7 Month Old Won't Sleep Through the Night

We had the same problem and our son, Zane, still does occasionally. We used the Ferber method. We put him down after our normal nightly routine, around 7:30, and let him cry. We let him cry for 10 min the first time, went in their laid him down and gave him his blankie, and left without saying anything or picking him up. If he continued to cry we'd wait 12 min the next time, each time we'd extend it a little. It took almost a month but now he gets himself to sleep. We don't rock him or give him a bottle. I understand how hard it is, our son was 10 months old before we tried this, and we tried everything. He also takes really good naps now (one or two a day at 14 months old, at least an hour and a half each time.) He even lays down on his mat at daycare and falls alseep pretty much by himself. Hope that helps! Hang in there!!! It's good to get it straightened out now so they don't have such bad habits to break when they are more aware of it!

I have a 7 month old that we are just now starting to get the whole sleep thing worked out. I am still breastfeeding with three meals a day. He used to take a bottle untile a month ago, then he stopped. He was taking 3 30 min. naps a day. He was sleeping in our bed.
About a week ago I had had enough. I realized that he is now old enough to start sleeping in his own bed. So I started that night with a method my pediatrician told me works best. He told me to start doing it at 4 months old, but I was not ready. Anyways, I had to let him cry. Every 5 mins. my husband or I would go in there and rub his back and tell him we love him and it is time to go night-night. We stuck with the same wording so he would know these words and know it was time to go to sleep. We would never pick him up. The first night it was about 25 min., and as the week went along it got shorter and shorter. It has been 1 week and two days and he is to the point that we put him in his bed around 7:30 say the words to him, pat/rub his back, and he may fuss for 1 min. and then goes to sleep. Since I have been doing this he has been taking longer naps. Yesterday he took a 2 1/2 hr nap, a 45 min. nap, and a 30 min. nap. I just don't know what to do with all this time on my hands. Ha/Ha. I also started to put him down in his bed during the day when he starts rubbing his eyes. I think before he was over tired and that is why he was not sleeping.
He woke up 3 times last night. I only went and got him 1 of those times to feed him. I think breastfed babies never get that full feeling like with formula, so I want to make sure he is not hungrey at night, and when I feed him at night he eats. But the other times he woke up, I would let him fuss. He olny will fuss 30 sec. and then go back to sleep.
One more tip, I have started putting him on his stomach, and he sleeps so much better. He is deff. old enough to roll over and lift his head so I am not worried about SIDS. All my other friends babies sleep on their stomach.
I am a first time mom, so I deff. have alot to learn but I fiqured I would share my experience with you.
I hope things go better for you. I know it is hard.

Part time working mother of a beautiful 7 month old son, and wife to a wonderful husband.

I know you must be exhausted, I am sorry you are going through this but I t will get better and you are not alone.
You might want to consider talking to her pedi because at her age she needs to take 2 long naps or at least one short nap and a longer nap in the afternoon. I feel that is probably one of the reasons why she is not sleeping very well at night, They say the more they sleep the more they want to sleep which I know is true from experience.
You might want to try soft classical music even make sure that she is on a routine at night and her tummy is full. Baths at night right before bedtime and you might want to try bathing her w/Lavendar and Chamomille wash and rub her down w/the Lavendar lotion as well and read her a book and put her down w/ some soft classical music.
Make sure and play with her and wear her out during the day. My 16 month old only lasts 4 hrs before he starts getting cranky and ready for nap/bedtime. He takes a 2 1/2 hr nap late morning and and starts winding down for bed around 7pm.
He has a window if he is not in bed by a certain time he will get wired and overstimulated and it will take him a long time before he falls asleep so you might want to try not to get her excited after dinner so she can start relaxing and get ready for bath/bedtime.

Good Luck and hang in there.
M.

My daughter is almost 7 months as well and we are having the same problems so thanks for asking the question. My doctor's advice was to first teach her to go to sleep on her own. I have always nursed her to sleep. We are working on it but have not had much luck. She also suggested my husband going in to comfort her in the middle of the night so she does not want to eat.

Dear M.,
I know you are exhausted. I have 2 boys, 4yr and 18mos and another due in 3wks! So, I know this part is hard. We coslept with our first one and had the same issues. First option, there is a book called Contented Little Baby book you can read and it has some great suggestions on everything. Another and the less pleasant is crying it out. I was very against it. It is hard and it does make you feel horrible, but...the reason they cry SO long is because they know what they like, to be with us. Whether it's rocking to sleep or being in bed with us. What baby wouldn't?( A mom should not have to feel bad about doing this). So, having been there and my first child didn't sleep through the night until 8 mos and we finally resorted to the crying out method. My past pedi (we moved) said she hated doing it to, when she would put the baby down close the door and go into the other room and cry too. So, it's normal to not like it, but I promise it won't screw her up. I would never recommend anything to another parent without being there before and totally understanding what it will take. But, I would do it on a weekend! It will take at least that long if not longer, but it will work. I hope this helps. And good luck!!!!

