My 7-month-old daughter has been going down great for naps without a fuss and without needing to be fed to sleep or rocked. However, at night, she will not go to sleep on her own without a bottle or being rocked. I find this strange. Any thoughts on whether I should let her cry herself to sleep at night or keep letting her fall asleep with the bottle or rock her?
ETA: She doesn't hold her own bottle yet so I still hold her while she feeds. She has started the past few days now to fall asleep on her own at night. Now the trick is getting her to stay asleep.
just go with it. She needs the extra comfort at night. It's a long time for her to be without you. Don't let her cry it out. It's cruel. I tried the crying out method a few times and it sometimes worked but other times it just sent my children into a frenzy.
I had to rock my daughter for a long time before naps and bed. I look back on that time fondly now. Wish I could get it back.
Just go with what she needs.
Babies can tend to tell the difference between naps & bedtime.
They notice a difference in the amount of people home, they can feel
a "sundowner's" type of atmosphere.
Just go with what works for her, for your baby.
They are in a state of flux all the time.
I always nursed baby to sleep...didn't seem to make any difference with anything. Baby was tired or not. I still nursed at night after 16 months if they wanted...
At 7 months anything went!
you can "Ferberizer" her-not easy, but on about night three, they figure out how to self soothe-and it is ....heaven. She must be very intelligent!
Nighttime is different from daytime. They sense this. So I'm not surprised.
Do what feels right to you. I prefer to hold my babies while they scream. I don't want them to think I abandoned them...but it does take a strong meditative state to remain relaxed while holding a crying baby. :-)
Maybe her bedtime is too early and she's not tired yet. Bump her bedtime back a bit and see if she goes to bed like she does during the day.
By 12 months she can be down to one nap per day, after lunch, then bedtime around 8 or so. She may take a short evening nap but that will be something she outgrows before too long.
For pity's sake, rock her to sleep. The bottle may be debatable, but that period of closeness should not be tossed aside. You have no idea how quickly this time will be lost. She won't be a baby very long. Now is your chance. Don't waste it.
1. She may be napping too long during the day.
2. You may be trying to put her down to bed too early.
3. She may need a better bedtime routine (warm bath, massage, nurse or bottle, story, snuggle etc).
4. She may be hungry.
5. She may be teething.
It is hard when they can't tell you. There are many reasons this can happen. It is very normal at 7 months. Decide what is best for you. It is ok to let her cry it out (a little bit). It is also ok to not do that and to just snuggle and feed her.
See if you can first isolate the cause, and then go about remedying it. I would personally make sure she doesn't nap too much during the day and she is on a good schedule of eating and sleeping and make sure she has a good bedtime routine. There are sample schedules for your baby's age that you can look at online. One ex:
wake up 7 am change, feed then play
nap 1 10 am - 11:30 or 12 pm
change, feed, play
nap 2 2 pm - 3:30 or 4 pm
change, feed, play
bedtime routine starts at 6:30, bath, massage, story, snuggle, feed etc and to bed by 7:30 pm.
Just an example. She should be getting 13 - 15 hours of total sleep per day between naps and bedtime at her age.
Good luck and enjoy!!!! My youngest baby is 2 1/2 now. sniffle...
Please don't let her fall asleep while drinking a bottle. The formula will run out of her mouth and into her ear causing ear infections. Rock her, hold her hand through the crib rails, sing to her, whatever, just please don't hand her a bottle to lay down with.
Do what you would like to continue. If you enjoy feeding and rocking her, do it. But know she will come to expect it/depend on it. If you'd rather she go down on her own like she does for naps, work towards that instead. If she can do it during the day, she can do it at night too. It might take a little bit to learn that but she is capable. 7mo is not too early to help her figure out how to soothe herself at bedtime.
It's time to start the tough love before this gets carried away into a full blown habit. I guarantee you that if you put her down to sleep at night without a bottle and no rocking, she will probably cry herself to sleep for about three to four nights but then it will stop....I promise! I know how hard it is. I had two that slept like rocks and two that had a hard time soothing themselves at naps and bedtime. The two that gave me trouble had to be left to cry it out until they figured out that they can and will be able to get to sleep on their own without rituals and rocking before bed. They had to cry it out and work it out. One took only three days before it all stopped and my tough girl took a week. She also had a few little slip-ups here and there as well with trying me on for size to see if I would break down and change my mind. I didn't. That freaking bed was calling my name and so was at least 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Babies are creatures of habit and we, the parents, form every habit that they make! When we choose to modify or change a behavior, we have to start by changing ours as well. Cold turkey and let her cry it out. Let her amaze you with the skills she really does have to help herself fall asleep and stay asleep through the whole night. She can do it. Just put your faith in her and let it happen!
