Help please...if your 6mth old didn't settle well at bed time, when and how did it get better ?

[Gingerbreadlatte]

She has never been a fan bedtime. She clusterfed in the evenings for ages then just didn't want to settle. I ebf and have tended to feed to sleep which doesn't help. Plus she won't take a bottle - though I'm still trying every day.

I've now got her in a routine of sorts where she gets up and 7 then feeds 3 or 4 hourly. It's helped a bit but she won't settle at bed time and stay asleep. I don't get any time to do anything in the evening.

I can't go out at all and I'm going crazy.

Any one got experience of fixing this? Can it be done ?

[happydaze77]

My dd used to feed almost constantly in the evenings, and didn't settle well at bedtime, or for naps!
Could you try feeding her more frequently during the day? DD is 6 1/2 months and breastfeeds, from both sides usually, approximately every two hours, then has a bedtime feed around 7:15, a dream-feed at 10/11pm ish, then usually sleeps through until at least 6am. It equates to about 8 or 9 feeds a day but it seems she tanks up on all her feeds druing the day, and then sleeps through.
HTH

[Nicolaeus]

Erm..... 12 months ish! DS has reflux tho and we didnt find meds that worked until then. Also, with hindsight he slept very badly from 4 months til 11 months because he went from not moving at 6 months to walking at 10 months and I think his brain was processing too much to sleep well.

He still doesnt sleep through consistently at 20 months but is a lot better. Plus we've relaxed bedtimes a lot. We do bath then pjs then BF then he can stay playing with us or cuddling on the sofa or whatever until he yawns. Then it's straight to bed and he falls asleep easily. Much better than when we had strict bedtimes and Id spend nearly an hour trying to convince him to go to sleep!

[Gingerbreadlatte]

Thanks for your suggestions.

It's hard going but I hope it passes soon.

Any other experience ?

[PleaseLetsGoToSleep]

My ds is 18 months now and I remember bedtimes at 6/7 months just being hellish, he just wouldn't go to sleep! He's always been an awful sleeper so sorry can't help much on suggestions for getting your dd to sleep through (only when he properly started eating solids for every meal did he improve), but I can reassure you that it is just a phase and it won't last forever.
I used to put my ds in a sling and walk around the room to get him to sleep, which sometimes worked, but my game changer came when I just gave up, lay down next to him and held him tightly until he fell asleep. There was an awful lots of crying and struggling, especially for the first week I did it, and the occasional headbutt, but it worked. I didn't pat or interact with him, and he always went to sleep (if he was still crying after 15 mins or so I knew he was actually still hungry), and I think it helped sow the seeds of starting to get him to put himself to sleep, which he is brilliant at now.
I hope things improve for you soon, I remember that age as one of the hardest times during the first year, but it does get better.