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Original poster

7mnth old gone a bit to pot!

10 replies

yoda · 28/10/2003 08:49

Hi all,

I have a lovely son (nearly 7mnths) who upto a month ago was sleeping well - 7.30pm - 6ish. Then i think that he started to teethe (no teeth yet) and he caught a cold which has just recently cleared up. During this time he started waking a couple of times in the night and i fed him as he wasn't drinking his normal milk during the day. He now doesn't need feeding but is still waking during the night.
Last night he went to bed just after 7pm and woke at 8.30 and 9.30pm, he was easy to settle as he was nodding off when picked up. We then decided to bring him downstairs and sleep next to him (him on a duvet and one of us on a campbed!) where he slept till 5am. It just seems to be that he doesn't want to settle without us (although he settles well when he is put to be), or am i destined to a life on a campbed. Any thoughts/suggestions would be very welcome as i am starting to get a crook back !

OP posts:
aloha · 28/10/2003 09:21

What happens when he wakes? Does he cry or just burble? If he was already nodding off when you wen into him, I'd have just left him. He obviously can settle himself so I'd leave him to it - a little crying won't hurt him and you'll all sleep better and have happier lives (IMO) if you tackle this now. It's only a habit. Actually, if he was that sleepy I'm a bit mystified as to why you decided to bring him downstairs and sleep there!

aloha · 28/10/2003 09:22

PS, don't assume he must be teething. My ds didn't have any teeth until 13months, but I was CONSTANTLY told he was teething from about three months!

fisil · 28/10/2003 17:02

DS did this at about the same age - we assumed it was because that was when he started nursery. But maybe it is a deveopmental stage?

mollym · 28/10/2003 17:24

I agree with aloha...it is only a habit, it takes 2 days to form them and 2 days to break them (or thereabouts!). I learnt the hard way, (after 9 months of not having a single night of unbroken sleep!!) I did the old sleep training technique, which in my book is just basically leaving them to settle on their own. No feeding, no patting, no rocking, no picking up, sounds abit harsh but It works a treat, in fact it only took 2 or 3 days and he was sleeping beautifully through the night. As long as your little one is not ill - be brave and give it a go, but once you've made your descision stick to it and see it through till you get results. Sorry to go on...and maybe some of it wasn't relevant, but you caught me on a sensitive subject!

morocco · 28/10/2003 17:56

hey yoda
no real suggestions but it happens on and off to us with ds who's now 13 months - usually we leave him to settle himself a bit (listening to his whimpers to see if he really needs us if you see what I mean) and go to settle him if he needs it. Sometimes I let him fall back to sleep on my chest of share the bed - he did this for a few weeks once. But he's always gone back to his good sleep habits by himself so far so if you do spend a couple of nights on the sofa or anything like that it doesn't necessarily mean a life of it!
Hope that helps not depresses!

Original poster
yoda · 29/10/2003 08:52

Hi all,

Thanks for your suggestions. I think we are going to try and leave him in his cot and resettle him there. We only take him downstairs because he rolls himself over and then shuffles to the foot of the cot and jams his head in one side of the cot and his feet in the other! We have tried putting him back on his back but he will settle and then sometime in the night he will get himself back there again Last night he rolled onto his side and settled himself, so we left him as he was propped against the side and couldn't have got onto his front, but he woke himself and couldn't get comfy again so yelled for us ! Has anyone tried the bolster type thing that you can use to let babies sleep on their sides ?

OP posts:
nursie · 29/10/2003 08:58

Hi yoda. Have you tried putting him in a Grobag? We put our 6 month old ds in one a few weeks ago as he started moving around his cot too, and either got cold or uncomfortable, and was therefore waking up a lot.
Since then he's been much better at settling himself back to sleep.

aloha · 29/10/2003 09:12

I agree with the recommendation for a baby sleeping bag - they are fantastic. Also don't worry about sleeping on his front now he's 7months. If they can get themselves face down they are strong enough to lift their heads and it is safe. I'm sure you don't need to turn them over or wedge them - Gina says so!.

elliott · 29/10/2003 09:13

yoda - if your baby can roll over, you don't need to worry about him sleeping on his front. It is only a potential problem re overheating for babies who can't roll themselves back over. My ds started sleeping on his front as soon as he learnt to roll over, it would have been futile trying to keep him on his back or sides!

elliott · 29/10/2003 09:14

ooops simultaneous post!

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