7 month old sleep problems, please help!

[TheCatSofa]

Hi everyone, please advise me I am so confused!
My DD is 7.5 months old. Before Xmas she slept brilliantly - would go down about 7.30 wake for a feed around 3/4am then sleep til 7. At Xmas she got a cough, followed quickly in the next few months by a growth spurt, a cold, a stomach bug & a tooth. So basically since Xmas sleep has been rubbish - lots of waking, cuddles, feeding, sleeping in our bed etc. There have been a few nights where she has slept well but most nights she wakes at least 4 times and for the past few days she's been waking every hour. I really try not to feed her every time but sometimes I am so tired I do it cos I know at least we will both sleep again for a bit.
I just don't know whether to ride it out and assume it's more teeth coming - there's a lot of drooling & biting going on- or whether we have got into bad habits and she has forgotten how to settle herself back to sleep? She is crawling now too and often when she wakes at night she's crawling around her cot or trying to stand up.She is on solids now, she has 3 meals a day and i protein her up in her evening meal. She is still having quite a lot of boob in the day as well. Should I increase the amount of solids I'm giving her? Should I cut down boob? I'm just so confused and so tired, I don't know what to do....

[sewingandcakes]

Can she sleep in your bed when she wakes

[widdle]

Wow!! You have described my situation exactly!! DS was waking at all times really upset - also had teething, stomach bug issues, growth spurt (he is nearly 9 months).

I just fed him because it was the easiest way to get him back to sleep (assumed it would help his teething pain if teething, soothe his stomach if upset etc). Thankfully the last couple of nights he has slept through the night again (please please let this continue!!)

Hopefully it calms down for you soon - don't think you have broken her

[sewingandcakes]

I think she'll get the hang of it again too; just be consistent in your approach as much as possible. I also breastfed when they were in pain/upset/teething/ill, just to soothe them really.

[Lucie1908]

My 27 week old is waking 5/6 times in the night for feeds! Shel go to sleep straight after but I'm finding it so tiring, I'm trying to ween her at the moment too which is better some days than others but am trying to get her off the boob too and she doesn't take a bottle! It takes me about 45 mins to get her to sleep as well as I have to wait till she's finished feeding!ive read that from 6months baby's shouldn't need feeding throughout the night and that now it's just habit!? Any advice? X

[TheCatSofa]

Thanks everyone. sewingandcakes I do end up bringing her into bed pretty much every night and she sleeps better when in with us but aren't I creating terrible bad habits? Everything i read tells me everything i am doing is wrong but i just don't know how to change things.

[widdle]

Hi Lucie1908, don't believe everything you hear. Its normal for babies over 6 months to still need a feed over night (especially) if breastfed. 5/6 times is a lot of wake ups though - you poor thing! Have you tried some gentle sleep training? Does she go to sleep on the boob? After 6 months we did some sleep training. Tried cc but that was awful and ds did not respond well so instead did the methods in the no cry sleep solution website. You stay in the room with them. You are supposed to gradually retreat out of the room but I never bothered with that. I lie on the floor and sing - haha! Ds goes to sleep happily and within minutes now. It really reduced the amount of wake ups.

I still feed ds when he wakes up and he is 9 months. Its usually only once a night though and he sometimes sleeps allnight.

Thecatsofa - try not to beat yourself up about creating bad habits. If everyone sleeps better when she is in bed with you then that is obviously working. Its hard thinking you are creating bad habits. I ended up throwing out all my baby books and feel much better for it!

good luck!

[sewingandcakes]

thecatsofa go with your instincts, rather than reading too many books. I read all the books if could find with ds1 and to some extent with ds2. I tried loads of different things because books told me to. With ds3, i just go with what feels right, and trust him to find his own way with some gentle guidance. He is getting there too! He now sleeps in his own bed, while occasionally coming to our bed for a sleep. I do sometimes miss him when he's not there!