Baby Sleep:
Helping a Baby Sleep Past Six Months
Most babies the age of five to seven months still need at least two naps a day, of from one to three hours each, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
In general it's best to let your baby sleep as long as she wants, unless she has trouble falling asleep at her normal nightly bedtime. If this becomes a problem, wake her up earlier from her afternoon nap.
By four months your baby should be sleeping through at least one nighttime feeding and perhaps through the entire night. "Through the night" could mean from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., or from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., depending on your baby's own internal clock; but at this age she should be able to go at least eight hours without being fed.
Because your child is more alert and active now, she may have trouble winding down at the end of the day. A consistent bedtime routine will help. Experiment to see what works best, taking into consideration both the activities in the rest of the household and your baby's temperament.
A warm bath, a massage, rocking, a story or lullaby, soft music, and a breast- or bottle-feeding will all help relax her and put her in a bedtime mood. Eventually, she'll associate these activities with going to sleep, and that will help relax and soothe her.
Instead of letting your baby fall asleep during this ritual, settle her in her crib while she's still awake so she learns to fall asleep on her own.
Gently put her head down, whisper your good night, and leave the room. If she cries, don't rush back in. She may calm down after a few minutes and fall asleep on her own.
But what if she's still crying heavily at the end of five minutes? Go in and comfort her for about a minute, without picking her up, and then leave. Let her know that you love her and are available if she needs you, but don't stay in the room.
If she continues to cry, wait a little longer than five minutes before going back in again to repeat the sequence. Be consistent and firm. As hard as this may be on you, it's harder on your baby if she senses you are wavering.
The real reward will come when she awakens in the middle of the night and goes back to sleep without your help.
Many babies cry every night, leading parents to wonder if the prolonged crying can hurt her psychologically. If you actually time your baby's crying, you may find that it doesn't last that long in reality but seems to last forever for the tortured parent.
If parents are steadfast, most babies will cry less each night until they finally go to sleep with only a token protest. But even if your child cries for a long time (twenty to thirty minutes), there is no evidence that she'll be hurt by it.
Crying that goes on for more than twenty minutes may need to be checked to see if there is not some problem (such as a hair wrapped around the baby's toe), but such fussiness should be short.
Do not stop to play. The important thing is for you to keep your perfectly natural feelings of frustration and, perhaps, anger in check, so you can be firm in a calm and loving way when your baby resists sleep.
When your child awakens in the middle of the night, give her a few minutes to fall back to sleep before you go to her. If she continues to cry, talk to her and comfort her, but don't bring her to your bed.
Also, unless you have reason to believe she's really hungry (for example, if she fell asleep earlier than usual and missed a feeding), don't feed her. As tempting as it may be to calm her down with food or cuddling in your bed, she'll soon come to expect these responses when she wakes up at night, and she won't go back to sleep without them.
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