My Baby won't go to sleep

cs23 wrote: For the past two weeks my 7 month old daughter will not go to sleep- naps or bedtime. She used to be able to lay in her crib with me next to her on the floor until she put herself to sleep, but lately she screams if put down. She will only fall asleep while sucking on a bottle - pacifiers won't do - and if she isn't completely asleep, or really really close, when her bottle runs out she gets herself completely awake and will scream and cry and will not settle down.

I've tried lots of different things - rocking, singing, establishing a bedtime routine, putting on soft music, laying down with her in my bed, patting her, walking around, etc. I don't want to give her a nonstop supply of formula because I am afraid of over feeding her and causing her to be uncomfortable and spit up. I cannot burp her after her bottle, or she will completely wake up again.

It seemed to get really bad when her two front teeth started coming in - I put on orajel and give her tylenol, but that doesn't seem to help a whole lot. The teeth are taking forever to come in - it has been two weeks and they are just barely coming through the gums.

Please! Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get my little one down without the long, drawn out, stressful, crying session?

Thanks!
Sara

boyohboyohboy replied: Sara, I am going thru the same thing! I have a 7 month old boy, who had an established routine and slept at least 5 straight hours, now he is up 30-45 min after I put him to bed, and again then every 1-2 hrs thru out the night. He is only napping during the day for about 20 mins and cat naps like this about 4 times a day. I have tried keeping him up longer to make him more tired, nothing is working...
I was just reading the book "the no cry solution" and it said to try adding more feeding during the day so that their calorie intake is up during the day and they wont need as much at night....well I just did that and apparently totally flooded the poor baby, becuz he just threw up at least 4 oz onto my lap, and about choked!
I feel horrible.
so any ideas that you get that work please let me know..
thanks stacy

NikkiM replied: When Logan or Madison go into those phases I rock them and rock and rock and rock.

It's hard, hang in there!

MommyToAshley replied: I remember those "phases" all too well. I can just tell you it will get better and it's a matter of trial and error.

I would definitely keep up the nighttime routine, it WILL pay off in the long run. It's so hard to tell what could be bothering her right now. It could be that she is going through a growth spurt and if that is the case then things will settle back down quickly.

It could also be teething... and I am guessing this is the culprit since you said it all started when she got her first two teeth. Teeth usually come in one after another once they cut the first tooth. Have you tried the Hyland teething tabs? My daughter hated the Orajel, but the hyland teething tabs seemed to really help.

Just throwing out some ideas for you. I think there were times I never did really figure out why my daughter was restless, but it always seemed to pass. Hang in there!

cs23 replied: Stacy,
I'll let you know if anything works. It is so frustrating because my baby, Courtney, will be yawning and rubbing her eyes, but as soon as we go into her room like we are going to bed she just screams. Yeah, she used to have such a good sleep routine - she was sleeping for 8 hours straight for a while, now we are down to no longer than 3.5 at night, and yes her naps are down from 1.5-2 hours to about 30-40 minutes at the most. And at night she used to be up for 15-20 minutes and then put herself back to sleep, now she is up for about an hour and a half, as I go through the whole routine again.

Yes, I've heard that feeding them more often during the day, especially after their afternoon nap is supposed to help; but I've also heard that if you go longer intervals between feedings they will be able to go even longer at night. I've tried both and neither have worked.

I just keep thinking, "It's got to get better at somepoint, right?"

I'll let you know if anything works, you do the same please.

Sara

msoulz replied: OMG, my daughter turns 7 months today and it's the same thing. It's like having a newborn again. Must be the age.

Ashlynn's Mommy replied: Did you try giving her a warm bath before bed?? When my daughter had colick I gave her a bath every night right before bed, and then I rock her to sleep. We also use a white noise machine. That also helped use. We use Aveeno calming comfort baby bath, and lotion. It's supposed to get them relaxed, and calm. It works for me. I hope this helps.

TheOaf66 replied: sometimes you have to just let them lay there and cry themselves to sleep, if they have been fed and changed etc then you have to just let them figure it out on their own, it is hard to listen to them cry I know but sometimes you just have to

cs23 replied: Thanks for the advice..I'll try the Aveeno calming bath and lotion for her, and also the Hyland Teething tabs. It is somewhat comforting to know that it seems to be normal to go through something like this. I just hope it ends soon!

Sara

holley79 replied: Sara,

I'm sorry you have to go through that. I hope that it gets better.

ashtonsmama replied: Hmmmm...sorry I can't help much...my baby has gone through some of that already (he's 4 months) but I can usually get him down to sleep with lots of nursing and rocking and just laying by him...so I'm not sure what to tell you. Sorry--good luck!

msoulz replied: Have things improved? Mine is still not sleeping more that 1-1/2 hours at a time at night, and she used to go for 8 - 9 hours. I read somewhere that it could be the beginnings of separation anxiety too. I am back to sleeping with her like when she was brand new to try to let the rest of the family sleep.