8 Month Old Won't Sleep in Crib and Wakes Constantly

As long as she is fed and changed leave her to cry. Thats why they tell you to stop the co sleeping before 2 months old. They have to get used to being on their own.

Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It has helped me so much with sleep issues.

I nursed my kids on-demand, 24/7, day and night.
A babies appetite fluctuates all the time and everyday.
And they are growing and changing a ton.

9 months is a growth-spurt coming up.
Maybe already.

Also when hitting milestones and changing in motor-skills, this tweaks them too. Growing pains for the baby.
They cannot.... control their impulses nor think 20 steps ahead about what they are doing.
Once they learn how to pull-up, that is what they know. BUT... they DO NOT KNOW... how to then, lie back down again.
They do not know... "sequencing" of their motor skills.
It is a learning phase.
It will pass.
They do not have their motor-skills, mastered yet.

She is also very over-tired.
And over-tired babies/children actually have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep.

I really DISAGREE with your Pediatrician.
Babies... NEED to feed, 24/7 on-demand.
The 1st year of life... breastmilk or Formula is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition. NOT solids and not other liquids. And to nurse on-demand.
This is per our, Pediatrician.

The 1st year of life, is a building-block period. And solids is NOT as nutritionally dense, as breastmilk.

Your baby is hungry.
And needs to feed/nurse.

your pedi knows what they are talking about. you have to be consistent, it will really seriously suck for a few days, but whe will learn to fall asleep on her own. is her crib in her own room? if not I suggest to make sure she is in her own room so that she learns that it is bedtime. CIO isnt mean, it isnt torture, it doesnt scar them or give them any kind of issues. the problem she has now is what will cause her lifelong issues. when it is time for her to go to bed, put her in her crib and leave the room.

i'm sorry, but I really have to laugh at the statement that babies do not know how to lay down once they are standing up...that is just ridiculous. babies learn how to self soothe and fall asleep on their own as long as we dont interfere. the reason babies cry like someone is hurting them when they are learning to sleep in their own bed is because they have LEARNED that crying gets them what they want and when you dont stay consistent and go in after long periods of time it just reinforces the cry to get what i want instinct. this is another reason, aside from the obvious serious dangers, that co-sleeping is so bad for babies. they dont start to self soothe until much later when it is then so difficult to do. never mind the serious dangers of death, suffocation etc.....

I always fed and rocked to sleep at that age then put them in the crib. If they wake up in the night BEFORE allowing them to go to a full out cry, go in and nurse and soothe back to sleep. At nap time, if she doesnt seem to sleep long enough it might just be that she doesnt need that much sleep and still requires a couple of naps during the day. If you want to try cio, try it at nap time rather than bedtime.
As a nursing mom, I just did what they wanted when they wanted and the schedule got easier and easier as time went on. If you fight it, it can last a lot longer.
I never did cio myself, never had a need to.

She is used to the comfort of being next to you, and nursing frequently. She doesn't know how to self soothe. If you really, really want to stop co-sleeping you'll have to try letting her cry it out, or just go in to her and nurse her in a rocking chair in her room, then try to put her back down. You may have to sleep in there on an air mattress and gradually work your way out of the room....or you could just continue to co-sleep indefinitely. My sister did that with her oldest, and she was in their bed until she was 10. Best of luck!

I was never a fan of totally crying it out, and I had a monster of a time with my first child. We never co-slept, but she would wake and I would REFUSE to put her in bed with us and I'd walk/rock/bounce until she'd finally go to sleep. We were even known to sit on the floor next to her crib and hold her finger until she fell asleep. My only advice is do what works for you. If you are ready for her to sleep in her crib, start with naptime, then work up to bedtime. Try letting her fall asleep with you, then putting her in the bed. Try putting a warm hot water bag or heating pad in the crib & removing it before you put her in it so that the crib is warm. What I finally did was my own version of cry it out. I put her in bed, told her I'd be back to check on her, then left and gave her 2 minutes to cry. Then I'd go back in, lay her down, pat her back for a minute and tell her it was OK, then I'd leave again and tell her I'd be back to check on her. This time I'd say gone for 4 minutes, and I'd keep up the routine and keep upping the time out of the room until she would fall asleep. If you are consistant with WHATEVER you choose to do, she will finally learn to sleep in her crib. Oh, another thing I'd do was let them play in their crib during the day...same concept, put toys, turn on the mobile, etc. and say "l'll be back in a minute to check on you" and go put clothes in the dryer or whatever and then go back and check on them/get them out. That way they are used to the crib.

Can you nurse her lying down? Once I got the hang of that, I was so happy!!! My little guy would wake up to nurse. I would latch him on and go right back to sleep. It was wonderful! I would wake up later, make sure he was safe (no blanket over his face or anything) and go back to sleep.

I understand what your ped said. Nutritionally, your baby does not require night feedings. She does, however, have emotional needs. She needs you. It's completely normal (even though it's exhausting).

