Help from those who've used Ferber method (no anti-controlled crying posts please)

[lifesobeautiful]

I have a wonderful little 7mo DD who goes down at bedtime (7pm) without any assistance and is a champion napper (2 hours in morning, 2 hours in afternoon). I've always put her down awake, she's been self-settling since the early days. She loves her bedroom, not remotely nervous of being on her own, and generally loves sleep. She has two sleep aids - a dummy and a muslin.

Unlike my first DS who slept through from 8 weeks, I was giving her a bottle when she woke at about 3am - then she'd sleep till 7 or so. About a month ago I stopped feeding her in the night - as I could see she didn't need it and eats like a horse all day. Loves her formula and has three hearty meals. She WAS fine with that.

HOWEVER, her sleep is just getting worse and worse. She now wakes 5 or 6 times in the night some nights. I used to be able to give her her dummy and she'd go back down. But not the case now. She can put her dummy in on her own.

SO, I'd like to try the Ferber method, but can it work with a baby who settles herself? She has not problem going to sleep at 7pm - only starts waking at about 1am/2am. And do I need to ditch the dummy or could I just leave it in the cot and stop putting it in for her? I've always left her cry a bit - but she just doesn't seem to fall asleep!

Would be very grateful for any help please!

Thank you Miaow! Just had a look at the sleepytot - looks lovely! How would she detach the dummy to suck it though? Or does it stay attached while they suck? I've wondered if she was too hot actually, so changed her bedding a bit. Maybe I need to examine this a bit more. Thank you!

There is a sleep regression that kicks in somewhere around this point... Might be a case of digging in and getting over the rough patch

Watching with interest I'm in the exact same position with my 6 month old who also has a dummy. Been thinking about CC for the middle of the night which is the only time he needs it. We've gone from sleeping through to 1-2 hour wakings in the middle of the night! Getting a bit wearing! :-)

Also just a thought. By now mine was napping less. 45 mins in the morning and 2 hours at night and in bed by 7:30. Time to cut back on the morning nap? And in fact DS gave it up not long after this age.

Yes, I would cut morning nap back to 30/40 minutes.

YY to the Sleepytot bunny, it was the best thing ever for us and I liked the idea that once time comes to give up dummy rabbit is still there to comfort if needed

Ferber has a lot of methods but assuming you're talking about controlled crying, this probably isn't going to be of any use to you unless you want to stop with the dummy.

I suspect that the dummy is the problem as it is a negative sleep prop so, as others have suggested you can either find ways for her to find a dummy herself when she wakes - glow in the dark dummies and lots of them in the cot or a sleeptot or you can ditch the dummy.

If you want to ditch the dummy and teach her to truly self settle without any sleep props, then controlled crying would probably work.

At 7 months it shouldn't take very long at all as she probably can't pull herself up to standing to protest.

I also like this guide to average daily sleep www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/1961605-Help-from-those-whove-used-Ferber-method-no-anti-controlled-crying-posts-please?msgid=44208343#44208343

Doh - wrong copy and paste www.mybabysleepguide.com/2013/02/average-sleep-charts-by-age.html

Thank you all so much! Great advice every post. Miaow and Shiny - what size sleeptot did you get? Looking on amazon and they have large and small versions.

I started with the small but now use the large as my DS is 15 months (plus it's harder to squeeze through the gaps in the cot)

Okay - great! I'll do the same and order the small. Thank you! I'll also cut her morning nap down as suggested. Going to stop putting the dummy in her mouth tonight and just put seversl around her- and then attach to sleepytot. Clarabell sounds like our babies are doing exactly the same thing! She wakes and chats for ages (I don't go in) then eventually starts crying. Exhausting! Will start CC in 2 weeks if no improvement.

We have a cuddly toy elephant that has thin fabric ears so I just use a dummy clip and link the dummy to it - didn't know they made a specific thing for that. When the toy was in the wash I linked it to a muslin cloth for dd to cuddle and be able to find the dummy.

Now she's allowed the cuddly toy for daytime comfort but without the dummy as she only has that for sleeping and it lives in her cot. Works well for us. Good luck - sleep is so precious :)

I agree with the poster who said you should think about cutting down your morning nap.

My 3 all had short morning naps by this age and then a longer post lunch one. Also, whilst she may then be happy to sleep longer in the afternoon it's better not to let her as it will have an impact on her nighttime sleep. Well it did with my 3.

I agree you should consider reducing a nap time during the day but maybe she's also going through a growth spurt, very common around 7/8 months? As such she might have been ok without a night time feed for a little while but is maybe needing it again now for a bit.