Controlled crying - BABY 7MTHS how and should i do it?

[lovecloud]

Hello

Sick of her night episodes, she wakes in the night and will not settle for two hours!!!

Usually around 11pm and then 3/4am - Each time she screams like she is in pain until you pick her up then she settles as you rock her. As soon as her head hits the mattress she SCREAMS. I give in and put her in my bed and then she moans up to two hours sometimes talking sometimes crying - its SO annoying!

I know she should not be in my bed but her moaning seems better than screaming and i just dont have the energy for her in the night.

She has never slept well from birth and just seems to get worse, first i weaned her early as mv were on my back saying she is hungry - so did and no change. then they said my bm was not filling her up so told to give top up at night, tried it a few times and she just cried fro bm hour later!!!
so now they say "Control Crying" is the way???

I let her cry for the first time as I usually pick her up straight away. I let her cry no more than 5 mins and she got herself in such a state i thought she was going to have a fit. I got so worried and felt awful! Took ages to calm her down.

She is not hungry when she wakes in the night and drinks water from her bottle sometimes.

I really dont know what to do with her.

There she is now crying! Gotta go

Any advice on controlled crying techniques would be much appreciated!

Aimee27 - I would have done what you eventually did. Give her a cuddle when she wants one - she is too young for CC IMO.

Lovecloud - did you feed her at 3.30am because that is what I did with DS3 when he woke during the night. He didn't sleep through till 8 months. I would feed a baby of this age if that is what they want - in bed preferably.

Hello loveloud! Your life sounds so similar to mine that I'm wondering if my sleep-depravation has led to a split personality...
DS is seven months and exactly like yours, to the point that I climed into his cot at midnight last night to see if that would settle him but he just wants to be picked up and cuddled.
He also does the clinging to your leg thing and yelping every time I leave the room or move away from him.
AND I've got a 3 year old DD which means he gets dragged all over the place to her social engagements!

Okay, I have shuffled back onto this thread to make a confession. I was all smug and anti-controlled-crying above. Apparently I would NEVER do it until my DS was a toddler and thought it was really cruel etc. etc.

Well, I did it, about 2 weeks after saying I never would! I was just suddenly at the end of my tether & couldn't cope any more. Anyway it worked like a charm and DS now sleeps straight through. I am very ...