Help with six month old

[boomerhal]

My son just turned six months.  He had been sleeping great from 9pm until 7 am.  He has always loved to sleep on his tummy and will scream when we put him on his back.  Now he has figured out how to flip himself over to his back and then gets mad.  He will sometimes fall asleep on his back after he has cried for a couple of minutes.  Other times (most of the time) he will not return to sleep unless we flip him over. Then we have to stay there and make sure he does not immediately flip back over.  He can flip himself from his back to his belly but for some reason chooses not to in the middle of the night.   We tried to let him cry it out and he cried for an hour and then started coughing.  We are up 5 or more times a night flipping him over and getting him back to sleep. 

He has been breastfeeding, but we are starting to wean him, but he hasn't gotten up to feed in the middle of the night in 2 months.  He also refuses to take a pacifier. 

Any advice on getting my little guy to sleep through the night so that I can get some rest?  I return back to work on Monday and am already totally exhausted.

[anna*]

(((hugs))) and welcome to the boards!

First thing is, it sounds like he is probably a bit overtired because 14 hour days are LONG for such a young guy. I would try moving his bedtime back to 7pm, you may find he sleeps more soundly. Can you post what your routine looks like? If there's a problem with the daytime routine it will often really impact badly on night sleep.

However, if his daytime routine is good and an early bedtime isn't solving it, it may just be one of those motor milestone things you have to just wait out. Rolling back and forth, sitting, crawling, standing, walking, talking - they all mess up sleep, but (unless there are other underlying issues) it's always just a temporary thing.

[boomerhal]

Here is what yesterday looked like:
6:00 wake up (this was an hour earlier than usual, but he would not go back to sleep)
breastfed at this time
8:30-10 nap
10:30 3.5 oz fruit
11:30 4oz formula (offered 6)
12:00-2 nap
breastfed at this time
3:30 1.5 oz vegetable and some rice cereal added
4-5 nap
5:30 2.5 oz vegetable and some rice cereal added
7:00 6 oz formula (ate it all)
7:30 start bedtime routine (rocking, changing, brushing teeth, etc)
8:00 bed time

Went right to sleep, woke up at 10:30 pm, 11:30pm , 12:30(changed wet diaper at this time) , 2:00, 4:00(changed dirty diaper at this time), then 6:00 to eat.

[anna*]

You're routine looks really good except for a long last awake time - 3hrs awake after a 1hr nap will definitely be leaving him overtired.

I would try a 30 mins catnap at 4.30pm and then in bed and asleep by 7pm and see if that helps. If he wakes at 6am I would do bedtime even earlier, 6.30pm latest.

[boomerhal]

Thank you, I will try that.

Hopefully it will help us both to get rested.

[Cindy_36]

I was very interested in this post, my 6 mth old is doing the same thing, except he's rolling from his back to his stomach...but I was disappointed with the answer.  I don't think it has anything to do with his daily routine - he just seems to be rolling in his sleep and only through the night.  I'm not sure if its gas or he is stirring in his sleep, but he is waking up.  And we have to go in and adjust him....if we get him in time and he's not fully awake, he will fall back to sleep...otherwise if he is awake, then we're in trouble.
Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

[Peek-a-boo]

Cindy--when my DD was able to roll onto her tummy, I found she preferred to sleep that way and would roll to her stomach repeatedly.  As Anna mentioned, sometimes when the start rolling, there is a period of disruption as LO either figures out how to sleep in the new position or how to get himself back to the position he prefers.