Please Help- 7 Month old waking up every 2 hours.

[first_time_mummy]

Hi all, I desperately need some assistance.
I have a 7 month old, he is my first, and he was a great sleeper for the first 4-5 months. But now, he just wont sleep well. I put him to bed 8.30-9pm ish, and he will sleep maybe 2 hours, but then, he will wake at 11.30, first it starts off like a talking screetch (no crying, but more making squeeling noises), ill give him his dummy, but he will spit it out ad start crying before i leave his room. I saw a doc about it, and he said hes learnt that he can cry and get me to go in there, so what I needed to do, was let him cry for 10 mins, and see if he ends up going back to sleep.
I tried this, and it didnt help, me and my fiance just laid there, im suffering anxiety and depression over it, and me and my fiance keep argueing over whats wrong and whats the right thing to do.

Last night he cried non stop on and off for 2 hours. He wasnt due for a bottle or anything, his bum was dry... I ended up having to go in and give him a bottle to shut him up. And he fell asleep for 2 hours, but woke again, doing the same thing. I had to give him a bottle just to get him to sleep, and the dummy just isnt working.

I feel like im on the end of my rope...He wakes every 2 hours, and i can tell the cry isnt really a cry, but more an attention wingeing noise. He just gets louder and louder until I snap, and have to go into him. And now that hes learnt how to do it, he wakes up 6-8 times a night doing it.

Please, i need help, as the docs advice doesnt seem to work, and im suffering anxiety and depression over it all. A lot of my friends say they have their babies sleeping through, and it makes me so upset, cause i just dont know what i can do.

[shazzi]

HI first time mummy, congratulations on your little one.

I too am a first time mum and my DD's corrected age is about 7 1/2 months. My DD is also waking every 2 hours if i am lucky at the moment. I have noticed the first tooth starting to push through down the bottom. Are any teeth coming through on William?

Sleep is a difficult issue but it sounds like there are multiple issues in your life right now. Your and your fiancee may need to discuss parenting approaches and try and come to a decision about what you will do. What books do you have? Have you tried No Cry Sleep Solution by Ellizabeth Pantley? Pinky Mckay? They are gentle approaches.

Williams waking could be so many things. I personally would not be listening to your GP, but that is just me. My DH and I discussed how we thought we would ike to respond to our DD before birth and often discuss how we are going, and are really happy with gentle parenting approaches. I think that if a baby needs comfort then provide comfort. If it needs fiood, provide food. I have demand fed, and co-slept since DD was 3 months. The exhaustion is more manageable as i do not wake as fully. But DH sleeps in another room so he does not get disturbed. Makes us all happier if he is happier ha ha.

At this age so much is going on in their little lives that sleep tends to go out the window. Is he getting onto his hands and knees or trying to? His waking could be related to a development stage such as preparing to crawl,or crawling or teething (like us at the moment ...grrr) and just wanting comfort.

You will see in this section and other parts of the forum that their are lots of threads with babies waking all the time, It is normal. More normal than sleeping through i think. We put too much pressure on ourselves, although i agree sleep deprivation sux.

Several mothers in my mothers group have done controlled crying and it works for them. One has gone to sleep school and another is on the waiting list so you are not alone. I cannot comment on those methods as we do not practice them but even with these mums the babies still go up and down with their sleep.

Have you felt anxious and depressed since the sleep started going haywire? Are you able to speak to someone about it?

Sorry i am not much help but wanted to let you know you are not alone.