Help and Advice please.

[Nooshk]

Hello,

I have never posted on here before and nor do I usually read anything on the Internet as it just makes me feel I am doing everything wrong... But... After 6 weeks of little sleep I am turning to others to ask for help and advice please.

My daughter is 7.5 months old. As a newborn she was a great sleeper, used to sleep 10-6 waking for just one feed. At about 4 months things went wrong and she used to wake more frequently, not for a feed just to resettle. She was still in with us then so it would only take a hand on her back or her dummy and she would quickly go back to sleeps. At 6 months she had a terrible cold and we had a rough week where she mainly slept with us as she was so unwell, we then went on holiday for a week. When we can back we moved her into her own room. For the first two nights she slept right through.. 7-6.. We were amazed! Since then though things have gradually got worse! She wakes every night for around 2-3 hours, sometimes she is crying, sometimes just wide awake rolling around cot. The only thing that sends her back to sleep is putting her in with us. I don't mind the idea of co-sleeping but we really don't have the room and I am worried we are, in the long term, making it worse. She goes down for naps and at 7pm awake so i can't understand why she isn't self soothing in the night. We have tried the sleep..lady..shuffle.. Where we sit by her cot and try to resettle with just our voice and touch but after 2-3 hours i am afraid we have given up as we are both exhausted and she is so upset. My family tell me this is a phase that she will grow out of.. But I can't help feeling I am doing something wrong. Can anyone help or give any advice please. I would be very grateful.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

It could be that staying with her and shushing etc is over stimulating for her, I know it would be for my DD'S.

When mine go through phases of this, I find that going in, putt if dummy in and putting on lullaby before leaving is best, they then settle themselves back to sleep.
If I stay and talk or pat them it takes them longer to go off and they get upset because they are so tired.

Might be worth leaving her to try to settle, just pop in every couple of mins so she knows you are there but don't engage her in any way.

[PlanBwastaken]

It is normal, sorry - my ten-month-old has recently started the long waking periods too, albeit from a low base (I dream about her sleeping through, never happened). If we can get to get immediately she might go back to sleep, otherwise it takes hours to sooth her back. The world is simply top exciting to be asleep, apparently.

I have an older rubbish sleeper and I would advice you to go with the cosleeping - don't worry so much about what will happen later, make sure everyone gets enough sleep now. I was just thinking the other day that I can't wait until my baby sleeps like her sister - the sister that was rocked to sleep until she was nine months...