I'm having a similar issue as Stephanie. My 7 month old will sleep for about 5 hours at the most and will then whine and cry. I haven't had a good night's sleep since I've had her and been thinking about going back to work FT. Any ideas?
Try giving her a bottle of milk with a little infant cereal. When you are ready for her to go to bed for the night. This worked well for me. Also try to put her to bed at the same time every night. She will get use to going to bed at that time. My son is six now, at about 7:30 every night he get's in bed and before 8:30 he is fast asleep.
I had a similar problem with my son and as it was just about to get the best of me.... I broke a bottle with the formula that the Dr gave him and had to resort to warm milk with a couple of tablespoons of cereal in it. I cut the nipple on the bottle a little bigger for him to get the cereal. He gulped it down and slept the rest of the night. After that I took him off the formula, used the milk and added cereal. The Dr said that even though he was growing, he was not fully satisfied and that had helped satisfy him and keep the gas from his tummy. Hope that helps..... did not have a problem after that. He is older now (much older) I am a grandmother.
Is your daughter getting enough to eat before she goes to bed? My son didn't sleep through the night consistently until he was nine months old. He was breastfed until 8 months and then we transitioned to formula and began cereal and other baby food. We learned the key to a solid 9 - 10 hours sleep was to be sure he had enough to eat before bed so he didn't wake up hungry in the middle of the night.
Well T. I have one or two suggestions. When my daughter was that age I made sure that at her evening feeding to give her some warm baths, cereal in with her milk and at least a little bit of apple sauce. Sometimes formula makes them gassy at night and the apple sauce is supposed to help. Also a humidifier with lavender oil sooths them to sleep all night.
I told Stephanie she should try www.babycenter.com. They have tons of articles about EVERYTHING from preconception to babies. Is your baby waking up to eat or just waking up for you to cuddle with her? When he/she first wakes up try giving the pacifier first. It's so many things you can depending on your situation.
My daughter-in-law got excellent advice from a book called something like "Good sleep, happy baby." Look on Amazon to get the exact title or call any big bookstore. Their advice workrd for her and I hope it will help you.
T., I purchased the Healthy Sleep Habits book today which is comparable to reading a legal brief (awful). Once you get past the useless stats and quotes, the book basically lets you know you must follow the baby's cues. Between 4 to 9 mos it is expected to feed the baby at least once during the night (4-6 hrs after evening bottle) with three naps during the day between 9am and I think 3p. If baby misses 1 of 3 naps, put baby to bed earlier. If baby is not getting three naps during the day it disturbs nighttime sleeping. If baby wakes more than that it is because baby is going to bed too late and is now overtired. And, when baby does wake up at night do not rush to baby's aide. Baby MUST learn to self soothe. After 4 mos, baby now wants to go to bed for the night bet 6 and 8p instead of 8 to 10p. After 9 mos, sleep problems arise again because baby's third nap is naturally eliminated unless the baby is sleep deprived from not getting the three naps in the previous cycle due to some disruption in schedule. The book is pretty much on point.
I thought my baby wanted a nap at 5:30-6p but she should go to bed for the night because now she only naps twice during the day. I kept her up and made it worse for both of us. I know this is long winded but I hope it helps.
