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No suggestions here but I am interested in knowing as well. I'm going through the EXACT same issue with my 7 month old! He was sleeping fine up until 4-5 months and then it all just went downhill. He's becoming more fussy during the day cuz he's so tired but he just can't seem to sleep for long stretches and get the rest he needs, night nor day.

Edited ... I'll just share what I had noted in our own experience.

For us, the cry it out method wasn’t an option we wanted to explore. I didn’t think she should have to go through this alone. We all needed to learn about sleep, and we wanted to be there to help her through it. At the same time, we knew we needed a new way of getting her to sleep. We were unable to enjoy time as husband and wife in the evenings, because our entire night was spent trying to put her down to bed.

**Separating food from bedtime: This was a huge issue. She had no tools to fall asleep on her own. Since we would give her a bottle before putting her down, she needed it to fall asleep. And, this means she was always falling asleep in our arms before we’d transfer her to her co-sleeper. It was her crutch. Most of the time, she’d wake a few hours after bedtime, and be panicky. We had to start the whole bedtime thing over again. We slowly separated food from nap and bedtimes. We are now giving bottles or breastfeeding when she wakes up. In the evenings, we give a bottle before she’s showing signs of being tired. After that, we start our bedtime routine (more on this in a sec).

***Learning about awake/sleep times: Depending on a baby’s age, they should be getting a certain amount of sleep each day. There are also resources which explain the max awake time, the length of naps, and when the last nap of the day should end … All of this to ensure a nice, long night of sleep.

***Getting on a schedule: Our sweet girl had been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks old. (Okay, that’s relative … she would wake to nurse, but then go right back down.) We were very well rested, and so thankful. Around 5.5 months, it was starting to change. We were letting Al dictate her own schedule … 3 hour long naps (or sometimes only 30 min.), waking up at 10 am, not going to sleep until 11 pm, etc. For her age, we knew we wanted her to sleep roughly 11 hours at night, and 2-5 hours during the day. Our new schedule meant we were setting alarms to wake up in the morning, not letting her stay up for more than 2.5 hours a time, not letting naps go past 2 hours, and being sure she was up from her last nap by 5:00 pm.

***Recognizing signs of sleepiness: We used to think it was so cute when she rubbed her eyes. Now we know that’s her way of telling us she’s on the verge of a meltdown. We’ve learned to recognize these cues, and it lets us know we need to start our nap or bedtime routine. So, things like fussiness, eye rubbing, putting face on the floor, etc. are our “it’s time to get this party started” cues.

***Creating a bedtime routine: As soon as she was showing signs of sleepiness, or reached the 2.5 hour awake threshold, we start her routine. At night it’s bath, jammies, reading (and/or some singing), white noise, paci, lay down in her bed. For naps, it’s diaper change, reading, noise machine, paci, and lay down. For nighttime, it’s about 30 minutes, and for naps, it’s about 15 minutes. Now, instead of the bottle putting her to sleep, our routine preps her for sleep, and she puts herself to sleep once she’s laying down.

***Transitioning to a new bed: The first week, she was still in her co-sleeper. This is when she was getting more mobile, and we decided to get her into the pack and play next to our bed. She’s still using the bassinet setting, but will be going to the bottom soon. This allowed us to each have our own space, but she’s still close while we sleep. We’re planning to continue co-sleeping indefinitely. <- Maybe a better way to say it is that we plan to co-sleep until all of us are ready for her to be in her own room, and as of now, we don’t have a timeframe for that.

***Understanding the a little crying is okay: We didn’t want to do “cry it out” because we honestly don’t think it’s a way to foster trust or show your baby you’re there for them. It didn’t feel right to leave her alone to cry. I know it works for some people, but for us, it wasn’t an option. With that said, the first night with our new routine was rough. I decided that I’d accompany her each night until she fell asleep. The first night, it took nearly 3 hours (!!!!) for her to fall asleep. She would cry for a second, I’d pat her back and comfort her, she’d nod off, and then she’d pop back up and start all over again. The first nights were hard. If she got really worked up (beyond just a soothing cry (the only way I can describe it), I’d pick her up to comfort her, then we’d go back down. Usually, that was all it took. Sometimes, it was short. Sometimes it was long. But, we were consistent in our routine, and our comfort, and eventually it got better.

After the first week, things were much better. Four days into it, her first tooth popped through, and a week later, the other one joined the party. That explained a lot. Poor baby! Now that we are four weeks into this, she goes to sleep almost immediately after she gets into her bed (!!!!). She’s sleeping from 7:00 or 7:30 pm until 5:00 am. She wakes at 5:00, needs to nurse, and will go back to sleep until 7:00. Gentle sleep training is a thing. I never felt like I was doing her a disservice, and I think she felt loved and guided through the process. I understand that this method won’t work for everyone, so if that’s the case, there are tons of other resources.

****Ok, so I wrote that when she was 7 or 8 months old. She's now nearing 10 months, and we're still going strong. She understands what the bedtime rituals mean, and she goes to sleep without a peep. We did just come out of the 9 month sleep regression, which was beastly ... We ended up bedsharing a lot, and nursing her at night. All rules are out during sleep regression.

Good luck mamas!!

@PixieStix: could you try settling your LO into the cot for their first stretch of sleep then bringing them into your bed once they wake? I'm thinking that settling a mobile baby to sleep in a big bed on their own could be difficult and potentially hazardous (most bedsharing mamas I know nurse to sleep then leave the room)

I sort of did this when dd was about six months old. She stopped nursing to sleep, and I was over having to walk her to sleep. I would stay with her in bed until she fell asleep (I still do, actually). There was some crying involved, but not bad. I had a rule that if she ever became really upset, I could pick her up to calm her. I used to sing and hum to her as she fell asleep. I don't have to do that anymore. She actually adjusted fairly well. There were still times when we would walk her around the room to get her to sleep, but usually I just need to stay in bed with her. She sometimes plays around for awhile, but the method is working for us. DD is a year now, and we recently moved her to a floor bed in her room. She ends up in our bed (or me in hers) sometime after midnight, but it's only been a week.

@PixieStix: we did parent attended cio at 6 months and continued to co sleep. Basically my husband laid with her the first night. We had agreed that if she got very upset, he'd talk to her, pat her, sing, whatever, but not so that she fell asleep. She mostly just fussed, and after maybe 40 minutes fell asleep. I took night two, I think it took 20? Night three she was out in 10. It was a significant improvement, because prior to that I was going to bed with her at 7, nursing her to sleep, and then couldn't leave the room or unlatch her, or else she'd wake up. It was intolerable.
This method didn't solve our nighttime waking issue, she continued to wake up every two hours or so. After about a month we used the same method to move her to her crib, and then two months after that into her own room. She slept much, much better in her own room. Still didn't sleep through the night until 16 months, but it was better after she was out of our bed/room. I loved co sleeping but neither she nor I was very good at it.

Sorry, I'm on mobile and it's hard to edit for some reason. But I wanted to add that when we did this I basically did whatever it took to make sure she wasn't over tired at bed time. I wore her or held her for all her naps, and had her on a pretty regular schedule so that she'd get enough day time sleep. We always did the same routine at bedtime, too which does help. Of course, I eventually had to nap train her because I got a pinched nerve in my elbow from holding her for three hours a day....but I think whenever you are doing sleep training of any kind, it's a good idea to avoid the "over tired" state.

Also, your needs as a parent are just as important as her needs. You are a better parent when you are well rested and have time to yourself. Those are valid and important needs. It's okay to teach your baby to sleep in a way that works better for everyone in your family.