6 month old sleep meltdown nightmare - help!

[delilah88]

My 6 month old's sleep has got worse and worse to the point where she won't sleep in her own cot at all and so spends every night with us in our bed. No matter how tired she is or how deeply asleep, once she's transferred from arms/our bed to cot she wakes up and starts crying.

Has anyone else had this? Please tell me it is just a phase....

I think that it is a clingy phase but have you tried a bit of controlled crying??

Both of my DS are/were clingy sleepers. With DS1 we did a bit of controlled crying and he would eventually drop off and might then wake at 4am and end up in our bed, but at least we got some sleep without baby!
With DS2 it has been much harder because we can't let him cry too much as it wakes up DS1.

Have you tried putting your LO in the cot and just resting your hand on the back, stroking or patting gently? We used to put DS1 down, leave him, he'd cry for a bit, then we'd pop up and not pick him up but lie him down and rest a hand on him and it would calm him enough for him to go back to sleep.

It is a tricky phase but a bit of tough love now will pay off in the long run. I had a friend that didn't try the tough love approach and ended up with a toddler in her bed and it had a really negative impact on her relationship with DP.

I would really advise against the controlled crying method. It has numerous negative effects on children. Have you tried the no sleep solution? www.pantley.com/elizabeth/books/0071381392.php?nid=386&isbn=0071381392

Yes it's just a phase. She might be getting her teeth too - average is around 6 months.

I found cosleeping saved our sanity and dd stopped around 9/10 months once I found I was actually disturbing her.