You mentioned that you have a six-month-old little girl who has been sleeping through the night but now all the sudden she's not and it sounds like both you and her are not sleeping much these days. It's normal for kids to go through spurts where they sleep well and then they don't, either for one reason or anything. Sometimes they are teething and you mentioned that she is showing some symptoms. Other times they may get a little bit sick or just get out of their routine and so they start waking up more frequently and it takes a little bit of time to put them back on their normal schedule or routine. Before you start sleep training your baby I would recommend talking to your daughter's doctor and making sure that there are no underlying medical conditions causing an issue and also talk to her doctor about her growth, if she's growing well and eating well and not needing extra feedings at night then it would be okay to sleep train her and teach her how to self soothe. If the doctor says all is well this is what you can do. First of all, you can let her cry it out. After about 4-7 nights of that she should be reprogrammed into sleeping through the night. It can be rough while you're going through it because both you and her have a hard time getting any sleep at all because she screams and you sit up wondering if she is going to go back to sleep but it is worth it. However, when you cry it out you always need to be careful and pay attention to your baby's cries. Most parents know when their children are crying because they are in pain or because they're hungry or they just want comfort. I was actually talking to my doctor about this once and he mentioned that he was letting his baby cry it out and he just sat there and told his wife, no let him cry, let him cry, let him, and then finally she got up and checked on him and her baby had a raging fever. Then one time my baby was crying and I noticed his cry was a little bit different so I went to check on him and both of his legs were stuck in the little crib slats and he was spread eagle trying to get out of the crib slats. It's always a good idea to check on them first, make sure they're not in danger, they're not sick or in need of immediate attention, but if everything is fine it's okay to just let her cry. Again, like I said after 4-7 nights of this she should start sleeping again for you. If this seems a little bit harsh you can try a more graduated approach where you go check on her, just gently touch her tummy, don't make eye contact, don't pick her up and turn around and walk right back out of the room. Avoid turning on lights, playing with her, or talking to her. Chances are she'll continue to cry the first time you do this. Go back about ten minutes after you went in the first time, repeat what you did, and then walk right back out of the room. If she is still crying go in 20 minutes later and then if needs be 40 minutes later so you're gradually weaning her from needing you at night. Again, after about a week or so of doing this then she should start sleeping better. I hope that these tips and tricks help for you and if you have any other questions for me feel free to ask them on our Facebook page and recommend us to your friends and family too.
