4 mo not settling herself any more

[pud1]

my 4 month old dd was able to settle her self when placed in her cot. she is breastfed but has a bath and then a ff in the evening at 6pm. this has worked well for about 6 weeks. she has now decided that she does not want to be alone in her cot and cries until i pick her up. have tried controled crying but not made any progress. could it be teething or may be she needs to start on solids. any help would be appreciated.

controlled crying is for babies 6 months+ so it's unlikely to work with her.

Have you tried just putting your hand on her?

i have given her calpol and it does help but i am not sure if its just becouse i give it her as a last resort and she just knackered. i do stand at the door as she cries, woudl not want to walk away all together

It's fine to see if she'll cry herself to sleep - but physical contact can help so touch her?

i find that laying my little ones on their side and patting them can sometimes help when they are tired and crying, does she suck her thumb, hands at all, if you can guide her hand to her mouth she may do that to help settle herself.

my littlest is 12wks and he can settle himself to sleep generally very well, but if he doesnt then the patting does seem to help, good luck

I did CC before 6 months. I was at my wits end and had the prob cracked within 4 days.
I'd try patting her gently whilst you sit by cot, then tomoz just sit and don't touch then every night move your chair a bit further away until you get outside the door, if you don't wanna leave her

hello, i've had this problem too but for me it's at lunch time when he's so tired and I know he really needs to sleep.I leave him for 5 minutes then go in, pat and try to soothe, I find a sch sch sound can help together with stroking eybrows somehow seems to have calming infuence. I then leave the room again and wait another 5 before going back in. THis way he knows i'm around and he's safe but still learns gently how to put himself back to sleep. Generally after a few times of going in and out it works and he perhaps only needs one visit....
anyway - worth a shot - very good luck. I think the person it's hardest on is the mummy. WHen I go in later to get him up he's fully of smiles and appears to have forgotten the screaming of earlier!!

four months is a classic time to get hungrier and to want feed a lot more to change the milk. Lots of babies are unsettled at this age. It may just be that she wants to feed a bit more in the evening for comfort and to get the milk supply right for her needs.

thanks fpr a;; the replies. she went down at 7.30 tonight and woke at 9. i fed her and she went down again ok. she does suck her thumb as well as a dummy but does prefare her thump so i will try guiding her thumb like 3madboys suggested. will keep fingers crossed that she will go down again after she wake sin the early hours

Stroking gently down the nose and across the eyebrows usually help calm my DS.