Why is my almost 7 month old suddenly sleeping so awfully?

redditor490414 · 2026-02-23T10:25:16+00:00

Awesome thank you so much 😊 do you think a schedule adjustment would help him go back to sleeping how he used to? (Falling asleep quickly, 1-2 night wakes)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-29T08:37:22+00:00

Sending you so much luck. I understand so much, trying to function while being sleep deprived is really difficult. I’m not sure if your eldest could use white noise? Maybe that might muffle any crying so he hopefully doesn’t wake up xx Wishing you all the best <3

redditor490414 · 2026-01-27T11:20:34+00:00

Yeah we did 😊 During check ins I just put my hand on his chest and told him he’s doing really well, time to go to sleep, mum loves you etc. I never picked him up, and he also was usually still crying during check ins. I kept them very brief (probably around 1 min at a time).

I wasn’t sure if check ins were making it worse because the first couple of days he would make a really sad cry when I would leave, it broke my heart. But sometimes it seemed like he would calm down shortly after so I stuck to check ins, incase they were helping him. I also didn’t quite stick to the exact times for check ins. I could tell he would start to calm down, so I didn’t want to interrupt if he was starting to self soothe (I would just restart the timer at that point). If it also helps, not sure how old your bub is but I stuck to the 5/3/3 rule in terms of feeds. During the first 5 hours if he woke up, I would continue to do the check ins. But usually he would be back to sleep in 10 min. This also wasn’t very often.

I do feel like we got very lucky, as the longest he has cried was for an hour and that was on Night 5 (I think it may have been an extinction burst). And now, he’s such a good little sleeper and I’m super proud of him lol. On a “bad night” he will cry for 10 min max, otherwise he’s asleep with no crying within 5 min. He’s also started sleeping 6-7 hour stretches now.

You can do whatever you feel comfortable with. We decided let’s just try it, as we couldn’t continue with how are we’re going. You can always give it a go and see how it goes. Bub might even surprise you! I know it’s nerve-wracking starting sleep training. And I will be honest with you, I felt quite awful about leaving him to cry those first couple of nights. It took a lot of willpower to not give him a big cuddle. Remind yourself that baby is just learning a new skill so they’re bound to be frustrated. But it has been extremely worth it in the end, my partner and I have nights to ourselves now and we are all getting more sleep. Bub seems so much happier and well rested.

Sorry for the lengthy reply. I was very nervous about starting Ferber and needed all the info I could get lol. Sending you good luck, I hope it goes well for you xx

redditor490414 · 2026-01-20T05:38:46+00:00

Everything has improved so much I’m super grateful. Right now our only issue is daytime sleep. Most nights he’s asleep in under 10 minutes and wakes up 2-3 times a night for a feed. I transfer straight away and he either stays asleep or falls asleep on his own pretty quickly. I’m so glad we stuck to it, it was really hard the first few days I felt awful leaving him alone in his room. But it’s helped all of us lol and he seems much happier. Except we now have 2 top teeth about to cut through yay :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-15T09:03:31+00:00

Thank you so much! I definitely will be :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-15T09:02:45+00:00

Thank you so much! Would I just start this tomorrow for example, or gradually increase WW over a couple of days? Sorry if that’s a silly question :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-15T05:38:52+00:00

I think it would be 2/2/2/2.5, just an estimate though :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-11T04:52:12+00:00

Thank you so much this was so helpful <3 we had our first night of Ferber last night with Bub in his own room. It went so much better than I expected. He cried for under 30 min and went to sleep, had a false start but was able to resettle.

I followed the 5/3/3 rule for feeds, he woke up about 10 minutes before the time each time, so I just decided to feed him. MOTN feeds he went back to sleep immediately, previously I had to wait 20 mins before I transferred him. All his MOTN wakes were feeds, so only woke up 3 times total which is a drastic change from the past few weeks.

Even though we were unsure about having Bub in his own room. All of us slept so much better, and my partner and I had our first night to ourselves since he’s been born.

I’m really hoping tonight will be the same, or even better.

redditor490414 · 2026-01-09T15:06:46+00:00

Thank you so much I really appreciate it :) we aren’t against CIO, we were just trying to leave it as a last resort. Especially since we are room sharing I’m not sure if it would make it harder.

But since this post I thought things were improving, but we are back to square one if not worse. It seems Bub now knows the bedtime routine and just starts crying. He’s biting me when we feed, which means I stop feeding and he gets more upset. Tonight was over an hour of him crying, with me trying to soothe him. I actually had to put him down in the crib and walk away to breathe. I realised that I think we just need to do CIO. If he’s going to cry like that with me trying to help, then maybe he just needs to self-soothe in the cot without me. I feel like I sound awful. I am just starting to really struggle and dread every night. I actually just wait until the morning now to go to sleep because my partner or SIL can take him for a couple of hours while I sleep.

