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Please help! 7 month old false start bedtimes and constant wake ups…

5 replies

Myname111 · 05/05/2026 01:40

Can anyone offer any advice?
My now 7 month old was sleeping great at Christmas time when she was around 3 months old (8,9,10 hour stretches of sleep overnight, no feeds). 4 month regression hit then a viral infection and sleep has just progressively got worse.

rough schedule is -
7am - wake up
9.30am - nap (this could be anything from half an hour to hour and a half)
2 to 2 and a half hour wake window
12.30/1pm - nap (mostly 1 hour but if morning nap was only half an hour this nap tends to be longer but sleeping no later than 2pm)
2 hour wake window
4pm - cat nap (30 mins)
3 hour wake window
7.30pm down to sleep.

she contact naps or naps in the pram when out a walk or in the car if we’re out and about. I’ve tried putting her down for naps in the house and it’s religiously 30 mins every time.

She is cuddled to sleep then put into her bed. Wakes up between 40/50 mins later, at the end of the first sleep cycle. After this it’s just a constant wake up, cuddle back to sleep, back in to bed. She could last 10/30/40 mins or wake immediately when she’s put down but it is constant until we go to bed around 11pm when I feed her and she settles then for around 1-3 hours before it starts again. She will sleep
if we take her into bed with us which we obviously don’t want to do but it happens sometimes through the night when we’re so desperate for some sleep, so I don’t think she’s hungry.

We've tried changing to two naps but the 3 and a half/4 hour wake windows are just far too long for her and didn’t make the slightest bit of difference to bed time.

Around 2 months ago, I tried to do a bit of self settling with her. Put her down into bed awake, singing and stroking her face etc. she was getting it straight away. This was working for about 5 nights then it just didn’t and she was inconsolable.

What are we doing wrong? She can connect sleep cycles later on through the night so why is this first half full of false starts and wake ups?

Will welcome any advice.

Thank you!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
CoffeeTime4583922 · 05/05/2026 09:03

Have you given calpol? My DS was like this when teething. Every tooth took 1 or 2 weeks to come through and he really suffered with it.

Myname111 · 05/05/2026 09:26

CoffeeTime4583922 · 05/05/2026 09:03

Have you given calpol? My DS was like this when teething. Every tooth took 1 or 2 weeks to come through and he really suffered with it.

Yeah this has been going on for weeks and weeks, if not, months. Tried anbesol liquid too. She has just cut a tooth about a week ago but this was going on way before that.

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mindutopia · 05/05/2026 10:43

You aren’t doing anything wrong. This is just what sleep is like at this age. I definitely found 7-12 months to be the hardest months. Teething, solids (which causes all sorts of digestive upset), big developmental changes around mobility (it’s horrific when they start pulling up and want to practice all night long), separation anxiety, possibly starting nursery.

Personally, I wouldn’t try any of this trying to encourage self settling or sleep training or be stressing about sleep cycles. It’s not that she can’t sleep or will not learn to sleep. It’s that this is a phase when sleep is difficult. It’s unlikely that you are going to find a magic solution to make it easy again. You kinda just have to get through to the other side. If co-sleeping is working, do it. Your job is to get sleep, not be a martyr. One day we got to 12 months and it was like we had totally different babies. Sleep got easy. Everything got easy. It’s just a phase.

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Peonies12 · 05/05/2026 13:34

I’d say she needs to be more tired for the night. I’d cap her night after 11 hours, and max 2 hours of day sleep. She is waking lots early on as she isnt tired enough to stay asleep.

Myname111 · 05/05/2026 19:46

mindutopia · 05/05/2026 10:43

You aren’t doing anything wrong. This is just what sleep is like at this age. I definitely found 7-12 months to be the hardest months. Teething, solids (which causes all sorts of digestive upset), big developmental changes around mobility (it’s horrific when they start pulling up and want to practice all night long), separation anxiety, possibly starting nursery.

Personally, I wouldn’t try any of this trying to encourage self settling or sleep training or be stressing about sleep cycles. It’s not that she can’t sleep or will not learn to sleep. It’s that this is a phase when sleep is difficult. It’s unlikely that you are going to find a magic solution to make it easy again. You kinda just have to get through to the other side. If co-sleeping is working, do it. Your job is to get sleep, not be a martyr. One day we got to 12 months and it was like we had totally different babies. Sleep got easy. Everything got easy. It’s just a phase.

Thank you, I did have this exact thought the other night, we just need to ride it out and before we know it we’ll be out the other side. I remember it very well with my first daughter but she had really bad reflux so we knew why she wasn’t sleeping. I think this time around it’s just because we don’t know why but I know what you’re saying, there are so many reasons and all the big changes, I agree.

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