Babies
6-9 Months

From 6 months your baby is likely to be quite mobile & may move around their cot a lot.  Support your baby to practice rolling over, transitioning from laying to sitting & vice versa during the day so that they know how to do these things in their bed too. The learning and practicing of these new skills may interrupt/dysregulate sleep at times!

You may notice your baby becomes more upset about being separated from you around 6 months. This is because babies from 6 months are able to remember behaviour patterns for a few days if the pattern has been repeated a number of times recently. This may result in an increase in ‘clingy’ behaviour (calling to you, more upset at separating/bedtimes).

Around 8-9 months of age your baby develops memory in a more sophisticated form & is able to store & recall information. So rather than learning taking place after repetition, your baby is able to remember things more easily. This is often when separation anxiety becomes more noticeable, as your baby has more understanding and memory of what it is to be separated from you.

Most babies will be having two or three day sleeps, and longer stretches of sleep overnight.

Sleeping ‘through the night’ means a stretch of 5 or 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

If your baby is eating solids and is growing well they may not need a feed during the night.

Because your baby is able to remember patterns of behaviour, having a predictable and consistent routine is really helpful in supporting your baby’s sleep/wake rhythm and need for security.