My 6 month old suddenley won't sleep @ night

My six month old son Jordan has been sleeping through since he was about 9 weeks old (with the exception of the odd night of course) But all of a sudden he seems to think that 4am is a good time to play! It all started with the appearance of his 1st tooth, which my doctor said was just poking through his gum, but that was two weeks ago & although he has been very grumpy since then, there is still only a tiny little bit of tooth there.
I had been under the impression that he was just getting whingey because he had lost his dummy in the night & usually the 1st couple of times that he wakes I can get away with just popping it back in, but when he wakes for the 3rd or 4th times thats it he's wide awake & ready to start the day! HELP!!
I'm not a believer in the controlled crying methods although I know a lot of people swear by them, is there any other advise people can give me??

My son is 6.5 months old and a nurse friend who works in a mother & baby unit gave me some great advice quite early on! For babies who won't sleep, try GOLD-FM (104.3) on the stereo. Babies seem to love the beat. Any time I have trouble with Ayden sleeping, I turn the radio on and within 1.5 songs he's back asleep!! Hasn't failed me yet at night, but doesn't seem to work during the day - GOOD LUCK!

Hi Jordan's mum,
I know how you feel. My son went through the same thing at about the same age. He is now 7 months, and sleeps right through the night again. As he is my 3rd child, I was expecting this to happen. At around 6 months of age, babies go through another growth spurt. This causes them to have more energy, and think that they need less sleep. There is not much you can do, other than try to leave a radio or tv on through the night when it is quiter. You will proberly find your son will sleep well through the day, as there is more daytime noise, and he is tired from not sleeping well through the night. Try limiting his sleeping times through the day for a while, so he is tired at night. This worked for me, and it's worth a try. The growth spurts usually only last a week or two, so try to bear with it.

Thankyou both so much, I guess a growth spurt does make sense, he has been sleeping better during the day. I will definatley be trying the radio @ night & limiting his sleep during the day. He's been like this for about a week & a half now so I'm hoping it won't last much longer. I can't realy complain anyway as I said previously he has been a perfect sleeper until now. Thanks again. SC

Hi,
There are lots of reasons your baby could be waking, teething, growth spurt, losing the dummy... Some of them you can't control, but one you can. I got rid of my daughter's dummy and she sleeps right through. She used to wake when it fell out of her mouth, so the dummy is no more. I agree with redcung the amount of day time sleep. You could also try increasing afternoon activity to tire him out and the other thing is make sure he is not hungry before he goes to bed. A full tummy often helps with a good nights sleep. Goodluck.

Hi Jordan's Mum,
My five month old son Cody has slept right through the night since he was 2 weeks old and has just started waking around 3-4 am thinking it's time to play. We now have started to put him in his Jolly Jumper around 7.00pm to wear him out. It's the Best thing we could of done.
Good Luck!!!!