7 Month Old who wont sleep

[teenagemum19]

My baby is 7 months and has got into a pattern of waking through the night. Doing controlled crying is impossible as she screams when you go to leave the room again and ends up making herself sick. I also find it very difficult to get her to go to bed awake, she screams as soon as I set her into the cot. I have tried everything and I am at the end of my tether, I can't remember what it is like to have a full nights sleep, please help!

[teenagemum19]

By the way I am new to this so I am not really sure what I am doing, would really appreciate hearing advice from anybody!

[Abwab]

hi there. How many hours is your daughter sleeping during the day? It might be worth making sure that she doesn't have more than 3 -3 1/2 hours. I stuck to this and it seemed to work for my son (9mth). I have never tried controlled crying but know people who said it worked for them if you stick at it, although i wouldn't be too keen if my baby was being sick. re putting her in her cot awake - umm all i can suggest is you keep reasuring her and slowly extend the time you leave between visits to the nursery.

sorry i can't be of more help but i'm sure loads of others out there will be able to offer advice. Good luck x

[Tessiebear]

If you cant bear to do CC - how about the "pick up, put down" method. I am not sure exactly how it works but i know it is not as severe as CC. One thing though - she must be put to bed in her cot AWAKE.

[Littlefish]

I agree with Abwab. Try and make sure your baby has no more than 3 to 3.5 hours sleep between 7am and 7pm. I also make sure my dd has her last sleep at 4.00-4.30 so she is then really tired by the time I put her down at 7.00pm.

How long does your dd scream for if you put her to sleep awake?

Does she have a comfort toy with her?

Do you have a "winding down" routine at the end of each day before you put her to bed?

Sorry, lots more questions than suggestions!

[LizP]

Well I'm on number 3, he is 8.5 months and still wakes every 1-2 hours at night - so I ought to know better. No1 slepts really badly, number 2 was really easy and no3 seems better than 1 but worse than 2. so no real advice - but you're not alone! Bed sharing saved my sanity with number 1, no 3 I'm sticking with the cot - just so I can leave him with a babysitter sometimes.

[spidermama]

My number 4 (5 months old) still wakes 5/6 times in the night but like Liz I have him in bed with me so I can get back to sleep really quickly.
It WILL get better so hang in!

[marne]

Hi teenagemum, i know how you feel my dd is now 17 months old and still doesnt sleep through the night, she also makes her self sick when she crys. Its taken me an hour and a half to get her to sleep tonight. Wehave managed to get her to go to sleep on her own but not to sleep through, she has only slept through 5 times! Hope you get some sleep soon!

[kbaby]

Hi,
My dd is 13 months and was/is the same as yours. Shes only slept through maybe 5 times. We tried CC twice but found it didnt work and she made herself sick and creid for 2 hrs every night for a fornight b4 we gave up. This is what we do which has helped.
put her in the cot drowsy but awake. Put your hand on her back/side so she knows your there. If shes calm remove your hand, if she cries put it back and stroke her until shes calm again. Once you can lift your hand without her crying just stand by the cot, then move a step away at a time. If she cries go back and put your hand back.
We do this with DD and she can now stand so each time we lay her back down and stand there for a bit. if she cries when we move away we go back. After a bit they get a glazed look which means even though they are awake they dont notice your gone. This normally takes us about 10-15 mins each night. Somethimes less sometimes more.Youd have thought that the need for us to stay with her would get less as it went on but it hasnt. But at least theres no crying and shes in her cot.
As with the night time waking. We havent cracked that and DD wakes once where we give her milk and once where we give the dummy or lay her back down.
I hope this helps. I know how tought it is when they wont sleep.

[madrose]

hy, I did something very similar to Kbaby - and it does work. Takes a bit of time and patience, but believe me it's worth it.

I do feel for you as there is nothing worse than being deprived of sleep.

good luck

[teenagemum19]

Thanx everybody for the tips, It def isn't that she gets too much sleep during the day. I find if she sleeps better at night she will sleep better during the day so at the minute she isn't sleeping much during the day. Two nights ago we had an improvement she only got up once for a bottle, I put this down to using Nelsons Teetha powder before she went to bed. I am now starting to think the night wakening is because her gums are sore, she has been teething for four months and she still has no teeth! I think shes has got used to seeing me once she wakes in the night and now she sees me as a comfort. Im just finding it hard to get up because she was so good before, she slept every night from 10 until half 8. Hope im not dragging on but does anyone have any tips on teething now? Thanx again

[BIZZIELIZZIE]

Hi DD2 is 10 month and has just started to sleep through the night before then it was hell. She now has her first tooth seemed to be teething forever. Two things i have changed i have bought a summer growbag and medised it is like calpol but has a slight antistemine which eases teething pains and aids sleep.She has done the last two nights 7.00 until 6.30 hope it lasts. She screams too when i put her in cot so i wait until shes really tired put her in put on a nursery ryhme tape and place my hand on her nappy and just tap gently and shush this always works. She is used to this and i can generally resettle her this way as well.