A lot has changed since you brought your adorable newborn home from the hospital! By 6 months of age, your child is now a giggling, babbling baby who is likely to be able to sit independently and swallow solid food! You might even be thinking about moving your love bug to their nursery…… Especially since they are getting longer and longer sleep. But even if babies sleep better after their half-birthday, many babies at 6 months still can’t sleep, which makes many parents wonder,”Is 6 months a good time to start sleep training?”
Is 6 Months a Good Time to Start Sleep Training?
While no two babies are exactly the same, most babies are developmentally ready for sleep training by the time they are 4 to 6 months old. At 6 months of age, your baby’s natural circadian rhythm has been established, their sleep cycle is maturing, and most babies no longer need to eat overnight. In addition, by 6 months of age, babies officially end the fourth month of pregnancy, so they no longer instinctively crave to rock and swaddled all night.
Can a 6 Month Old Baby Be Sleep Trained?
Yes, sleep training for a 6-month-old is 100% possible! But before you start your sleep training journey, you need to have realistic expectations for your baby and yourself! After all, your 6-month-old’s understanding of “sleeping all night” may be very different from yours!
How Often Does a 6 Month Old Wake up at Night?
While many 6-month-old babies can sleep for 6 to 10 hours a night without waking up, this is not the case for every baby. In fact, studies have shown that up to about 38% of 6-month-old babies don’t sleep for 6 hours straight at night… 57% of babies don’t sleep for 8 hours.
How Long Does Sleep Training Take for a 6 Month Old Baby?
Most sleep training strategies take about a week or so to stick to. But sleep training isn’t an exact science, which means it can take longer, depending on the sleep training method you’re relying on, your consistency with your plan, and your child’s individual needs and temperament. In any case, if you’ve been trying to sleep train your 6-month-old for two weeks with little or no success, it’s wise to pause sleep training and check why your 6-month-old is refusing sleep training.
Is There Any Reason Not to Start Sleep Training for My 6-Month-Old?
It’s best to avoid sleep training during your baby’s illness, confusion, and/or transition. For a better chance of sleep training success, postpone your 6-month-old’s sleep training if…
- Your baby is teething actively.
- Your baby is sick.
- It’s daylight saving time.
- Your baby’s bedtime is unpredictable.
- The caregiver has changed.
- Your baby is transitioning to a crib.
- Your baby is transitioning into his or her own room.
How Do You Train a 6 Month Old to Sleep?
While there are a variety of sleep training methods, Dr. Harvey Karp, a pediatrician for 6-month-old babies and author of the best-selling book “The Happiest Baby on the Block,” encourages parents to start with a gentle sleep training method called the “wakefulness and sleep method.” Here you can wake up your dozing baby to train them to sleep! While this may seem completely counterintuitive, Dr. Karp assures that gently waking up your 6-month-old and then putting them back to sleep on their own while still drowsy will let your baby know that they have the power to soothe themselves – and sleep through the night. Here’s how to use the wake and sleep method for a 6-month-old:
Step 1: Turn on the rough rumbling white noise so that it sounds as loud as a shower. When white noise is used for every nap and nighttime sleep, your baby will start to expect it and think that white noise means the ZZZ is nearby. At the same time, white noise also helps block sounds that can interfere with sleep, such as horn sounds.
Step 2: Feed your baby and burp and then provide a pacifier, which has been shown to calm your baby.
Step 3: Put your baby to sleep in your arms and place them safely on their backs in a bassinet or crib.
Step 4: Gently scratch your baby’s neck or feet until they can barely open their eyes, gently waking up the sleeping baby.
Step 5: As long as your baby is full and listening to white noise, they should close their eyes and fall back asleep after a few seconds.
If your 6-month-old isn’t dozing off quickly, turn up the white noise a little and rock the bassinet or crib for a few seconds to help fall asleep. But if your child continues to cry, pick them up, cuddle them, or feed them to soothe them, then start the method of waking up and sleeping again.
Other Sleep Training Methods for Infants at 6 Months of Age
While wakefulness and sleep methods are the most popular gentle sleep training strategies, there are a variety of sleep training techniques to choose from. Sometimes parents use these sleep training methods alone, sometimes in combination.
1. Complete the entire bedtime routine of white noise/feeding/burping/diaper changing before waking up with your little one in the crib. If your 6-month-old is fussy or crying, gently pat them on the stomach, gently shush them, or pick them up to help calm them down. Calm them down, let them settle down, and then immediately put them back in the crib and leave their room. Every time your baby cries, repeat this loving but brief routine. (This is sometimes referred to as the “shhhh)
2. Put your sleepy but awake, fed, just hiccuped, put the baby in the crib and the rumbling white noise has turned on… Then stay there! With the “chair” sleep training method, you sit next to the crib until your baby falls asleep. Then, if your baby cries, you come back, sit back and wait. You should not pick up your baby, but you can gently comfort him verbally. Every few nights, gradually move the chair away from the crib and closer to the door until you finally leave the room.
