To wonder if it's possible to get the baby to sleep without leaving them to cry?

[FranzFerdinand]

So my DC is 10 months old. From just under 2 months old she would sleep 7 hours straight at night, waking up once in the early hours for a feed and then going back down for another 4ish hours. On a couple of occasions she even slept 12 hour straight.

Foolishly I weaned her off the dummy at 8 months, and she's gained some teeth in the last few months, and now she's up every 2-3 hours all night long, wanting a feed every time she's up.

People around me say I should just leave her in her room alone all night, so that she knows that no-one's coming if she cries and so she stops. Maybe I'm a softy, but that just sounds a bit much for a little baby, especially because she might be crying for a valid reason (i.e: her teeth hurt, nappy has leaked ..etc).

I definitely need to stop breastfeeding at night, but beyond that I'm stumped as to how to get her sleep back on track. Can it be done without just leaving her to cry? An advice would be greatly appreciated

I’d lie in bed with her until she falls asleep then put her in her cot. I made the mistake of spending hours trying to get my oldest two children to fall asleep by themselves. My 4 year old has been led with every night and falls asleep so quickly.

We did gradual retreat, which is where you let them cry but you sit by them. So they learn to go to sleep without being fed/rocked to sleep etc but you know they’re not scared.
You can pat them a bit but try not to pick up.
You then move a few inches away every few days.

Worked for us from day one.

You can google it for the full details.

Oh we did the lying in bed/on the floor with two of ours too. That worked as well.

Sorry I missed about the waking at night, can you sit with your hand stroking her? There’s no prizes for not having a dummy at that age, if it helps give it back x

Yes. It just takes time. No need to leave them to cry but it is hard work.

I still cuddle my LG to sleep and she will be 3 in January. She very occasionally will be put into bed awake and is generally good but I know if we didn't do the cuddle at all, she would become inconsolable (speaking from experience when we tried the "leave them to cry" method just before she turned 2).

My view is, she goes to bed feeling settled and comfortable. It takes me 10 minutes after her story and doesn't impact on my evening. I also get something out of it, in that if we've had a bad day, it feels like we have a bit of time to become friends again.

Don't feel pressured to leave them to cry.

@Idontbelieveit14 I wish she'd take the dummy back, but once I took it off her she didn't want it anymore, so that's a bit of a dead end. It's hard because she goes to sleep really easily at bedtime (story, cuddle, and a breastfeed, and she's usually out cold and ready to go into her cot within 10 minutes) but she then keeps waking up all night long. I can't put her down unless she's fully asleep or she bounces around her cot full of energy

@SheWoreYellow I'll look into that, I'm just so glad to get some advice

It's hard because she goes to sleep so well at bedtime. The tricky bit is keeping her asleep

We tried the pick up put down method. So you comfort them when they are crying but only for a couple of minutes until they settle. Then back in the cot. If they keep crying you just comfort them and back in the cot and stick to it.
It took a few nights and there are still times when my 11mo won't go back to sleep easily but it's miles better and saved my sanity!