What's the best (kindest) way to teach a 6 month old to go to sleep in her cot?

[Fevrier]

I have fed her to sleep so far and am now being paid back by hourly wakings ......

For naps I can rock her and put her in her pram and sometimes she just goes to sleep, so she has sleep associations with naps for her pram....

Bedtime it's a breast feed and then down when asleep but multiple rockings and feedings all night long - and it's getting silly.

Can anyone advise me how I should go about getting her down awake? I am so so so tired that I feel baffled by the whole thing and quite lost.

Ahhh bless her!! Sounds adorable :) my DD is a long way off crawling I think, and 6 months tomorrow. Don't beat itself up. It's still a whole lot better than it was! How did ur night go ?! Xx

Dreadful night last night. DD was up and down all night from 12. Waking really frequently and taking forever to be settled off again. I just don't understand what is going wrong. She has never woken more than 2-3 times per night. The only change is that I am now not bfing her back to sleep each time she wakes- she gets a feed at 10pm then 2am only.
On a positive note, the later bedtime seemed to work well last night, went in at 7pm and didn't wake til 10. Tried to replicate this evening, put her in at 6:45..... oh crap, can hear her now.....................

How are u both getting on?! Xxx

Terribly. Thanks for asking. Have resorted to co-sleeping to try to get some sleep, but I find it exhausting as I am checking that I am not smothering her the whole night. I think it is her teeth, but she has had symptoms on and off for a couple of weeks now- how long do teeth take to come through?? Am waiting for my book on gradual retreat to drop through the door and then we begin. Hardcore. She is overtired and not napping well either.
I just can't believe that this is the same child that has always slept well in her moses basket and cot. :(

How are things going for you two? Fevrier how is the self settling going?

Oh she slept in our bed last night because she was just wide awake for a couple of hours... TEETH! I had fed her to sleep at bedtime because I have a painful blocked duct and had to feeeeeeeed for ages to get it moving.

Thanks for asking MJtay and olivestree.

Olives - hope you can improve nights a bit soon. Is it that your baby wants constant patting or is it a feeding issue? I am not sure (maybe I shouldn't say this) but youngish babies can't necessarily fall asleep without crying or some help unless you get lucky with a thumb sucker like MJtay....

Self settling not great. I am rocking the cot basically. But at least if she falls asleep in the cot not on me then she doesn't wake as much. But teeth are messing things up. She is so grumpy in the day and screams out a lot at night.

I don't expect a miracle at this stage. I find older babies more wakeful and troublesome than tiny babies! But I have hope that at 11 or 12 months she will understand more and I can night wean her then. Or maybe earlier. and really teach self settling.

I have been reading Nectarina's thread (having hidden it by accident for weeks) and I have decided that I will try gradual withdrawal later. Thing is that I know that so much can go wrong between now and later that I can't be bothered to go to great lengths to hear crying and resist feeding her etc... I am sure it will be easier later. And quicker later.

Been torturing myself with a dummy as she took a nap using one yesterday but luckily at night time she absolutely refused. Then took it herself and tried it. Then spat it out and refused totally. So that is a relief as otherwise it is so tempting but COULD be so disastrous.......

Have there been any studies on the optimum time to sleep train?

Oh but naps are still great. So that's a help. Dropped to 2 of an hour or so each (one more). But that could be a coincidence with her age. She is 7 months and my son did the same at this age. But I started the 'teaining' around the same time........ So it could be age or crawling or training or all three or something else completely.

That nectarina thread gives me hope but I really do think it is something for older babies to be honest.

Ahhh sorry to hear things aren't that great with u both!! But better is good, even If nit completely solved.

That said fevrier, my DD doesn't always suck her thumb! Very often she just rolls on her side/ turns her head to a side, and just closes her eyes and goes to sleep. Like she knows she needs to sleep when she's tired now. Xxx

Oh brilliant MJtay, sounds like your dd is totally sorted then! One happy little sleeper. You must be delighted.... Clever baby!

Absolutely....... Until the teeth start arriving!!! Eek xxx