7mo still waking up many times in night - please share your advice/stories with me

[Rachel153]

My DD used to be a great sleeper at 2-3 months but since 4 months she has been terrible.
Now at 7 months she is still waking frequently throughout the night. In the last few days her naps have got shorter and her morning get up time is slowing creeping earlier and earlier. She has just learnt to crawl - could this be the reason and if so, how long is it likely to last?

When husband gets up to her in the night (I stopped night feeds nearly 2 weeks ago as I was sure she didn't need them, not being interested in food or milk for most of the morning) he says she has always got herself onto all fours so we're wondering if she's waking herself up by rolling onto tummy - she's still not able to roll herself back onto her back.

Now, I know most babies are determined and of course they all have a mind of their own, but my DD has always been super alert, finds it impossible to switch off and doesn't do drowsy. She's either awake or asleep, there's no inbetween. I have read about highly alert babies being difficult to 'sleep train' but I don't know how true this is.

I'm desperate for her to learn to self settle in the hope it'll reduce the number of night wakings and also so that I can put her down in cot awake and not have to rock her to sleep all the time (I have CFS/ME and am exhausted, not to mention in pain from her weight) but I'm also not getting the vibes that she's ready to be left to cry to sleep. I understand that consistency is the key. I'm just wondering if there is anyone who has/had a similar baby that CC or some other sleep training method worked for??

I have tried on numerous occasions in the past to leave her to sort herself out, with me popping back in at intervals and trying to settle her in the cot without picking her up but she goes absolutely berserk. I've seen babies and children cry but this was something else. It always ends up with me picking her up and giving up on trying to get her to sleep because she's so distraught. And it takes a long time to get her to stop crying too.

Sorry for the essay, I just wanted to give some background info!

My DS is a lot older so I can't be sure my advice would be suitable for a 7 month old but have you looked at this thread?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/a1394888-What-worked-for-us-Hope-this-helps

That is where I would start.
If I could go back I would have definitely tried some gentle gradual retreat to see if it helped. I feel like with my DS some of the night wakes have been harder for him to drop because it's such an ingrained habit ( that may be total rubbish but I wish I had tried sooner!)
For what it's worth I was sceptical that my DS would settle to sleep without being held etc but it was all much less traumatic than I expected and it has helped a lot.
We haven't ever left him to cry without going to him for more than a minute - we just try to settle him with less and less intervention in the hope he will learn to settle himself in the night as well as bedtime this is still a work in progress.
Good luck.

Thanks for your reply I will have a read.