alternatives to Controlled Crying.

[chubbymomie2012]

i have 4 kiddies. a 12 yr old a 9 year old a 22 month old and a 7 month old. the older three all slept well and self soothed and have had no night time problems at all.
However
the youngest is 7 months now and has never slept through the night. He wakens at least every hour overnight he is easy enough to settle if i guve him an ounce or two of milk he settles for an hour or maybe and hour and half if im lucky. i have tried goving him a dummy instead but he only settles for about 10/15 mins when i do this. he eats really well during the day taking 3 meals 2 of which are two courses. he also has about 3 bottles a day too.
I have read lots of books and thought i would do the controlled crying. the problem is he shares a room with my 22 month old and i dont want him to interrupt his sleep. i tried it before and the wee man got himself into such a state he was sick.

does anyone have an alternative to controlled crying or have any advice to offer?

ps. when he is going to bed he falls asleep with his bedtime bottle.

What's his routine during the day?

When his nap time and does he nap in his bed during the day?

Also, IMO 7 months is far too young for cc. And also most 7 month olds don't sleep through.

There was a tread on here a couple of days ago titled '7 month old never slept through'- might be some good info on there for you.

he only has 2 short naps during the day and again falls asleep during his bottle. i appreciate he may not sleep all night but surely wakening 8-9 times a night is excessive?

will he take more than an ounce or 2, or does he fall asleep drinking?

7mo is still young and as poster above said, loads don't sleep through. I'm up all night at the moment with my 6mo who is now in with his big brother, it's hard creeping in and out of their room all night!

sometimes DS2 falls asleep as i walk out of the room with him, other times he wakes for a long feed. tonight I've no idea what's going on and he's been crying when he wakes so am sitting with him sleeping on my knee.

I'm crossing my fingers that it improves at 9/10 months like it did for DS1!

That must be very tiring. Would co-sleeping help?

Jaggythistle thats a nightmare! he settles really easily but yes falls asleep after an ounce or two.
what is co sleeping?

it's just having baby lying in bed with you. :)

if you're bfing (i am) you can even feed lying down and it feels like you get more rest. some people find they wake less if in beside you even if not bfing.

i was co sleeping for part of most nights, but now his cot isn't alongside my bed I've nothing to stop him falling out!

i did find it much more restful than sitting up with him and sometimes falling asleep anyway and waking with a sore neck!

I think you need to break the feed to sleep habit.

It sounds like every time he stirs he needs the milk to get him to sleep rather than a comforter of some sort helping him to settle, or settling himself.

Completely agree every hour or so is excessive!!

Co sleeping is when baby sleeps in bed with you. Can't comment on it as I've never done it.

But we stopped feeding our ds2 to sleep about a month ago and most nights he sleeps through now. (Though is he 15 months now)

Prior to that he was having 1-2 4oz bottles through the night just to comfort him back to sleep.

I still think your ds will need a bottle about 11pm, maybe even again at 5am ish, but if you stop feeding to sleep I think he'll go longer stretches between waking.

sounds right to me any ideas how i stop this cycle?

Change your nap/sleep routine.

We used to feed ds2 in his room next to his bed. When he was asleep we'd put him straight into bed.

Now we feed him downstairs, if he falls asleep feeding, we sit him up when he's finished. Gently talk to him for a couple of minutes using words like bedtime, sleepy, beebee (his comforter) etc.

Then dh takes him up to bed after a cuddle.

Kiss, hug, lie him down in bed, give him his beebee, rub head and night night, close door and walk out.

Like I said though, it may be different for you as your little one is younger. But once you've decided on how you're ping to change your routine, stick to it.

Your ds will pick up quickly (after a few days) what is expected and what is coming up.

Hth

I recommend the book No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley....agree waking that often is for the comfort of getting back to sleep, not hunger. co sleeping is not for everyone, I have done it and it doesn't always make for an easy night anyway...I feel I wake my DS up more easily when next to him and don't get any proper rest. but it's worth a try ...