to leave my dd2 to cry herself to sleep

[igetmorelovefromthecat]

She is fed, she is changed, there is nothing wrong with her. She just wants me to lie next to her with my nipple in her mouth all night I've had enough of it.

She is 7.5 months old. I haven't had a decent night's sleep for 15 months (crap pg).

She is bawling her head off upstairs. I feel really crap but I can't take it anymore. She wakes up at least 10 times a night and I have had enough.

I feel really evil though.

I'd do what squeaky said and try her again with a dummy, it sounds like she needs to comfort suck and obviously if she can suck on a dummmy instead of your nipple, you'll both get a decent night's sleep.

I don't know if your DD is a little old, but have you tried swaddling? I have just successfully weaned my 5 month old DS from a Dummy but he is totally reliant on swaddling and a lovey to go to sleep in his cot. We were at a stage where he would only nap in bed with me beside him plugging the dummy, but in the last week he has started going in his cot, without the dummy and is sleeping a lot better.

He does have a cry to go to sleep. I leave him and time 4 minutes. I have to sit and look at the clock, otherwise I would give in. I have learnt the difference between 'I'm really crying' to 'I'm just crying myself to sleep'...he groans and moans then screams as he drops off...then there is silence...the repeated a couple of times. I've got used to it now as I know it's his way of going to sleep. I think his crying for a couple of minutes is his way of saying 'I'm shattered' and letting off steam. Now he usually takes about 2-3 minutes to drop off so long as I have let him wind down before sleep time...

Maidbloke is right...I wouldn't introduce a dummy now, I used to be replugging every 1/2 hour through the night...baby wakes up crying because he was knackered and I'd wake up crying because I couldn't face another day without sleep...so glad I got rid of it (although it's more difficult to settle him when he wakes in the night)

Tonight? Well the menace is sat right next to me waving one of her toys around with a grin on her face!

She was knackered at about 7pm but really snotty, I lay with her and fed her to sleep, propped up on some pillows, but she woke up after 15 minutes, I think she was too snuffly to sleep. Gave her some Calpol and she has been very cheery since then, watched the end of Toy Story 3 with me and DD1 and played with her toys. Tried putting her back down at 9pm and I fed her to sleep again, then lay there for ages with her. Unlatched her and moved away and as soon as I did she started crying. So I lay down and shushed loudly at her as someone suggested here, did it for ages and her breathing had got deeper and I thought 'hurrah, it's worked, must go and report that on MN'. Then I stopped at looked at her to check she was asleep and she slowly turned her head to me and gave me the cheekiest smile you have ever seen!

See what I am up against?!

It sounds like you may be going back to her too soon. If you walk out and leave her for a couple of mins you'll soon find out if she really is going to cry properly. Sometimes DD cries for about 10secs because she doesn't want me to go, then calms down and drops off.

If she has a proper cry I go in and cuddle, sometimes bf, then put her down and leave again.

And the most idiotic statement of the bloody decade goes to "...Learning to self-settle is an important life skill ..."

LIFE SKILL .... ooeerrr Miiiisssss.

Well an update, I have managed to get her to sleep a few times now by feeding her, then rolling over and still having body contact with her but just turning my back to her, and she will drop off quite quickly.

It feels like progress. She still goes bananas if I leave the room before she's asleep but at least she can go to sleep without the aid of a nipple now!

Great stuff. Keep it up and you'll have changed her routine totally before long!