7 month old with major sleep issues!

[GlummyMummy]

Looking for some advice please! Our 7 month old hasn't always been a great sleeper but in the last few weeks things have got much worse! She goes down for the night at 7.30pm and whereas she used to sleep until about 4am, she is now waking up and crying every hour or so! When we go through to her she is usually up on all fours in the cot so we turn her back round onto her back and put her dummy back in. We are at our wits end, we honestly got more sleep when she was a couple of days old! She still has three daytime naps but also can take a while to settle for these, despite obviously being tired, rubbing her eyes and being grouchy etc. She is a very active baby and is into everything, rarely being still, so wondering if this might have something to do with it. Even when you try to cuddle her to soothe her, she tends to trash about and be trying to grab at things. Is it possible for babies to display hyperactivity so early?! Also wondering if the transition onto solid foods might be making her wakeful? So many new things going on with her, it's hard to know what is causing this.

we had this same problem with our 8 month old (started at 7.5 months) and so last week we dropped his last nap of the day and now he is sleeping through again, more or less.

Sounds familiar! My 7.5m DD has a terrible sleep pattern. She falls asleep on the breast at 8 but only sleeps for an hour then is up partying - literally the life and soul - til midnight. I've just put her down. She does this even when she's shattered. Don't understand it, her 2 sisters were much easier to sleep train.....

Thanks both!

Microchipsandmemories: we are keen to drop the last nap but she often finishes lunchtime nap at 1:30/2 so it's a very long stretch until her bedtime at 7:30 - did you end up shifting the bedtime earlier to accommodate this?

Burnstonebabies: nice to hear from a fellow sufferer! What sleep training did you use with your first two?

Thanks again - exhausting!

we move bedtime depending on his last nap. He was napping from 5 or 6.30 and then going to bed at 7/7.30

now his last chance for a nap is 4 but has to be awake from 5 and then goes to bed at 7. It seems to be working. He will wake around 10 and have a 6 ounce bottle and then sleeps through till about 7. He will wake once in the night but will settle straight away with his dummy. Fingers crossed he's slept through like this for the last 4 or 5 nights.

Good luck, it will get better.

thanks MicrochipsAndMemories, just out of interest, how many naps does your baby have in total throughout the day?

When we dropped the third nap we just made the second nap later.

We went from 10/1/4 to 10/2

he naps usually late morning 10/11ish then one at 1or 2. He will then sometimes nap at 3/4 but often doesn't bother with that nap. Then bed between 6:30 and 7:30 depending on how tired he is.

Mines 7 months and exactly like this! I dropped the afternoon nap and bath and bed half hour earlier also been Tryin the self Soothe which is working too

thanks all! this is really useful. The last couple of days she has only had two naps (one in the morning of 45 minutes and one in the afternoon of 1 hour 30, with her getting up at 2.30pm from the afternoon nap) and her night sleep has been much better. Today, she had 45 minutes in the morning but only had 45 minutes nap at lunch so was up at 1.30pm. She was grouchy by 4pm so have given her a short third nap now. I didnt think 1 hour 30 would be enough day time sleep but now worrying we are going to have a bad night with her tonight. Fingers crossed!

just to update, the last few days she has been sleeping much better at night but now her daytime naps are a disaster! :-(

Even when she is visibly tired and I have got her quite calm ready for her nap, as soon as I place her in the cot she starts crying uncontrollably and arching her back. I really want her to be able to self-soothe which I thought she was learning to do but can't leave her to cry like that. Anyone encountered this?