7 month baby, nurses to sleep and doesn’t sleep well

[DanniS]

Hi, my baby girl has just turned 7 months old and doesn’t sleep through the night. I know a lot of babies don’t by this stage but I feel things are getting worse where she is waking hourly and I feel like I can’t cope anymore with how little sleep I am getting! I have put her in her cot in her own room in case we were disturbing her but nothing has changed. I am still breastfeeding and she always nurses to sleep, she doesn’t like a dummy and can’t self soothe therefore I feel I have no choice but to keep nursing her to sleep. When she wakes she doesn’t go back to sleep until I have fed her, I have tried rocking her but she wakes back up as soon as I put her back in her cot. I know things are just going to carry on like this if I don’t stop with this habit but I don’t know where to start. Has anyone else been through this and can you give me some advice, thank you in advance!

There is a big regression from around 8 months and possibly also at 6 months.

It is totally biologically normal to nurse to sleep. Our milk contains special hormones at night to encourage it

It's not a 'habit' and it's not bad.

Don't get me wrong, I was ready to stop overnight before 21 mo and DS didn't sleep through until after that but it was relatively pain free when we did.

Self soothing is largely a myth too btw

Personally I'd get her out of the cot and into your bed and cosleep/ride it out until she grows out of it, you'll both get more sleep that way and it's far easier/nicer than faffing around with pick up, put down, shhhh pat, turn around in circles, vanish a chair, gradual whatnot. But I am lazy.

@burritofan yep, that was the route I took/ take (was DS bed from about half 11 last night)

@Harrysmummy246 DD is 4.5m and basically sleeps wrapped around my leg or arm like a sloth. Even if I shift away in the night I hear ::shuffle shuffle shuffle:: as she wriggles across the bed, in sleeping bag, back to my side This is from 7pm. Sure I'll get my life back... one day?

Thank you both for your replies. I have co slept for a couple of hours on a couple of occasions when I just need to sleep however my DH is against it as it doesn’t feel it’s safe. I tell him that plenty of people do it but he doesn’t want me to take the risk

Can you sidecar the cot to your bed, at least? Would your DH be OK with that? Hourly wakings are hell on toast but easier to survive if you don't have to get up.

Have to say I think the person dealing with the night wakings gets to choose how to handle it! Can your DH take a shift so you get a four-hour clock of sleep? Either he does 7-11pm rocking her back to sleep while you catch up on kip, or he does 3-7am?

I'm in the same boat. Feeding my 8 month old to sleep, waking every two hours or so. I agree with other posts. Its normal for this age and totally normal to feed to sleep. It was the same with my first baby and it did eventually pass. My life got easier when I decided to co-sleep. Sent hubby off to the spare room so I had more room in the bed for me and baby!! But yes, side car cot could be a good solution for you if you can lower/raise cot base to almost line up with your mattress.

However, I do feel co-sleeping is ruled out by many because of the potential dangers, when actually, if done safely, is a safe and natural way for parent and baby to sleep. I wouldn't have coped if I hadn't started. It saved my sleep and sanity!

Yep, cosleeping stopped me turning into a complete loony with PND

Still do it as and when

And DH did do the early shift for quite a while e.g. from 7- midnight so I could get at least a few hours. And I still tend to go to bed quite early still

Dd is the same age. She is also only able to get to sleep through feeding so all wake ups in the evening and night involve me feeding her. I am now resigned to sharing our bed with her (no duvet on the bed or only over my legs) and dh is relegated to sleeping in another room as I worry about the suffocation risk if he's in the bed too. Without him, dd and I can spread out a bit. Dd now doesn't fully wake up as much as when she stirs we both kind of shuffle around sleepily until my boob is near her and she sucks herself back to sleep.

It's not ideal but gets me through. 2 months ago she slept through the night so this is a backwards step for us. I'm riding this phase out and just taking it a night at a time .
Ds didn't sleep through until 2yo and still is often up in the night now at 5yo so I know my good luck with DD couldn't last

Yes me too. After having a bottle fed cot sleeper for my first I have a 7 month old breastfeeding co sleeper for my second. He wakes up every hour for a little suck. I'm face he's next to me now and is sucking in his sleep.

I haven't slept for more than two hours straight for seven months. I am going a bit doolally. But I just can't bring myself to sleep train him or put him in his cot. Gah!