sooo tired!

hi all!!
so we have been following the no cry sleep solution book, and after two weeks dd is sleeping a little better; before when i put her down at night she would wake after half hour and need feeding back to sleep, now she sleeps for almost four hours before she wakes!!!! also, before starting daytime sleeps were something she had hardly heard of!! now most days she goes down for at least one nap, which normally lasts two hours!!!!! Great hey???
But theres a downer which we havent being able to find a solution to! After she wakes at night after her big sleep, we cant get her back to sleep for many many hours!!!! when she wakes i start off by going in and patting her back to sleep or rubbing her back, after a while if that doesnt work, we progress to rocking in a chair to sleep, often as soon as you put her she wakes and its back to the beginning again. Then the final step is b/feeding back to sleep, where the only way she will sleep is in bed with us, and even then that can be a struggle! Last night, for instance, she woke at 11pm, tried patting, rubbing, rocking worked, finally got her back into bed by 1am, then she woke at 3am, in bed with us, tried feeding and she slept for an hour, up since 5am!!!!
Although she now has this great sleep at night sleep after midnight is rare, and often regulary broken up into small sleeps.... She is 9.5 months old, and we are trying everything, although i am keeping it consistent, and it is predictable. Actually every night each stage gets longer and longer in the hope that she will tire out beofre moving through the stages!!!
Any suggestions?

Justine

Justine, I'm not sure whether I can help. My DD went through a similar stage From around about the same age. I find that at this age they seem to get a little unsettled as their worlds are rapidly expanding, they learn to crawl or even walk. So many things are happening, who has time to sleep?

One thing you could try is to "trick her". Rather than going through the satges, jump straigt to the last step. I found that sometimes it was best to go to my "surefire" method of feeding her back to sleep, rather than letting her "wake up" more and more while trying to settle her without the boob.

On the other hand, I know too well the utter frustration and helplessness you feel when your "surefire" method doesn't work.

On those nights, remember: This too shall pass.

All the best,
Saša

thank you so much; i am so hoping that it will pass, eventually!!!
She is getting better to so degree; but i have jsut decided that I nee to keep doing what Im doing and hope that we she will eventually get what is required of her!

I'm glad to hear that she is getting a little better.
If you can at all afford to do that, try and have a nap with her on some days, particularly after a rough night. The dishes will still be there when you wake up (unfortunatley). An utterly exhausted mummy is no good to anyone. You have to look after yourself, too, hun!
Lots of hugs, Saša