I HAVE NOT SLEPT IN 9 MONTHS!!

[rrawlings83]

Let me first say that I am new and this is my first post.  My DD is 9 months old and has never slept through the night!  DH works and can not help and I am at my wits end!  I am on hold to get Baby Whisperer at the library, but my friend who does it recommended this site.

How old is your child?  9 months
What’s his/her daily routine? 
5:30am Wake
8am Nap (45min-1hour)
12ish Nap (1.5-2 hours)
4:30pm Solids
5:00pm Bath
6:00pm Asleep

What’s nap routine?  Nurse laying down in bed, then I leave while she is awake and she USUALLY falls asleep on her own
How long are naps?  Vary in length.  Usually one nap is shorter and one is longer
What's bedtime routine? Time?  Bedtime routine consists of solids, bath and then we lay in bed till daddy gets home between 5:30 and 6pm.  Then daddy lays down with her till she falls asleep.
Do you bottle or breastfed??  Breastfeed
How much? or how long?  Usually just before naps and bedtime and ALL NIGHT LONG!
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)  One side.  I have a LARGE milk supply!
How many wakes per night?  4-8
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up?  She cries and starts rubbing her eyes.  Usually the eye rubbing signifies that she is REALLY awake.  Usually I let her nurse or stick her pacifier in.  Last 3 nights she has HAD to nurse every waking.  Pacifier won't work.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?  I don't know what a mantra cry is.  She is sleeps in bed with me so I am right next to her.  We are moving in 3 weeks and planning on switching her to her own room.
What have you tried to settle??  Nursing and pacifier.
What do you do for A time and how long is it?  ??
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones?  She has two teeth on the bottom, but they don't seem to bother her.
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)
Do they have a prop? If so what is it?  No
Do they have a lovie?  No

[A pair of Charlies]

Hi

Sounds rough  . My son didn't start sleeping through until just over 9 months so I know the feeling when waking up every couple of hours really is torture. 

Okay. Just trying to get this clear in my head.

 * You don't nurse her to sleep during the day, but you nurse her and then she is left to go to sleep on her own. So she can get to sleep by herself?
 * Do you nurse her to sleep during the nightwakings or does she nurse, then go to sleep by herself?
 * Solids once a day. How is that going? Have you noticed a sudden increase in hunger / demand (the 9 month growth spurt)? Does she seem satisfied with solids, taking it all okay?
 * Are the BFs during the day just before naps or ...?
 * Have the NWs increased in number recently or is 4-8 an average?
 * The BFs (day and night) - does she seem like she's taking a lot on, or just taking little and often?

Answers to the above will give us a better idea of what is going on.

My initial thoughts are that she may not be getting enough calories during the day and is actually hungry at night (so then snacks the next day). Possibly. Another thought is the 9 month growth spurt (I have never seen my DS act so hungry EVER, crying when his bowl / bottle was empty). And then there's sleep training to change how she goes to sleep - separating the connection between a BF and sleep. So she goes to sleep after a clear wind-down routine and into the bed (her cot eventually) on her own. I think it may be that in the night, she doesn't know how to go to sleep without you or DH or feeding (all props).

Sleep training and a new routine should help get her sleeping through the night AND in her own cot, once you move. There are a number of sleep training methods: shh-patt, PUPD and Gradual Withdrawl.  There's a thread here with these options explained a little (see Anna's posts for the info: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=143060.0)

Why not take a look and come back to this thread with questions or let us know what you'd like to try? And the BW community can help get a plan in place and support you.  How does that sound? 

Charlotte