6 mo old waking up every 2 hrs out of habit, REM sleep, or truly hungry?

[lkmiscnet]

My 6 mo old son still wakes up every 2 hours. We have been co-sleeping the past month. Prior to that, he was in his crib, set up as a side car with our bed. I thought it would be easier to just keep him in bed lately and nurse him side lying while I'm half asleep.

I can't tell if he is just coming out of a REM cycle when he wakes up every two hours (which includes thumping the heels of his feet on the bed in his sleep sack), or if he's really hungry, or if I've now habituated him to needing to be fed every 2 hours just for the comfort nursing.

I tried to comfort him thinking it was just a REM cycle, but his crying escalates and I end up just nursing him back to sleep fairly quickly.

He has not started solids yet, as I want to wait a couple more weeks.

During the day, I feed him around every 2.5-3 hours.

Thoughts?

Linda

[Abraisme]

Sounds normal to me. If you're tried to comfort him back down without nursing and he starts to cry, then he really is hungry. Most babies will gradually start sleeping longer and longer on their own.

[Critty]

Ahhh the dreaded thumping, we get that around here too DD (also 6 months) has a paci, so I can usually just pop that in and hold her hand and she will go back to sleep, if not, I try to walk with her, if not, then she is probably hungry. Usually I can get her back to sleep without feeding (she feeds once between 12 - 1 a.m.), but if it is a growth spurt, then she'll eat. She does seem to wake up every 1.5-2 hrs, which I assume is her REM cycling.

[lkmiscnet]

I'm king of leaning toward it being between REM cycles, but it just seems so much easier to nurse him, as he goes immediately back to sleep. Still, I can't keep this up, as I want to get him back in his crib at least.

I've been solo parenting since he was born, as my DH works out of state and visits for 5 days monthly. But, my DH just got a new job and is moving back home in a couple of weeks (yay), so I really wanted to try to nurture our own relationship by sleeping in the same bed, which we can't do if our son is co-sleeping in our bed. With him waking every two hours, it's challenging to keep him in the crib, as I end up fully awake versus side lying nursing.

[Abraisme]

Why can't you co-sleep with your baby and your husband?

I have a homemade co-sleeper that's similar to a crib next to our bed. I scoot my DD over after she's done nursing so that she's on her own mattress. I still consider that co-sleeping because I can touch her with my hand without moving.. She also wakes up every couple of hours to nurse. I'm not that interested in standing up and walking her back to sleep, it's just easier to nurse her. It's all up to you though, it might be better in the long run to get your lo back to sleep without nursing.. I don't know.

[lkmiscnet]

The baby takes up half the bed, and I can't let him get too close to the edge because I don't have bedrails. The crib is currently pushed up against the bed (with pillows stuffed in the gap), but because he was starting to roll a couple of months ago, I finally put the side rail on it. It was easy the first few months because I kept the side rail off and made a co-sleeper out of the crib.

Also, because of my down comforter, I make an imaginary zone around my son because I'm afraid of covering him up with it. So, there is no room for my husband and frankly, I thought that at least he should get a good night's sleep. He has to wake up at 4:30am daily.

If I try to use the crib, I have to kneel on the bed to lift him in and out of the crib, and it really is a strain on my lower back. So, it's just been easier to keep him in bed and nurse him to sleep every 2 hours. However, I worry about the nursing to sleep when he starts to get teeth as I've read that milk can cause tooth decay.

Not sure how I'm going to get him to sleep if I can't nurse him to sleep.

[JMJ]

Nursing does not cause bottle rot. The baby's mouth latches so well around a breast that the milk goes right down the baby's throat without touching the teeth. With a bottle, milk pools around the baby's teeth, and a sleeping baby can't clear it out.

I have a crib sidecarred to extend our bed in case DD needs it. At 8.5 months, she wakes up all the time to eat, probably once an hour on average. I don't even worry about trying to get her back to sleep without nursing her. DH usually sleeps right through her wakings.

[Michigan Mama]

We are having the same issue with my 4 mo. I also usually nurse back to sleep because it's so much easier. He's a thumb sucker, but when he wakes, he can't/won't find it and has trouble soothing himself that way. I wish I had a great idea for you, but I'm not sure either.