2 hours to settle in evening

[BibbleBoo]

Hi my 5 month(nearly) old little girl has started taking forever to settle in the evenings, I try the bath and bed routine and she is generally in bed by 6.30 to 7pm. once bathed she is really ready to sleep and desperate for milk. I feed her a lot on the lead up to bed so its not that she is hungry.
I feed her to sleep so i guess that the reason she constantly wakes every 1/2 hour or so is because she cant self settle. i feel like i'm spending all evening yo yoing up and down the stairs to feed or rock her to sleep.
generally by 8.30-9 I give up and go to bed as well then she usually settles for 2 to 2.5 hrs at a time...I used to shuffle away from her in the bed at night so that she wouldnt get to used to me being next to her, also so that i could get a comfy sleep!! now though she generally wakes 5 mins after i move away!!
I wonder is it due to the cold weather or is this just a phase...frustratingly she can occasionally settle herself and did this last night as I sprinted up to fetch a dummy from upstairs as she just wanted to suckle I thought i woudl pop dummy in and sneak away which sometimes works...when I returned dummy in hand she was snoring away!!! trouble is I then woke her trying to move my pillow awy from her...grrr!
also last night she found it hard between 3-4am to settle or feed to sleep. Anyone else have this problem..I feel like i'm doing everything wrong...will she grow out of it or is that wishfull thinking...I cant bear to let her cry it out....she's such a happy contented little soul....its just the settling ;o(

I remember this 5 month period being quite hard work too. I hung on to 26 weeks for weaning but definitely noticed the breastfeeds picking up around this time. But it does get better!

A few thoughts:

Do you think she is really ready to go to sleep at 7? At around this time I began to keep my baby up a bit later as he just didn't seem tired and it was futile to be trying to get him into bed earlier.

Warmth - maybe try putting a thin cardigan on under or over the sleeping bag.

Sounds - have you tried any white noise, lullabies or Slumber bear?

Darkness - is it properly dark in the room?

Naps - does she have a good daytime nap? Maybe try fixing that nap at a particular point in the day using buggy walks and then it will help the night time sleep.

Hi thanks for reply...am trying the white noise as we speak...will let u know how it goes X

Well, have now been trying no feeding on demand but 4 hourly and really getting into routine...napping really well and sleeping better, still 3 - 4 times up in the night but settling much better its a miracle!!!
:)