Hello,

I am having a difficult time geeting my 7 month old to sleep at night and keeping him asleep throughout the night. He wakes up often crying and just seems to be lonely...and awake. He doesn't need to nurse as I always nurse right before bedtime. He often falls asleep on me and is put in his crib while he is already sleeping. Help! I'm only getting 4-6 hours of sleep per night and I'm exhausted all the time. What should I do?

I unfortunatly do not have any helpful advice for you just that you are not alone--I am having similar issues with my 13 month old daughter I think they just go through phases and separation anxiety in my case teething is also contributing. Just hang in there i hear it gets easier as they get older I sure hope so expecially since i am also 8 months pregnant with our second child I am beginning to think sleep is a luxury i may get in a couple years :)

Hi Rachel - My advice to you is to get your son a "lovie" (stuffed animal, blankie, etc.) and either sleep with it the night prior to giving it to your son or spray some of your perfume on it. Also, you might think about purchasing a white noise machine to block out any outside noises that may be waking him up and also to soothe him to sleep. We live in the city and there are sirens going by our house all the time, so the white noise machine was a must. My son still uses it at 2.5! Also, make sure they make and you buy multiple "lovies" that are EXACTLY the same so if one gets soiled, you have another one.

Hi Rachel what worked for me was to get a few shirts I have worn all day (without perfume) and put it in the crib. I know it sounds gross but my baby girl just wanted my smell it made her feel like I was sleeping with her. While you leave the shirts in the crib for a few days ( 3days is good) I let her sleep with me. By the third day she was relaxed and comforted that I was sleeping right next to her that on the forth day didn't even know I wasn't there. She continued to smell my natural sent so she thought I was still sleeping with her. Make sure your baby is asleep when you put him down in his crib so that he doesn't know the difference. I don't know if this is the "right" thing to do but it worked for me like a charm. But remember not to put on any perfumes on the shirts you put in his crib he might get a nasty rash. good luck let me know if you do try it I would love to know if it helped you.

Wow, Desiree, I may have to try that...

Rachel, my daughter is 7 1/2 months old and her doctor told me it is a phase that kids go through during their developement... (didn't make me feel any better) Lovies and white noise are great if they work for your child.

My daughter will honestly not sleep for more than 2 hours unless someone is in the room with her. She wakes, looks around and goes back to sleep, as long as someone is in the room with her. The only way I get sleep is to co-sleep with her. People will disagree with me but I needed sleep so badly that I was willing to do anything... (except harm my child ofcoarse) and co-sleep was the only way for me to get enough rest to function.

Please know that your not alone, and since all kids are different all solutions don't work for everyone. Hang in there, someone reminded me recently how much sleep I can get when my child is 23.... YEA....

I'm with ya Becki everyone made me feel so bad when I was co sleeping but at that point I really didn't care because nothing else seemed to work before I tried the "shirt" thing. I think you do what works for your child. someone online was a little rude and said to me just read a book about healthy sleep. She said it in a non comforting way like I was a bad mommy for not reading that book like it was common knowledge to read that book. I don't think that reading a book will have the answers, because if that was true babies would come out with instruction manuals!!!

I totally and completely agree with Desiree and Becki. Rachel, you are definitely not alone. And do not listen to anybody who is trying to make you feel bade for putting your baby to sleep when he is already asleep. The "cry it out" and other book sleep advise might work for some, but it is definitely not a rule or solution for every baby. I am definitly against letting your baby cry, maybe because I cannot listen to her cry when there is something I can do about it. My daughter is now almost 10 months old and sleeps through the night most of the time. It is almost impossible, though, to put her down for a nap. She wants to get up, crawl or cruise, since she recently learned how to do those things. Same might be true with your son. Teething is definitely a factor as well. When our daughter was about 1 or 2months old we bought a CD with baby sleep sounds. It has vacuum cleaner, air conditioner, rain on the car roof, ocean waves and some other sounds. We did this after we once tried to calm her by turning on my hair dryer and it was the only thing that would work. We could not leave the hair dryer on for the whole night, so the CD was a life saver. We started using it again recently when we moved and our daughter started sleeping in her crib in her own room. It blocks out other sounds that are especially emphasized at night and sooth her as well. I also put her in her crib most of the time once she falls asleep during nursing. It's like other ladies said "whatever works for you". Try lovie, and definitely try CD with white noise or white noise machine. I heard the one about putting mommie's clothes in the crib as well, but never tried that one. Just stay calm and remember that it will pass and you will miss this time with your baby. This is what I try to remember every time my little one is giving us hard time with sleeping. Good luck!