Not Staying Asleep

i know you have already recieved advice, but I just wanted to tell you that my baby is almost 7 months and wakes up 2-3 times a night for a bottle or just to be rocked. I know it is fustrating, but we all slept through the night at some point. There is an end whether it be 10 months or a year. Also, she will never be a baby again and soon won't want to be held either.Good Luck and hang in there!

Hmmmm, where to start. First of all, why do so many people expect so much from a human being that has only been alive for 5 months? I disagree with Caroline, this is a phase and she can get out of it on her own. You are not instilling bad habits at this young of an age. Rock her, feed her, whatever. I agree that she should have her needs met day and night, no matter how exhausting it will be. The first thing I think you should do is let her nap more if that is what she wants and needs. Keeping a child up during the day so they can sleep at night is a BIG MYTH! My son was still taking 3 naps a day at that age and he started sleeping 7:30-6:30 at 6 months of age. What is true, is not letting them continue the last nap past 4-4:30. At around 4-5 months, I had also started keeping him up until 9pm thinking that would help. That is also not a good idea! It didn't help at all and I then read in "healthy sleep happy child" that they need to go to bed early. The earlier they fall asleep without being over tired, the longer they will sleep during the night. It doesn't seem to make logical sense, but it worked for us.
Whatever you do, just please be more patient. She is a baby and we all need to remember that. If people were truely manipulative and able to truely carry out bad habbits at this young of an age, we would really be in trouble!

I am at the other spectrum... I do not agree with co-sleeping. but that is my opinion... I also think that the only need a baby has at nights is SLEEP, and you should meet that need by teaching her to go to sleep on her own and not by enabling bad sleeping habits that will hunt you for many years. This is not a phase and it will NOT pass unless you teach your child how to go to sleep on her own in her crib. at this age they only need one night bottle around 11 pm and that is it!!!
it sounds to me that your baby is overtired and that is why she cant stay asleep at nights. At this age my little boy was sleeping 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon and a short cat nap around 5 pm (30 to 45 minutes) then bedtime was at 7:30 and he slept thru until 7 in the morning with one bottle at 11 pm (with no wake time... just the bottle, diaper change and sleep again).
I read a book called the baby whisperer around the time of your baby's age, and in a week I had my baby sleeping well (naps and night time) in his crib. He would fall asleep by himself and if he woke up for whatever reason, he did not need me to go in his room... he would just go right to sleep on his own.
The author of the book is tracy Hoog, and the name is "the baby whisperer: solve all your problems" in there she gives you specific details of how your baby's routine should be at around her age, and things to do to put her to sleep on her own without letting her cry it out by herself.
Hope this helps and let me know how it goes
C.

Hi L., My daughter wakes up throughout the night as well, she's 7 months. It's normal.

I'd like to encourage you to consider other alternatives to CIO. My daughter easily goes back to sleep if I nurse her and rock her. I lift her out of the crib, and snuggle with her in the rocking chair. It only takes 5-15 minutes. If you are not nursing, you could keep a full bottle ready and anticipate her waking up next, room temp should be fine, even water at room temp may work.

Even when getting back to sleep takes longer, I just remember that they are only small once, and holding them is not going to last forever. I believe children need to have their needs met day and night. Why listen to them cry when it breaks your heart, and theirs. Cuddle, read to them, nurse, rock. They are babies, that's what they need!

Our family has chosen to co-sleep, it has been a wonderful bonding experience! And I get so much more sleep and daddy thinks its so cute! My little one comes to bed with us when she wakes up in her crib around 11pm. More and more parents are choosing to co-sleep due to working parents, nursing children, and fragmented sleep. It has been proven to help their emotional and inner-personal connections as they grow too.

