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7 mo will just NOT sleep :(

2 replies

littlelamb · 07/01/2009 12:42

My ds had been a brilliant sleeper- being mixed really between co sleeping and going in his cot which he seemed happy to do. Now he will not sleep at all unless he is in physical contact with me (rod for own back, anyone? ) He is very very strong for his age, and now when he is put in his cot he will literally stand up grabbing the bars and scream until I come and get him. Even if I put him in his cot asleep he wakes straight up. Co sleeping has gone a little way to solving this but if I even move he wakes up. He is literally feeding all night and I can't take much more sleep deprivation. I haven't slept at all in the last 3 nights. He is just not his happy self at the moment He is teething so I know that will make him unsettled but it is constant. We have tried giving him solids but he isn't interested. If he would take a bottle I would have switched to formula as I just can't carry on this way

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
papaya · 07/01/2009 20:31

my ds is the same little lamb, and got worse at 7 months, even worse at 8, and now at 10 months he has been up every 40 mins wanting to feed some nights exhausting isnt it, I have a 3 yo DD too so cant catch up on sleep in the day either! I too wanted to switch to formula but ds is having NONE of it and refuses anything other than water unless its from my boob!!

For me i decided to wait until he was a little happier (after the obvious bulges of his teeth had come through) and 3 nights ago I decided enough was enough......I started by no longer feeding ds in my bed, I feed him in the rocking chair in his room then I put him into bed and stood there shushing, rubbing him to sleep. once asleep everytime he cries for a feed i fed him, but in his own room and then I forced myself to put him back into his own bed after every feed (stayed there with him if he was awake or distressed rubbing, shushing etc very hard work and up alot first night) 2nd/3rd night I only fed him every other time he woke up. For the other feeds i cuddled and rocked him back to sleep to get him used to not having as much milk at night (wasnt as bad as i thought and he went off quite quickly) and put him to bed in cot. 4th night I set up my bed next to ds cot and I feed him everytime he wakes but not between 11pm and 6am. Instead of taking him out to rock I laid next to him and put my hand through the bars to let him know its bed time, but I am stil here. evrytime he wakes i literally roll over on my make shift bed slip my hand through the bar and he settles after a little while. He has started to settle very quickly now, and tonight just on night 5 I put him down awake tonight he settled himself and went to sleep in 9 minutes after a little but of fussing. I plan to sleep in his room for the next 10 days and gradually move further and further away from his cot until I am sat right at the door at which point i am hoping he will be ok and i can rejoin DH !! ds was pulling himself up at 7 months as well, he is also v big, I have found that by laying on the floor next to his cot it encourages him to lay down as he wants to be next to me, as opposed to when i stand over cot he stands wanting me to pick him up. He seems to have got the message (or be getting the message) that cots are for laying down in and sleepin fingers crossed hey x

not saying this is the right thing to do, but so far its working for me xxxx hope things work out for you soon x

ps think the correct term for the method (ish) i am using is gradual retreat, or gradual withdrawal, if you were interested in finding out more. good luck though whatever u decide.

lovelymama · 10/01/2009 11:18

Hi. Just found this thread while looking for a solution to a very similar problem I'm having with my 7 month old DS. He sleeps in his cot brilliantly from 7pm to 1am but then refuses to sleep in there after that - he SCREAMS if we do anything other than bring him in bed with us and....wait for it...let him fall asleep on my tummy so I have to spend the rest of the night with a 25lb baby on me. Talk about making a rod for your own back! DS is no longer BF and takes his solids brilliantly so I'm positive it's not hunger that's waking him up as even after a night time feed he won't settle. I'm only telling you that as I don't want you to do what I did and assume that he must be hungry. Anyway, I'm sure this doesn't really help you, I'm just letting you know that there's another mummy awake in the wee hours trying to deal with a big baby who won't sleep.....I'm going to try the gradual retreat thing as we have used CC in the past and after 2 weeks of 2 hours screaming I decided that DS is a stubborn little boy who is re-writing the rule books on baby behaviour!

good luck with your DSs and hope you get some positive results soon

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