My baby has never been a great sleeper, but we had a bit of a reprieve after gradual retreat sleep training from about 7-8 months. She’s never slept through but I wasn’t expecting miracles, just wanted to get down to one or two wakes a night which we did. I still fed her once a night. Recently it’s all gone to shit again and she’s waking up all hours again. Made worse by a recent bout of illness a couple of weeks ago in which she came into bed with us and fed more frequently. She’s better now and we’ve tried to go back to normal at night but she is waking every 1-2 hours all evening and night long. Previously (post sleep training) she was typically sleeping 7-3, then a quick feed and back down til 6amish.
Its becoming so hard to settle her too. We’ve gone back to the start of the retreat method, so staying by her cot and comforting her with a hand on her and verbally responding / shushing. This used to work well but now she screams and thrashes. Picking her up for a cuddle has the same effect and then she’s even more upset when put back down.
I’d prefer not to backslide on night feeds because I’m planning to give up breastfeeding when we get to 12 months anyway. But night weaning feels like a distant dream, the way she is right now. She doesn’t have a dummy but does have a comforter and used to be able to settle herself really well if she woke.
What’s going on and how can I help her through it and survive myself with my sanity intact? My partner and I share the load and we have tried sleeping in shifts but we still both spend all night awake.
Going out of my mind here and feeling like it will never get better.
Daytime she drinks and eats plenty, has two naps, usually one of half an hour at 9am and 1-1.5 hours from 1/1.30pm. Daytime sleep is a whole other battle too.