I agree with the other replies. You need to let her sleep during the day she should be taking naps through out. Also, you need to establish a routine each night for bedtime. Such as, bath, books, bedtime. She is only five months and may need that bottle to get her through the night. I suggest some cereal before bedtime, it will last longer in her tummy. Mix it with breastmilk or the formula you use. Also, I suggest the book, "The No Cry Sleep Solution". I personally am not a fan of CIO. I know it seems impossible right now, but you will get through this with her, as they say, "this too will pass". Best of Luck.

I used to have this problem with mine. Since you are keeping her awake as much as possible she is over tired at bedtime. As soon as her tummy gets full enough to be comfortable she goes to sleep but this isnt enough to keep her all night. I would suggest letting her get in a really good nap during the day. In the morning is usually better, then let her cat nap for the rest of the day. I have found that this will make them tired enough to sleep good at night but not not too tired. Also you might want to try giving her cereal before you feed her for the night. Good luck.

L.
Your first mistake is not letting her sleep enough during the day. Good napping is very important to nighttime sleep. At five months, my daughter was taking 3 naps a day. The morning nap was an hour & half, the two afternoon naps were 45 mins to an hour each. She went to bed at 7 - 7:30 pm. A five month old should be sleeping 14 to 16 hours per 24 hour period. The more tired she is the hard it is for her to fall asleep and stay asleep. That said, at her age, it is normal to have some nighttime waking. My baby was nursing twice a night at that age.

Also, don't forget, you are talking about a baby who has only been out of the womb for five months - try not to expect too much. This will not last forever.

I recommend the book, Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West. You can modify her advise to meet your needs too.

Happy sleeping
P. (mom to wonderful nine month old Kate)

Okay for starters my son is 14 months old and is now sleeping through the night but gets up sooo early. I agree with a routin at bed time. My son likes to listen to music while falling asleep. Baby Einstien's has a good Lullaby cd. She will grow out of it but for now just try to live through.

Hello L., I know what a pain this can be. what time is bed time for your baby? I always put Ella down at 8. she would wake up at 11 for another feeding (which I would give) then I would put her back down, if she woke up after that I would offer her water only, after a few days she no longer woke up seen as boring old water wasnt worth it. also, dont pick baby up when she wakes in the night, if she doesnt need a bottom change and you know she isnt hungry, just pat her back for a while but leave her in the crib. worked for me, good luck! G.

The absolute BEST advice I got, that changed my life, is to not let your child nap after 4:30pm. Even if they fall asleep at 4:15, get them up at 4:30. If they don't nap earlier and miss napping, try to keep them up anyway. I heard this from a friend of mine, tried it, and it CHANGED our lives! My daughter sometimes only slept until 5, but that made all the difference. My daughter went from sleeping 9 hours at night, to a full 12. Hope this helps!

Hi L.,

I agree with everything that Liz C said. We're taking the same approach she is, and it's better for me and the baby (I have a 6-month-old). I think that co-sleeping helps you stay much more in-tune with what baby needs during the night, and if you can attend to her very quickly when she's upset, she won't work herself up much, so that means she can settle back down more quickly. I believe this teaches a baby that some upsets are minor so they don't require a big fuss, and that you can coach her into resettling herself.

There's a book called the No-Cry Sleep Solution that I read about a month ago. One of its primary goals is to get baby to sleep longer stretches. I started doing a very gentle version of just one of its techniques, and after several nights in a row of being awake every hour to nurse, my 6-month-old just slept 6.5 hours straight last night despite the teething! And, she resettled herself as I watched at least 12 times last night. She & I have been working on this the last month and it's working just like the book said it would, with no need for crying it out.

Hope this helps!

It may sound strange, but she probably needs more sleep during the day. A sleep deprived child will not sleep well at night. She should be getting a total of 12-15 hours of sleep a day. Also, I don't know what time you're putting her to bed, but an appropriate bedtime for a young baby is between 8 and 9. You bump it up to 7 somewhere around a year.

You might be expecting just a little too much out of her yet. She is still pretty young and some babies are older before they sleep through. I KNOW that it is so exhausting. I would wait a month or two and try CIO again. IMO, she may be a little young for that.