Daughter Will Not Sleep

Giving food at night after the baby is heavy enough to make it through the night (and I do not recall what that weight is but for most babies at 6-7 mos) actually activates the stomach and intestines and keeps her body busy which may be what is waking her up. At this point you can let her cry it out or use the Ferber method. Ferber is letting her cry longer and longer periods of time each night, so go in after 5 minutes first night first time, then wait 10 minutes first night second time, then 15, etc. On the second night let her cry 10 minutes first time, then 15 then 20, etc. Crying it out all at once is faster, but Ferber seems kinder. I used Cry-it-out with my first and Ferber with the 2nd. No feeding with either method. Stick with it for a week for crying it out or about 3 weeks with Ferber and you will have restful nights again.

Hi, I am a Sleep Consultant and Parenting Coach. I think Sally has some valid points. The hunger is not what's waking her. She is waking up and consequently it's been a few hours since she ate so she is hungry. The problem is that she is waking up at all.
She is waking up because she is coming into a light sleep cycle and she is needing you to recreate what got her to sleep the first time. She is not using self-soothing skills and she is getting a big payoff for waking up. Each time she wakes you reward her. She is most definitely old enough to be sleeping through the night without eating. You need to take away the payoff to eliminate her waking.
First make sure that you are putting her to bed sleepy but not asleep so she has an opportunity to soothe herself to sleep. I suggest that when she wakes up that you wait a couple of minutes to see if she can get herself back to sleep and if she doesn't then go to her, tell her it's still night time and she needs to go back to sleep. Tell her you love her and goodnight and then go out. Do not pick her up or pat, shush, etc... the idea is that she soothe herself. She will protest but eventually she will get the message that night time is for sleeping, not eating.
Our digestive systems are supposed to be at rest in the night, it is a time for repairing and restoring. She needs uninterrupted sleep.
I hope this helps,
K. Smith-Sleep Consultant and Parenting Coach
www.theindependentchild.com

She's way past the stage where she needs to eat overnight. It's a comfort thing at this point, and the more that you keep giving her bottles, the more it's going to continue.
Try a paci to break that habit. Or, if she's really resisting and wants the bottle, put water in it. (But I'd really suggest dropping that bottle cold turkey.)

You're going to have to sleep train her. 5 minutes of ignoring isn't working, clearly. You have to decide whatever approach you're comfortable taking, and how much crying you want to endure.
I'm a full on CIO mom. As in, I don't go in once I close the door for the night. (Exceptions if they're sick.)

At this point, she likes your company, and you're willing to give it to her (with a snack!) overnight. Wouldn't you want to keep that up? Sounds pretty good...for her.

I would figure out if she is waking because she is actually hungry or is just looking for comfort. Either switch the milk for water or water the milk down. I think she's getting too much food. And after being sick probably loved getting snuggles from mommy.

So I'd either stop the bottles cold or switch them out. Then i would do a modified cry it out. So the first time she wakes up at midnigt, wait 5 minutes, go in, don't pick her up, don't give her anything, just rub her back, next time wait 1o minutes before you go in, lather rinse repeat.

I always waited 10 minutes before I went in the room. I found 90% of the time they were alseep again before the 10 minutes were up.

Of course take into account the difference in cries - if they are hysterical when the wake up or you KNOW it is that cry when something is wrong - by all means go in.

For all other cries ... this is what I would do.

Bump the bed time up to around 10:30 - 11 PM. Give her a late supper, then bath and dress for bed according to weather. Hold her and give her the last bottle, milk, juice or water, put her down for the night. See if that will help her waking through the night.

Keep us posted, I wish you well...not sleeping it awful.

Blessings....

I agree that her waking is a "comfort" thing and she needs to learn to self-sooth. I also noticed you said she's been napping a lot since she was 8 weeks, is she still? She should get sufficient rest with 2 naps a day and then her long night sleep by now, so if she's taking more than 2 naps that could interfere with night time sleep..

Some babies sleep well and some babies don't. Your kids are different people. It's not something you are doing wrong, she's just not her brother. Please be patient and some day she will sleep. All 3 of my kids did not sleep through the night until 18 month-2 yrs. After age 2 though, they were sleeping 8-10 hours straight. Relax and just take care of her at night if she needs. This stage won't last forever. Some kids have trouble with teething while others seem totally fine throughout the whole process. Once my kids first 16 teeth came in, they began to sleep longer at night. I have an almost 18 month old who slept through the night for the first time ever last week.
By the way, cereal in the formula to help them sleep longer at night is a myth. Research busted that old wives tale. Someday both you and I will finally sleep. I feel your pain. Midwife mom of 3

She is probably hitting a growth-spurt.