so fed up

[mrsmoomoopoopoo]

Dd is nearly 6 months.
Won't sleep in her cot so she's currently in bed with me. Even getting her to lay next to me In bed is a nightmare. I have to feed/Rock her to sleep, keep her in my arms for 10mins until in a deep sleep and then slowly lay her next to me in bed.

Couple of days ago I started trying to put her in her cot for her naps. Lay her in cot when she's tired but awake and try let her teach herself to fall asleep. First time I did it she winged for 10 mins then fell asleep! But since then it won't work. Last 2 days I've left her crying for 40 mins kept going gin to soothe her but she ended up crying badly so I picked her up and held her! Now if I try lay her in cot whilst I do jobs upstairs she cries instantly as I think she thinks she is being left.

I don't know what to do anymore.
Please can someone tell me it gets better????

Poor you, it sounds really stressful. It will get better I promise.... I don't know too much about controlled crying but I think you have to follow it through to the very end (to the point they settle themselves) for it to work.

I did a similar thing where I didn't leave them to cry but instead responded to them straight away, picked them up & cuddled them but then put them straight back down again. It took lots of goes but eventually they always fall asleep (although it seems to go on FOREVER....) I found that that felt less mean than controlled crying which made it easier to do - although you need patience!
Good luck - and don't get down - things will get better xxx

Thank you pood.
I've been thinking about trying the pick up put down thing so may try that tomorrow. Xx

Hey Mrsmoomoo,

No advice here, but just wanted to say my LO went through a period of being a nightmare to settle, all naps and bedtime were a battle and it felt like I spent hours nursing/rocking her to sleep with her crying for most of it! Then at about 6.5 months things improved for no real reason that I could fathom, but suddenly her naps got much longer and she dropped from 3 naps to 2. Settling also became much easier, now I pretty much just cuddle her to sleep, although we cosleep so that is a bit easier to do when you don't have to transfer to a cot!

Hang in there!

My ds is 6.5 months and has been particularly difficult to settle the last few weeks despite being pretty good up til now. He has also started crying if I leave the room during the day, and turns round to find me if he can't see me (ie. Being a bit clingy compared to normal) - so perhaps 6-7months is a notorious needy phase and might not be the best time to change this sleep routine. I'm desperate to get ds into his own room, but we've decided to wait a few weeks just to let the clingy phase pass.

Thanks cobsahoy and thenewwaver.

If it is a phase then this is week 4 of it and I bloody hope it stops soon.
Before this she was sleeping through which makes it so frustrating. Xx

Ha, this sounds so familiar!! I was a reluctant cosleeper around 5-6 months old with DD. When she became an utter PITA wanting to play or feed every hour I couldn't take it any more. I did a bit of sleep training (Kim West) but it coincided with DD learning to roll and she suddenly decided to sleep on her front and even self settle with her comforter that way. It literally changed overnight. Perhaps you're gearing up for a developmental leap? Anyhow, it does get better and you will get through it!

Thanks dino!
She's definitely going through a leap.
How did you find getting your LO to sleep in her cot after sleeping in bed with you?

I did put her to bed in her cot every night throughout our cosleeping phase, but I usually had her in bed with me by 9-10ish when we got fed up of resettling her. I had one dreadful night of cosleeping and decided enough was enough, started the sleep training and pretty much straight away we were onto one wake up per night and self settling. I was astonished how quickly things changed.
Now she's sleeping in there really well and I'm beginning to get a good morning nap in there too.

I hope I can get her to sleep in her bed soon dino. DH is in spare room!!
If you don't mind me asking what type of sleep training do Kim west do?

Whatever method you choose you need to stick to it. We did cc for naps and at night and it worked after 3 days. Not too painful.

It's a book - Good Night Sleep Tight. It's pretty much the technique that's talked about on the 'what worked for us' thread. I like it as an approach, it makes a lot of sense.

Just had a look at the 'what worked for us' thread and I think I'm going to try it. Maybe sitting next to her cot will be better than leaving her. Worth a try anyway.
Only problem is, because I've been putting her in her cot for naps and leaving her to cry she now won't even lay in her cot without instantly crying as I think she thinks I'm going to leave her. This morning I laid her in her cot whilst I got dressed and she cried even though I stood next to cot talking to her. Tried playing with her toys in cot with her but she still cried.