8 month old sleep has got worse

[BClarkee]

Hi all, I hope someone can help.

My dd has been a good sleeper from about 8 weeks, we were honestly shocked! She would sleep through the night, lay in till 9/10 and the only thing she would want is her dummy putting in now and then but would then resettle in her crib. We have always had a night time routine, she has always eaten well in the day (bottle feed) and we let her decide when she wants her naps based on her sleep cues (this still formed a pretty structured routine) She has bought this forward naturally over time and up until a few weeks ago it was 8-8/9 (now 7:30). She also falls asleep on her own for night time in her crib from being awake.
The hourly/ 2 hourly wake ups were a struggle but in comparison to now that was a dream!

The current situation: she is waking every 20mins - 45 all night, wants contact, a lot of resettling, wakes in the night fully (to the point where she is up for 30mins- 1.5hrs), we do offer her a bottle now and then incase she is hungry (she isn’t normally), she has been on and off teething so use powders and calpol (if really bad) but she has now started really crying out and it breaks my heart because she is such a happy baby but just can’t seem to sleep well and she is obviously tired bless her.

Does this sound like a normal sleep regression? Is it just developmental stuff? Could it all be her teeth? Could sleep training help? (but not sure what we can do as I said above she does fall asleep on her own and can resettle once she has her dummy but she is needing more these days) I just want to do right by her so any help and advice would me much appreciated!

P.s also she has pretty much always only naps for 30mins- hour (Now down to 2 a day) and doesn’t have the association with feeding to sleep.

thanks in advance

It sounds like I could have written this myself! Baby also 8m. Only difference is mine was a bad sleeper after the 4m sleep regression and at 6m I sleep trained her and moved her into her own room. That lasted a month and a half before she’s started to act like yours. I can only think this is the 8m sleep regression as I see a lot of posts around this age with their babies waking up.

Mine currently only really settles and sleeps for a long stretch in bed with me. In her cot now she will sleep for about 20min before becoming really upset. I’ve noticed when I go to settle her she clings onto me so I think there’s a little separation anxiety too.

Definitely think this is developmental. It has been going on for a good few weeks for me and I am just trying to ride this out and hopefully it will get better. Hang in there.

Thanks for getting back to me that’s reassuring I’m not alone! To be fair she also had issues at 4 and 6 months but just not as drastic. Although I’m sure past me may have thought differently haha.
fingers crossed our little ones settle down and get some good sleep, for them and us!

She is just growing up, that is all, once babies reach this age and are at the stage where they can move about - separation anxiety hits and the proactively seek their parents. This is to prevent becoming a snack for a passing predator, which is what is going on in their heart, even though they don't understand it