7 month old just won't sleep

[Problemorno]

Hi all. DS is 7 months old and never been a particularly good sleeper (never gone longer than 4 hours in one stretch), but recently his sleep has gone from not great to fucking horrendous and I'm on my knees from exhaustion.

Currently he wakes every 30-45 minutes all night and has done for about two weeks. He is combi fed. When he wakes he will usually go back to sleep almost as soon as he's picked up, but wakes again within half an hour of being put back down. We've tried teething gel, Calpol etc in case of teething, give formula before bed to try and fill him up, keep to the same routine, and so far nothing has worked. I have in desperation resorted to simply leaving him to cry but within a couple of minutes he was completely hysterical and coughing/gagging so that was a no-go.

I am absolutely exhausted and close to tears every night. I do have a partner who helps and will take DS for a couple of hours just so I can get some uninterrupted sleep etc but he works full time and has to be up for work at 5am, so I don't like asking him (he sleeps in a different room to DS and I as his alarm disturbs him). He only really contact naps and I also have a toddler so no real chance of napping in the day.

I used to complain that he woke every 3 ish hours but now I would kill for that 😢

Can you try cosleeping? My 9 month old still wakes lots but it’s easy to rub her back and she settles back down. She just wants to sleep next to me, and will sleep much longer stretches like that. I can also relax more and sleep easier myself because I’m not waiting for the next dreaded wake up in the cot, picking her up, rocking her etc. You’re already set up well in that your partner‘s in a separate room so you’d have lots of space to stretch out!

No advice but I'm in the exact same boat with my 6.5 month old. Falls asleep easily while being rocked or fed but then ping, springs awake again. 6 wake ups last night.

Bump in the hope someone might have advice for both of us!

By circa 6 months had already sleep trained DC to self-soothe as they were an exceptionally terrible sleeper. However I weaned off night feeds by soothing back to sleep with no more than patting bum (DC sleep on front). Also got rid of all sleep props, such as dummy.

Currently at 8.5 months DC sleeps from 7pm-5/6am.

That's just my experience - do whatever works best for your situation.

Could've written this myself. I am on my knees with exhaustion. Baby is 6 months and wakes every 45 mins then settles as soon as I pick her up then I put her down and the cycle starts again. If I leave her to settle herself she cries. I just don't know what to do

You've described .my life exactly!
I have a 7mo and toddler too. Naps for my first were always in the cot and sometimes the car at this stage but this baby just had to cat nap whenever he can! It's not ideal for preventing overtiredness!

We had the frequent and long wakes.

Touch wood the last 4 night have been improving. Instead of letting him fall asleep on me I have fed him in the living room with toddler around to keep him awake and then taken him to his cot and put him down with the light on so he doesn't panic. I turn the light out just before he falls asleep. While he's falling asleep I shush, pat, sing etc.

First night he fell asleep on his own but when he woke u had to repeat all the same crutches to get him back to sleep. So last night I patted him a bit but mainly let him settle just knowing I was there and he was much more settled through the night.

So basically try getting him to sleep on the surface you want him on all night, gripe water seems to help him pass wind quicker and we use a white noise track all night for continuity.

Sorry that was quite a ramble I've still not caught up on sleep yet.

Anyone have any wisdom for me 12 months on please? I’m in the same boat as you were when you started this thread

I could have written this post 3 months ago. DD hit 4 months and her sleep became horrific. She was waking every 30-45 mins and could not be put down, husband and I were sleeping in shifts and really struggling. When she turned 6 months we made the decision to sleep train her and followed the Ferber method with guidance from a sleep consultant. It was honestly the best thing we ever did. DD now sleeps very well, goes to sleep herself in cot from awake and most nights we have only one wake up but a few times a week we get 7pm-7am.

I was very against letting DD cry it out as she just got so hysterical but one day my husband and I reached breaking point, fairly certain I had PND by this point too and we decided to try it, it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I know not for everyone but just wanted to share my experience having been in your position.