Why won't she sleep?

Question

I have a 7 month old baby who has never slept through the night. She is generally a happy baby, and she has a great temperament, but she never sleeps for more than one hour at night. At first I thought she might be hungry, so I make sure she has had a good helping of baby food or cereal just before bed time, but she still wakes up screaming every hour or so and only nursing will calm her. She is teething, so I tried Tylenol, which bought me two hours. I need HELP, I am a working mother, and I am trying to function on roughly three hours of sleep, which is not easy.

I can't let her cry too long because she shares a room with her four year old sister, She doesn't sleep long during the day either. She just wants to be held and nursed. Her pediatrician said it might be allergies but the medicine did not help.

She is an active child, who sleeps less than one hour total during the day.
we tried to let her cry it out. lasted THREE HOURS. besides, she shares a room with her four year old sister. if she cries to long, sis does not get sleep either. we have a small house, with not room for a crib in our room, she has outgrown the basinet months ago.
she wakes up crying. always. everytime she wakes, she cries before looking around for mom or dad.
the longer we leaver her, the madder she gets, and the more time and effort it takes to get her back to sleep.
we have a schedule, and stick to it religiously.

Answer 1

I know what you are going through. I followed all the advice from my pediatrician and friends, advice through yahoo and craigslist.. and still my son did not start sleeping through the night until about 13 months old.


The thing is, all children wake during the night- the question is wether your child has the skills to self soothe and fall back asleep. This really isn't something you can teach them, it's something they learn on their own- some take more time then others.

This was really hard on me as well because my husband works 3rd shift so I was the only one waking up overnight (sometimes 2, 3 times).

You can let your child cry it out (all it does is teach them that if they DO cry- no one is coming to soothe them, so you might as well just stay calm.

I didn't try CIO until he was over a year because I didn't think it was right to leave a small infant crying. It took a few nights, but my son now self-soothes easily.. sometimes I hear him wake, let out a small 2 or 3 second sob and he quiets down and goes back to sleep. He's 14mo.

Answer 2

Once ours was 5 months old we had a rule, never pick her up after she is in bed at night. I mean if she had a poopy diaper or her diaper leaked, of course, but other wise we gave her a pacifier, gave her a quick kiss, and left the room. This worked for us. You SHOULD NOT feed her at night. She should be on a schedule during the day, about 2 naps, 4 bottles, and baby food 3 times a day when you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. At night I would give her a bath, one last bottle and put her to bed.

Answer 3

you HAVE to let her cry it out. When she wakes up after an hour and begins to scream...wait a few minutes before you go into her room. Soothe her, if she takes a paci, put it back in her mouth...DO NOT PICK HER UP and then leave the room. She will likely begin to cry again, this time wait a little longer, go back in and soothe her again. Repeat this each time making the time period longer before you return to her. She will eventually fall asleep. Right now you are teaching her that when she cries you will come and get her. She needs to know that at night she sleeps. She will figure it out. It just takes time and LOTS of patience. good luck!

Answer 4

My son didnt sleep thru the night until he was 1 year to 14 months old.. His cousin who is now 3 years old is the same. She didn't sleep thru the night until she was 1 1/2 years old.. My son is now 16 months old and he still wakes up during the night..

My son used to cry a lot too so we had to sleep with him in our arms or chest.. That made him sleep longer.. A boppy helped us and a binky..

Answer 5

I would talk to her pediatrician. She may have an ear infection. My 6 month old has recently been getting up a lot more and I took him to the doctor just to make sure. Dr. told me that is not uncommon for a baby to have sleep disturbances during teething.

Answer 6

Is she sleeping in the daytime? The sitter may be allowing her to sleep too much and that is why she is not sleeping. Check that out and talk to her doctor before you decide to let her scream for hours. Letting her cry for 15-20 minutes is okay. Much more than that is not.

Answer 7

dont let her sleep all day
only about 1 hr let her nap
after this make sure that she is up
and active

7 months is old enough
can she walk?
if she can
make her active
dont let her be lazy all day
she needs some activity to make her tired

Answer 8

YOU MIGHT NEED TO GET THIS BABY ON A SCHEDULE ....... IT MIGHT TAKE A WHILE BUT KEEP THE BABY UP WHILE YOU ARE UP AND TRY TO GET HER TO SLEEP WHEN YOU SLEEP ....... BUT IF SHE IS TEETHING JUST GO AND GIVE HER A MOIST WASHCLOTH AND LET HER NAW ON IT ....... THIS REALLY HELPED FOR MY BABY SON.

Answer 9

Perhaps your child is just looking for comfort...Give her that.. if she's quiet while nursing she just may want to be next to you.