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Can you and your DH switch off on night wakings so you can get a little more sleep? I'm really not much help. We didn't sleep train or do CIO with either of our kids, so we pretty much just waited it out. Luckily, both of our kids hit one year and magically started STTN all on their own. Up until one year, though, we also had to deal with multiple night wakings.

@bunnylove08: hmmmmm... How do you feel about cosleeping? I know that's not option for everyone... what about introducing a lovey she can cuddle with in the middle of the night? Or maybe one of those stuffed animals with the pacifiers attached? I think they're called Wubanubs?

@bunnylove08: ah, sorry. I know it's really hard. If you decide to do CIO, what do you think about somehow separating the crib from view of you/your DH? Maybe string a blanket or towel up in between the crib and the bed? She might not be so reliant on you to go back to sleep if she can't see you and doesn't know you're there?

@bunnylove08: Good luck! Just remeber that eventually it will get better. It can be so hard when you're "in the trenches" but she will sleep better at some point!

I work full time and around 6 months we started co bedding. He needed more nursing and I needed more sleep

My DS was doing the exact same thing. He wasn't crying or anything, just whining with his eyes closed and it would get worse unless you picked him up, rocked him for a few mins then put him down. We realized we couldn't keep doing this so we started training him to comfort himself back to sleep. Go in and rub his back, pat his butt and turn on a noise machine if necessary but don't pick him up. He would cry for about an hour and we'd go in every 10 mins to soothe him and remind him we were there. Like magic, he has slept like a champ for weeks now! We only had to do this routine 3 times and he now grabs his stuffed cat and goes back to sleep on his own. Giving them a lovie to cuddle definitely helped. Good luck!

Sleep training was unsuccessful for us, we took turns getting up with DS. Then we started co sleeping so we didn't have to keep getting up. Eventually the person not taking the shifts that night would sleep on a blow up mattress on the floor. At 7.5 months, DS' sleep just got better and he's back in his crib and we're back in our bed. DS is now 8.5 months and didn't start STTN until a week ago. I felt like I haven't slept in 8 months. DH and I try our best about getting snappy with each other, but knowing that he was sharing the responsibility with me really made me feel better and really did help me control my temper.

We didn't start sleep training till about 7 months, and for us (I don't know if this counts as "sleep training"), we started by reducing the amount of times I'd nurse him at night. Instead of me going to LO, we'd send DH if it had been less than X hours since he last nursed, so that nursing wasn't an option. DH would offer water, cuddles, etc. and get LO back to sleep, and I think getting used to NOT nursing every 3 hours helped LO to gradually sleep more hours at a time (I don't think he slept more than 3 hours at a time till he was 7 months old. I was kind of a zombie). Our goal was really to discourage LO from wakign up to nurse, and I think that helped draw out his sleep periods.

Honestly, we gave in and started co-sleeping. I know it is not for everyone but when he sleeps next to me he doesn't wake and we are all happier. In the beginning he wanted to nurse the ENTIRE night but I think now that we are over the novelty of it being available he might wake once if at all. He goes down in his crib at about 7:30 and at his first wake-up (9-10) I go to bed with him.

We bed-share after her first waking. Her and I spend the rest of the night snuggling & dream feeding side-lying. She just recently started sttn most nights (just shy of 1 year).

sidenote: We are a non-cio home & P learned to self sooth completely on her own time when she was ready. If/when she wakes I promptly go in & nurse her back to sleep.... she's never needed to fuss/cry to learn to self-soothe, & she's begun putting herself back to sleep most wakings without issue.

@bunnylove08: DS will whine for me if he sees me, if he doesn't, he is happy about getting his soothing and comforting from DH. Plus it really gives you a mental and physical break. We made it a point from the beginning to share night feedings (we always give LO a bottle at his night feeding) so LO is use to having DH up with him at night.

@littlebittyhouse: We are pretty much in the same boat . . . it works for us, even though it is not ideal. I know it won't last forever.

we're in the same boat. LO is 6 months. honestly, i'm so sick of friends telling me to 'let her scream!' ...ok, get back to me when you have kids, thanks! OY!

with her, there is usually a reason - like @mrskc said, she has gas or something. and if I go in to give her the pacifier, she's back out within minutes. I'm not going to just let her cry when it's not her fault she can't see to locate the pacifier again once she can get around the crib, then maybe...but she can't roll back to front yet so she's kind of stranded, lol.

I think she's about to do something - get a tooth or roll, or who knows, cause last night she was up literally every 30m-1h screaming.

I've used a paci and/or lovey rub across his face (did not leave with him crib as he is too young still) and that usually gets him back down in a few minutes.

@MamaMoose: @bunnylove08: haha i do the same, i sort the loose (non wubbanub) ones in a teething ring! spits it out as soon as she's asleep, sometimes even before she's totally out..but for some reason when she wakes in the middle of the night, the pacifier (or nursing) is the only thing to calm her down

@littlebittyhouse: That's great & so true! Prolactin triggers are more "concentrated" so to speak at night so night nursing is wonderful for supply! I've actually talked to moms that night weaned to sleep train & then were unable to keep their supply up through nursing strikes. I know for us, I have always been able to "fall back" on our night sessions. Glad to hear your pedi is supportive!

Cosleeping. And then putting her in her own room, which truly did help her sleep better. But it sucked. We kept trying to send daddy down instead of me nursing, and at 13 months it finally worked. She doesn't always STTN at 18 months, but she's night weaned. It sucked, for sure. I'm sorry you're struggling.

We also failed at sleep training...it was traumatic for me and so now I"m committed to just waiting it out until he STTN on his own. The only positive is that he goes back to sleep relatively quickly after using the paci or nursing him. And I really do think it's developmentally related--his sleep has been really bad the last month and a half, but he is doing SO many new things--rolling both ways, vocalizing, starting to sit up. Co-sleeping is also not really an option for us, as DH and I don't sleep well with him in our bed. I wish we could do it though!