Nearly 8 month old will only sleep with breast in mouth :-(

[JosephineSmith]

Everytime I take it out she gets so angry, both bedtime and day naps. If I do manage at evening time to get her into the cot she will wake up after about 20 mins and demand more of the same. This happened 6 times in 3 hours last night before I just left her to cry herself to sleep, it was agonising and took 4 hours! Three times she fell asleep with me stroking her head in the cot but within 5 mins she would be crying again. She will not take a dummy, won't find her thumb and will not be comforted by anything else, only nipple. It's driving me insane, she has got to this stage before where she is waking constantly at night and will only sleep with comfort feeding, we have broken the habit with crying until she will stay asleep when put down but within a few weeks she is waking up constantly again. She is up there crying in her cot now, after falling asleep on me twice and then waking up when I put her down. Just had 5 mins quiet but off again now, that's 40 mins. Anyone have some advice to save me being a constant dummy please and my baby girl from being so unhappy going and staying asleep? Thanks so much

I had one like this but I just took the path of least resistance and put her in bed next to me. That way we both slept better.

Why is she upstairs now having been crying for 40 minutes? I would just get her and put her in a pram or something so that she can see you, or take her for a walk. She is still so tiny and has no idea that you are downstairs. She just thinks you have disappeared!

They change a LOT at this age and every week will be different. She might be teething, or poorly. I would go and get her and keep her with you if she is upset. Good luck!

No real advice (DS too young) but try and borrow "No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. IIRC this talks about weaning babies off sucking to sleep (says she who has just BF son to nap and is now sleeping pn me)

My 9 month old has been a nightmare sleeper. She now finally settles with me putting her in her cot and turing her on her side and going 'shhhh shhhhh' whilst patting her back/and sometimes stroking her head. Initially it took ages to make her sleep. Get a chair to put next to the cot to save your back!!!!She kept trying to turn around and sit up but I held her quite firmly when she tried to do that or otherwise she would bounce up like a spring!!

I'm too much of a wimp for cc and I found this worked really well for me, although she made quite a fuss when I did it the first few times! After a couple of nights she would settle really quickly with only a few pats and shhh's, now a month on it only takes about 2-4 mins to get her to sleep. I do it for bed time and naps.

Good luck - I know how exhausting it is when you have a baby that doesn't sleep. My little one has been awake from 1 - 2 hoursly in the night since birth, but this has seemed to have done the trick. I've been co-sleeping too and tried to reeeeeelllllaaaaxxxx about the whole sleep issue - which definately seems to work!. Although - it could be she could be just getting to a certain age when her sleep habits are naturally getting better. Keep repeating the mantra 'It's only a phase, it's only a phase' several times! Works for me!!!! Also - don't listen to other mums happily harp on about their babies who sleep all night - it only makes us feel like s**t. Babies are either sleepers or not, we as mums do nothing wrong - we just have to deal with it and try and survive it!

I was going to say - that I happily BF my baby to sleep sometimes too - I pat/shhh her to sleep when BF doesn't work which is getting more and more frequent!