6-Month-Old Nursing to Sleep And Refuses The Crib, Help!

A 6-month-old baby that refuses both the crib and falling asleep without nursing can make any mom exhausted. Not to say it is uncommon  – on the contrary, this is a very common situation. The mom in this Q&A wants to teach her baby to accept the crib and go to sleep without breastfeeding. But she does not want to use a cry-it-out method. 

What to do? Here are some ideas!

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Mom’s Question:

Help! I am a first-time mom, and my husband works away from home.

I started bringing my baby to bed with me at night when he was three months old because he was getting up every two hours for feeding, and I found that co-sleeping was the only way I could make it through the day with him. Now he is six months old and still only falls asleep when he is nursing, never on his own. He also won’t sleep in his crib.

What do I do to get him to sleep longer at night and also in his crib without nursing him? I can’t handle letting him cry himself to sleep; are there any other suggestions for ways to deal with these issues?

How to Help 6-Month-Old Baby Accept the Crib and Fall Asleep on Their Own

I totally understand that you want to try to make your 6-month-old accept the crib and fall asleep without nursing. If you are often the only one to put your baby to sleep, it sure would free up time if your baby starts falling asleep in the crib instead of in your arms. 

Remember, though, that even if it feels like forever, it is very common for babies at this age to breastfeed to sleep, so you are not doing anything wrong at all. 

Now, if you want to help him learn how to fall asleep without nursing, here are a few things you can do:

• First of all, make sure that your baby eats enough during the day. Six months is a growth spurt, and many babies sleep really badly at this age. So, fill him up and realize that teaching him to fall asleep without nursing will likely take some time. Give it a month before you evaluate it.
• Use the stroller. When your baby is starting to become tired, put him in his stroller and rock him until he is almost asleep. Slowly stop and let him fall asleep. If he starts crying or whining, start rolling the stroller again until he is calm. And so on. This is a way to teach your baby to fall asleep without you. Once he is asleep, put him in his crib.
• Does he use a pacifier? If not, consider giving one to him. For many babies, this really facilitates the transition away from nursing to sleep. You’ll find tips on how to help your baby accept a pacifier here.
• Does he accept the bottle? For some babies, it is very efficient to simply offer them water in a bottle instead of the breast when they wake up at night. Faster than you could ever guess, they start sleeping better when there is no milk to wake up for. For bottle-feeding tips, click here. Obviously, if your baby wakes up because he is hungry, this will not work at all!
• Let your baby fall asleep with Dad. This might be hard in your case, as your husband works away from home. But if he is ever home for a long weekend, let him take care of the nights instead of you. Make it your husband’s job to soothe your baby by rocking him, giving him the pacifier, patting him, or whatever works. I’ve tried this, and I know several other moms, too, that have been very surprised with how fast their baby has learned to fall asleep without the breast. You don’t even have to stop nursing him completely at night. When we did this with our daughter, we decided that my husband would try for 5 minutes, then she would be allowed to nurse. Within three days, our daughter went from waking up every hour to twice a night. One month later, she slept through the night.
• For tips on how to help your baby sleep better in her crib, check out some crib sleeping tips here.

Good luck, and please come back and tell us about your progress or if you need more help.

Paula

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Read Next

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Paula Dennholt

Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.

Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.