Sleeping Problem 9 Months Baby

hi there,

i was completely against the ferber method until my son was about 7 months old and i had still not gotten more than 2 hrs of uninterupted sleep (not even once!). I am a working single mom and my son had been co-sleeping with me. the problem was that we are both very light sleepers and it just wasn't working for either of us. i felt like a walking zombie and he was just not learning to sleep for more than very short periods of time. anyhow.... i ended up using the ferber method, and while it is nerve wrenching to begin with, i have to say that my little guy sleeps SOOOO much better now, through the night, and has learned to self sooth when he wakes up.it seems like he has really "Learned" how to sleep and seems ot look foward to it more. the longest i ever let him cry was 15 minutes. just make sure that the crib is safe and cozy (my son likes to have a pillow and blanket from my bed with him). i really would reccomend this method. i wasn't able to go in and comfort him by jsut patting his back- that seemed to make him more upset to see me. i would however go in, pick him up, calm him down and set him down again. i would only do this once or twice, then he was on his own again. very hard at frist but htis method worked quickly. a little bit of crying doesn't mean that you don't care, and i think kiddos do actually need to learn to handle a little bit of frustration now and again. i was terrified that my little one would hate going to bed after that, and be angry with me in the morning - but it was just the opposite. i decided to use this method (or my own variation of it) after recieving advie from friends whos kiddos only finally started sleeping well after they were 2 and 3 and they finally let them cry it out. i really did not want to be a walking zombie for 2 more years! good luck!
M.

I am a softie too and it was really hard to listen to them cry. My problem was that my kids would work themselves up so much they would start coughing and vomiting. It was sooo hard because I guess this is quite common in children. Still to this day when my son (2.5) gets injured badly and starts to cry he will vomit. I know I have to be near a trash can! I would put her in her crib and pat her butt for a couple mins. Maybe put on some soft music for her. Don't pick her up though. I had to do this with my kids...it was terrible, but after a few nights they realized they are going to be just fine and go right to sleep. I'd give it 10-15 mins (it seems like an eternity) usually they can wear themselves out in that amt of time! Good luck Mommy!! Let us know how it goes.

I swore up and down I would never let my child "cry it out." But after 5 months of hardly any sleep (for my daughter and myself) I finally checked out the Ferber book at the library. I was impressed with all of the information on sleep and at how structured the plan was. I was scared to death the first night. I did it and she only cried for 10 minutes. Then she slept for 8 hours! That is from getting up to nurse every 40 minutes before. I realized that I had created the situation where I responded with nursing every time she woke up so that is what she expected. We are now happy and she falls to sleep on her own. We had a few set backs with teething and develomental things. Like standing in the crib (see my other requests!) or rolling over into sitting as soon as she gets in the crib. But I was pleasantly surprised with the Ferber method...But only do it if you are comfortable with it. It is hard, but you can do it! Make sure you read the updated edition, where he includes more information on breastfeeding and co-sleeping.

Hi! It was about this age that my first did the same thing! She slept in our bed for a long time until she started being impossible to get to sleep at night. That's when I realized that she must be ready to be in her own bed. So I tried the crying method and I just couldn't handle it so I started comforting her a little then leaving so she could try to go to sleep on her own. It took a few weeks but it really worked. I didn't want to leave her in there and feel like I was abandoning her so I would go in every 5-10 minutes and reassure her that I was still there and she would be ok. She did cry in between but it wasn't too bad as long as I didn't pick her up (then she'd cry so that I would pick her up). I hope this helps!

I don't think you need to cut out the afternoon nap. She probably still needs it and overly tired children don't sleep well. They have a harder time falling asleep and getting into a deep sleep. Although I don't condone the "crying it out" method, I don't think a little crying is going to hurt her. Decide where she's going to sleep at night, it's probably best to start working on having her in the crib or where ever she will sleep by herself, and put her there to sleep. If she cries wait a few minutes then go in and soothe her briefly and leave. Do not pick her up if at all possible. If she continues to cry wait a few more minutes and repeat the routine. Each time wait longer to go to her and make the comforting period briefer with less interaction. It will probalby take awhile, but this will pay off as long as you are consistent. Being consistent is really the key to making this work. If you cave in and bring her back to bed with you even once, she will know her efforts get her what she wants and will continue her behavior. Good luck!