Help! I'm Desperate for Sleep

Eight month olds stop sleeping well for many reasons: maybe she's coming down with a cold, maybe she's teething, maybe she's on the verge of a big developmental milestone which always screws up sleep patterns- who knows!

Can she sleep with you? I always found my babies and I slept better together.

If you want her in the crib you can try again when both of you are well rested.

Above all be patient. The time that children are little feels long, but really will fly by!

Take care,
SAHM of 5
13, 12, 6, 4 & 2

I co-slept with my babies. Therefore, I never had any issues with sleep deprivation.

We live in an apartment, we used Ferber, it worked for us. We warned the neighbors in advance. They were supportive. The amount of noise a kid makes at that age, pales to the amount of noise they are capable of when they are older.

If your schedule allows, and if your budget permits (but I would find room in the budget), use outside resources, a sitter, a grandma, a MDO program, and bank on your sleep. Nap during the day if necessary to get well rested, then do Ferber.

It will take 4-7 exhausting nights, but then the entire family will be better rested.

Also, I forget the name of the resource, but there is a book re: not so much how to sleep train, but when to sleep train. It identifies so called magic windows, between developmental milestones when kids are more amenable to sleep training. 8 months is a hard time, our boy would rouse, pull to standing, then get distressed because he couldn't figure out how to lay down again. Thankfully, we had sleep trained already, so once layed down, he went almost immediately back to sleep, and so did the rest of us.

Best,
F. B.

I'm with Tracy, it is normal for babies this age to have their sleep patterns disrupted. There are a LOT of reasons for it to happen.

Also, the average age for growth spurts is roughly every 3 months for babies... So it is very likely that she is gearing up for one, and actually is feeling hungry. Cluster feeding/increased appetite and restlessness are common indicators, so maybe go ahead and nurse her, and see if that helps.

I also recommend co-sleeping, even if temporarily. I did so with my daughter during her rough patches, and she always transitioned easily back into her crib.

Are you opposed to co-sleeping? Maybe give that some thought.

Hire a sitter to watch the kids so you can catch up on your sleep.
When she takes a nap, you go take a nap too.

Well, she may be really hungry. If you're feeding her baby food it has no nutrients in it. It's simply for teaching her to chew and swallow. So do make sure to offer her formula or breast milk often. It is full of nutrition for her body and brain development.

Feeding her 3 full meals per day may be too much and keeping her tummy full of useless goo. So when it's empty she's starving. Once she's older and on healthy table food that has her nutrients in it then she may go back to having enough in her system.

She's most likely either hungry or teething.
If so, you can rub Infant Orajel on her gums for temporary relief & give her
Infant Tylenol or Infant Motrin for the pain.
Even if she's eating, you should be giving her formula or breastmilk still so
she gets enough to eat.
When my youngest was about that age I would lay back in the reclner w/
him on my chest in order to get some sleep.
He would wake when I leaned over to put him into the crib.
If one side goes down on the crib, try putting it down to put her in then so
you're not having to lean way over (that's when they sometimes wake
up as they feel like they are fallin) then quietly close the side back up.
Rest/sleep/nap when she naps. Even if you have to lay there w/her while
she sleeps so she gest her sleep & you get your rest.
This stage will soon pass so hang in there & try diff things until you find
the "magic" one that works for you

Lay down with her in your bed or on the couch. That still works with my kids, and they're 2 and 3.

Could she be having teething pain? If so, I'd give her some infant ibuprofen about 30 minutes before putting her to bed.

Is she still napping ok?

I went through this. First step is to put her down awake, so I stopped nursing her at bedtime and hubby gave pumped bottle. Sucked but I did modified CIO. So worth it now (10 months old).

Prior to this she was only sleeping between three and five hours? She really should be sleeping longer stretches. If you are not going to let her cry for a couple of nights, you will never get any sleep. Do you have a night time routine? Consistency goes a long way too. So I would figure out how you will handle her when she gets up and stick to it. I stead of picking her up, rub her back. Comfort her. Do the same thing every time she gets up, every night.

Try heating the mattress in the crib before putting her down. Could be the transition from your warm body to the cold crib sheet that's making her wake up. I wouldn't be happy either to be going from a warm, cozy place to a cold bed either. Also, put the side of the crib down so you don't have to lean so far down and hold her firmly against you as you lean over so she feels secure. I also agree that she may be requiring a bit more nutrition. Try really filling her up before putting her down.

We also co-slept. It was fabulous! The kids sleep, we sleep. When they actually do wake up, they just move their arms a little to make sure you're still there. Once they realize you are still there, the drift back to sleep knowing they are safe and sound with Mommy and Daddy.

Both our boys co-slept until they were about 18 months. That's when we started putting them to bed in their own bed. They did wander into our bed in the middle of the night for awhile, but little by little that happened less and less. 'They both are great sleepers and we never had to leave them to cry. I have always been opposed to CIO and Ferber. If a child (especially a baby) cries in the middle of the night, it's because they need you. Even if the only thing they need from you is love.