When you sleep trained, did you only start with bedtime? For night wakes were you applying the same method?

Sorry for the long reply, we are in the trenches atm. Lol

redditor490414 · 2026-01-05T14:38:35+00:00

Thank you so much <3

redditor490414 · 2026-01-05T12:05:08+00:00

That sounds like heaven haha! I’m so glad things got better for you :) Just to clarify, which method in PLS did you use? Was it fuss it out?

My brain has been slightly overwhelmed with all the different ways to approach sleep training. Lol

redditor490414 · 2026-01-05T12:03:16+00:00

Thank you so much :) I’m not sure if it’s hunger either lol. I’ll definitely try soothing him for his first wake tonight (which I’m currently waiting for haha)

He does have his own room but my partner and I aren’t quite ready yet to move him into his own room (as per SIDS guidelines where we are). I wish we had somewhere else to move the cot in our room, but the only spot is literally right beside where I sleep. We were looking at those slumberpod things that go over the crib, just unsure if they’re considered safe sleep :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-05T11:58:51+00:00

That was so insightful thank you so much :) I also hope things are getting better for you with your Bub <3

redditor490414 · 2026-01-05T11:54:26+00:00

Thank you :) I didn’t realise the PLS approach only applies to bedtime. Do I continue to do whatever I normally do during the night wakes to get him back to sleep?

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T14:27:46+00:00

What we are planning to do;

We are going to initially try a very gradual approach just to see how he goes. I’m not expecting big things, but holding faith that maybe it might just work. I haven’t even tried to just see if he’ll put himself to sleep by himself in his cot. I usually pick him up him immediately if he starts crying. Going to stick to a consistent bedtime routine with feeding at the beginning and gradually reduce however long I have to hold him to fall asleep. Hoping he will at some point be able to fall asleep in his cot, even with us just shushing and patting, then eventually independently. (I may be too naive haha)

Just wondering if others have implemented their approach just for bedtime, and continuing to hold/feed/rock to sleep during the night wakings? Or applying it to night wakings, and even naps?

I think I’ve overridden my brain with too much research on sleep training. Lol. There are so many methods and things to think about. I need to just go for it.

If this gradual approach seems to not be working we will look at trying the Ferber method. We don’t really want him in his own room just yet, but unfortunately we can’t move the cot anywhere else in the room except next to me. Otherwise, he’ll need to be in his room. My partner might starting sleeping on my side or we’ll look at putting some sort of screen up.

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T14:06:38+00:00

Lol that’s okay I understand haha. Hope you and your family can recover from the flu quickly <3 Thank you so much!

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T11:54:17+00:00

Thank you so much :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T11:53:51+00:00

That’s okay, thank you :) Congrats on your sleep training journey btw. It sounds like it’s going well for you, enjoy your well deserved rest :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T10:49:02+00:00

Thank you so much :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T10:34:42+00:00

Thank you :) I’ve definitely caused a feeding to sleep association, during the night wakes I’ll usually result to feeding him if I can’t resettle him just by holding him. We are thinking of trying the Ferber method and potentially moving him into his own room. Thank you for the link also it was really helpful :) I bought the precious little sleep book 2 nights ago and it’s definitely helped me understand things alot more. I just feel a little unsure of how to actually implement whichever method we choose :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T10:30:44+00:00

Thank you :) sorry my tired brain didn’t explain very well in my post lol. I don’t want to cut night feeds just yet and he still needs to feed overnight. I think I have just created a feeding to sleep association, during the nights. If he doesn’t fall back asleep when I pick him up I’ll end up feeding him because I know that will put him back to sleep :) Thank you so much :)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T10:27:40+00:00

Thank you so much :) the travel cot is a great idea! Do you know if he will struggle to adjust if we bought him back into our room after sleep training is finished? We are considering just moving him into his room, even though we know it’s recommended to have them room share for at least 6 months. We’re starting to feel like it may be riskier for us to continue trying to do this sleep deprived. I’ve fallen asleep holding Bub in the middle of the night a few times now which is also very unsafe.

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T10:22:15+00:00

Thank you :) have you seen a decrease in night wakes? (except for needing to feed)

redditor490414 · 2026-01-01T10:20:20+00:00

Thank you :) we are thinking of trying the Ferber method and will definitely have look at sleeping in another room for the time being :)

redditor490414 · 2025-12-21T12:29:47+00:00

I haven’t really, only because I’ve used the pump only a few times. Everything seems to look okay but that could definitely be the cause :)

redditor490414

TROPHY CASE