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I voted let her cry a bit to learn how to self soothe, but also push her bedtime back. We try to get LMW (almost 7 months) between 6 and 7:30. Usually right around 6:30.

Is there a reason u haven't started solids yet? I would do a combo of starting solids and let her try to self soothe for 5-10 min. Our LO didn't start sleeping through the night at all until she started crawling and went on solids twice a day

I sleep trained my DD at 4 months and she then was only waking to nurse once a night. After we started solids, she dropped the night waking. Now, very occasionally she will wake up and cry a bit, I always try to give her at least 5-10 mins to soothe herself before going in. She always goes back to sleep in 4 mins flat so I know now that going in to soothe her is not the answer as that only stimulates her.

Given how often she is waking up to snack, she needs to learn to self soothe and not to associate nursing with getting to sleep. If you can stop nursing her at night or at least cut down to just one feed she should be fine. I would let her fuss for 10 - 15 minutes.

I would start solids, since she's already 7 months old. I also wonder if there's a particular reason why you haven't started on solids yet? I would not put rice cereal in her bottle though.

I would also wait 10-15 minutes before going in. Unfortunately, by now she's probably too used to you coming in at those times and may cry for a lot longer. If she's just nibbling, she most likely isn't hungry and is just used to the comfort from your boobs. My LO was only waking up once around the 7 month mark.

I don't think the bedtime really matters, as long as she's getting the 12ish hours of sleep at night (excluding feeding times).

I agree with @winniebee, the exception is when they're sick!

My DD is almost 7 months old and we just recently started pushing her bedtime further back (she used to go down at 8p...now she goes down at 7p) and it has helped tremendously. She used to wake up 3-5 times every night. Now she wakes up twice (once at 12a and once at 4am) and wakes up for good at around 8am. I also ditto the letting her crying it out suggestion. Just for 5-10 minutes. If her crying gets super intense, then you can just pick her up and soothe her. Often times (maybe 2 out of 3 times), if I let my DD fuss/CIO she just falls back asleep!

@HabesBabe: We're at almost 6 months with the same issues of night waking and solids. We've tried rice cereal and a veggie. Each time he's offered it, he plays with the spoon and then blows the food out. Our LO isn't interested in solids yet either, so I feel you there.

I think I would try a mixture of putting her down a little earlier, as well as letting her cry for a few minutes before going in to "rescue" her. DD was the same way and I finally had to let her fuss it out for a few minutes and almost every time, she would go back to sleep on her own. I also wouldn't feed her unless it had been at least 3 hours, because I knew she could handle it.

Of course, every time she gets sick, I will go to her and then we have to start the process all over again when she gets better.

@winniebee: Just curious. Would you suggest offering puffs at 6 months old or something along that line?

@winniebee: This is good to know. My husband is so cautious about what foods to give him when based on the information given to us by the doctor. I've got some overripe bananas. I'm really tempted to try feeding him some from my finger. He loves to gnaw on our fingers. I've only recently started making purees. He blew out the butternut squash probably because it was fun. I wonder if we feed him with our fingers to start, he might like it more than the spoon.

@winniebee: He's good at grasping, but I'd be willing to try the teething biscuits.

I didn't vote for any of your options because it really depends on if she is falling asleep on her own at the beginning of the night. If she's being nursed to sleep she will continue to wake up because she has sleep dependencies.

Teaching her to self soothe (sleep training) is the best option, but just letting her cry 10-15 minutes and then going in to nurse her back to sleep probably won't decrease the nightwakings, it will just teach her that if she cries for x amount of time mommy will come and help me go back to sleep.

I agree with the earlier bedtime suggestion but I've always used waketimes (instead of an arbitrarily set bedtime) to make sure my LO isn't overtired when I put him to bed. If your LO is falling asleep on her own and her schedule is appropriate, I think you could sleep train through the first two nightwakings easily.

@HabesBabe: When you put her down, is she still clearly awake or has she fallen asleep in your arms before you put her in the crib? Sounds counter intuitive but I found that DD had to go in to the crib properly awake to fall asleep and stay asleep for teh whole night.

Following this as well. Our 6mo old has never been a great sleeper (although he has had nights where he's slept for 6+ hours at a stretch). He still usually wakes for anywhere from 3+ feedings a night. Our nighttime routine is usually nurse, bath, PJs, book, bed (awake). Sometimes when he wakes up crying in the middle of the night he'll put himself back to sleep within a few minutes if we're slow to get to him.....but usually he will cry for hours (HOURS) and continue to ramp himself up. Thus we usually just go to get him. He does eat solid foods (although admittedly not a ton) and he's VERY active.
We're tired but, like I said, he's never been a good sleeper...so it almost seems normal to me at this point!

@HabesBabe: that's awesome that she puts herself to sleep!! Did you sleep train to teach her how to fall asleep on her own or did do it naturally?

I would say it might be a schedule issue (she's overtired and waking up) or she has sleep dependencies and has become accustomed to being nursed in the middle of the night. If you're comfortable with it, I would do a little CIO for her 11 am and 2am wakeups but make sure her schedule is appropriate first.