https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:34:21 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672203 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:49:06 +0000 ShootingStar 2672203@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS was just like this at 7m. One night we put him down and 20 minutes later he was screaming and we just let him CIO. He had to figure out how to connect his sleep cycles without us. After a few nights his sleep got better and better and he started dropping wake ups too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672169 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 17:25:26 +0000 LemonJack 2672169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm sorry! My DD was very much like this as an infant. She would co-sleep though, so we eventually just did that until she started to outgrow it. I don't have any advice, just wanted to chime in to say I understand and have been there. It's so hard when a little one just won't sleep.</p> <p>At that age we didn't have success with sleep training because our daughter would just amp up, but I know people whose children have responded well to sleep training at 7 months. It's worth a shot! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672030 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:57:49 +0000 mrsbubbletea 2672030@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Purpledaisy: just want to say this sounds super tough, even if it's normal! I think my son would have been like that at 7 mo if cosleeping hadn't worked so well for us. Of course that came with its own issues. I wonder if you could focus on bedtime first and see how you can help him start to fall asleep without nursing. I am not a cry it out person, but you could try it if you are. What I would do in your shoes is do whatever it takes to get great naps for a day or two, hold him, whatever, and start tackling bedtime. If you are up to it, skim or read the no cry sleep solution and see if you can get him to start falling asleep without nursing. It's a gradual process. She has something called the pantly pull off. It may help enough with the rest of the night if you can get him sleeping without the nipple! I replaced nursing with rocking at first and then felt I could gradually phase rocking out. Anyways my advice is all over the place but good luck! And sleepy vibes! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672018 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:47:22 +0000 catomd00 2672018@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds in the realm of normal to me. My 7 month old has been doing the same for a few months now. I just cosleep to make sure I get the most rest possible. I figure she will grow out of it soon enough and until then, there's coffee. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672016 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:45:11 +0000 jape14 2672016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The waking up 45 minutes after putting him down for the night sounds like a classic sleep association problem (Ferber has a great section on this in "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" -- highly recommend reading that book). Because he is nursing to sleep, when he reaches the end of a sleep cycle (~45 minutes) and naturally wakes up, he isn't able to string another one together on his own. If you can break the nurse to sleep association, this problem should resolve. The easiest way to do it is to start by moving nursing up in the bedtime routine -- so you might do something like bath, nurse, then some other activity to wake him up slightly (sing a song, turn on white noise, etc) before putting down so that he's not nursing all the way to sleep. </p> <p>If you're comfortable with a little crying, you could try the Ferber progressive waiting method, where you leave him for a minute, if he's still crying, come back and soothe, then increase the interval to 3 minutes, etc. We did this with my son at the 4-month mark and it worked within a few days; within two weeks he was down to one MOTN feeding, which he kept until around 7 months. If you're uncomfortable with any CIO, you could also try to "trade down" sleep associations from nursing to something like white noise/a song, a lovey, or a pacifier. </p> <p>ETA: I would start with just the falling asleep on his own at the beginning of the night. Once he can do that, he should drop some (if not all) of the night feedings pretty quickly! </p> <p>I definitely recommend reading Ferber and I also found this site to be really helpful for all things sleep: <a href="https://www.preciouslittlesleep.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.preciouslittlesleep.com/</a>. Good luck! :goodluck: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672015 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:43:50 +0000 sarac 2672015@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Purpledaisy: It sucks, I know. I really hate that part of it. It will end, but I know how little that helps to hear. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672008 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:35:50 +0000 keepcalmcarrie 2672008@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Personally in this situation I would "explain" to him that he's going to sleep in the crib from now on, and just tackle naps and night in the crib at the same time. I would also do CIO cold turkey - tell him you love him, give him a kiss, lay him down and walk away. Do not go back in, it only makes it harder. All will be forgiven and forgotten in the morning, and a well-rested baby is so much happier!!</p> <p>I wouldn't do CIO for night wakings yet, though. If he wakes up 45 minutes after you lay him down, he doesn't need to eat yet. But in the MOTN if he is up and wants to eat, I'd feed him. Once he's sleep trained in the crib and you can lay him down for bedtime, I would bet money that he will only be up once a night to eat. But I could never do CIO in the middle of the night - just bedtime, and that was hard but so so worth it both times! