Babies and sleep at 6–8 months
Perhaps your baby has stopped eating at night, but nighttime might be posing a problem once again: suddenly, you’re standing there at 3 o’clock in the morning, wondering what happened. We’ll go through why many babies sleep poorly between 6 and 8 months old, and offer some tips on what you can do.
At 6, 7 and 8 months old, babies still need plenty of sleep. But how many hours they sleep will vary quite a lot from one baby to the next. Some need as much as 17 hours, while for others who are the same age, 12 hours per day will do. They need to get some of that sleep in during the day, but not quite to the same extent as before. After their first birthday, they won’t need quite as much sleep: around 12–14 hours per day, depending on the child.
Poor sleep around 6–8 months
Even if the baby won’t be as hungry at night now or wake up for that reason, at this age it is common to sleep fitfully and wake up often. That’s because there’s a lot going on in the baby’s life right now, and that has an effect on sleep. Maybe you’ve just switched which parent is staying home with the baby, which might play a role; at the same time, baby’s ability to take in the world around them is getting better and better, and they’ve started moving around all on their own in a completely different way than before – and all of this has a huge impact. Baby might suddenly be able to crawl out of sight of their parents, which will be very upsetting, because they think they’ve been abandoned in the middle of the living room floor – and that’s an emotional storm that requires processing. Basically, there are loads of things for your little one to discover and absorb right now, and that will have an impact on sleep one way or another. It may be harder to settle down, sleep might be lighter, and they might wake up often to check that you are nearby and haven’t disappeared again…
While this may be frustrating, it might also be nice to know that this kind of sleep disturbance is completely normal, and the fact that the baby is disturbed by a parent disappearing from their sight for a split second is actually a sign of baby’s healthy attachment. To make it easier for an anxious baby to sleep, offer plenty of closeness and cuddles. If the baby has moved out of your room, it might be worth considering whether it’s time to sleep together again until you’ve made it through this high-anxiety phase. And don’t forget that skin-to-skin contact is still an excellent trick for calming an anxious baby. Any way for the baby to be close to you is good!
The first few colds tend to occur around this age, too – which can have a huge negative impact on sleep. In addition to making sure you know how to best help a baby with their coughing and sniffling when they have a cold, it’s also good to be extra generous with cuddles, snuggles and closeness.
Do you still feed a 7-month-old baby at night?
Around six months of age, a lot of babies stop eating at night. That is because they are starting to eat more solid foods during the day, allowing them to manage quite well from a purely nutritional perspective without a nighttime snack. But there is no rule that says you have to stop breastfeeding or bottle-feeding if everyone is happy with it and it helps the baby fall back asleep. Being held and fed by a parent is about much more than hunger satiation; it is soothing and provides security and a way to be close. So don’t feel any pressure to stop nighttime feeding if that is what works best for you.
Please note that all information above is based on Swedish recommendations.
