Im in the exact same boat. My lil girl is 7 months and used to only wake twice for a feed until 3 months old. She now wakes every half hour. Im at my wits end and in tears every day. I feel like I cant go on anymore.

I have an (almost) 8 month old girl and the above three situations sound exactly like us! She started to sleep through at about three months old, then began waking during the night again at 4 months, needing a night feed. We started introducing solids (for medical reasons, not because she was waking up) and this seemed to help for a few weeks.  Then things went crazy.  She begain waking around every 20 mins.  Nothing settled her.  She didn't want a cuddle, a feed, her dummy, a drink.  This went on for 9 weeks, by which point I called my health visitor, feeling like I really couldn't do it anymore.  After having her checked out by a doctor, the health visitor sent a 'sleep expert' to see me.  She asked questions for about an hour (not all about sleep) then suggested I make the following changes...

1) Put her to play in her cot every day, leaving suitable toys in the cot at night.

2) Leave her door open when she was asleep. Also consider putting a CD on repeat to stay on all night very quietly.  She suggested wave sounds. We decided against this. (The CD, not the door).

3) Let her sleep without her growbag (obviously we added another layer to stop her from getting cold) to make it easier for her to move around the cot.

4) Leave her be (unless she was crying about it) if she turned around, ended up face down, stuck her leg or arm out the cot. Remember she is 8 months and can easily move position if she needs to.

5) Leave her crying for 10 timed minutes before going in to see her. I decided 10 minutes was too long so did 5 mins instead with the intention of upping it over the next few days, but didn't need to in the end.

I couldn't believe it - that night she slept through, and has done ever since (it's only been two weeks, so fingers crossed!).  I've sometimes had to replace her dummy once during the night, usually around 6-7 hours after she has gone to sleep. She also now seems to self settle for naps during the day a lot easier.

Obviously this advice was given based on my answers to a lot of questions, but if any of the ideas above can help anyone, go for it. Even try calling your health visitor and saying how you're feeling. I was starting to hallucinate so I knew I wasn't any help to my baby and had to get some outside help.  Good luck everyone - I didn't think there would be an end to it and couldn't see a way to solve things, so I hope you find your way too.

My daughter was very similar and we ended up following a self settle plan. When we first put Phoebe down we feed her, give her a cuddle, lay her in the cot, kiss her head and say good night then leave the room. She starts to cry and stands up in her cot. I time one minute outside before going back in, laying her down, kissing her and rubbing her tummy, telling her 'good night' and leaving the room again. Then I repeat the process, waiting for one to two minutes each time,until she stays laying down and goes to sleep. It took a lot of perseverance to begin with, but now she settles within 5 or 10 minutes. Sometimes I leave her a little longer if her cry is more of a moan. The only time we are more flexable with the plan is if she is poorly, in which case we just go with whatever she needs. The idea behind this method is that you still cater to that emotional need for reasurance and a cuddle - so you dont leave them to cry it out, but you teach them that you are still there even when they can not see you so that they feel safe in going to sleep. There are nights when we get big sobs - usually when she is over tired, and on those nights each time we go to lay her down we have a ten second cuddle, just long enough to calm her before laying her down again. On some nights she grizzles and moans but doesnt actually cry properly and she is down within 3/4 minutes. If she wakes in the night I always offer her a feed because the way I see it, even at 10 months, she is still a baby and might be thirsty. Nuts to the HV's who say 'shes doesnt need it', She doesnt wake at the same time each night habitually, so I cater for her needs. Sometimes she sleeps through but if she does wake, after a feed, I do the same as bedtime and she usually falls back to sleep quickly. My method doesnt come from any book, but it has worked for us and our demanding baby. Good luck, I feel your pain!! xx

Oh bless you, well if it continues then I suggest a visit to the health visitor or doctor to iron out any concerns, maybe have a trip to the library too they may have some books with handy tips. x

my little boy always slept through no trouble, a few weeks ago he would have his bedtime routine be fast asleep then you can time the 2hrs before he wakes and screams like he is in agony i go up to see him and he stops the second i walk through his door he screams again but not like a normal cry a full blown painful scream my husband said i have to leave him and ignore him but im finding this so difficult, i want him to sleep through but i feel like he needs me i don't know what to do i have talked to so many people and all they say is if he hasn't got wind,clean bum,and fed he is just being mardy but i can take any more he 9months old now

we too are having the exact same problem! will try the advice given above over the next few nights. wish us luck! will keep you all updated.

my 6 and a half month old has a similar problem with her sleeping pattern. she will wake up almost 4 times during the night and now i ahve had no choice but to introduce a dummy which is something i didnt want to do. her bedtime routine doesnt start till gone 8pm so im guessing thats where i could be going wrong. also because she is still having some of my breastmilk im totally confused about how much milk to give her and whether or not im giving her enough milk... help

My baby was fine until 2 months old when he started waking more and more often until he leveled off at usually 8 night wakning plus very long awake stretches at night (1.5-2 hours) and an extremely early rise (430 or 5 am). He also only capable of sleeping 20 minute naps in the daytime. at his low point he only slept 7 hours per day (nighttime +naps included). you can imagine what a state I was in!. and the strangest part off all - he is a self soother and always fell asleep very easily.He was diagnosed with hypertonia- high muscle tone and muscle spasms, we suppose this was responsible for at least some of his night wakening. we have seen many drs since. he is now 8 months old, he is taking muscle relaxers and sedatives and there was some improvement but he continues waking 6-8 times per night unfortunately.

The drs dont understand why he is the way he is but they all agree that they are our of ideas as far as helping him and just say to wait and hope he gets better as he grows.

I suggest checking for hypertonia (this can be diagnosed by a nuerologist) for anyone with similar problem. 

It was very reassuring to read your post, ladies. I have been going through this with my 7 month old now for 3 months and i am a working, exhausted Mum.

She has a strong feed to sleep association which i tried to break a few times but ended up with her just never going to sleep.

Now like some of the above post she wakes 2 or 3 times an hour, i just pop the dummy back and roll her over and usually she is back to sleep but it is ofcourse exhausting for me and by 4am she has ussually had enugh and cant get back to sleep.

Its like she is uncomfortable in every position.

Did anything work yet for any of you?