5 m old will not be put down to sleep getting worse....

[MustHaveaVeryShortMemory]

What really bothers me is that she's getting worse. I thought she would 'learn'/get used to being put in her cot but she just screams. The only way I can get her to sleep is by feeding her or putting her in the pushchair.

I can't bear to leave her to cry.

All suggestions welcomed

Is she bf or ff? If the former could she still be hungry? Sounds like typical growth spurt age to me.

If you're sure she's not hungry, I'd stick her in the pushchair and take her out for a long walk. FWIW, ds1 never got used to going in his cot during the day and in the end I gave up trying but would try to do things which would involve him being out in the pushchair at the time of day when I knew he wanted a nap. It made life easier and more pleasant all round.

She's bf but definitely not hungry. Main problem is at night when I can't take her out.

So did your ds get the hang of it eventually?

does she thumb suck or use a dummy? She needs to get used to settling without feeding or you there...
Suggestions from me would be 1. Always nap in cot, and stay in at lunch nap to allow her to get used to napping in cot. 2. Make bedtime routine very regular so she knows that she's going down with lots of warning 3. Controlled crying approach (if hunger and pain ruled out) and if you can't follow through at first stick to not taking from her room and just sitting with her not feeding so out of boredom she chooses eventually to go down. I know it's v horrible to do but it does does work and if done correctly doesn't harm them...
She's old enough to know she's loved and if you're consistent, will also know what's expected of her when put down...

I sympathise with everything you're saying - my DD would only go to sleep if I rocked her in my arms and would then wake the instant I tried to put her down. We cracked it by doing controlled crying when she was about 3 months (after getting advice from the health visitor - I was properly at the end of my tether!) Controlled crying doesn't feel right to everyone, and I'm in no way suggesting that you should do it if you're not comfortable with the concept.......just wanted to let you know that it worked for us.

I'm a real softie- can't handle even 30 secs of unhappy noises even when playing and my kiddies needs are met immediately BUT controlled crying at three months gave me solid nights ever since and a baby who plays in bed before she goes down and when waking as she's so happy to be in bed! Recommend it over and over but set yourself two days with no distractions or disapproving guests and get a strong friend on speed dial!

FWIW I'm in excatly the same position. My dd is 7 months and has gradually got worse. Will only be rocked to sleep. Now she is being weaned and bottles have been replaced she's finding it really hard to sleep in the day as these would have put her to sleep- she is hardly sleeping in the day- only has 2 x 30 min naps which have to be on me or dh unless out in pushchair. Plus at night she is fed then sleeps on me- but if we try and put her down too soon she wakes again. Its getting later and later each night with her not in bed till 10pm when she always went at 7pm and slept right through in her own room from 6 weeks. My ds was never like this but I had a better routine with him from the word go- never rocked him and always woke him before putting him down to sleep so he learnt to settle himself from a young age. I'm trying controlled crying tonight- and she managed to get herself off to sleep for 15 mins but is up again now. But I know its worth doing as usually only need to do it for about 3 nights to establish a rountine, its just hard to follow through and not keep bringing her down

Sarahken- good luck tonight. If you're tired yourself maybe do for lunchnap instead for first time? If you're determine then stick to it!!! Hold out as long as poss and don't do too much popping in and out if angers her! If you have to reassure then do it quickly! It's a her or you situation! Best of luck! Hope DH is on same wavelength.
My experience was 45mins first time. Then same second time (half an hour later) then 25 mins at next sleep then sleeping through night no fuss and easy put down every nap! Good luck x

MustHaveaVeryShortMemory, ds1 never did grow out of it really for naps, but thankfully was always very good at bedtime. As was ds2.

I found with both of mine that a bedtime routine worked great, in terms of both from being a couple of weeks old had bath, feed, bed type routine in the evening. I'm not claiming it made them sleep through the night (it didn't, especially not with ds2 who was still exclusively bf at 5 months and therefore waking every 1-2 hours for feeds), but it did help to get them down in the evening and even when I knew there would be a night of feeding ahead, it did give me back my evenings.

Thanks for all your suggestions and yes its nice to know I'm not alone.

btw facebookaddict, she wont have a dummy. She does suck her fingers but can't always seem to find them. Have a good night everyone!!

I'm sure if you do C C she'll find thumb or use fingers... Would make world of diff to your put downs... Good luck!

how long does she sleep at a stretch? My 5mo the same, but then also wakes on average every hour - sometimes more.