Need creative tips for NW's for 7 month old

[Raroo]

Hi I am having difficulties with my 7 month old LO with NW's. I need advice on how to settle her without feeding her. She will not use pu/pd or sh/ pat. She gets hysterical within seconds if I don't pick her up and screams when I do pick her up. Really need creative ideas which I have not yet exhausted! Thanks

[Erin M]

What does your daytime schedule look like?  It helps to know why the NWs are occurring when you try to brainstorm how to settle sometimes.  Are you trying to wean a night feed or are you having wakings due to something else?

[Raroo]

Hi sorry internet been down for a while! I'm really struggling here. We had nw's every hour last nite! LO will not extend her A time in the day. She is up for a max of 2 hrs in the morn and if I ignore her eye rub at that tired point we have a meltdown. This is our typical easy at the moment.
7: wake up
E: 7 but usually rejects this feed coz eaten in nw's and emw's.
A: play and go outside for a bit to try keep her stimulated
S: 9-10 30
E: 10 30
A: play
S: 12 45 or 1 for an hour and a half
E: 2 30
A: play/ go out
S: 4 30ish still has cn won't drop this!
E: 5
A: play and bath
E: 6 45
S: 7
Then up at 8 30 and then df at 10 and then up always at 2 and 5 and sometimes much more than that. LO screams during nw's won't calm down unless fed or if rocked and sang to for a while sometimes rarely goes back down. LO is bf every feed and gets solids 3 times a day. I cannot work out where to go next!! This was my baby who slept from 10pm-9am from 9 weeks but it was short lived for only a couple of months.

[Erin M]

Hmm, I would think that it all has to do with her getting too much sleep and not enough A time in the daytime.  Average A time at 7 months is 2.45-3 hours, there are some sample routines here: chronological EASY samples, 7-9 months if you want to look and see.  When she hits the 2 hour mark, what happens if you try to change the scenery, distract her with an interesting toy or book?  With my ds, I used to have to switch rooms every couple of minutes towards the end of A time in order to keep him interested -- walk around, maybe go outside later in your A time if she likes it?  Or could you maybe extend the time she's awake after the cat nap so she's getting less nighttime sleep?  A lot of LOs have 11 hour nights at this age. 
Have you ruled out discomfort as a cause of wakings?  Teeth, food issues, etc?