Awful nights with 7 month old - what else to try?

[london11]

My 7 month old DS3 (and a twin) has always been a great sleeper only waking at night for feeds then going straight back to sleep and he stopped that at 12weeks sleeping 7-7 every night. Then after xmas he had a tummy bug and the nights were disturbed with sick/nappy changes and small feeds as it was all he could keep down. Now he is better but the nights are just awful.

He wont settle at bedtime and doesnt just cry, he screams until he is hoarse and sick. He will go to sleep in an instant on my shoulder but the minute I try and put him down he screams. He will eventaully settle; probably out of sheer exhaustion; at about 1am. If I'm lucky he will sleep for an hour before he wakes up screaming again and it takes me another couple of hours to settle him to sleep again. Sometimes he will then sleep soundly for a couple of hours, other times he's up again an hour later and thats it then, nothing I do will get him back to sleep so we are up for the day.

Nothing has changed in terms of routine/cot etc but I have made sure his cot is comfy and have tried different combinations of sheets and blankets and even a pillow.
We have tried keeping a dim light on in the room, I have tried having him in bed with me. He has a slumber bear and HV suggested a cloth/blanket for him to hold whch we tried. He doesnt have a dummy but I have tried getting him to take one.
I have tried controlled crying and pick up put down, sitting with him while he goes to sleep and shusshhing/patting.
During the day he is happy enough, eating well and sleeps soundly (settling himself in his cot) for an hour in the morning and 2 hours after lunch.

So......am I missing something? I dont know what to try next

Thanks in advance.

Oh you poor thing!

Do you think it's a bad habit now and it's not related to teeth?

It takes a number of days of being consistent on sleep training for it to actually start to work. Usually about 3 or 4 days I find and being absolutely consistent. I always give my LO's teething gel at night if they wake (just in case it is their teeth tbh).

It maybe he doesn't know how to go back to sleep on his own again when he comes into a lighter part of his sleep cycle. I think if he is eating well in the day and drinking well, one feed at 11pm is ok and if he wakes at any other time you'll have to try some form of sleep training. I always use the baby whisperer. Either that or co sleep for now for survival and worry about sleep training in a few weeks after you're not so exhausted?

At 7 months my boy was still having an 11pm feed, which I managed to drop at 9 months (lucky me). If he woke at 3am I just gave him teething gel and then he'd find his thumb and go back to sleep. But every baby is different.

There is a good book written by a sleep expert that I've found helpful. Read the reviews and buy it if you like the sound of it here it's quite a big book as it covers all children's sleep problems. He's worked in the field for 30 years, so it's quite extensive but I've found that no matter what my children throw at me he has suggestions in there.

Thank you so much for the book suggestion, it is ordered and on its way!
I agree, I think much of it is habit now and again you are right with the consistency thing (although so hard when knackered and its the middle of the night!). I am going to have a think today about what I want to achieve, decide a plan and then stick to it for at least 4 nights.
He has just cut his first tooth so that is definately not helping and unfortunately both babies are still in our bedroom (we move in a month). I will try teething gel too.
Thanks for the reply....daylight and a cup of tea have given me some perspective - something I lack at 3am!

If my LO's were like this with teeth, I would give them some teething gel first to numb the gums and then a feed after, to soothe them back to sleep and lay them down in cot again. They'd then sleep for about 3 hours until teething gel wore off, then I'd repeat again. Only way I got through this stage. If the teething was really bad I'd give them calpol or calprofen every 4 hours.

I wouldn't worry about feeds to go back to sleep right now, if it helps you get more sleep roll with it. You can re train them once the teeth are through. If that makes sense.

Just something that occurred to me. Making sure the naps in the day aren't too many many or too long may help too?

Really hope you start to get some more sleep soon. I always get quite agitated in the night when my babies have done this I always felt so hopeless at that dark hour of night. It will get better though x

Maybe some other MN will come along with an idea to try too! Two heads are better than one and all that.