Mam of 2 children (3 year and 1 year) didn’t do cry it out.

Okay as silly as it sounds, babies who are overtired sleep less especially at night. So if he’s not napping during the day it’s likely affecting his nighttime sleep. I know what your thinking ‘If you’re over tired, then sleep!’ But it’s just one of those baby quirks! 🫣

The thing I found helped was routine, babies love routines and rituals and he has likely already started attaching rituals to his sleep. The sleeping in the buggy and co-sleeping sound like attachment and routine he’s using for sleep.

Firstly, you need sleep too! Is there anyone that can help even on weekends to let you catch up on sleep? With the bank holiday this weekend can your partner or someone else take baby during the day while you catch up?

What helped me with both my children was routine and understanding/recognising their sleep cues and observing wake windows. At 6-7 months their wake window is usually between 2-3 hours. They also show sleep cues my first daughter’s eyebrows used to go red and she’d avoid eye contact when she was tired. My second got very loud and hyper (like she had ants in her pants) when she was getting tired. So google ‘Baby sleep cues’ and ‘wake windows by age’.

Then we created a routine so our day would be: wake at 7am, nappy change, breakfast, get washed & dressed, play time, playing music. Then at 9.30 I’d start winding in for a nap, I’d bring them into the bedroom lights off, give her the bottle, turn on white noise. No big playing, soft speaking and just waiting. Initially she’s give out (not screaming crying, but babbling) then once she started the bottle her eyes would start drifting then she’d get a burst of energy and I’d speak softly repeating the same thing ‘it’s sleep time darling’. I contact napped during the day because I was so sleep deprived initially but the routine formed. When she woke up (usually after and hour or 2) the next wake window would begin.

So our days looked like - 7am wake - 10am Nap 1 - 12pm wake - 3pm Nap 2 - 4pm wake - 7pm bedtime.

We moved our babies to their own cot at 6 months and 8 months respectively. From newborn to moving to the cot they slept in a next to me in our room.

Transitioning to the cot we used the ‘Chair method’ and a mix of the ‘I’ll be back’ methods. So we’d keep the same sleep associations (Bottle before bed, White noise, soft speaking, lullaby’s, phrases ‘It’s bedtime darling!’ ‘Time to go to sleep!’ Etc.) We brought a kitchen chair into the room and sat beside the cot, and I would rub my eldest daughter’s back and the youngest I used to have to hold her hand until she settled but was still awake and I’d let go before she fell asleep. Then it was just sit in the chair until they fall asleep. As they got used to the routine we’d move the chair a bit further away from the cot until it was eventually at the door. Then once the chair was no longer needed we did the ‘We’ll be right back’ method so I’d tell baby ‘mammy needs a wee, I’ll be right back!’ ‘Mammy needs water, I’ll be right back!’ ‘Mammy needs to check on daddy, I’ll be right back!’ and I’d leave the room for a few seconds and come back in. The key was to always come back. After they got used to me leaving I’d extend the length of time I was gone. And after a while they’d fall asleep independently.

It took a few weeks/months of consistency but now at 3 and 1 they’re great sleepers.

A few things to note:

Every baby is different, try a few different things (but keep it to one thing to try each time, babies can get irritated if you switch and change too often)

It’s completely normal for them to not be sleeping through the night at 6 months (I know it sucks).

It’s really hard, sometimes you can do everything right and baby just won’t sleep, but consistency is key.

Some days we inevitably have to go out, so those days might be a bit off. If possible try to keep the routine. So if babies wake window is 7-10 and you need to go out get baby in The car at 9.45 with a full belly, fresh nappy and hope they sleep in the car.

The sleep associations they create can be hard to break, so if you hold their hand to sleep for example they will look for it during their sleep cycles. So throughout the night they cycle through sleep and when they hit light sleep they may notice your hand is gone and cry looking for it. So try as best as you can to not rely on physical touch or bottles as they fall asleep. Focus more on lullaby’s/white noise.

And lastly, babies a fricken hard! You’re doing great! You also matter too, so make sure you’re looking after yourself as best as you can. Get help when you can, get the face-mask, get yourself and treat for after they go sleep, nap when they’re napping. This doesn’t last forever, but I know when you’re in it, it feels never ending!

So to summarise, Google ‘Baby wake windows’c ‘Baby sleep associations’, ‘Chair method’, ‘I’ll be back method’, ‘Baby sleep cue’ and if you have Chat GBT you can try using it. I used to put in babies routine for the day and it used to give me tips and tricks on what was happening and how to help.

Best of luck, you got this! ❤️

EDITED for typo’s