3. Faber Law. Also known as the “graded extinction” or “check and console” method, the Faber sleep training method has the same DNA as the “shout it out” method (more on that later), but takes more small steps toward the goal. Here, complete your usual nocturnal activities with your baby before putting them awake in the crib. Leave this room. If your baby is crying, come back to check on them at specific, progressive intervals. For example, when a baby is crying, you first come back within 3 minutes to quiet the baby, but don’t pick them up, and then leave immediately. If your baby is still crying, return in 5 minutes, with a longer interval between each check-up. Then, on the second night of your sleep training, you can wait 5 minutes for the first check-in and then wait 10 minutes before the second check-in. Our goal is that they will soon settle down without your intervention.
4. “Cry out.” This is also known as the “extermination law”. The term “shout out” is sometimes used interchangeably with the Faber method described above. Although Ferber does involve making a baby cry, the difference between Ferber and true “crying out” is that Ferber involves regular check-ups. With a “textbook””cry out” approach, you can make your baby cry and fuss without intervention, with the idea that they will eventually soothe themselves. Understandably, this method is very difficult for many parents, so it is often used as a last resort, with caregivers opting for the more gradual Faber method or other gentle sleep training methods. To use the “cry out” method, you can follow your bedtime routine by saying a sweet “I love you” and leave the room to let your baby settle down on his own.
Why Is Sleep Training Not Working for My 6 Month Old?
Being in an unpredictable transition or feeling uncomfortable can easily derail your sleep training efforts…… But there may be other problems that quietly disrupt your baby’s sleep. Here are some factors that can cause a 6-month-old child to become resistant to sleep training:
You don’t have a predictable bedtime. Providing predictable sleep cues that don’t require you to be present, such as playing rumbling white noise, can help your baby learn to soothe themselves.
Your baby has a Xi of eating overnight. By 6 months of age, most babies don’t wake up hungry, but because of Xi. If your baby is bottle-fed, try to slowly reduce the number of ounces fed overnight. If you are breastfeeding, shorten the duration of your nighttime feedings and/or feed from only one breast.
Your baby is Xi falling asleep in your arms. If your 6-month-old falls asleep outside of the sleeping space but then wakes up in a crib, it can be uncomfortable! This means that a mild awakening can quickly escalate into a panicked awakening, especially if your baby hasn’t learned to soothe himself. Learn what to do if your baby can’t sleep without holding it.
Your baby’s nap schedule needs to be adjusted. If your baby naps twice a day and is fussy in the evening, consider adding a third 45-minute nap to their schedule, starting about three hours before lights out. On the other hand, long naps can also lead to difficulty in sleep training. If your baby naps a lot but protests every night, consider limiting naps to 2 hours. (Learn more about “Nap Failure.”)
Your baby is going to bed too early. If your child sleeps for up to 60 minutes, their bedtime may have been delayed. If your baby doesn’t show signs of fatigue at bedtime and/or wakes up in the middle of the night (or very early the next day) and craves to leave, bedtime may be too early. If this sounds familiar, postpone their routine by 15 minutes every two to three nights to find the right time to go to bed late.
Your baby is going to bed too late. If your baby naps too long, falls asleep easily in the car or stroller, is moody and irritable, and/or has trouble falling asleep despite showing obvious signs of tiredness (rubbing eyes, blinking, yawning), it may be too late for bedtime. To help, advance your baby’s sleep schedule by 15 minutes every two to three nights for the best bedtime.
When Should a 6 Month Old Baby Sleep?
Babies between the ages of 4 and 8 months usually go to bed between 7 and 9 p.m. and wake up between 6 and 8 a.m. On average,6-month-old babies sleep 24 to 12 hours per 16 hours, with 3 to 5 hours of napping and 6 to 10 hours at night.
Do I Need to Worry About My 6 Month Old Child’s Sleep Regression?
Whenever your baby experiences a growth spurt, there is a chance that sleep regression can occur, including the growth spurt experienced by the baby at 6 months of age. Now that your baby is more aware of their surroundings, not only are they more sensitive to sleep disturbances, but they may experience midnight FOMO, which means they want to go out late at night or into the wee hours of the morning! Plus, because your 6-month-old is learning a lot Xi of new skills, such as sitting up, they’ll probably want to work on Xi overnight. The good news is that 6-month sleep regression usually goes away within a few days or weeks, especially if you practice healthy sleep Xi (such as using white noise).