5 month old won’t nap or sleep

[Duvetmum]

My 5 month old struggles to nap and when she does it is only ever if attached to the boob or out walking in her buggy. You can’t soothe her to sleep then stop, if I remove the breast or if I stop walking she instantly wakes....on a daily basis I am clocking up 4 hours of walking and it’s totally unmanageable as I am still suffering from pelvic girdle pain. On days where it is rainy I have no choice but to nurse her through her naps and if that doesn’t work she will literally go all day without napping. At night she will only nurse to sleep and wakes 6/7 times only going back to sleep with prolonged nursing. She is my first and I realise now all the mistakes with sleep associations but that’s not much help now (I went to NCT classes and really wish that they mentioned sleep associations!). I have no time to do anything (even shower) during the day as she’s constantly on me and at night I have to go to bed at 6pm with her! We attempted the ‘pick up/put down’ sleep training method but she didn’t remotely calm when picked up, just became more and more inconsolable. Has anyone been through this and have any words of advice?

Have you tried a dummy?

Classic sleep regression at her age. You either power through the nursing to sleep (it WILL end, even if it doesn't feel like it ever will) or you do a watered down version of sleep training. ie. you put her down to nap and let her cry, knowing that she's safe and not afraid (you're there with her) knowing that she's been fed so she's not hungry, she will be super cross and very angry/upset but you will have to stay strong (earplugs?) and get through it without picking her up/letting her cry it out. I don't endorse the leaving her in a room by herself
original CIO method, she's far too young to be left alone, but you have to make a choice for your own mental health.

Yes tried a dummy but she won’t take it...tried a few different types but she will at best chew them for a bit if you hold it and then immediately spit it out

I did controlled crying at 4.5 months, a shave quite a few other people I know, and it was brilliant, so 5 months isn't too young

Dummy? White noise? It does get better (in my experience anyway), they start to stay asleep when the pram stops and then go off in the pram without having to be walked.

I have ‘encouraged’ it with all of mine by just keeping on trying and by starting to have rough times for naps. At bedtime having a routine then trying to put them down, first once asleep then later awake. It’s not magic though, despite self settling for naps and at night they’ve all still woken a gazillion times a night 😤

Thanks for the advice Stickytoffeeprodding....I suppose I’m being a bit of a wimp about letting her cry as she doesn’t really do a ‘protest’ cry, just goes instantly to intense emotional tears streaming down her face crying and I feel so awful not to comfort her!

Oh I know, it's hideous. Bur you have to weigh up the pros and cons. A good nights sleep is going to be much more beneficial to you both, and better in the long term. If you do try it, just remember that she's not scared, hungry or wet, just mightily pissed off that you're moving the goal posts. But it will be so worth it when you're all getting more sleep, I promise. Just don't. Give. In!