If you are able to get some sleep with her in your bed, I would seriously consider sticking with that routine for now. She will sleep for longer and longer stretches as time goes on.

My oldest had trouble with naps. There was one thing that I tried that really helped. I would position him in the center of our bed, lie down next to him and nurse him to sleep. Then I would very slowly role off the bed. I also often rocked him to sleep. I would wait until he was in a deep sleep (his arms would go limp) and then I would place him on our bed. I used to put pillows all around the edge of our bed, just in case he rolled over.

Hang in there! It really does get better.

The cry it out method is pretty brutal. Your baby cries because she needs you! I would never recommend letting any baby cry it out. I mean, she's only 8 months old! And if she wants to nurse at night, let her nurse. I'd just continue co-sleeping. It's more beneficial for her and you anyway. My nephew didn't start sleeping all night in his crib until he was 11 months. She will eventually, just give it time. Good luck!

I found with all 3 of my kids that 8 months was a tough sleeping stage. If they were good sleepers before they started waking up or they woke up more and could not fall back to sleep. The most important thing is to be consistent. Think though what you want to do, implement a plan - then stick to it. Think about her personality and tailor it to her and you.
DS #1 I had to rock him to sleep and then lay him down. He would crawl into bed with us when he was older and finish the night in our bed. I slowly moved him into his room when he was 5
DD - paci girl, needed her paci and when she woke. I quietly went in and patted her back till she fell back to sleep.
DS #2 Decent sleeper so far (he is 2). When he woke I went over and layed him down over and over till he would fall back to sleep.

So my first was much needier than the other two so I had to give more of myself.

They also all stayed in our room in a mini crib for the first year to make it easier.

Starting when they were babies, when putting them to sleep, I would whisper shhhhh over and over. When they were older and woke in the middle of the night I would only have to say shhhh and they would zonk out instantly. Classical Conditioning at it 's best. :)

I could of written this post! I have no advice but you aren't alone! My gal is now 4 and still wont sleep by herself. My pediatrician said the same thing that she isn't hungry and I need to put her in the crib turn the Light off and shut the door. Man! I couldn't bring myself to do it! Now look at us! The advice I didn't follow is put her in the crib and if you must go in gently pat her but don't speak or talk. My little lades still joined at my hip! Good luck dear!

I don't have any words of wisdom...wish I did, but I wanted to empathize with you. I am going through the exact same thing with my 8mos old son. I'm exhausted. We've had some issues to deal with that have made him uncomfortable (ear infections since 1mo old, acid reflux and an iron deficiency). We've allowed him to co-sleep as well, nurse back to sleep...and now that he's finally feeling better we've developed some bad habits. I've also been told to let him cry it out, but it just breaks my heart. I may have to break down and do it, but this little man can scream for two hours at a time and then only sleep an hour or so. I just can't stand doing it. I'm looking forward to hearing some of the tips to this question, but in the meantime know there's another mama going through the same thing! You're totally not alone. I hope you find a solution to work for you and your sweet girl and that you get some rest soon. I know if you feel a fraction of how I feel, you're exhausted! ;)

This is really now a question of what do you want your nights to look like? Do you want to co-sleep and nurse all night? Do you want to have her sleep in the same room as you but not in your bed and not nurse at night? Do you want her down the hall in her own room and sleeping without nursing? Or do you want her in her own bed and you will get up and nurse when she cries?
These are all do-able situations, but unless she is sleeping with you and nursing on demand then end result will require some crying, or lots depending on her temperment and your consistency.
I tried letting my son cry while inching my way out the door every few days so he could see me, but I wasn't interacting with him. This DID result in night weaning (he was 15 months old) but after three full weeks he was still waking several times a night and crying/screaming, even though the experts promised he would be sleeping through the night by this time!
8-9 months are REALLY hard at night in my house. Both my kids would wake up sometimes every hour to nurse, they flailed and tossed and turned and cried in their sleep (and my daughter was a GREAT sleeper until this point). They are growing, teething, learning to crawl and stand, and at the peak of stranger awareness and seperation anxiety. This is a HUGE time of growth in all ways possible, so I just tried to remember that when I was being woken up for the 7th time in a night!
It can be too frustrating for some, and you may both be better off doing CIO. But remember that your pediatrician is a medical doctor, not a psychologist, not a sleep specialist, and not a member of your family. He is trained to recognize and treat medical conditions. Co-sleeping and nursing on demand are not medical conditions, they are natural occurrences in most countries that aren't first world western countries.
So if you can hang in there for a few more months, she will probably wake less and sleep more soundly during the day (when she learns to walk she'll be more tired during the day). With my second child I just learned to go with the flow better and stop worrying so much about when she napped, how she napped, and where she slept at night. We just did what worked for her and we were all happier!
Good luck with your decision, just make it one that is right for all of YOU! :)