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2672001 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:27:02 +0000 edelweiss 2672001@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Purpledaisy: i know how you feel. it can be so confusing with all the information and advice out there, that who knows where to start. plus hello you are sleep deprived! speaking in hindsight after sleep training 2 kids, i don't think there's a right or wrong. either way the transition is going to be tough at first--my inclination would be to just get it over with and do both at the same time, but it is a matter of personal preference.</p> <p>FYI when we did sleep training, my goal was to gradually get down to one nighttime feeding, in addition to having LO fall asleep on his own at the beginning of the night. so for the first few days i did CIO for the first nighttime waking, and once as it seemed like he dropped it, i moved on to the next one. what i left was the 4/5am feeding. this wasn't a totally linear, clear-cut process, but that's the general gist.</p> <p>i bet your LO will catch on quickly. my friend just went through something similar with her 8 month old and she said it went much better than she thought it would. </p> <p>good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671996 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:20:25 +0000 Purpledaisy 2671996@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@edelweiss: I agree that 7 months is old enough for sleep training. We kept feeling like he was too young and he will just get in a better routine on his own... but that does not seem to be happening. With him waking up so many times and taking so long to get back to sleep it's not like he is getting good sleep. </p> <p>I just don't even know where to start. Do we tackle the sleep first? Getting him to sleep in his crib first? Both at the same time? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671989 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:14:06 +0000 travellingbee 2671989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have no advice as we have never had luck solving our sleep issues but I just wanted to commiserate with you and wish you luck. I'm so sorry you guys are going through this as I think the hardest part of being a parent of a little is when they don't sleep well :crying: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671988 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:14:00 +0000 Purpledaisy 2671988@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@rockinghorse: thanks! I'll check that out. Im not necessarily against CIO but I just don't know it if will work for him since he just can't seem to ever calm down on his own. Maybe a more gentle method would work for him. </p> <p>@sarac: thanks for your feedback. Maybe I need to reevaluate my expectations. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671983 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:11:04 +0000 edelweiss 2671983@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>when my 6 month old was waking up about 4 times a night, i did CIO. not everyone is comfortable with that, so the previous suggestion about a different sleep training might be good. </p> <p>at 7 months, i think he's old enough where you can dictate the sleep schedule a bit more with sleep training. it would be different if we were talking about 7 weeks, but at this point, i think it's okay for you to sleep train (again, i know people feel about this differently, so it partly depends on your priorities/tolerance/comfort). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671973 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 11:53:39 +0000 sarac 2671973@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That sounds like a really normal sleeping schedule for a 7 month old. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671815 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 07:04:45 +0000 rockinghorse 2671815@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I read "Sleeping Through the Night" when DD was 12 weeks, and got some good results with sticking too that for a couple weeks. It doesn't involve CIO, more of a gentle sleep training, I guess. And it has strategies for different sleep issues as the babe gets older. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-even-start#post-2671803 Fri, 30 Dec 2016 02:56:42 +0000 Purpledaisy 2671803@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not even sure where to start with our sleep problems😭. DS is almost 7 months old. A typical night for him is:</p> <p>Bedtime around 8.<br /> Up around 45 mins later.<br /> Up again around 45 mins after that.<br /> Wake up around 1:30am<br /> Wake up around 4:30am<br /> Up for the day around 8.</p> <p>His naps are a hit or miss. Sometimes they are 20 minutes. Sometimes they are 1.5 hours. He usually takes 2-3 a day. </p> <p>He needs me to nurse him to sleep every time. Every nap, bedtime, night wake up involves me nursing him back to sleep. He also will only sleep for me now. If I am gone, he will not sleep. </p> <p>He also only sleeps in his swing... we used to co-sleep some when he was younger but now he just wants to play. We tried the rock and play and crib and he will not sleep. </p> <p>I attempted to get him napping in his crib last week with zero success. After being up for 6 hours he finally took a 15 minute nap in his crib when I put him in there after he passed out while nursing him. </p> <p>He also has never soothed himself back to sleep. We try to let him but it just escalates and he cries harder and harder. If we go in and try to give him back his pacifier, he will just cry harder when we don't pick him up. </p> <p>He is a very needy baby overall. He is all about mommy and is attached to my hip. We have a three year old that basically sleep trained herself at around 6 months and slept decently before that. DS is the total opposite. We literally had to hold him 24/7 for the first 8 weeks of his life. We would take turns laying back on the couch and sleeping with him on us. Which is why we let him sleep in his swing overnight because we were just so relieved that he was sleeping somewhere other than on us.</p> <p>I just don't know what to do or where to even start. But something has got to give. I haven't had a good nights sleep in almost 6 months and my evenings are spent basically doing 3 bedtimes. </p> <p>Also, he is getting plenty to eat. He's gaining well and I do not have any supply issues. </p> <p>Anyone been here? Have any advice? Any strategies? </p>