Hello all!!!!
My 7 month old has lately been a terrible sleeper. She starting sleeping through the night (8 hours) at 3 months. Now,she is soooooo hard to put to sleep. She cries when we put her in her crib...we have to constantly go in and pat her to sleep. I feel like she is getting a bit of separation anxiety??? She will wake up as soon as we leave the room and she pulls herself up constantly to look to see if we are coming. Once we get her to sleep she tosses and turns for the first few hours of sleep and then wakes any time between 2-4. We put her down around 9 or 10 at night. The only way for me to get her to go back to sleep in the middle of the night is to feed her. And I am not sure if that is okay...shouldn't she be able go without a feeding in the middle of the night at this age???? I just don't know what the rules are and how many feedings she should be having???? We have tried to let her "cry it out" and she will not put herself back to sleep. She just cries and cries and cries...and frankly I just can't stand to hear her cry, it brakes my heart. She is the absolutely best baby, she is so happy and has never been a fussy, so this whole thing has thrown me for a loop. Sometimes I think it may be gas that is making her uncomfortable, but I just don't know. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
I love the book "healthy sleep habits" by Dr. Weisbluth. He emphasizes that babies need a lot of sleep and often times sleep problems arise when babies don't get enough sleep. He suggest that babies at 7 months should be taking 2 naps and going to sleep between 6-8 pm. I have done this with my baby and it works well for the most part. Creating good sleep habits is just easier for some babies than others, but it can be done!
It is very heartbreaking when your little one is crying! I remember those days all too well. There is a sleeping patch called "silent nights" (no drugs or chemicals) and they work extremely well! They are made out of water, oxygen , sugar and amino acids (so simple). When I use them on my kids (which is rare now), once they are sleeping, I peel the patch off and re-use it for next time. The company is based in La Jolla and they are called Lifewave. You can order a sample, you have nothing to lose, trust me, they are awesome. Your child will wake up rested and happy. You can order from Lifewave.com/kherihealth If you have any questions, you can let me know and I will help you. The website has a lot of information too. Best of luck!
My second child developed separation anxiety at about 7 months. it seemed to be the strongest with her and lasted the most amount of time.
I'm not sure what your sleeping routines are, but I found this pediatrician to be very true.
You'll get a lot of different advice on this topic and what works for one may not work for another. For me, I nursed on demand through the night until age 2. Yea, you heard that right. But they slept and I slept and once they turned 2 they slept and still do 11-12 hours a night (as do I - LOL). So for me, getting them back to sleep by nursing and co-sleeping worked best. Again - not for everyone, just wanted to share what worked for us and what I'll do with number 3 should he or she need it.
M.
I say this a lot but I would take her to a chiropractor. A little bit of discomfort can go a long way in a baby.
Hi L.!
One thing that I have found with little ones is just when they have a routine down that we are comfortable with, something goes on in their lives that totaly throws the whole routine off.
Your baby could be going thru a couple of different things.
1. growth spurt - that is why she wants to eat in the night.
I would go ahead and feed her.
2. About to conquer a milestone- this often leads to sleep disturbances.
3. teething - speaks for itself. Try a pain reliever.
Take Care.
Heidi
Best of luck to you. Heidi
Hi L....I have twin 6 1/2 month old boys that sleep 11 hours every night. I have found that sticking to a strict bedtime routine works wonders...when they are out of routine they are horrible! Every once in awhile we go through the crying when they go to sleep and the refusing to go to bed and at that point I take him out of his crib and we go through a series of exercises to try to get any gas out and usually that works. I lay him on his back and bicycle his legs then I alternate lets and push gently on his tummy to try and move the gas around....I lift both knees to his chest...I do this for probably about 15 to 20 minutes depending on how effective it is. If its not gas...she may just need comfort. Does she have a comfort item? I've had both of my boys sleeping with very soft blankets since they were just weeks old and now they curl up with their blankets every night....I also use pacifiers and every once in awhile I have to get up in the middle of the night to put one in their mouth and they go right back to sleep. If she doesn't suck on pacifiers you could try offering her one and see if she will suck on that instead of eating in the middle of the night. As far as feedings...I think its different with each baby, but I can tell you what I do with mine. They get a 6 ounce bottle between 7 and 8 am... and a stage 2 gerber around 11 and another 6 ounce bottle between 11 and 12. A stage 1 or stage 2 gerber at 230pm and another 6 ounce bottle between 3 and 4pm...lastly a solid at 6pm (usually sweet potatoes because they are starchy and heavy) and another bottle after bathtime which is at 7pm. Yes its alot of feeding, but they dont want food in the middle of the night so I deal with it. I also offer them water or juice in a sippy cup all day...sometimes they want it...sometimes they dont. Good Luck!
It sounds like she is teething. My daughter went through similar problems around 7 months. A little baby ambosal(?) went a long way to helping her stay asleep, to start.
Some children, mostly formula fed babies, will sleep through the night around seven months, some won't. It sounds like your daughter expends a lot of energy to get to sleep and stay there, so she is probably hungry when she wakes up. If you decide to use a pain killer, give her that, then feed her, mine knocked right out.
Good luck.
R.
Hi L.
I really sympathize with you. I have a happy beautiful 9 month old who has had her tricky times. The book that helped me the most was The No Cry Sleep Solution (http://www.amazon.com/No-Cry-Sleep-Solution-Gentle-Throug...)
One of the most helpful pieces of advice was that you should encourage your child to fall asleep a number of different ways, so there is no one dependency built up. So we have my husband dancing her to sleep; me feeding her to sleep; her lying in bed with a favorite toy talking and playing herself to sleep; nanny wheeling her to sleep in the pram. Etc etc. I know many may look on this list with horror, but you've just got to do what works for the family and the baby. And this does. Sometimes I let her whimper for a while after putting her down, if it escalates into full blown distress crying I'll go and get her straight away.
Good luck!
