Sleep patterns and problems for your baby aged 6 months to 12 months

Your older baby’s sleeping patterns and common sleep problems explained by Meg Faure, baby expert and author of 'The Babysense Secret'.

Posted: 27 April 2011
by Megan Faure

Baby waking at night? There are four key reasons it may be happening once your baby's over 6 months.

From 6 months, if your baby is on a full solids diet and has learnt to self-soothe, he can be expected to sleep through, about 10-12 hours, without waking for a feed.

After 6 months of age, these are the common sleep obstacles you and your baby may have:

If your baby is still waking it may be because he’s developed a habit and expects to be resettled in the night in the same way as he falls asleep at bedtime.

Alternately night waking can be due to nutritional needs - your baby now needs specific essential fatty acids for brain development. These nutritional essentials are found in the fats in proteins. So now is the time to introduce protein in the form of dairy, meat, beans and chicken to your baby’s diet.

At this age, teething can also disrupt sleep for a few nights. If you think your baby is teething at night, make the decision during day light hours when you can actually see if there’s a tooth. If there’s evidence of teething, here’s how to making teething easier for your baby. Remember though that we tend to blame teething far too quickly and the reality is that it’s rarely teething that’s the problem. If it is teething, it’s generally only for two to four nights as the tooth erupts.

Separation anxiety also affects sleep, especially around 8 months to 10 months. As your baby develops object permanence, he may become insecure when you’re not around. Spend time playing hide and seek and peek-a-boo games so he gets to know that you exists even if he can’t see you.