Help! 6 month old that doesn't sleep

[Washo12]

Hello hoping some people have some advice about what to do about my babies sleep.

I have a 6 month old who is a pretty rubbish sleeper. Partly to do with the bad sleep associations I have let her form and partly she just find sleep a struggle.

Soo backstory, so you can have all the info!!! She suffers with very bad silent reflux (ridiculous really because she’s very far from silent, they should call it screaming bloody murder reflux… side note I do know it’s called silent reflux due the the fact they are not sick with it) anyway I digress… so she’s always co slept not really my choice but she’s the second of two under two and I just didn’t/ don’t have the energy to rock and pick up put down a million times until she’s settled in the cot. So out of pure survival we have been co sleeping. I say survival she wakes every morning at 4:30 and nothing will make her go back to sleep no amount of breastfeeding, rocking, shhhing, white noise, black out curtain. The kids likes to be up at 4:30. She wakes frequently in the night to be fed (breastfed) which I don’t really mind. But the real problem despite the less than perfect night time sleeping is the fact she will not Nap… I have tried everything I know short of leaving her to cry (which I don’t personally want to do). For her whole life she has always napped in a baby wrap, again not really want I wanted but super clingy baby plus a toddler … go figure!! I would have put her down in her cot to sleep but the reflux made her so uncomfortable she would just scream and scream so the sling worked for quite some time. When in the sling She needs extreamly bouncy rocking to go to sleep which leads into my next problem. Due to the intense amount of squats I do on a daily basis to get her off to sleep I’ve managed to injure quite badly my knee… I’m now wearing it in a brace and still continuing to bop and squat her to sleep but here comes in the next kicker … she sleeps for 20 minutes in the sling before I inevitably need to bend down or sort her sister out which wakes her prematurely. Nothing gets her back to sleep so she is then mega mega ratty from being really tired and just cries and whinges until I can’t bear it any longer and she does hack in the sling for a second 20 minutes special!! Now I know 20 minutes counts as a nap but this kid is waking a 4:30 … so she’s getting a total of an hours sleep her whole day … she’s crying majority of the day which I’m pretty certain is due to tiredness as she constantly rubbing her eyes and yawning.

I’ve tired putting her down in the cot too but majority of the time she wakes instantly.. so I’ve tried drowsy but awake staying with her while she cries hoping she goes to sleep sometimes she does sometimes she doesn’t… which leads me to the next problem while I am upstairs trying to settle the baby in the cot I have to leave my 21 month old unsupervised while I try and put her down (this is why I initially chose the sling in the beginning so I didn’t have to leave the oldest alone) sometimes it can take more then an hour to settle the baby to sleep in the cot and I just feel very uncomfortable leaving my oldest for that long alone.

i really don’t know what to do. The sling is not working because she wakes prematurely, the cot doesn’t work because she doesn’t settle well and it takes a long time with my oldest being unattended and she is extremely tired all day long and miserable. She also never sleeps for more than 30 minutes however she is put to sleep, even if I am with her (co sleeping) even if she falls asleep in the cot. she doesn’t feed to sleep which I have always found sad as it would help me out to not have to bop squat her to sleep all the time with this terrible knee but hey ho what can you do…

anyway some advice would be great… I’m not looking to get my own sleep or my evenings back I get thats part and parcel of having babies (although It would be nice) I’m just looking to find a way for her to get the rest and naps she needs in the day to be happy and well rested!

So it sounds like the reflux is a big part of the problem right now.

I've had a similar experience with my 11 month old (still breastfed). Only napped on my back up to about 7 months old and then I gradually started being able to transfer him to bed once asleep. Big part of this was me starting to put him down on his front.
Still now though I can't get him to fall asleep on his own, my shoulders seem to be constantly burning and pretty sure I have some hip problems looming.

However, I think I've identified one of the causes of his stomach issues (still has some signs of silent reflux) and I cannot get him sleeping comfortably when I've eaten a lot of oily foods, notably crisps and similar. So I think it's refined cooking oil that's affecting my milk.
Also worked out previously that lots of sugar in one day seems to make him worse too.

I also have an older one to look after at the same time but at least he's a bit older and understands the problem somewhat. Ultimately I need to get a solid routine in place and start sleep training.

So I think my advice is that there probably isn't an overnight cure but it will improve as she gets a bit older, once she can play with toys properly she'll be easier to distract, then she'll be tiring herself out more, and even more so when she starts moving around by herself. Good luck, I always thought the first year was hard, but it's whole other level with silent reflux babies!

My DC were both like this. It was cmpa. Cut out dairy and soya and sleep did improve (although they remained velcro babies and still didn't sleep as well as annoying nct friends babies who would all sleep on command for hours)

My first also suffered with silent reflux it was hell until about 9 months when she finally was put on neocate formula!!

I have tried dairy free for the second one but it didn't seem to make her any more comfortable. She is on a very high dose of omeprazol but again hasn't seemed to have sorted all my problems although she will now travel in the car without screaming the entire journey!

I feel the same about my NCT friends they used to come around with babies that would sleep for 4 hours on my sofa after just falling asleep there of there own accord while I booed and squared like a crazy woman trying to calm a very rageful baby for hours.

I gained a reputation for having one of the most unsettled babies people had met and everyone told me I couldn't possibly have the same experience again the second time round but baby number 2 seems to be a carbon copy of her sister 😳😳

Bopped and squatted ** the silly auto correct

My goodness @Washo12 I could have written this post!!! My eldest was like this and now my 7 month old is also a carbon copy of her sister. What are the chances, eh? I've also injured my knee and need to start the day with paracetamol otherwise I just can't hack the baby carrier.

Most days the only way she will nap is in the car or pram...but obviously I can't just drive around for 2 hrs so like your DD, her naps get cut short. Thing is, she used to nap and sleep amazingly as a newborn when her reflux was much worse, so I don't think it's a reflux issue although she is still a bit refluxy when teething.

Update is if you find any success please!

Hi guys, I could have wrote this post myself, it's the most relatable one I've found, other than I've injured my hip! Did any of you find anything that worked as I feel like I'm going insane and have no idea where to turn.

@MissL21 will baby sleep in a pram? Could do this and buy a 'rockitt' to keep it moving without you and bring the pram indoors!