Getting baby to sleep

[GeeGee333]

Hi
my 5 month old is going through a really difficult phase of trying to get her to sleep
i don’t think the hot weather is helping also, she actually started sleeping through the night at 4 months then only woke up once for night feed.

we were rocking to sleep (in rocking chair / standing rock if she got too distraught) which I knew couldn’t last forever but it was working. Also if the timing was right a bottle feed to sleep, which I know some people might not agree with but it was completely stress free.

however recently the rocking isn’t working, the bottle feeding isn’t working. She dozes off on me but instantly wakes starts throwing her head around, grabbing my hair, face, clothes

if I put her in her cot she starts pushing up on hands, babbling, kicking bars until she cries and I pick her up to try to rock her.

this can go on for two hours until she sleeps likely from exhaustion which I know isnt great as then she is overtired and doesn’t sleep as well.
then we are having two wake ups in the night screaming inconsolably. I feel like I’m at my wits end with it and dread bedtimes thinking what can I even try to do tonight nothing is going to work.

not sure if this is normal, is she unwell any tips please

I’m sure this won’t work for all babies but when I wanted to stop rocking my little boy to sleep I used a strategy called habit stacking where you use a different settling method alongside the one you want to replace for a few weeks before phasing the original one out.

So for example I spent a few weeks rocking my baby whilst patting his chest and firmly shushing him then gradually reduced the rocking by rocking for a few mins then stopping briefly and gradually prolonged the time I was still for. Eventually we moved onto rocking until baby was nearly asleep then transferring into his cot then patting and shushing while he lay in there. It might be worth a try if you haven’t already?

Thank you for replying. Yes I have started this but the patting on the chest seems to get her very excited she grabs my hand and kicks her legs. 🤔

i think the heat and the fact it’s light out until 10 isn’t on my side anyway 😖

If she's not actually distressed and is just pissing about, I wouldn't fight her for 2 hours.

Mine is ten months now and has had nights like you describe now and again. They used to drive me loopy. Now if he's not ready to sleep, he's not ready to sleep. I keep the lights dim in the living room and he comes through to play with soft toys and look at books with us. Half an hour to an hour later he's ready to go back to bed.

Beats pacing up and down for two hours rocking and shushing.

My almost 5mo has been the same in this heat. Naps have gone all wonky and he's more interested in rolling onto his belly and hitting me than going to sleep.

It's hard but I've just tried to accept it for what it is, hoping he'll return to normal when the weather cools. On one particularly frustrating night (he was screeching and kicking me) I got my partner to come in and help get the last bit of energy out while I had a breather. He did go to sleep after this and had an OK night considering we're also battling the sleep regression!

I remember we went through a few fazes of my daughter being difficult to get to sleep.

It's good for you she only wakes once a night, that's amazing at that age

Agree with the comment suggesting habit stacking, that can be really successful