The best advice I got was to read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth. Our scenario was very similar to yours and now my 14 mo old sleeps from 6:30 until 7:00 (8:00 this morning!). He's been doing this almost since I started using the techniques learned in the book. It's a big read, but well worth the investment if you ask me! Good luck!

My son started sleeping through the night at 2 mo. but at 4 mo. he started waking just like your son. We had been letting him fall asleep during his last bottle then trying to sneak him into his bed. The problem with that is that at his age he was aware of his surroundings and wondered why mama wasn't still holding him. Then he refused to go back to bed. We started the Ferber method. Basically you have to put them to bed while they are awake. Wait until they are almost asleep but still awake. Then take her into room and put her into her bed and tell her good night. She WILL cry. Leave the room. You may even want to go outside the first couple of nights. After 5 min. go back into the room and pat her, talk to her but never pick her up. She will probably cry louder. Repeat as long as it takes increasing the time by 5 min. ea. time. I've been told it can take hours but the longest it took my son was 30 min. He's been on this method for about 2 wk. now and he either goes right to sleep or protests for maybe 5 min. Did I mention he sleeps 10 hr a night all the way through!!! Best thing we ever did. It helps if you can do her naps like this too but I know that sometimes you just can't. Hope this helps.

I have twins who are almost 3 and a 17 month old. The twins were very good sleepers starting at about 5 months old. We set a daytime routine for them so they could organize their sleep patterns. We did the same things for our younger child but he didn't sleep through the night until he was 11 months old. I would suggest setting a routine. Don't let your baby get too tired before putting her down. No mother likes to hear her baby cry but if she does when you are training her, she will not remember it.

Oh my! You mudt be exhausted! She is definitely old enough to be sleeping better. You might like the "sleep lady shuffle" from a book by Kim West called "Good Night, Sleep tight." This book discusses sleep issues from birth through age 3.
I think that since she's used to the co-sleeper, this particular method might be your best bet. It's a process that takes several nights to complete, but most people seem to see great results after about 3 nights. It just takes several more nights to fully complete the process. Basically, the first night you put the child in bed and sit right next to the crib. Talk to her, pat her, sing, whatever, but DON'T PICK HER UP (unless she's frantic). It may take a long time, but she'll eventually go to sleep. You do the same thing for the next 2 nights. Then you move your chair half-way across the room for another 3 nights. Then you move your chair next to the door. Then just outside the door. At each stage, I think you repeat the sitting in for night wakings. At the beginning it makes for some long nights! Eventually you ditch the chair and do "check-ins" every 5 or 10 minutes. By this point your child should be getting to sleep pretty quickly once you leave her, so you won't have to do so many checks.
Good luck!

I recommend Good Night, Sleep Tight by the 'sleep lady' also. Wish we had the book from the beginning b/c that would have made all the difference. We actually did the 'crying it out' and he figured it out after about a week. Also, we have moved his bedtime MUCH earlier now and that makes it easier too. Plus routine is so good b/c he knows what comes next.
Good luck - sleep is coming soon!

I will keep this short & sweet ... put her in her own bed, put the entire family on a schedule that works for you. be consistent.

your baby will cry, you will cry because your baby is crying, it is normal, and within days you will all be happier well rested people with no crying. :)

best of luck!

I have three children ages 11, 7 and 1 year. My first two children did not sleep well at ALL! With both I thought I would go crazy from sleep deprivation. However, I learned something while pregnant with my third child. It was the most brilliant piece of advice ever! It also worked!!!! Our third child sleeps like a dream and has since he was 2 months old! The advice was...Don't put your baby to sleep! Let him fall asleep on his own! Meaning - don't rock him, don't play music, don't even feed him at bedtime. Simply kiss him goodnight and put him to bed. This sounds so simple but no one had ever told me this before. My older children I rocked to sleep while giving them their bottle. Well, that trains the child to think that they have to be rocked and have a bottle in order to go to sleep. Then every time they wake during the night, they expect us to go through this same routine so they can go back to sleep again. I do keep his routine as far as feeding him dinner at the same time, then bath, then I try to put him to bed at the same time every night. He also take two naps a day (about 2 hours each). I just lay him in his crib then too. I know that this idea may not work for everyone. But it was sooo eye opening for me that I thought I would share it. I am sure that since your child is older that if you try to start now it will take some crying on her part. I would just say to not start anything now that she will want in order to go back to sleep. Try to set her up so that if she wakes during the night (while you are not next to the bed) she can simply go back to sleep on her own. Hope that this makes sense to you and helps!

~J.