is the norm. If five or more attacks occur during this time, we can conclude that pathology is present.

The first type occurs in a number of neurological and somatic diseases. Air flow is disrupted and breathing becomes ineffective. The second type indicates the possible presence of a cerebrovascular accident, a tumor, which can occur in premature infants.

Causes that do not cause concern

In most cases, sleep disturbances in a six-month-old baby should not be a big concern. Parents should watch their baby and not cause panic, and they will understand the reason for his anxiety.

You can consult a pediatrician. He will prescribe examinations, tests, and consultations with specialists to exclude serious pathologies in the child.

Physical discomfort

By the age of six months, a child gets used to sleeping in a certain place. Lulling him to sleep in another crib or room can cause him discomfort. Some children cannot be put to bed at a party. Rearranging furniture or changing wallpaper can cause crying. The child is able to react even to different bedding, with a different pattern and color.

An uncomfortable cradle prevents your baby from falling asleep; he may feel hot or cold. The habit of falling asleep at my mother's breast and motion sickness cause persistent addiction. Weaning from it is accompanied by a violent protest on the part of the baby, it is more difficult to put him to sleep, and sleep becomes more disturbing.

Psychological factors

The child has been awake for a long time and is overtired, but it is not possible to put him to sleep. A large load on the fragile nervous system does not allow it to relax. Signs of sleepiness in a child should not be ignored. Important! Parents should be attentive and put the baby to bed at the first symptoms. Otherwise, strong indignation will follow, the process of going to bed will be delayed, and the daily routine will be disrupted.

Active games, a working TV, guests can prevent the child from relaxing and falling asleep. His nervous system cannot quickly switch from a state of emotional arousal to calm falling asleep.

A 6-month-old baby often wakes up at night due to fear of separation from his mother. The baby gets so used to having her always nearby that any disappearance from sight can be regarded as a tragedy. He becomes overly anxious. This condition requires consultation with a doctor to correct the child's nervousness.

The influence of external stimuli on sleep

If a ten-month-old baby often wakes up at night, this is a signal that he is experiencing discomfort. There are several reasons that can cause discomfort in a 10 month old baby.

• Hunger. The most common reason why a child wakes up in the middle of the night and starts screaming is because he wants to eat.
• Feeling thirsty. Many parents forget about this reason, but very often, children wake up at night from the usual desire to drink.
• Excessive fatigue or overstimulation. Infants up to one year old need frequent rest; at 10 months, the interval between wakefulness and sleep should be no more than 4 hours. If a child does not sleep on time or plays too noisy and active games before bedtime, this may cause poor sleep.
• Desire for stimulation of movement. At this age, some babies still cannot relax and fall asleep without additional rocking.
• Search for pacifiers. There are children who have refused pacifiers since birth. But those who happily fell asleep by rocking and sucking on a pacifier or bottle will have difficulty falling asleep without it even at 10 months.
• Teeth are being cut. A very important stage that determines the growing up of a baby, every parent goes through it.
• Learning new skills.

Microclimate

If a 10-month-old baby has difficulty falling asleep at night, the cause of this unpleasant situation may be an unsuitable microclimate in the children's room. To avoid this it is enough:

• Do wet cleaning daily in the room with the baby.
• Maintain the temperature no higher than 22 degrees.
• Ventilating the room is not easy by opening the windows, but by creating a draft in the house. It is better to lay the baby down with the window or window slightly open.
• Dim sources of bright light and create twilight during the day.

For a child to sleep comfortably, before going to bed, he must be bathed in a warm bath with the addition of herbs or chamomile. Give a soothing massage using special baby oils, while lightly stroking the baby's back.

Another common reason why babies cannot fall asleep for a long time is overexcitation. A similar phenomenon occurs as a result of excessively active games, noise or wild fun. Therefore, 2 hours before bedtime, the baby needs to create a calming atmosphere and turn on relaxing music.

One of the most common pathological processes is behavioral insomnia, which manifests itself in babies at 10 months of age with the inability to fall asleep independently and maintain long, uninterrupted sleep throughout the night. To rid the child of this problem, it is necessary to undergo an examination by a neurologist, who will prescribe sedative vitamins to normalize the relaxation process.

Acceptable standards

At 10 months, the child is a full-fledged person who, crawling or on unsteady legs, explores every corner of the house. Parents look at their baby and quite rightly believe that he can miss one nap from the general schedule, but pediatricians insist on following the daily routine.

The approximate schedule for babies at 10 months is:

It is very important to monitor the baby’s behavior, because most often they make it clear to their parents that they want to sleep. If at these moments you do not have time to put the child to bed, then his routine will be disrupted and there will be whims and unreasonable hysterics all day.

Features of sleep at this age

The 10-month-old baby is going through a new stage of his development. This stage of the baby's formation is called "sequence". Right now, the child begins to realize that in order to achieve a certain result, it is necessary to perform a series of actions that will lead to the desired consequences.

Active physical development of the baby can lead to excessive fatigue, which very often irritates babies. And this is precisely what becomes the reason that it begins to twist, bend and spin in different directions before falling soundly asleep. Now the baby takes more time to relax and fall asleep, and in the middle of the night he can get up and try to take the first steps in his life.

Parents must understand that this is an integral period in the development of the baby and not interfere with him in achieving his goals.

Advice: Pediatricians recommend breastfeeding between 4 and 8 am.