6 month-old still sleeing like a newborn

[Sappholit]

My baby is six months old today and is still sleeping like a newborn. It takes at least two hours to settle her in the evenings (with routine of bath, massage feed in a quiet darkened room, etc) and she wakes every hour afterwards.

We were trying to get her to sleep in her own bed, but when she was four months old, I had to give in and co-sleep because the deprivation was too much for me to cope with.

Now, she sleeps in our bed and wakes frequently, and is getting increasingly demanding about being fed and wants to just sleep while breastfeeding all night. (She has always wanted this.)

We have tried and tried to get her to take a dummy, but she won't. I have tried a formula feed last thing at night and that hasn't helped. I started weaning her at 24 weeks and she is now on three meals a day.

It is definitely not hunger that's waking her.

I'm totally stuck as to what to do. She hasn't made any progress with sleeping since she was born, and I'm exhausted.

My 7 month old does this too Sappholit, has gone from being an OK sleeper to bad.

Have you read the No Cry Sleep Solution? I am trying it as I'm not keen to do controlled crying.

Our DD lies beside me and just bfeeds all night and we're all exhausted. I know how you feel.x

my second child was like that.
we used the no cry sleep solution when he was about 9/10 months and improved it a lot (mainly by finally persuading him to take a dummy)

I've had some success with the No Cry Sleep Solution with my 7 month old. I was feeding him to sleep every time he woke, which was every 1.5 hours or so. I've managed to resettle him without a feed more often than not and he is waking less frequently than he was. Getting his naps right made the big difference to this, though.

How does she nap? What time does she go to bed? I wonder whether she's overtired at bedtime which is why she takes so long to settle?

Also had success with the NCSS, but be warned it takes a long time and it can be 1 step forward, 2 steps back. DS has slept really well since being about 22mo- it was a gradual improvement between 12mo when we started and then. I do wish I'd read it sooner!

Have you seen the Dr Sears website? There are loads of ideas here, and also lots of reassurance that you're not doing anything wrong, just coping with a crap sleeper.

It does get easier as they get older- I think the hardest time is around 6mo when you're being told your baby should be sleeping through, it seems like everyone else's baby sleeps like an angel and the cumulative effect of months of shite sleep catches up with you. There are plenty things you can try though so don't lose heart.

Finally, we discovered that DS had a cows milk intolerance when he was about 22mo. He started sleeping all night within days of taking him off cows milk. This may bear no relevance whatsoever for you but I was so gutted we didn't spot it sooner that I always mention it now.

Best of luck :)

My DD2 is 6 months on the 20th and have been having similar problems. I hate not knowing whether she is waking up because she is hungry/teething, or because she has learnt that I will feed her if she cries.

I had also ended up taking her into bed with us and feeding her most of the night due to exhaustion. However, I finally decided enough was enough and that she was going to sleep and sleep in her cot.

My rules were: she goes into her cot awake when she goes down for a sleep and once she is in her cot she stays in it until 6. I don't mind letting her cry for a few minutes without going in, but I can't listen to her scream for longer than 5 minutes, and I also worry that she will wake up DD1. Instead of picking her up I held her hands, put her dummy in (I realise you are struggling with dummy's) stroke her head etc. It did take a few days of not much sleep, but she is now sleeping much better than she was. Eg, last night she woke up at 12 and it look an hour to get her back off to sleep (I didn't take her out of her cot, just stroked her face etc). However, once she was asleep she didn't wake up again until 6. You can tell you are a Mummy when you are impressed at getting 5 hours sleep!

It's the most horrible thing in the whole world not getting enough sleep, but it really does get better. My DD1 is nearly 2 and sleeps well now, and I would never have believed that possible if you had asked me when she was 6 months old!

I agree that things like the NCSS can take a while, but it does depend on the baby and how 'ingrained' the habits are, IMO. We've seen progress within a week simply by resettling without feeding. However, DS was only waking with quite this frequency for a few weeks - before that, he would generally do one 4-hour stretch in the night.

It is taking longer to have an effect on the number of wakings before my bedtime, but these have been going on for months rather than weeks. It does seem to be improving, though, as it gets faster and faster to settle him.

Sorry, yes, there is often regular progress- I just meant it would take time to go from sleeping like a newborn to sleeping all might every night. Each little step along the way is a massive achievement- I remember doing a little victory dance the first time DS went to sleep in his cot!

hi my 6 mont old did this, we also co sleep. i have moved everything an hour early from teatime, play bedtime routine bath, massage feed etc and for the past 3 nights he has gone every 3 hours.
might be worth a try.

hairy, you are right - I have managed my expectations so well that I keep forgetting that sleeping right through is the eventual aim! My current goal is for him to only wake up when he's actually hungry and I will be really happy if/when he achieves it!

raindroprhyme's suggestion would help if overtiredness is part of the problem - definitely worth a go.